An overlooked gem from the years when most of the rest of the world had forgotten about the JBs – but Fred Wesley and the group were still going strong! The set's a great meeting of two funky generations – the classic James Brown funk of the late 60s and early 70s, and some of the revival modes that sprung up on the London scene at the end of the 80s – heard to best effect here in the way the album was recorded – with core horns from Wesley on trombone, Maceo Parker on alto sax, and Pee Wee Ellis on tenor – plus added London grooves in a real Brand New Heavies mode! The groove is nice and hard, and the album's way more of a classic-styled funk outing than most of the other JBs-revival titles from the same stretch – thanks to rock-solid production from the Soulciety family too. Noel McKoy, Jay Ella Ruth, and other Brit funk talents help out on the set – and titles include "What Goes Around", "Chillin With Fred", "Picture On The Wall", "Homeboy", "Push", and "I Like It Like That". CD

An overlooked gem from the years when most of the rest of the world had forgotten about the JBs – but Fred Wesley and the group were still going strong! The set's a great meeting of two funky generations – the classic James Brown funk of the late 60s and early 70s, and some of the revival modes that sprung up on the London scene at the end of the 80s – heard to best effect here in the way the album was recorded – with core horns from Wesley on trombone, Maceo Parker on alto sax, and Pee Wee Ellis on tenor – plus added London grooves in a real Brand New Heavies mode! The groove is nice and hard, and the album's way more of a classic-styled funk outing than most of the other JBs-revival titles from the same stretch – thanks to rock-solid production from the Soulciety family too. Noel McKoy, Jay Ella Ruth, and other Brit funk talents help out on the set – and titles include "What Goes Around", "Chillin With Fred", "Picture On The Wall", "Homeboy", "Push", and "I Like It Like That". CD

Essential funk in a single set – three killer albums from James Brown's legendary backing group! First up is Food For Thought – the classic first album by The JBs – James Brown's Fred Wesley-led backing band, and the force behind most of his greatest records of the early 70s! The band are incredible at this point – sharper, harder, and funkier than just about any other combo around – and that includes all the thousands of groups in the funky 45 underground who were always trying to copy their sound, but never got things this right! Not only are the rhythms the stuff of legend – but the use of the instruments is far far above the norm – as can be heard on the mindblowing "The Grunt", which was sampled heavily by Public Enemy to great fame – and which features a saxophone solo that sounds more like a whistling tea kettle! The set collects some of the group's best early singles, and includes all of the short little funky cuts that made them a legend right out of the box – "Pass the Peas", "The Grunt", "These Are The JBs", "Hot Pants Road", "Wine Spot", "To My Brother", "Blessed Blackness", "Theme From King Heroin", "Escapism (parts 1 & 2), and "Gimme Some More" – all together here in one tight little album of massive funky hard beats and breaks! Doing It To Death is an incredible album – a landmark piece of funk that nobody should be without, funk fan or not! The album is the second to feature James Brown's famous backing combo of the early 70s – and unlike their first one, which was really more of a collection of singles, this album has the group playing hard, long, and loud, in the free funk improvisational mode that was James' real contribution to the music at the time. The tracks are all incredibly long, with James at the forefront, egging the band on with shouts and comments – but also letting them open up large instrumentally, playing in a mode that's as much jazz as it is funky soul. The whole thing's peppered with some nice shorter segues between tracks – but the long cuts are the winners, and are some of the best funk ever recorded! Titles include "Mo Peas", "Doing It To Death", "La Di Da La Di Day", "You Can Have Watergate, Just Gimme Some Bucks & I'll Be Straight", and "Sucker". Last up is Damn Right I Am Somebody – quite possibly our favorite record by the JBs, ever! The set starts with a wonderful conversational bit – rapping and musing on the idea of "Damn Right, I Am Somebody" – showing the group in a political and righteous mode for the first time ever. The grooves then kick in – with the same heavy funk as on earlier records, but also a nice nod towards experimental production – from strange fade ups and fade downs, to stark time and rhythm changes, and even bits of electronics used to create some very cool moments in the grooves! The whole thing's as dead funky as can be, and is stuffed with insane classics like "Blow Your Head", "Same Beat", "Damn Right I am Somebody", "I'm Payin' Taxes, What am I Buyin'", and a great cover of Marvin Gaye's "You Sure Love to Ball"! CD

