Big Maybelle's got a new bag – and we like it! This tasty set was cut for the tiny Rojac label in between Maybelle's earlier years at Savoy and later albums on Brunswick – and it's got a swinging, 60s mod sort of style that's pretty darn groovy, baby! The arrangements are by Bob Gallo, and most of the tracks are 60s pop and soul standards – but Maybelle sings them with a gusty, sincere style – and brings a really great approach to the album – almost giving it the feel of some of the best Tangerine label albums from the decade. Titles include "Eggplant That Ate Chicago", "I Can't Control Myself", "Coming On Strong", "Mellow Yellow", "96 Tears", "Eleanor Rigby", and "Black Is Black". Kind of nutty, but it kind of works! CD

A great set that may well be Big Maybelle's best record ever – really rare work that's quite different than her famous work of the 50s! The set was recorded in the Criteria studios in Miami – and it's got a cool southern soul sound that's part Bobby Blue Bland bluesy soul, and part Muscle Shoals funk – fused together wonderfully by arranger Eric Knight – who really has a great ear for giving Maybelle a wicked new groove! Maybelle's vocals are a bit deeper than usual – much more soul than the blues of a decade before – and tracks include "This Bitter Earth", "How It Lies", "Old Love Never Dies", "My Mother's Eyes", and "Love Careless Love". CD

A great set that may well be Big Maybelle's best record ever – really rare work that's quite different than her famous work of the 50s! The set was recorded in the Criteria studios in Miami – and it's got a cool southern soul sound that's part Bobby Blue Bland bluesy soul, and part Muscle Shoals funk – fused together wonderfully by arranger Eric Knight – who really has a great ear for giving Maybelle a wicked new groove! Maybelle's vocals are a bit deeper than usual – much more soul than the blues of a decade before – and tracks include "This Bitter Earth", "How It Lies", "Old Love Never Dies", "My Mother's Eyes", and "Love Careless Love". CD

One of the funkiest blacksploitation soundtracks of the 70s – a rare indie gem from Nat Dove & The Devils! Dove's got a style that's a lot rougher and rootsier than other soundtrack artists of the 70s – an approach that's more based in the modes of the indie funk underground of the time, and less in the more polished studio funk you'd find on bigger film releases. The grit in the grooves is wonderfully welcome here – and it's a quality that really sets this one apart from the pack, and keeps it in heavy rotation over the years! Most of the tracks on here are instrumentals, and a few of the cuts have vocals by Mary Love – and titles include "Joy", "Petey Wheatstraw", "Steve's Den", Junkie Chase", "Zombie March", "Ghetto Street USA", and "Loving You". CD

One of the funkiest blacksploitation soundtracks of the 70s – a rare indie gem from Nat Dove & The Devils! Dove's got a style that's a lot rougher and rootsier than other soundtrack artists of the 70s – an approach that's more based in the modes of the indie funk underground of the time, and less in the more polished studio funk you'd find on bigger film releases. The grit in the grooves is wonderfully welcome here – and it's a quality that really sets this one apart from the pack, and keeps it in heavy rotation over the years! Most of the tracks on here are instrumentals, and a few of the cuts have vocals by Mary Love – and titles include "Joy", "Petey Wheatstraw", "Steve's Den", Junkie Chase", "Zombie March", "Ghetto Street USA", and "Loving You". CD

A legendary album – and for good reason too – a set that's as mysterious as it is funky, and a record that's stayed at the top of our crates for years! The album features a really unusual collective of musicians, pulled together under the guidance of producer Paul Winley – a group that features George Benson on guitar, Dave Baby Cortez on organ, Willis Jackson on tenor sax, and Earl Williams on some massively funky drums! The music's a mix of funky jazz and gritty soul – put together with some really weird studio touches – including an uncredited male voice that comes in and out of the tracks, bad-rapping along with some very hip commentary. Ann Winley sings the female vocals on the set – often egged on by the dude – but the real charm of the record lies at the bottom – the wicked drums, funky basslines, and choppy instrumental bits that have gotten the set sampled plenty over the years. Titles include the classic "Smokin Cheeba Cheeba" alone, the groovy "Finger In It", a great breakbeat version of "Ain't No Sunshine" with a tenor solo by Willis Jackson, and the slow bluesy talking cut "Fed Up", a baaaad rap about a couple splitting up – done here in both vocal and instrumental versions. CD

