An expanded double-length set from Ashford & Simpson – one that features three sides of live material, plus some great studio work as well! The concert material makes up the core of the album – a really wonderful demonstration of the genius of Nick and Valerie away from the studio – still every bit as tight as on previous Warner albums, with perhaps an even more jaw-dropping appreciation of their talents – given the way they put things together on a stage! Things are nicely changed up – some cuts extended, some shortened, and the duo are clearly as great of live entertainers as they are in the studio – if we can judge from the crowd response. Live cuts include "Don't Cost You Nothing", "Landlord/Clouds/The Boss/Is It Still Good To Ya", "Love Don't Make It Right", "Bourgie Bourgie (inst)", "Nobody Knows", "You're All I Need/Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing/Ain't No Mountain High Enough", and "It Seems To Hang On". Studio cuts are great too – and include "It Shows In The Eyes", "It's The Long Run", and "Come On Pretty Baby". CD

A super huge hit for George – the record that took him from being a funky jazz guitarist into an R&B superstar! The album features George playing and singing over arrangements by Claus Ogerman – some of Ogerman's best of the 70s, ones that mix together his trademark pillow of sound with a slightly funky bounce. The result is incredible – and the album is filled with loads of great songs – including George's excellent version of Bobby Womack's "Breezin", the hit version of "This Masquerade", and the cuts "So This Is Love", "Six To Four", and "Affirmation". (Jazz, Soul) CD

Yipes! This one made everyone a bucket of money – especially Quincy Jones, whose new Qwest imprint the record was one of the first to grace. George has come a long way from his roots with Jack McDuff here – but in a way that kind of has us impressed, as he's grooving away slickly on guitar, laying down some smooth vocals that we never would have imagined from his mid 60s recordings. Includes the massive hit "Give Me The Night", a cover of "Moody's Mood", and the tracks "Star Of A Story (X)", "Midnight Love Affair", "What's On Your Mind", and "Dinorah, Dinorah". The sound of a million supermarkets and elevators during the 80s! (Jazz, Soul) CD

Benson plays his guitar and also sings on some of these tracks. He is joined by Phil Upchurch on rhythm guitar, Ronnie Foster on electric piano & mini-moog, Jorge Dalto on clavinet & acoustic piano, Stanley Banks on bass, Harvey Mason on drums and Ralph MacDonald. Claus Ogerman arranged and conducted the orchestra. Tracks include "Nature Boy", Foster's "The Wind & I", "The World Is A Ghetto", "Gonna Love You More", Donny Hathaway's "Valdez In The Country", and "Everything Must Change". (Jazz, Soul) CD

Sweetly jazzy soul from George Benson – a key classic from his great run at Warner Brothers Records, and the kind of record that George did better than anyone else at the time! Back in the 60s, we'd never have guessed that Benson's sweetly crackling vocals would dominate popular jazz more than his great guitar work – but hearing George here, it's clear that his soul work could easily outshine his guitar, especially when set up in a package like this! Atlantic soul maestro Arif Mardin produced, and as with his Chaka Khan productions for Warner at the time, he gives Benson a clean, clear modern style that's certainly pop, but also a lot less cluttered and clunky than modes used with other artists at the time. George is mostly on the vocal tip for the set, and Kashif helps out on one track – no surprise, given that Kashif was soon to walk down the path that Benson had started with his first few vocal albums in the 70s. Titles include "Love Will Come Again", "Use Me", "Late At Night", "In Search Of A Dream", "Lady Love Me", "In Your Eyes", and "Never Too Far To Fall". (Jazz, Soul) CD

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The classic debut from Change – and the start of an amazing run of groovers in the early 80s! The set's got a tight, jazzy feel throughout – a stripped-down approach to disco modes, with the same focus on the basslines that you'd find in work by Chic – but a style that's almost even more instrumentally focused overall, given the great range of studio players who worked on the set. Yet there's also some key vocal moments, too – work by Luther Vandross that really helps make some of the best tracks sparkle, and which went onto catapult Vandross into a rich solo career on his own. The set's filled with sharp rhythms and sweet jazzy changes – and titles include the classics "The Glow Of Love" and "Searching", both with Luther, plus "Lover's Holiday", "Angel In My Pocket", and "The End". CD

The first two albums by Cold Blood – a Bay Area collective of soul and rock players, with a sound that's a jamming tribute to the harder soul of the late 60s. Lydia Pense's the lead singer – with a style that's kind of a sweeter take on the Tina Turner sound – and the mixed band grooves on organ, guitar, and horns, in a style that's very much in the Memphis soul bag. Titles include "Watch Your Step", "You Got Me Hummin", "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free", "Too Many People", "Funky On My Back", "Shop Talk", "Your Good Thing", and "I'm A Good Woman". CD