Pinch us, we're dreaming – a lost album from The JBs! The set's a treasure for any fans of the funky James Brown sound of the early 70s – and it features material originally recorded for release as the first full length album by The JBs in 1972 – but never issued at the time! A few cuts here made it onto other records and singles in different versions, but others are completely fresh – and heard here for the first time ever – really helping expand our understanding of the group at this point in their career. Dave Matthews did a lot of the arrangements for the set, and there's a surprising amount of jazz in the mix, too – lots of full horn passages that show Fred Wesley leading the group with a damn hard-swinging sound – mixed in with just the right degree of soul you'd expect, but in ways that are different than some of the later JBs jams. Titles include "Transmograpification", "Use Me", "Everybody Plays The Fool", "Sweet Loneliness", "Watermelon Man", "Secret Love", "You've Got A Friend", and "Seulb". CD also features 4 bonus non-LP singles – "Funky & Some", "JB Shout", "Back Stabbers", and "Alone Again Naturally" – all killer funky 45s from the early 70s! CD

One of the more obscure albums by Albert King – and a surprisingly great little set! Given that the concept – hinted at in the title – has Albert performing songs made famous by Elvis Presley, you might think that the record is a bit of a sell-out, or somewhat gimmicky. But given that a good number of these tracks have roots in rougher R&B, King's almost returning these tunes to their forebears with his performance on the set. There's a nicely gritty undercurrent to the grooves – almost a bit of Stax funk at times – and titles include "Hound Dog", "All Shook Up", "That's All Right", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Don't Be Cruel", "One Night", and "Love Me Tender". (Blues, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic funky gem from the start of the 70s – an album recorded during a period when Maceo Parker left James Brown's band for a few years – and struck out on his own with a fiery little combo that was every bit as funky as the Fred Wesley & The JBs! The record captures the group at the height of their powers, and it's a must, must, must-have for any fan of the the James Brown sound – as it's got lots of hard drums, rumbling basslines, and some killer work on funky horns – some of it by other members of James' band who had left with Maceo! Funny, funky, and a little bit jazzy too – like a pile of funky 45s stacked on top of each other – with the cuts "Funky Women", "Got to Getcha", "Southwick", "Mag-Poo", "I Remember Mr Banks", "Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself", "Shake It Baby", and "Better Half". CD

A real dancefloor set from Curtis – recorded with some sweet Philly production from the likes of Norman Harris and Bunny Sigler – in the sweeping, soaring, strings-heavy mode of the Philly disco records of the time! And yes, this isn't classic Curtis from the righteous years – but the surprising thing is how well his voice really holds up in the tracks – coming through with a strength that's fresh and surprising, given some of his disco contemporaries, and sounding pretty darn nice overall, thanks to some tight arrangements by the likes of Fred Wesley, Norman Harris, and Gil Askey. Linda Clifford does a duet with Curtis on "Between You Baby & Me", and the other cuts include "Victory", "Tell Me Tell Me", "You're So Good To Me", "You Better Stop", and "Over The Hump". LP, Vinyl record album

Lost soulful sounds from Osiris – one of the many high-concept funk ensembles to spring up in the wake of Earth Wind & Fire – and one of the better ones too! The combo's got some mighty tight grounding in the bass work of Tyrone Brunson – stepping out here in an early role to really help forge the group's groove from the bottom up – basslines with percussion, then jazzier elements on the top – including some wicked work by Fred Wesley & The Horny Horns! Those added horns really pack a lot of punch on the record – working perfectly with the group vocals that step out on most of the numbers – maybe not in ways that are as righteous as you'd guess from the title or the cover, but plenty darn groovy overall. Titles include "You & I", "Love In Your Heart", "I'll Never Let You Go", "Fantality", "Say You Will", and the jazzy stepper "Travelin Salesman". CD

With Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, Don Pullen, Bootsy Collins, and others. CD

With Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, Don Pullen, Bootsy Collins, and others. CD

Here's where it all happens – the huge culmination of all the years of heavy funk and psychedelic soul created by George Clinton and the P-Funk empire – fused into an amazingly tight groove that helped win over much bigger audiences than ever before! The album title and cover are very fitting – as George Clinton launches the mothership, forges his classic space-funk image, and blows the P-Funk empire into an arena-filling mega-star act – all with grooves that are still some of the tightest, sharpest funk you'll ever hear – all these many decades later. The instrumentation is razor-sharp – played by giants like Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Bootsy Collins, and Bernie Worrell – and the lyrics still have all the edginess and naughtiness of the earlier years – tied together wonderfully to make a very unified album, and one that's full of classics too! Titles include "Mothership Connection (Star Child)", "Night Of The Thumpasorus Peoples", "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Handcuffs", "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", and "Unfunky Ufo". CD

