A rare bit of Cali soul – and a lot groovier than you'd guess from the cover! The music is rich in jazzy inflections – funky fusion used behind the lead vocals of Errol Knowles, in a blend that's quite similar to the best Bay Area funk of the time – particularly some of the grooves coming from the Fantasy Records scene! Guitars are great – played by Bill Courtial with lots of snakey, angular lines that really emphasize the groove – and other instrumentation includes keyboards and some mighty sweet percussion. Titles include "Losing You", "Love Nevermore", "Corn On The Cob/Time", "Don't You Think It's Time", "Time To Explain", and "Poem For Helen". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the two 80s masterpieces by this amazing Minneapolis group, before Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis left to change the face of commercial R&B! This first album and it's follow-up remain as a couple of the more enduring moments of slick, stylish American pop soul, and represent just a huge part of what we still love about the 80s! Titles include "Get It Up", "Girl", After Hi School", "The Stick", "Oh Baby" and the 10 minute jam "Cool", one of our fave cuts of the early 80s. "I'm cooler than Santa Claus, baby. . ." LP, Vinyl record album

A totally great package – one that brings together some of the coolest cuts ever from the early solo years of Weldon Irvine! Side one of the record features two takes on his great "Deja Vu" – the initial short version, which has more of a take on the catchy jazzy lyrics – and the longer version, which runs for almost ten minutes, and has more jazzy solo work! The flipside features the totally wonderful "Feelin Mellow" – a cut with a few singers working next to Weldon's electric piano lines, giving the whole thing a very righteous vibe – which is carried through on the cool "Watergate Don't Bug Me" – complete with melodica from Weldon, Fender Rhodes from George Cables, and some cool extemporaneous lyrics about Watergate! (Jazz, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked set of 80s soul, done in the best tight style of the Portrait label at the time – classy, but with a bit of a bite as well! Titles include "New York Eyes", "Housecalls", "What About Me", "Don't You Want My Love", "Shy Boy", "Always & Forever", and "It Happens Every Night". LP, Vinyl record album

A great litle early album from Ann Peebles – rawer than most of her more familiar stuff, with a gutbuckety soul quality that really keeps things fresh! We always love Ann's work, but in these early years she has a deep soul vibe that few other singers can touch – a level that easily rivals Aretha Franklin, but has more real southern roots – and which is handled here by the Hi Records sound. Willie Mitchell produced and arranged (of course!), and the record's got some sweet backing vocals by Rhodes, Chalmers, & Rhodes – very much in a Sweet Inspirations mode, but again maybe a bit deeper too. Tracks include a funky remake of The Isleys' "It's Your Thing", plus "Solid Foundation", "Crazy About You Baby", "Give Me Some Credit", and "Generation Gap Between Us". LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty hard rocking set of soul instrumentals from Gene Barge – a sax soloist with a honking King Curtis type sound, and a talent who was also doing a fair bit of producing and arranging for Chess during the 60s! This set is one of the few that Gene cut on his own, and is a loping set of tunes with his sax up front, and larger group grooving in different modes based around teen dances of the time. Titles include "The Monkey Time", "Twine Time", "Fine Twine", "The Jerk", "The In Crowd", "I Feel Fine", "It's All Over Now", and "Come See About Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Obscure British soul from Bovel – a Manchester singer from the mid 90s, and one who's got a vibe that's very different than the more popular London soul of the same time! Bovel clearly came up through the underground, and embraces a host of important musical currents here – while also working in a lean style that seems to refine her influences down into a special sort of essence through the DIY presentation of the album! This isn't soul that's trying to hit the charts or the clubs, but instead just stands as the very personal expressions of an artist who's at the crossroads of Northern England cultural currents. Titles include "Check 4 U", "Daydreamer", "Best Thing", "It's Not About Me", "Coming Back", "My Man", "Let Down & Liar", and "Life Changes You". LP, Vinyl record album