A legendary album – and for good reason too – a set that's as mysterious as it is funky, and a record that's stayed at the top of our crates for years! The album features a really unusual collective of musicians, pulled together under the guidance of producer Paul Winley – a group that features George Benson on guitar, Dave Baby Cortez on organ, Willis Jackson on tenor sax, and Earl Williams on some massively funky drums! The music's a mix of funky jazz and gritty soul – put together with some really weird studio touches – including an uncredited male voice that comes in and out of the tracks, bad-rapping along with some very hip commentary. Ann Winley sings the female vocals on the set – often egged on by the dude – but the real charm of the record lies at the bottom – the wicked drums, funky basslines, and choppy instrumental bits that have gotten the set sampled plenty over the years. Titles include the classic "Smokin Cheeba Cheeba" alone, the groovy "Finger In It", a great breakbeat version of "Ain't No Sunshine" with a tenor solo by Willis Jackson, and the slow bluesy talking cut "Fed Up", a baaaad rap about a couple splitting up – done here in both vocal and instrumental versions. CD

Almost a decade's worth of great work from Howlin Wolf – late 50s and early 60s recordings done for Chess Records in Chicago, nicely packaged up here in an archival series album with full notes on the sessions and music! Nearly all tracks are originals by Wolf – aka Chester Burnett – and instrumentation includes a fair bit of surprisingly noisy guitar, plus piano, bass, drums, and some nice tenor on a few tracks. Titles include "Love Me Darlin", "I Walked From Dallas", "Just Like I Treat You", "I've Been Abused", "Don't Laugh At Me", "I Better Go Now", "New Crawlin King Snake", and "Hidden Charms". (Blues, Soul) CD

A great lost bit of funk – and a pretty mysterious record, too! The record came out hot on the heels of Manu Dibango's big original version of "Soul Makossa" – and while it's got a groove that definitely leans towards Afro Funk, it's also got plenty of Caribbean touches too – a wicked blend of funk and island styles that's almost like The Beginning Of The End at some of the best moments – but with a touch of New York underground as well! We've never been entirely sure if the group wasn't just a Winley Records studio project – maybe The Rimshots under another name – but whatever the case, the record's a damn funky classic – filled with lots of original-sounding grooves that make the whole thing well worth tracking down. Titles include a version of "Soul Makossa", with a groove that's harder than the original – plus "Skin N Soul", "Good Groove", "Mozambique", "Finger In It", "Dance Girl", and the extended "Bahamas Melody". CD

Quite possibly THE mother of all funky soundtracks – the legendary score to Rudy Ray Moore's classic first Dolemite film! The record's been referenced for years, and all the hype is totally right – because the whole thing's overflowing with funky tracks both vocal and instrumental – cut with a sound that's as gritty and badass as the movie itself! The Soul Rebellion Orchestra provided the wicked instrumental grooves for the set – and vocalists include Mary Love and Ben Taylor – and the pacing of the whole record almost makes it come across like a mini-movie in sound! You'll find enough samples on here to cut a lifetime's worth of hip hop LPs, and the funky tracks will have you coming back to the record again and again! Tracks include "The Queen", "The Rumble", "Mayor Get Away", "The Jive Jungle", "Creeper", and "Ghetto Expressions". CD

Quite possibly THE mother of all funky soundtracks – the legendary score to Rudy Ray Moore's classic first Dolemite film! The record's been referenced for years, and all the hype is totally right – because the whole thing's overflowing with funky tracks both vocal and instrumental – cut with a sound that's as gritty and badass as the movie itself! The Soul Rebellion Orchestra provided the wicked instrumental grooves for the set – and vocalists include Mary Love and Ben Taylor – and the pacing of the whole record almost makes it come across like a mini-movie in sound! You'll find enough samples on here to cut a lifetime's worth of hip hop LPs, and the funky tracks will have you coming back to the record again and again! Tracks include "The Queen", "The Rumble", "Mayor Get Away", "The Jive Jungle", "Creeper", and "Ghetto Expressions". This expanded 2CD edition features a bonus disc with a full 28 tracks of extra material – unreleased takes, mixes, acapellas, and instumental versions of album tracks plus a slew of untitled interludes! CD

A classic full album that brings together some of Muddy Waters' earliest recordings for Chess – a great collection of early singles recorded in Chicago between 1950 and 1954 – most originally issued on 78rpm singles, and beautifully presented in this set! The work's relatively spare and rootsy overall – a great example of Chicago blues in its formative years, with some traces of a more southern style still in the mix – and titles include "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I'm Ready", "Rollin Stone", "Honey Bee", "She Moves Me", "I Can't Be Satisfied", "Standing Around Crying", "Long Distance Call", and "I Just Want To Make Love To You". (Blues, Soul) CD

