An essential collection of rare material by this important female gospel trio of the 50s – a group who's not only known for bringing a style to the music that was ever bit as great as male group gospel of the pre-soul years – but who also are the initial early home to later soul superstar Candi Staton! As you can tell by the cover image, the girls are quite young – at least on many of these recordings – but this isn't kiddie music at all, as there's a deeply soulful style of singing that's very mature, and which instantly sets fire to these messages of spirit – with a vibrant style that usually just features some romping piano in the lead, alongside dynamic vocals. The lineup shifts a bit, but Candi is on most of these recordings – which also saw the light of day on Excello as singles – and the set also features a few tracks from later years, with Shirley Ann Lee on vocals. Titles include "Many Little Angels In The Band", "At The Cross", "Rest Rest Rest", "Too Late", "Sin Is To Blame", "It's All Over Me", "My Faith Is In Thee", "I Looked Down The Line & I Wondered", and "Somebody's Knocking At Your Door". CD

A pretty fantastic selection of rare disco tracks from the American underground – all of them infused with a spiritual message, but served up with grooves that go head to head with some of the best underground club of the time! The mix of positive energy and upbeat grooves is wonderful – and if you've ever heard the Clark Sisters club classic "You Brought The Sunshine", then you'll definitely know the spirit of these tunes! If you're worried about the message being one that you're not into, don't – because there's sort of a universal spirit going on here – one that gets past conventions of the church, and which really goes for a general uplifting message that's totally great – almost a precursor to some of the positive house in more recent decades. And speaking of house, there's less of that here than you'd expect – as most of the instrumentation and production are strongly in the best New York underground modes from the disco years – with less of any 80s or electro soul elements. Titles include "I Believe" by Calvin B Rhone, "Imitations" by Johnson Family Gospel Singers, "Change" by Wisdom, "On That Other Shore" by Harrison Jones & The Voices Of Harmony, "I've Been Converted" by The Converters, "Ain't No Way To Do Wrong" by New Creation, "Take It To The Streets" by Prophecy, "Let The Lord Come In Your Life" by Wisdom, "Keep The Fire" by Paradise, and "Jesus Is On The Mainline" by Mr Jesse R McGuire. (Funky Compilations, Gospel) CD

If you never went to Skippy White's record store in Boston, you really missed a hell of a shop – a surprisingly great outlet for rare and underground soul, located way up in New England – and a place that was giving the world wonderful music over the course of many decades! Back in the early days of the store, Skippy really had his ear to the scene – and managed to capture all sorts of great artists who were working very underground on the Boston scene – mostly soul acts, but a bit of blues and gospel too – all featured here in the first-ever collection to look at White's work at this level. The package was put together by Eli Paperboy Reed, and has notes from Boston contemporaries Peter Guaralnick and Peter Wolf – yet it's far hipper than any of those references might imply – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Do The Thing" by Earl Lett, "I Love What I Found In You" by The Precisions, "I've Been Lifted Out Of Sin" by Sons Of David, "Evil Woman Blues" by Guitar Nubbit, "Treason" by The Precisions, "Holy Ghost & Fire" by The Lord's Messengers, "Skippy White (parts 1 & 2)" by Junior Washington, "I Was Standing" by Lynn Harmonizers, and "Now Is The Time" by Earl Lett. (Soul, Gospel) LP, Vinyl record album

If you never went to Skippy White's record store in Boston, you really missed a hell of a shop – a surprisingly great outlet for rare and underground soul, located way up in New England – and a place that was giving the world wonderful music over the course of many decades! Back in the early days of the store, Skippy really had his ear to the scene – and managed to capture all sorts of great artists who were working very underground on the Boston scene – mostly soul acts, but a bit of blues and gospel too – all featured here in the first-ever collection to look at White's work at this level. The package was put together by Eli Paperboy Reed, and has notes from Boston contemporaries Peter Guaralnick and Peter Wolf – yet it's far hipper than any of those references might imply – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Do The Thing" by Earl Lett, "I Love What I Found In You" by The Precisions, "I've Been Lifted Out Of Sin" by Sons Of David, "Evil Woman Blues" by Guitar Nubbit, "Treason" by The Precisions, "Holy Ghost & Fire" by The Lord's Messengers, "Skippy White (parts 1 & 2)" by Junior Washington, "I Was Standing" by Lynn Harmonizers, and "Now Is The Time" by Earl Lett. (Soul, Gospel) LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the coolest record ever put out by the Luaka Bop label – and that's really saying a lot, given all the amazing albums they've given us over the years! The set's a perfect musical tonic for the times – a set of underground singles from the 70s, most of which fall in a space between the secular and spiritual – message-oriented, but not entirely from the scriptures – with a humanist message of positivity that's completely timeless – as powerful now as it was when these gems were recorded! The source of most of these records is from a gospel perspective, but they work a lot more in the territory of righteous 70s soul – making the same sort of shift that The Staple Singers or Voices Of East Harlem did on a better-known scale. Titles include "Peace In The Land" by The Gospel IQs, "We Got A Race To Run" by Staples Jr Singers, "I'm Trying To Be Your Friend" by The Soul Stirrers, "Don't Give Up" by The William Singers, "Let Your Light Shine" by Willie Dale, "It's Hard To Live In This Old World" by Rev Harvey Gates, "Time For Peace" by The Little Shadows, "We Don't Love Enough" by The Triumphs, and a great reworking of Earth Wind & Fire in "Keep Your Faith To The Sky" by Willie Scott & The Birmingham Spirituals. CD

An early 80s gospel cooker from a group who really live up to their name – young singers from the Portland scene, recorded here during a very uplifting performance at a high school! The rhythms are very driving – funky gospel at its best, with a very romping vibe that has both the larger ensemble and the key soloists really stepping up and knocking it out of the park – setting a fire in the music that goes way past just standard spiritual modes, with a very universal appeal to all fans of soulful styles! Titles include "Be Grateful", "Expressions", "Lord Don't Move That Mountain", "Worship The Lord", "Thank You Lord", "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power", and "I Need To Pray". LP, Vinyl record album