We don't know much about Bill Brown and his group – but they're a fantastic lost act from the 70s, and one who have a fantastic way of mixing warm soul harmonies with some very sharp grooves! The rhythms are pretty upbeat on most tracks, but the vibe is before the disco and club years – that special moment when funk musicians were able to move quick, and never lose their groove – and singers like Bill were able to slide into the mix and really soar with their vocals! We've never heard any of these cuts before, and the whole thing is like discovering a lost chapter of 70s soul that we'd completely missed – one that we'd rank right up there with some of the hippest east coast group soul of the time. Titles include "Bip Bam (parts 1 & 2)", "Stay Off The Moon", "Sock It To The Landlord", "Rainbow", "Time After Time", "Fool-Ology", "Love Under The Apple Tree", and "Dreamworld Fantasies". Also includes an instrumental of "Time After Time" – and a Billy Wilson version of "Fool-Ology". LP, Vinyl record album

A slammin' set of heavy R&B numbers from James Brown – combined in here with some other nice tracks from King Records artists of the time! The set almost has the same feeling as some of the James Brown Show albums – in that James is presented with other hard-hitting artists of his time – yet the difference here is that the others are King Records giants in their own right. The album features about 50% material by James – all hard hitters that include "Suds", "Hold It", "Scratch", "Night Train", "Cross Firing", and "Night Flying" – nearly all of which are instrumentals, in the best early King tradition! These are followed up by other tunes, mostly instrumental, from other artists – including "Doin Everything" and "Switch A Roo" by Henry Moore, "Tonk Game" by Hank Marr, "Bushy Tail" by Clifford Scott, "The Wobble" by The Wobblers, and "Just A Little Bit Of Everything" by Herb Hardesty'. LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal southern soul from the legendary Clarence Carter – one of his early killers for Atlantic Records, all of which really stand out from most of his work to come in later years! There's a raw, raspy brilliance here that's undeniable – the blind singer stepping out with incredible confidence on a host of tunes that really run the gamut – numbers of love and loss, mixed with a few more contemporary pop tracks – but all given a unique Muscle Shoals twist that really transforms them. Carter wins our heart from the start with his version of "I'd Rather Go Blind" – then keeps on soaring through cuts that include "Think About It", "Steal Away", "Look What I Got", "That Old Time Feeling", "Let Me Comfort You", "Weekend Love", "Light My Fire", and "Too Weak To Fight". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice record of modern soul that got a bit overlooked at the time because of the poor fate of the Chi-Sound label. The record's filled with Chicago soul talent like Tom Tom 84, Sonny Sanders, and Carl Davis, and it's a good updating of Gene's Chicago soul sound towards a style that's more modern soul-oriented. We've got a huge soft spot for the track "Does She Have A Friend?", which is a nice two-step groover, and the LP includes a number of other nice ones like "All About The Paper", "Let Me Make Love to You", and a remake of his classic, called "Rainbow '80". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic meeting of two generations of soulful music – Sheila E, the daughter of Cali Latin soul genius Coke Escovedo, meets up with the snappingly funky world of Prince – and results in one of the strongest records of Sheila's career! The singer/percussionist had already been around for about a decade on record – turning out some great Latin work with her brother Pete in the Bay Area – but this set has Sheila going of the top with a great Paisley Park groove, really working with lots of influences from Prince, but still also getting plenty of Latin elements of her own into the mix – on long tracks that are filled with wonderful rhythms and plenty of great percussion too! Titles include the sublime title cut "The Glamorous Life" – plus "The Belle Of St Mark", "Oliver's House", "Strawberry Shortcake", "Noon Rendezvous", and "Next Time Wipe The Lipstick Off Your Collar". 12-inch, Vinyl record

One of the greatest British funk albums of the 70s – if not all time! FBI may have an American reference in their name, but back in the day, they were the leading lights of the London soul scene – and one of the few groups who could blend together jazz, soul, and funk influences with the same sort of depth and tightness you might get from Kool & The Gang at their best! As with that group during their crucial mid 70s years, there's a style here that's really stretching out – not just copycat funk, but a really deep, personal approach to the groove – such that the mellow tracks have rhythms that are as infectious as the uptempo ones – and the whole record has this sense of righteous soul and almost spirituality – really tying things together beautifully, and making this classic way more than just a typical 70s soul album! A true treasure throughout – well worth all the praise its received over the years – with cuts that include "Love Love Love", "Talking About Love", "FBI", "The Time Is Right To Leave The City", "Bad Deal", and "Let Me Love You". LP, Vinyl record album

