A legendary funk set from late 70s Chicago – served up by our own Captain Sky, aka Daryl Cameron – an imposing figure who often worked in the same space-themed territory as the P-Funk empire in the mid 70s! The difference here, though, is that Cameron wrote, produced, and put the whole thing together himself – with help from a few friends in the studio – making the album a great homegrown attempt to rival the strength of the bigger funk ensembles of the period – something The Captain and crew do pretty darn well throughout! There's lots of heavy bass on the set – a strong precursor of modes to come – mixed with riffing guitar, sweet keyboards, and plenty of tight rhythms – on cuts that include the famous sample cut "Super Sporm" – a killer extended track with a great conga break, and a tight old school sample sound – plus "Now That I Have You", "Saturday Night Move-Ease", "Wonder Worm" and "Can't Stop Now". CD

Minnie Riperton's first album for Epic – and the record that broke her from a hip Chicago underground artist into one of the seventies' biggest female soul stars! The record moves past the baroque soul of Minnie's early years with Rotary Connection and Charles Stepney – and hits a mix of mellow compressed LA styles and slicker funkier numbers that do the same thing for her Chicago-trained vocals that Rufus' backing did for that of Chaka Khan. Of course, it helps that she's got some superbly sensitive writing and arranging help by husband Richard Rudolph – and Stevie Wonder's definitely lurking in the background, too – not credited with production, due to contractual reasons, although he helped put most of the album together. Includes Minnie's huge crossover hit "Loving You", a perfect showcase for her beautiful 5 octave voice, plus the tracks "Our Lives", "Every Time He Comes Around", "Perfect Angel", and "Reasons". This legendary album finally gets its proper treatment – with very detailed notes from Minnie's husband/co-creator Richard Rudolph – and 11 bonus tracks from the vault – including "Lovin You (single version with countdown)", "Reasons (ext version)", "It's So Nice (ext version)", "Take A Little Trip (duet with Stevie Wonder)", "Seeing You This Way (acoustic)", "Edge Of A Dream (ext version)", "Perfect Angel (ext version)", "Every Time He Comes Along (ext version)", "Don't Let Anyone Bring You Down (Perfect Angel version)", "Lovin You (alt band version)", and "Our Lives (ext version)". Really fantastic – great sound and the bonus tracks are beautiful! CD

Well, it's HIS story, actually – a bit overblown in concept, and probably execution – but a record that's got some nice nuggets underneath, if you know where to look. The first half is the backstory – gems from Michael's earlier years on Epic – including "Remember The Time", "The Girl Is Mine", "Bad", "Rock With You", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "She's Out Of My Life", "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough", and "Wanna Be Startin Something". The second half is "HIStory Continues" – newer material that might have made a decent album on its own, but which probably pales slightly in comparison with the classics. Tracks include the "Scream" duet with Janet – plus "You Are Not Alone", "Childhood", "2 Bad", "Tabloid Junkie", "This Time Around", "Come Together", and "They Don't Care About Us". CD

Easily the best-ever collection we've seen of the work of Fontella Bass – and one that really goes past her oft-remembered hit, to feature the full scope of her mid 60s work for Chess Records! To most folks, Fontella's remembered for a few reasons – her Aretha Franklin-styled hit "Rescue Me" (often mistaken for Aretha herself), or the fact that she married Art Ensemble member Lester Bowie. But back at the start, Fontella was a heck of a great little soul singer – capable of a wide variety of modes, all of which are included here! The 25 track package really shows an evolution in music – and Bass sings in styles that include deep soul ala Atlantic, sweet soul ala Motown, uptown soul ala Wand, soaring soul ala Brunswick, and tight duet soul, in the mode of some of the more famous duets coming from Detroit or New York. CD really digs deep and brings back a full range of singles, plus some unreleased tracks – and the sound here is totally great. Titles include "Oh No Not My Baby", "Our Day Will Come", "Free At Last", "I Surrender", "I Can't Rest", "Leave It In The Hands Of Love", "You've Lost That Lovin Feelin", "The Soul Of A Man", "Joy Of Love", "Don't Mess Up A Good Thing", "You're Gonna Miss Me", "Come & Get These Memories", "Rescue Me", "Since I Fell For You", "I'm A Woman", "How Glad I Am", "Impossible", and "Lucky In Love". CD

A surprisingly nice album – even if you're not a fan of Diana Ross! Given that Marvin and Diana are standing back to back on the front cover, we kind of get the idea that there wasn't as much sympathy in the session as on some of Marvin's classic duet sides from the 60s with Tammi Terrell – but the record's actually not that bad, though – thanks to a sweet smooth soulful style that's very much in the style of Marvin's Let's Get It On album. Of course, the overall project isn't nearly as sublime – but the record does feature arrangements by Paul Riser, James Carmichael, Dave Blumberg, and Gene Page that have a seductive quality that moves well past the vocal mismatch. Titles include "Stop, Look, Listen", "Just Say, Just Say", "I'm Falling In Love With You", "Include Me In Your Life", "You Are Everything", "Love Twins", and "My Mistake". CD includes 4 bonus tracks – "I'll Keep My Light In My Window", "I've Come To Love You So Much", "The Things I Will Not Miss", and "Alone" – all previously unissued! CD