A funky trip through the classic Warner Brothers recordings of P-Funk maestro Bootsy Collins! The set's a pretty great introduction to Bootsy's work, and includes some of his best numbers, plus a great set of notes that will really help you navigate his rich career. There's a total of 14 tracks, and titles include "Bootzilla", "Ahhh The Name Is Bootsy, Baby", "Stretchin Out (In A Rubber Band)", "Hollywood Squares", "Jam Fan (Hot)", "Vanish In Our Sleep", "Can't Stay Away", "I'd Rather Be With You", and a live version of "Psychoticbumpschool". CD

Randy Crawford's working here with arrangements and production from Reggie Lucas – all very much in that sweet 80s style he was bringing to work with other artists at the time! There's plenty of beats, guitars, and keyboards in the instrumentation – pushing an overall sound that's more electric than some of Randy's jazzier sides from the early days. But Ms Crawford's vocals come out strongly on top of it all – with a poised presence that's clearly the main focus of the set. Lucas plays guitar, and also wrote a few of the tracks – and titles include "Can't Stand The Pain", "Actual Emotional Love", "World Of Fools", "Betcha", "Desire", "Getting Away With Murder", and "Almaz". CD

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Includes "What A Fool Believes", "Minute By Minute", "Sweet Feelin", "Open Your Eyes", "Here To Love You", "You Never Change", and "Dependin On You". (Rock, Soul) CD

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A great collection of tracks by one of the most-overlooked female singers of the late 60s! The set's put together by Ichiban, but it features 23 tracks from Lorraine's years at Warner Brothers – including nearly all of her hard to find Stay With Me album, a few b-sides, and even some unissued material. The overall sound is a mix of smooth production with Lorraine's raw gospelly vocals – and tracks include "Doin Me Dirty", "Stay With Me", "A Good Love", "I've Got My Baby Back", "I'll Fly Away", "I'll Be Home", and "Only Your Love". CD

A classic album of steel band grooving – a sound that made a surprising crossover in the American soul market in the early 70s! This album's one of the most famous of the genre – a session that was originally produced by Van Dyke Parks for Warner Brothers, and which has a nice blend of Caribbean and American soul styles. From our end, the highlight seems to be a cover of "I Want You Back", a cool groover that's done in a nice jangly way that works well with the steel drums. Other tracks include "Come To The Sunshine", a wonderful Van Dyke Parks composition that actually seems to be mixed here with some bits of the original recording – plus "Ride On Sammy", "Aquarium", "Sabre Dance", and an insane version of The Kinks' "Apeman". Also includes a bonus DVD – which documents the group's 1973 US tour, released here for the first time ever! (Global Grooves, Soul) CD

A surprisingly wonderful record! Back in the day, we remember that we didn't like these later P-Funk albums because they weren't as druggy, trippy, or guitar heavy as the early stuff. Now, though, they sound pretty darn sweet to our ears – especially this one, which has lots of cool pre-electro grooves with sweet keyboards, vocoder vocals, and spacey basslines that blow out in deep rich waves of funky soul. The whole thing's an amazing evolution of the George Clinton groove – and titles include "Electric Spanking Of War Babies", "Funk Gets Stronger", "Shockwaves", "Icka-prick", "Brettino's Bounce", and a bonus instrumental version of "Electric Spanking Of War Babies". Nice Pedro Bell cover, too! CD

Larry Graham and crew are definitely going for a fuller sound on this set – starting off the record with a funky marching band, in Tusk-like fashion – then rolling into some bass-heavy funk that tops even their previous records for tightness! The groove is a key element in the growth of west coast funk in the 70s – bass in the lead, but keyboards percolating in all over the place, in a style that's almost got touches of jazz – and which sets the stage for many of the Zapp-sounding projects of the future! A surprisingly great little record – and one we like almost better than the first few! Titles include "Love", "Mirror", "Entrow", "Do Yah", "Save Me", and "I Got A Reason". CD

The second album by Larry Graham and his Graham Central Station – and as powerful a batch of LA 70s funk as you'll ever find! Graham's bass is in the lead, giving the record the same deep punch he gave the work of Sly Stone back when he was in the Family Stone – but the whole group's pretty darn tight, and the album's got some great quirky elements that come through a strongly electrified use of keyboards and vocal processing next to the bass! Think of this one as the blueprint for countless LA funk records to come – and enjoy the original grooves in titles that include "Release Yourself", "Feel The Need", "Today", "Got To Go Through It To Get To It", and the "GCS" theme. CD

