Sweetly stepping funk from The Rimshots – here moving from their rawer early sound into a tighter mode that was much more in keeping with the Philly scene of the time! The set's got a really full ensemble group feel – similar to other All Platinum classics by Brand New Funk and Wood Brass & Steel – a style that might be called disco at times, but which has a more laidback approach, and a more organic funk-based sound at its core. There's some great tripped-out guitars on a few cuts – stepping over the grooves with a chromatic sound that reminds us a bit of The Spirit Of Atlanta – and the best numbers burn with a rolling groove that would make the Rhythm Makers proud! Tracks include "Groove Bus", "Do what You Feel", "Walter's Inspiration", "Now Is the Time", and the group's cover of "7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (Blow Your Whistle)". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic live album, and one that has The Moments singing before an audience made up of love-starved female prisoners! The girls in the crowd are outrageous, and you'll hear them screaming like mad as the sexy Moments work their way through live versions of tracks like "I Do", "Sunday", "Not On The Ouside", "Going In Circles", and "Letter". Not only is this album filled with great east coast group soul, but it also almost sounds like a riot's about to break out! LP, Vinyl record album

A nice lost soundtrack that accompanied this film about a Patty Hearst-type character from the mid 70s! The Stang/All Platinum label was in charge of the music, and the soundtrack features a bunch of exclusive cuts by Rhetta Hughes, The Moments, The Rimshots, and Chuck Jackson. Best of these are the Rimshots instrumentals, especially "Takin It" and "Do What You Feel". Also includes a version of "Sexy Mama", the Moments' big hit! Other tracks include "Look At Me" by Rhetta Young, "Patty" by The Moments, and "Gotta Get A Gun" by Chuck Jackson. (Soundtracks, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

This album is probably the best ever by this legendary Baltimore soul group! Includes the massive breakbeat track "World", which starts with great hard drums, then leaps into a nice tight funky soul groove. Other cuts include "I Dig Your Act", "Friends By Day (Lovers By Night)", "My Thing", and "Alibies & Lies". Sweet harmonies, heavy soul, and a very raw production vibe make this an instant classic! LP, Vinyl record album

The cover may look like some indie soul set from the 80s, but Mabu's Madness is a rare east coast funk combo from the start of the 70s – one who issued this killer set on the tiny Maple label with a mighty heavy sound! The album's got a vibe that's a bit like some of the best funk albums on the Stang/All-Platinum label – nicely raw in all the best spots, with some unconventional instrumentation that's not afraid to soar between hard funk and sweeter soul moments – all topped with vocals from Brad "Mabu" Young, who also provides all the heavy drums on the set – which really seem to set the combo on fire! Brad's almost got a slight dose of Hendrix in his vibe, which is echoed by some of the heavy fuzz on the guitar at points – on titles that include "Seize The Time", "Show Me How", "Do The Best You Can", "We'll Make You Proud", "Mind Your Business", and "She Turned Me On". LP, Vinyl record album

A special version of this excellent series – with an album by each artist in the package! Side one features a killer album by the justly described Great JJ Jackson – and one that's been a darn tough one to find over the years! The leadoff cut is JJ's amazing single "But It's Alright", a slammin' soul track that always stops us dead whenever we hear it – which isn't often enough! The rest of the material is excellent too, and there are lots of nice tracks like "I Dig Girls", "Courage Ain't Strength", "Too Late", "Try Me", "Down But Not Out", Sho Nuff (Got A Good Thing Going", and "Four Walls". He's equally adept at uptempo soul and more ballad inflected tunes – great stuff all the way! Side two features Hypnotized by Linda Jones – one of the greatest female singers on the east coast scene at the end of the 60s – heard here on a classic Warner Brothers set that includes some of her best-remembered tracks! At some level, the set's a prequel to Linda's later recordings for the Stang/All Platinum label – as it features production and arrangements by the great George Kerr – who really has a way with slow-moving soul tunes, and the kind of sad-tinged tracks that Jones always did so well! Plus, his raw production really brings out some of the deeper soul qualities in Linda's voice – a mode that's quite a surprise at times, and presented here in a way that's far beyond any of the Aretha Franklin-styled cliches of other singers. Jones is a tremendously unique talent in female soul, and this album's her lasting legacy – a true treasure with cuts that include the hit "Hypnotized", plus loads of other nice ones like "Last Minute Miracle", "Give My Love A Try", "You Can't Take It", "What've I Done", and "I Can't Stand It". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic second chapter of work from Timeless Legend – material that's even more obscure than their famous first album – and that record is pretty darn rare! The vibe here continues from that one – an older style of sweet soul that's often more in the early 70s mode from the Philly/New Jersey scene, but given some slight shifts in the instrumentation – yet still never updated at all to fit a more mainstream 80s mode! There's a wonderful balance of groovers and mellow moments on the record – making the whole thing feel like some sort of Stang/All-Platinum album from the mid 7 0s – and titles include "I Was Born To Love You (parts 1 & 2)", "Do You Love Me", "You're The One", "Everybody Dance (parts 1 & 2)", "Where There's Love There's A Way", and "Baby Don't Do This To Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful stuff from Sylvia Robinson – the singer who scored big as a youngster in the Mickey & Sylvia group, and who later became the den mother of hip hop with her Sugar Hill label. This set was recorded during the time that Sylvia had a very successful run with her New Jersey group of soul labels like All Platinum and Stang – and it's a monument to her breathy sexy style, and is probably one of the raunchiest records to hit the top of the charts in the early 70s. The hit single "Pillow Talk" was bedroom fodder for couples all over the world – but the whole record's pretty darn nice, and equally sexy! Features the great "Didn't I", a slinky groover with a good sample riff – plus "Give It Up In Vain", "Had Any Lately", and "My Thing". LP, Vinyl record album