Here's where it all happens – the huge culmination of all the years of heavy funk and psychedelic soul created by George Clinton and the P-Funk empire – fused into an amazingly tight groove that helped win over much bigger audiences than ever before! The album title and cover are very fitting – as George Clinton launches the mothership, forges his classic space-funk image, and blows the P-Funk empire into an arena-filling mega-star act – all with grooves that are still some of the tightest, sharpest funk you'll ever hear – all these many decades later. The instrumentation is razor-sharp – played by giants like Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Bootsy Collins, and Bernie Worrell – and the lyrics still have all the edginess and naughtiness of the earlier years – tied together wonderfully to make a very unified album, and one that's full of classics too! Titles include "Mothership Connection (Star Child)", "Night Of The Thumpasorus Peoples", "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Handcuffs", "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", and "Unfunky Ufo". LP, Vinyl record album

Here's where it all happens – the huge culmination of all the years of heavy funk and psychedelic soul created by George Clinton and the P-Funk empire – fused into an amazingly tight groove that helped win over much bigger audiences than ever before! The album title and cover are very fitting – as George Clinton launches the mothership, forges his classic space-funk image, and blows the P-Funk empire into an arena-filling mega-star act – all with grooves that are still some of the tightest, sharpest funk you'll ever hear – all these many decades later. The instrumentation is razor-sharp – played by giants like Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Bootsy Collins, and Bernie Worrell – and the lyrics still have all the edginess and naughtiness of the earlier years – tied together wonderfully to make a very unified album, and one that's full of classics too! Titles include "Mothership Connection (Star Child)", "Night Of The Thumpasorus Peoples", "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Handcuffs", "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", and "Unfunky Ufo". CD features a bonus version of "Star Child", a promo radio version! CD

Vintage live recordings by George Clinton and his mighty P-Funk empire in the mid 70s – rehearsal sessions for the famous P-Funk Earth Tour – recorded in an airplane hanger in upstate New York! The sound is incredibly crisp and vibrant – these aren't sloppy rehearsal moments, but the group at their best – working with a tightness that's mindblowing, and having a sense of presence that's maybe even more upfront than the famous live album from the tour – as the smaller venue and recording style really captures the spontaneous energy of the performance! All the classic names are here, except Bootsy Collins – Fuzzy Haskins, Garry Shider, Jerome Brailey, Bernie Worrell, and even Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns – on titles that include "Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On", "Undisco Kidd", "Gettin To Know You", "Comin Round The Mountain", "Do That Stuff", "Dr Funkenstein", and "Mothership Connection". LP, Vinyl record album

Really great work from Positive Force – a group who gave the world a rare groove classic back in the 80s, and who return here with fresh material that's every bit as great! The last time around, their lead singer was Denise Vallin – and here, the lovely Leslie Page steps up to the microphone with a vocal style that's a great fit for the warm, Cali-styled grooves that the group does so well – a mixture of soulful inclinations with jazzier flourishes – all given a production style that's nicely down to earth, like some lost west coast jazz vocal album from back in the day! Disregard the 2022 date, as the whole thing feels a lot more like the kind of Free Soul material folks overseas were digging years ago – with titles that include "Gone Are The Days", "One Heart", "I Know", "Manti", "Dawn Breaks", and "I'll Be What I Wanna Be". LP, Vinyl record album

The seminal first album from the SOS Band – a record that really showcases the new sound of soul for the 80s, yet still holds onto all the best elements of the previous decade too! These guys have a great ear for groovers – well-demonstrated by the play they got on the dancefloor – yet they've also got a deeper sense of soul than some of their club contemporaries as well – heard not just on the ensemble vocals for the upbeat tracks, but especially on some of the album's great mellow steppers too! It's these laidback cuts that have always kept the album strong for us – showing that SOS are way more than just another fast funk band, and can really go deep, and stay with it for the long haul. Fred Wesley helped a bit on the arrangements – and titles include "Take Your Time", "Love Won't Wait For Love", "SOS (Dit Dit Dit Dash Dash Dash Dit Dit Dit)", "Take Love Where You Find It", and "Open Letter". LP, Vinyl record album