A really well-chosen set of classic Afro Funk records from Fela Kuti – hand-picked by Idris Elba, and brought together in this limited box set! Open & Close is an early classic from Fela Kuti & Africa 70 – the kind of early 70s record that helped both the leader and the group establish themselves as a global powerhouse of funk and soul! The set begins with the side-long "Open & Close" – a righteous tune that's driven onward by lots of tight drums from Tony Allen – young, focused, and completely amazing here – while Fela delivers all these madly leaping electric piano lines amidst the super-sharp horn section – all moving instrumentally for many minutes before the vocals come into play! Side two features two shorter tracks, but still nice and long in comparison to most funky groups – the wonderful "Swegbe & Pako" and "Gbagada Gbagada Gbogodo Gbogodo" – tunes that really send the record over the top! Fela teams up with vibist Roy Ayers on Music Of Many Colors – one of the best soul collaborations ever – a whopping album that brings together the best sides of these monster soul talents of the 70s! In keeping with Fela's work, the tracks are long and Afro-tinged, with a complicated groove that grows over the length of the track. And in keeping with Roy's work, the album has a sweet soulful feel, with lots of nice jazzy touches, cool vibes, and great vocals by Roy. Two long tracks, both classics: "2000 Black" and "Africa, Center of the World". Opposite People is seminal work from one of Fela's most crucial periods – recorded at a time when his soul was the deepest! The album features 2 long tracks – "Opposite People" and "Equalisation Of Trouser & Pant" – and they both have beautiful spooky keyboards in the instrumental passages, then leap into hard soul vocals by Fela. Tremendous stuff – done in a style that shows that no matter how many people cop or remake Fela's sound, he's still the best one to do it! The rare Stalemate album features the side-long tracks "Stalemate" and "Don't Worry About My Mouth" – both really hard-driving numbers, with a fantastic mix of vocals and grooves! Live In Amsterdam is an excellent live set from Fela – one that shows that he was still very capable of going over the top during the 80s! The set's a double LP – and it features 4 great numbers by the group, with Fela on soprano sax, piano, and organ, and plenty of other great work on tenor, alto, and trumpet. Titles include "Gimme Shit I Give You Shit", "Custom Check Point", "Movement Of The People", and "Political Statement Number 1". I Go Shout Plenty is a great one from Fela – with a date of 1986, but a sound that's pure late 70s! The record features 2 long tracks – "I Go Shout Plenty" and "Why Black Man Dey Suffer" – and they're both hard groovers with a strong political feel. "Why Black Man" is especially nice, and has some great keyboard riffing in the middle, with that great tinny sound that you'll hear on the best Fela albums. One that we almost never see – and issued on the Decca subsidiary Afrodisia. (Global Grooves, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

Funky club from 70s France – a great blend of disco, jazz funk, and slightly warmer soul – all served up by keyboardist Christian Gaubert with vocals but the ultra-sweet Last Exit group! Gaubert's style is right up there with the best European club at the time – tight rhythms, soaring keyboards, and an overall sound that's much deeper than some of the competing work coming from other territories at the time – especially the colder club sounds of Germany. Most lyrics are in English, and sung in an ensemble style by the group – and Gaubert's keys include Fender Rhodes, clavinet, and acoustic piano. Titles include "It", "Man On A Wire", "Sweet & Fool Like A Child", "Sweet Maryline", "Keep On Keep On", "Running Wave", and "Going Ups & Coming Downs". LP, Vinyl record album

NSI stands for "new sounds from the islands" – and that's definitely what you'll get here from this combo who serve up a fantastic blend of Antilles rhythms and contemporary club funk – all very much in the best spirit of the early zouk movement at the time! There's lots of great bass on the record – often used as the key core element of the tunes, with keyboards, guitar lines, and vocals layered alongside – almost with a quality that seems to echo the way that American groups were borrowing bits from the Caribbean and using it to inflect funk and soul up in the New York scene of the early 80s. The music is plenty playful, and very groovy – and titles include "Turn Your Face On Me", "Steel Ka Dance", "Oui Ce Yes Roger A Ti Wawa", and "Moin Epi Vou". (Global Grooves, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

