One of the best albums that Lou Rawls cut with the team of HB Barnum and David Axelrod – that incredible duo who made some of his 60s Capitol albums so great! The style here is wonderful – upbeat grooves from Barnum – who brings more soul into Lou's music than before – recorded by Axelrod with the right sort of sharpness and punch – that special quality he brought to Cannonball Adderley's 60s soul classics too! Rawls is really at home in the setting – stepping out in some points with these hip monologue passages that are as great as his singing – maybe even better, too – as they show a whole new side of Lou's personality – that badass, totally hip quality that people might never have expected from the early days. One of the best of these is the excellent "Old Man's Memories", about a guy sitting on a bench in Washington Park on the south side of Chicago, which then rolls into an amazing version of "It Was A Very Good Year". Other tunes have a great mix of soul and jazz – and titles include "Love Is A Hurtin Thing", "A Whole Lotta Woman", "Don't Explain", "Old Folks", and "Breaking My Back (Instead Of Using My Mind)". CD

A stunner of a soundtrack from the maestro Barry White – his only entry into the blacksploitation film genre of the 70s, and a complete doozy throughout! For the album, Barry's stripped down the bigger space of his own records, and his Love Unlimited productions – into some shorter tracks that really focus on that blend of funk and strings that he could do so well – making for a batch of killer instrumentals that really offer up a special Barry White take on the funky film sound of the 70s! Love Unlimited also sing on two tracks – "Somebody Is Gonna Off The Man" and "People Of Tomorrow Are The Children Of Today _- but most of the record is instrumental, played by the Orchestra – and tracks include "Killer's Lullaby", "So Nice To Hear", "Killer Don't Do It", "Can't Seem To Find Him", "Alive & Well", "Theme From Together Brothers", "Do Drop In", and "Here Comes The Man". CD

A really fantastic album from James Brown – and an unusual one, too – as it was only ever issued overseas back in the early 70s! The album's got a title that's similar to one of James' Christmas albums, but it's a completely different record – kind of a condensation of some of his best funky moments from the start of the 70s – with a track list that's overflowing with hard funk killers! A good number of the tracks here are two-parters – showing Brown and the group stretching out in the way that the JBs would take even further in years to come – working through "Make It Funky (parts 1 & 2)", "My Part/Make It Funky (parts 3 & 4)", "I'm A Greedy Man (parts 1 & 2)", and "Hey America (parts 1 & 2)". The set also features the socking classic "Soul Power" – plus "Let It Be Me", "I Cried", and a 1967 live Apollo version of "Kansas City" – plus takes on "Let It Be Me" and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" that later had applause added on the Super Bad album. CD

An incredible record – a real standout in Solomon Burke's career! This set features him working with arrangements that are smooth, mellow, and sexy – very much in the Barry White and Isaac Hayes mode, a style that's a perfect fit for Solomon's voice, which was warm and deep back when White and Hayes were just kids! Gene Page did some of the arrangements with Solomon, and the record's a wonderfully unified session with a mellow 70s soul feel that's just great. Titles include "Everlasting Love", "Music To Make Love By", "Midnight & You", "You & Your Baby Blues", and "Let Me Wrap My Arms Around You". CD

A mid-60s smoker from the great Bo Diddley – a set that's maybe more obscure than some of his initial classics, but equally great! Bo's completely on fire right from the start – fast-riffing his guitar with that rhythm he invented, and which bore his name for decades to come – rasping out rough lyrics that are important to the songs, but maybe never as much as his wicked work on guitar – which here also seems to have these trippy qualities that are maybe even pre-pysch at times! The whole thing is great – essential listening for any Bo Diddley fan – and titles include "Let Me Pass", "He's So Mad", "Corn Bread", "Soul Food", and "Stop My Monkey". Original European title and cover of the album – later issued in the US under the title 500% More Man! (Blues, Soul) CD

Why did Motown ever let the Four Tops get away? This album was their last for the label – and it's an excellent one, filled with soul, sweetness, and some of the best arrangements the group had in their later years! The soul component is super-high – with tight group instrumentation that reminds us of the best Philly backing combos of the same time, but leaner too – as Dennis Coffey and Wah Wah Ragin are on guitars, Jack Ashford handles percussion, and Leonard Caston adds some nice funky keyboards. The real talent, though, is the group – and Levi Stubbs is in fine fine form on cuts like "She's An Understanding Woman", "I Am Your Man", "If You Let Me", "Nature Planned It", "Walk With Me, Talk With Me Darling", and "Happy (Is A Bumpy Road)". Even includes a great version of Todd Rundgren's wonderful track "We Gotta Get You A Woman"! CD

Great work from the Ohio Players – and proof that moving to a big label could be a good thing for a funky group! This was the band's first album for Mercury – and although one might have the temptation to say that the label cut down the radical funk sound of the trippy Westbound years, the move also taught the band to sharpen up their act, and get out of the repetitive sloppy groove into which they'd been lapsing during the past few years. The album's a lot smoother than earlier work – with a polished funky sound that would soon push the band right up there with Earth Wind & Fire at the top of the soul charts. And although there's familiar funky numbers like "Skin Tight", "Jive Turkey", and "Streakin Cheek To Cheek" – the best moment on the entire album is the wonderful spacey soul number "Heaven Must be Like This", a seven minute mellow groover that's got a sophisticated jazzy soul style, with voices and piano soaring into the heavens, in a way that always still sends chills down our spine! That cut shows the band's tremendous growth – and it's one of their best-ever! CD

My Whole World Ended is a great start as a solo act for the legendary David Ruffin – stepping out here from The Temptations with a wonderfully heartbreaking style! The title of the record really sums up the feel of the set – a sense of desperation that really comes through in Ruffin's raspy vocals – with an edge that was already great in his previous group, but which really soars here amidst a range of Motown settings from Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Briston, Ivy Jo Hunter, and George Gordy. Some of the previous Temps baroque-soul elements create a complexity in the orchestrations – which David cuts through in this personal, powerful way – on titles that include "My Whole World Ended", "Pieces Of A Man", "Everlasting Love", "My Love Is Growing Stronger", "We'll Have A Good Thing Going On", and "World Of Darkness". CD

One of those Motown treasures that would have been a runaway hit, were it issued on a label with less going on – but which somehow got lost amidst the shuffle of all the other Motor City greatness of the time! Don't let obscurity make you think that Jimmy Ruffin's not giving his best, though – as the album's a stunner right from the start – one of those you pick up, check out, and wonder how you've lived with before – as Jimmy takes all the darker energy that the Four Tops and Temptations were bringing to their late 60s material, and gievs it an even spookier showcase with his fantastic lead vocals! The tunes are a mix of fresh numbers and under-recorded cuts, too – which further makes the record great – and the whole thing's got that special pre-Cali sound from Motown, that point when the label was really hitting some new creative moments. Titles include "Gathering Memories", "Just Before Love", "Honey Come Back", "Living In A World I Created For Myself", and "If You Will Let Me I Know I Can". CD