A tasty bit of late P-Funk! The album was recorded in 1980, on the wane of the main P-Funk groups – and it features Bootsy and Fred Wesley teaming up on the arrangements, in a set of bass-heavy, mostly instrumental tracks that groove hard like the best early work by Zapp! There's a great jazzy groove to the record – with loads of tasty keyboards, and less of the slapp bass funk that could sometimes ruin other efforts like this. Titles include "Love Munch", "Hyper Space", "Freak to Freak", "Body Shop", and "We Do It All Day Long". LP, Vinyl record album

A supremely fantastic album, and one that's always woefully overlooked in discussions of James Brown's incredible People label! Sweet Charles, Charles Sherell, was a great lost soul vocalist who had a voice that was warm and mellow, with a sweetness that was often missing from James' singing – but which sounded great with his arrangements and production. Fred Wesley and Dave Matthews arranged this one and only album, and the record's a great blend of sweet soul tracks, funky numbers, and other stellar grooves. There's a killer version of "Soul Man", that begins with a very tasty break; the monster "Yes, It's You", which has a sweetly sliding intro that's ripe for sampling; the righteous political "Why Can't I Be Treated Like A Man" – and lots of other nice ones too! CD

Trussel may have cut this one and only album at the end of the 70s – but they've got a strength that's kept them going for years – despite a lack of success at the time! The record's a sweet modern soul stunner – a record that picks up a sweet jazzy groove that's augmented with lots of great funky touches from Fred Wesley – all in ways that are a real precursor to the 80s groove generation! The album's not really disco, but more in the clubby funk territory of The Horny Horns – a mode that's got the ensemble coming down tight on the groove, and layering the sharp instrumentation with catchy vocal refrains that give the whole album a really infectious vibe. Titles include the classic "Gone For The Weekend" – plus "Love Injection", "Sweet Love", "I Love It", "Big City Rocker", and "If You Can't See It". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

With Karl Denson on alto, soprano, and tenor saxophone. (Jazz, Soul) CD

After Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker came head to head with James Brown in the mid 70s, they broke off and formed the Horny Horns contingent – a tight funky backing section that's featured on a number of late 70s funk sessions, and which also recorded some extremely nice numbers on their own! This first album has the group working with George Clinton and Bootsy, who was a friend of Fred and Maceo from the old days – and who could really use the tight playing of some James Brown-trained musicians to smooth out their groove. This album was the group's first – and it's still their best – forging a massive new funk sound with the best elements of the old JBs fused through Clinton and Bootsy's P-Funk filter. Includes the monster funk cut "Fourplay" – a standout classic that features a funky break, hard solos, and all the other elements you'd need to make a great funky instrumental. Other tracks include "Between The Sheets", "Peace Fugue", and a version of "Up For The Down Stroke". CD

A fantastic blend of two funky styles – that of the James Brown group of the early 70s, and the always mighty P-Funk nation of the late 70s! After Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker came head to head with James Brown in the mid 70s, they broke off and formed the Horny Horns contingent – a tight funky backing section that's featured on a number of late 70s funk sessions, and which also recorded some extremely nice numbers on their own! This first album has the group working with George Clinton and Bootsy, who was a friend of Fred and Maceo from the old days – and who could really use the tight playing of some James Brown-trained musicians to smooth out their groove. This album was the group's first – and it's still their best – forging a massive new funk sound with the best elements of the old JBs fused through Clinton and Bootsy's P-Funk filter. Includes the monster funk cut "Fourplay" – a standout classic that features a funky break, hard solos, and all the other elements you'd need to make a great funky instrumental. Other tracks include "Between The Sheets", "Peace Fugue", and a version of "Up For The Down Stroke". LP, Vinyl record album

After Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker came head to head with James Brown in the mid 70s, they broke off and formed the Horny Horns contingent – a tight funky backing section that's featured on a number of late 70s funk sessions, and which also recorded some extremely nice numbers on their own! This first album has the group working with George Clinton and Bootsy, who was a friend of Fred and Maceo from the old days – and who could really use the tight playing of some James Brown-trained musicians to smooth out their groove. This album was the group's first – and it's still their best – forging a massive new funk sound with the best elements of the old JBs fused through Clinton and Bootsy's P-Funk filter. Includes the monster funk cut "Fourplay" – a standout classic that features a funky break, hard solos, and all the other elements you'd need to make a great funky instrumental. Other tracks include "Between The Sheets", "Peace Fugue", and a version of "Up For The Down Stroke". LP, Vinyl record album