Hard heavy soul from The Wicked Pickett – and virtually a blueprint for the heavier sound of Muscle Shoals to come! Rick Hall and Tom Dowd produced the material, and tracks include classics like "Mustang Sally", "Land Of 1000 Dances", "Funky Broadway", "Soul Dance Number Three", "It's Too Late", "I Found A Love", "634-5789", "If You Need Me", "Don't Fight It", "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", "Ninety-Nine & A Half Won't Do" and "In The Midnight Hour". LP, Vinyl record album

Hard heavy soul from The Wicked Pickett – and virtually a blueprint for the heavier sound of Muscle Shoals to come – as Wilson Pickett was to that soul scene what Otis Redding had been to the Memphis world of Stax Records! These aren't Wilson's first recordings – but as with Aretha Franklin at Atlantic, the singer really found a way to focus his talents and come on strong – with a hard-biting sound that made him one of the leading lights of the label during the second half of the 60s! Rick Hall and Tom Dowd produced the material, and tracks include classics like "Mustang Sally", "Land Of 1000 Dances", "Funky Broadway", "Soul Dance Number Three", "It's Too Late", "I Found A Love", "634-5789", "If You Need Me", "Don't Fight It", "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", "Ninety-Nine & A Half Won't Do" and "In The Midnight Hour". LP, Vinyl record album

A mid 60s album by Berry, and unlike a lot of other Chess full lengths at the time, this set features more new tunes than those pulled from 45s. 12 tracks in all, including "It Wasn't Me", "Run, Joe", "Every Day We Rock & Roll", "One For My Baby (And One For The Road)", "Welcome Back, Pretty Baby", "It's My Own Business", "Right Off Rampart Street", "Vaya Con Dios", "Merrily We Rock & Roll", "My Mustang Ford", "Ain't That Just Like A Woman" and "Wee Hour Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A breakout record that forever put Wilson Pickett at the top of the heap for mainstream 60s soul – thanks to the oft-covered, endlessly played "Mustang Sally" single that leads off the set! And although the groove established by that track helped Pickett establish an audience on both sides of the fence, the full album itself is much deeper stuff – a searing album of southern-styled soul recorded with some great Muscle Shoals production – Rick Hall and Tom Dowd at the helm – and key session players who include Charlie Chalmers, Chips Moman, Tommy Cogbill, Spooner Oldham, and Roger Hawkins – all of whom help give the record the intimate, earthy feeling that helped Pickett step out with a stronger sound than earlier recordings. (And in fact, this album's perhaps a key pre-Aretha Franklin example of the way that Atlantic's vision could majestically change the sound of an already-known soul artist – bringing them far deeper than ever before.) Titles include "Mustang Sally", "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", "Nothing You Can Do", "Three Time Loser", "Sunny", "She Ain't Gonna Do Right", "Knock On Wood", "Time Is On My Side", and "You Left The Water Running". LP, Vinyl record album

Beat group soul from Germany – one of the few albums ever cut by Berry & The Movements, a group who's better known for their album on MPS, but who sound pretty darn great here too! The style of the album is drenched in the Memphis Stax sound of the late 60s – lots of heavy bass in the arrangements, and some nice raw guitar that makes for some edgey takes on familiar soul classics. The sound is raw, round, and mighty – and Berry's singing in some strangely-accented English, which gives the album a nice sound too! Includes versions of James Brown's "Ain't That A Groove" and "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" – plus "Philly Dog", "I've Been Loving You Too Long", "Mustang Sally", "Don't Fight It", and "Sweet Soul Music". LP, Vinyl record album

The tenth edition in this really fantastic series – a collection of tunes that's moved way past the traditional funk compilations from years back – really showing the evolving taste for a groove in the global underground! The tunes here effortlessly mix together rare soul, groovy jazz, and plenty more – pulled from impossibly rare 45s and albums that remind us that, even though we've spend decades digging in the crates, we still have a heck of a lot to learn about music! We're especially in love with some of the more obscure soul jazz vocalists here – artists we never would have discovered otherwise – and the package features tracks that include "Spooky" by Frankie Greer Quartette, "Kitchen Cookin" by Eddie Buster Band, "The Mustang (parts 1 & 2)" by The New Philadelphians, "Under The Covers" by The Kats, "Coming Home Baby" by Ronny Pellers Satin Sound, "Evil Ways" by The Lido, "El Mexicano" by Brazada, "Title Town" by Herb Crawford Jazz Ensemble, "Little Sister (parts 1 & 2)" by The Headliners, "Radiation Funk" by Maxell, and "String Around My Heart" by Eunice Haze. (Funky Compilations, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album