Classic New Orleans soul from Chris Kenner – and just about the only 60s album issued under his name! Chris was one of the first New Orleans artists to veer into the funkier side of the spectrum – and here, he's working on a batch of all-original, chunky bottomed-tracks – filled with the kind of grooves that made the Crescent City scene one of the most exciting in the 60s – all produced to perfection by a young Allen Toussaint! The set features a great two-part version of Kenner's early hit "I Like It Like That" – plus the classic groovers "I Like It Like That (parts 1&2)", "Something You Got", and "Land Of 1000 Dances" – and lesser-known gems "That's My Girl", "Packing Up", "Time", and "Come Back & See". LP, Vinyl record album

Lizzo's reveling in superstardom here – even more forthright and confident than before, on titles that include "About Damn Time", "Grrrls", "I Love You Bitch", "Special", "Break Up Twice", "Naked", "Coldplay", "Birthday Girl", "If You Love Me", "2 Be Loved", and "The Sign". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic set of 70s crossover deep soul – recorded in the mode of similar work by Betty Wright or Laura Lee, and done with a similar mix of raw southern vocals and tighter production! About half the work was handled by the team of Dave Crawford and Brad Shapiro – working in the Criteria Studios in Miami to give Jackie a sound that's similar to Shapiro's work with Millie Jackson. The other half was produced in Philly, by the Young Professionals team of LeBaron Taylor, Tony Bell, and Phil Hurt – who give Jackie a warm, gliding, sweet 70s Philly groove! And although you might think that this Philly/Miami split would make for a mixed bag of tunes, the album's surprisingly unified – and in a way, does plenty to link together the growing dancefloor scenes in both cities. Titles include "Willpower", "Both Ends Against The Middle", "Time", "Something In A Look", "Clean Up Your Own Yard", "If", and "Darling Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

We're not sure if Arthur Ponder ever really got crowned prince on the Georgia scene of the early 80s – but given the class and quality of the tracks on this set, he definitely comes across like some sort of royalty! In truth, only a few of the songs here were ever issued at the time – a bit of solo material, and some that feature Arthur working with the group Sideshow – both of which have a modern soul update of older deep southern modes – killer vocals from Ponder in the lead, set to arrangements that are sometimes warm, sometimes mellow, and occasionally done with more of an upbeat groove! The package is the first-ever full length to showcase the music of Ponder – and titles include "Sexy Lady", "You Are The One For Me", "It's You Girl", "You Talk Too Much", "Lonely Girl", "If You Want My Love", "Let's Get Together For The Wrong We Have Done", and "Whatcha Gone Do About It". LP, Vinyl record album

Massive work from one of the funkiest drummers of all time – the legendary Bernard Pretty Purdie, stepping out here in a batch of instrumentals that may well be his greatest album ever! Bernard's drums are right up front in the mix – leading off all tunes with a full, funky, echoey sort of approach that's unlike anything else we can think of – and certainly different from any other late 60s albums of this type! The production is totally great – and has a way of pulling out some of the weirdest aspects of the music – which itself features guitar from Billy Butler and Eric Gale, bass from Bob Bushnell, tenor and flute from Seldon Powell, and organ and piano from Richard Tee – who also handled all the arrangements on the set! The centerpiece is the hit single "Funky Donkey", but just about every track's a groover in its own way – and titles include "Soul Drums", "Bill's Groove", "Jimmy's Back", "Testifyin", "Modern Jive", "Blow Your Lid", "Bee N Tee", and "Soul Bossa Nova". This new edition includes 8 bonus tracks, with a couple rare 45 tracks and more that have never been released – all soulful & funky – well paired with the Soul Drums album! Bonus tracks are in stereo, and include "Alexander's Rag Time Band", "Genuine John", "Soul Clappin", "If You Never Cried", "Stop" and "Time Is Tight". Also comes with a nice booklet with new liner notes, and choice quotes from Purdie's peers and those he influenced, from Galt MacDermot to Large Professor. (Jazz, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album