A massively tripped-out set of guitar-based funk – played to perfection by the legendary Eddie Hazel, best known for his work in the George Clinton P-Funk empire! The album offers a different side of Eddie's talents – one that's produced with a smoothly compressed California groove, in a mode that's almost an extension of some of the themes explored by Shuggie Otis on his own 70s albums – taken with a bit more of a P-Funk style. George Clinton produced the set with Eddie – and the tunes have a nice slow-stepping groove that really opens up the guitar solos wonderfully. The record kicks off with a massive cover of "California Dreamin" – but the whole thing's great, with a wonderfully unified feel throughout! Other titles include "Frantic Moment", "What About It?", "So Goes The Story", "Physical Love", and a great cover of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". Plus, the CD features 4 bonus tracks – "Unkutt Funk", "Smedley Smorganoff", "Lampoc Boogie", and "From The Bottom Of My Soul". CD

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Booker T's definitely into a great new groove here – one that really extrapolates his Memphis roots through the haze of early 70s California – coming up with some wonderful sounds along the way! There's a definite A&M vibe to the record – that mix of rootsy modes and hipster polish that A&M was really pioneering alongside the Warner camp – and most of the instrumentation here is pretty stripped-down and laid back – sometimes played all by Booker in overdubs, sometimes with added studio help. Organ lines figure strongly, but not always – and vocals are mostly duets between Booker and Priscilla – on titles that include "Rings Around The World", "When Two People Are In Love", "The Crippled Crow", "Time", "Wild Fox", "Fly", and "Mendocino". CD

Earth Wind & Fire's first album for Columbia Records – the start of a really legendary run during the 70s! The sound here is a bit tighter than their first two for Warner Brothers – a groove that has funk and soul taking a bit more precedence over the jazz of their roots – but all in a blend that's completely fresh and unique, and which takes all the righteous energy of the past, and focuses it here even more strongly! And while the groovers are great, there's also a few sweet numbers that are almost even better – some slightly mellow tracks that don't hit that commercial ballad sound of the group's later years – and which almost have an earthy, organic feel overall. The whole thing's tremendous – truly essential work by the group at their best – and titles include "I'd Rather Have You", "They Don't See", "Make It With You", "Remember The Children", "Mom", "Power", and "Time Is On Your Side". CD

A rare little set from The Meters – recorded in their home turf of New Orleans in the mid 70s, but with a groove that's as raw as their Josie Records albums of the 60s! The vibe here is a great change from the polished production the group were getting over at Warner Brothers – and the concert setting allows the group to really stretch out on some numbers – taking them into instrumental jamming territory you never would have heard on a two minute single from years back! Instrumentation includes keyboards from Art Neville, guitar from Leo Nocentelli, bass from George Porter, drums from Zig Modeliste, and percussion from Cyril Neville – and almost all group members vocalise on a few chorus moments. Titles include long takes of "A Minor", "Wildflower", and "Feel So Good" – plus the shorter numbers "Chicken Strut" and "Mardi Gras Mambo". CD

Excellent work from New Orleans soul legend Allen Toussaint – and a set that may well be his funkiest album ever! The set features 12 tracks from the early 70s – a time when Toussaint was mixing a bit of funk into the heavy soul mix that he'd had from his early days in the Crescent City scene – coming up with a blend that's even darker, and more powerful than all his famous production and projects of the 60s! And while some of Allen's later work tended towards cliche, this record captures him right at that perfect point when all of this was totally fresh – delivered with a razor-sharp edge, and with great instrumental help from New Orleans legends like Leo Nocentelli, Zig Modeliste, and George Porter Jr – all of whom make the album groove harder than most of the other soul albums on Warner at the time. Titles include "Soul Sister", "Victims Of The Darkness", "Am I Expecting Too Much", "Out Of The City", "Goin Down", "Electricity", "Fingers & Toes", and "On Your Way Down". CD

Nice set that brings together some of Allen Toussaint's best stuff ever: a set of tracks from the late 60's that's way better than the other stuff of his you always see on Warner Brothers. This is the material that made him a legend in the soul world, as you'll probably know when you recognize titles like "From A Whisper To A Scream", "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky", "Number Nine", "Louie", and his version of "Working In A Coal Mine". There's 11 cuts in all, and they were originally issued on the Scepter label, with production by Mr. T himself! CD