A classic full album that brings together some of Muddy Waters' earliest recordings for Chess – a great collection of early singles recorded in Chicago between 1950 and 1954 – most originally issued on 78rpm singles, and beautifully presented in this set! The work's relatively spare and rootsy overall – a great example of Chicago blues in its formative years, with some traces of a more southern style still in the mix – and titles include "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I'm Ready", "Rollin Stone", "Honey Bee", "She Moves Me", "I Can't Be Satisfied", "Standing Around Crying", "Long Distance Call", and "I Just Want To Make Love To You". (Blues, Soul) CD

Man, these guys really know how to groove – and even on a bigger label, with a more commercial image, they still manage to come up with a tight little set! There's a key ear for a bassline and beat that keeps The Bar-Kays standing stronger than most of their contemporaries – a sense of rhythm schooled in years of indie funk that comes through even on the mellower cuts here – which themselves show an even better side of the group in this generation, one that comes across great here on a few slower numbers that have a sweetly stepping groove. Titles include "Nightcruising", "Freaky Behavior", "Feels Like I'm Falling In Love", "Touch Tone", "Hit & Run", "Unforgettable Dream", "Traffic Jammer", and "Backseat Driver". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet little collection of work by this seminal 70s vocal group. The set is issued on Tneck, but it features many tunes from the group's earlier London recordings. Titles include "Natural High", "That's Now How It Goes", "Traffic Cop", "Outside Woman", "Do You Wanna Do A Thing", and "Give Me Your Heart". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest soul groups of the 70s – finally given their due on this double-length set! Bloodstone may not have charted as strongly as some of their contemporaries back in the day, yet they always delivered top-shelf work that was filled with incredible harmonies, deft vocal leads, and other subtle touches that really made their music stand out from the rest. This 16 track package includes some key tracks from their London Records years, plus a few bits from later recordings too – and the group's harmonies are in fine form throughout – whether on the spacey ballad soul of "Natural High", or on the funkier uptempo material of "Traffic Cop". Other titles include "Take These Chains", "Do You Wanna Do A Thing", "We Go A Long Way Back", "Train Ride", "Give Me Your Heart", "That's Not How It Goes", "My Little Lady", and "Outside Woman". CD

It takes a record like this one to remind us just what a magical crossover time the post-disco, post-punk days of the early 80s could be! Take two white guys from Denmark – Tim Stahl and John Guldberg – give them a drum machine and some funky beats, and out comes the breakdance classic "White Horse", which was one of the more sinister dancefloor numbers of its time. Sure, it's super-kitschy, but it hit pop-and-break crowd bigtime, and had kids from The Bronx to Bed-Stuy ripping up linoleum everywhere, and dragging it out into busy sidewalks where they could block off traffic! The other tracks on the album aren't as great, but ok electro pop – and titles include "Sunshine Reggae", "Elevator Boy", "Slowmotion Girl", and "Walking In The Sunshine". LP, Vinyl record album

A mega-hit from Peaches & Herb – best known for the crossover classic "Reunited", but equally great for a host of modern soul groovers! The duo first achieved fame at the end of the 60s – through a set of key pop soul tracks that had a warm and sweet finish. Here, though, the pair are stepping out with a bit more of an Ashford & Simpson vibe – more mature and groove-oriented – and getting some great help on production and arrangement from Freddie Perren. Titles include, of course, "Reunited" – plus "Shake Your Groove Thing", "We've Got Love", "Love It Up Tonight", "Easy As Pie", "Four's A Traffic Jam", and "All Your Love". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible album from one of the greatest talents on the Chicago soul scene of the late 60s – guitarist Phil Upchurch, a player with an amazing sound! Phil could work in worlds that were equal parts soul and psychedelia – making his guitar a perfect accompaniment for the best Chicago soul of Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, Minnie Riperton, and other greats of the time. This album's easily one of Phil's best – a mindblowing set of arrangements put together by the groundbreaking producer Charles Stepney – bringing together bits of jazz, rock, soul, and funk – all providing the perfect genre-blending space for Upchurch to solo! Given that there's no singer on the set, Phil's work on guitar is a lot freer than you're used to hearing – in a really great way, one that puts him in a space somewhere between Shuggie Otis and Jimi Hendrix! Brilliant all the way through, with tracks that include "Adam & Charlene", "You Wouldn't You Couldn't Be True", "Crosstown Traffic", "More & More", "Black Gold", "America", and "As You Said". LP, Vinyl record album