The first album ever issued with the name of Bernie Worrell on the cover – and a great set that really sums up all the amazing keyboard work he'd been bringing to the P-Funk universe of George Clinton! The set's got a vibe that takes off nicely from the Funkadelic/Parliament sound of the late 70s – definitely more keyboard heavy, in a great way – and really opening up with some of the special madness that was Bernie's own, and often hidden behind the light of the bigger stars in Clinton's galaxy. Worrell sings lead, and also plays a mountain of keyboards – and the set also features help from a huge number of P-Funk friends – including Eddie Hazel, GaryShider, Bootsy Collins, Parlet, Brides of Funkenstein, and even Fred Wesley & The Horny Horns. George Clinton co-produced with Bernie – and titles include "Much Thrust", "Woo Together", "Insurance Man For The Funk", and "Hold On". LP, Vinyl record album

Features George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and Fred Wesley – plus Tony Williams and Sly Dunbar! CD

A very unusual moment from the mighty Bernie Worrell – the keyboardist that most folks know for his work as part of the P-Funk universe of George Clinton – stepping out here on an early 90s album done in collaboration with producer Bill Laswell! Like most of Laswell's other projects around the time, there's a spirit here that's not only genre-busting, but also aimed towards some of the more unusual possibilities of collaboration – at a level that has Bernie working with talents from soul, funk, jazz, and some other styles too – a lineup that includes Amina Claudine Myers, Fred Wesley, Marty Erlich, Umar Bin Hassan, Buckethead, and Vincent Chancey – all coming together in musical modes that are very different than Bernie's best-known solo album from the early 80s. There's a very dark spirit here at times – that layered sound that Laswell did so well – but mixed with these other moments that have a surprising sense of jazz majesty – almost with the spiritual core of a Bill Lee soundtrack. Titles include "The Mask", "Moon Over Brixton", "Witness For The Defense", "Set The Tone/Victory", "Gladiator Skull", and "Fields Of Play". CD

Music from Vinnie Monte, Nicardi Brothers, Judd Hamilton, Jerry Mason, The Temptations, Johnny Vanelli, Danny Leslie, Steve Fallon, Tony Cosmo, Ben Higgins, and more - 34 tracks in all. (Rock, Soul) CD

Sublime soul from the great Thom Bell – one of our favorite arranger, producer, songwriters of all time – and a talent who really helped push the Philly soul scene much farther than most during the 70s! Bell was trained as a classical pianist as a kid – which might explain part of his ear for a special sort of tune – but by the time of this work, he was neck-deep in the soul scene – and working with a fantastic track record for bringing the best out of a very wide variety of artists! Bell was especially great with groups – he helped more than a few really stretch out their wings and grow – but as you'll hear here, Thom also handled a fantastic range of music in Philly studios – all with magnificent touches that really set the tunes apart from the rest – French horns, harpsichord, and especially that twangy sitar sound that worked so well with a harmony ballad. The set's got 23 tracks in all, and a massive set of notes on the man and his music – with titles that include "What I See" by Three Degrees, "Here I Go Again" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "You've Been Untrue" by The Delfonics, "Moody Woman" by Jerry Butler, "Something For Nothing" by MFSB, "One Man Band" by Ronnie Dyson, "Close The Door" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Life Is A Song Worth Singing" by Johnny Mathis, "Look The Other Way" by Lesley Gore, "What Kind Of Lady" by Dee Dee Sharp, "It's The Same Old Love" by The Courtship, "Do You Remember Yesterday" by The Intruders, "Track Of The Cat" by Dionne Warwick, and "I Wanna Be A Free Girl" by Dusty Springfield. CD

Music from The Supremes, The Rivieras, The Drifters, Gene Pitney, Jan And Dean, Lesley Gore, Roy Orbison, Mary Wells, Del Shannon, Bobby Freeman, J. Frank Wilson And The Cavaliers, Martha And The Vandellas, and more - 22 songs in all. (Rock, Soul) CD

Fremeaux's nice Roots of Rock 'n' Roll series – includes 36 tracks from artists including Tiny Bradshaw, Ramblin' Jimmie Dolan, Goree Carter, Annie Laurie, Red Foley with Cecil Gant, Hank Snow, Lester Williams, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Billy Jack Wills, Roy Hogsed, Joe Hill Louis, Wesley Holly, Johnnie Lee Wills, Calvin Boze, Wynonie Harris, and more. (Rock, Soul) CD

Music from The Robins, The Cheers, Elvis Presley, The Coasters, Wilbert Harrison, LaVern Baker, The Clovers, The Drifters, Chuck Jackson, Peggy Lee, and more. (Rock, Soul) CD