... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Perhaps the most heavenly of all the Chi-Lites albums, with soaring harmonies leaping all over beautiful Chicago soul production, and loads of great heartbreaking stories unfolding as the whole thing spins away! A true masterpiece from the Chicago scene – and filled with loads of wonderful moments that almost seem to be the group's answer to some of the growing wave of harmony soul coming from the east coast at the time. Includes the excellent title track, plus "Just Two Teenage Kids", "Too Late To Turn Back Now", "Someone Else's Arms", "You Smiled The Same Old Way", "My Heart Just Keeps On Breakin'", and "Love Comes In All Sizes". Nice cover, too, with a skyline shot of Chicago around the same time that Bob Newhart was working there as a shrink! LP, Vinyl record album

Dang, if it sounded like this at our church, we'd go to mass every Sunday! The album's got a unique crossover appeal that has the Rev kicking things off with a very funky combo in the lead – singing and speaking a spiritual message that's set to some massively heavy backings – so much so you'll forget the religion in the message and just let loose and groove! The record then moves into a sermon, but then goes back to more funky tunes – shifting back and forth with a sound that's incredibly lively! The band's not named on the set, but they're excellent – as jazzily strong as they are funky – and tunes include "The Dope Song", "Rockgospeltime", "Rock Message", and "Share It". LP, Vinyl record album

Dang, is this great Chicago soul! We don't know much about Marvin other than the odd single here and there, but it's gems like these that will keep us looking for his work. Both sides are wonderful – loping along in a Carl Davis groove, with vocals that are as great as any from the time by Gene Chandler or Jerry Butler! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A lesser-known groover by Young-Holt – but a great one! "Doin The Thing" begins with this incredible bass part from Eldee Young – rolling, pounding, and echoing with a soulful beat that gets you going long before the drums even kick in! "The Beat" is a cover of Sonny Bono's big hit – done with some complicated piano riffing over funky grooves! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A funky soul instrumental classic – all the way through! The team of Eldee Young and Redd Holt first came to prominence with Ramsey Lewis' first Chicago trio, then branched out on their own as a jazz act – but by the time of this set, they'd picked up a hipper, funkier late 60s sort of soul groove – and were working with larger backings and a nice deal of extra bass! The pianist in the group is the super-dope Ken Chaney – a player who uses space as much as he uses notes – providing a cool counterpoint to the funky and jazzy riffing of the Young/Holt bass/drum combo. The album includes the landmark track "Soulful Strut" – with tinkling piano over funky backings mixed with sweetened strings – and other tracks include "Funky Is As Funky Does", "Baby Your Light Is Out", "Who's Making Love", "Ain't There Something Money Can't Buy?", "Be By My Side", and "Please Sunrise". A high point in the Chicago soul scene – with backings by Willie Henderson! LP, Vinyl record album

Young Holt take on the Johnny Taylor classic "Who's Making Love" – sorting it out into a tight instrumental, with lots of sock-hard piano lines upfront! "Just Ain't Got No Love" is more in the group's standard mode – a loping Chi-soul tune, written by Eugene Record, and with organ and piano mixing together on the cut! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Barbara Acklin's first album – and a landmark of Chicago soul that firmly established Acklin as one of the city's best writers and new female singers! Acklin had a classy sound that was different than some of her raw soul sisters in the city – but although she was classy, she also didn't have any of that little girl stuff that you might hear from singers like Denice Chandler or Barbara Mason. Instead, she had an approach that mixed a real soul vocal with more sophisticated material, in a manner that worked well with the evolving blueprint for the Brunswick Chisoul sound. Carl Davis and Eugene Record do a perfect job producing Barbara's songs, all forged nicely into the loping soul groove that set Chicago apart from other cities in the late 60s. Includes the big title track "Love Makes A Woman" – plus "Be By My Side", "Your Sweet Loving", "Come and See Me Baby", and a great cover of "The Look of Love"! LP, Vinyl record album

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

One of the greatest albums of European jazz from the early 60s – a tremendous effort from pianist Michael Naura, working here with lots of vibes and a fair bit of grooves – in a style that sounds a lot like some of the best early recordings made by the team of Roy Ayers and Jack Wilson! The groove here is definitely modern, but also plenty darn soulful too – and thanks to some alto sax in the mix, the tracks have a cutting quality that really gives them an edge – a kind of rasp that predates some of the late 60s soulfulness of the Saba/MPS scene, of which this album is a definite precursor! Alongside Naura's piano, the group also features vibes by Wolfgang Schluter, alto sax by Peter Reinke, bass by Wolfgang Luschert, and drums by the great Joe Nay – soaring together on tunes that includes Tubby Hayes' "Down In The Village", Oliver Nelson's "Three Seconds", Jackie McLean's "Dr Jekyll", and the originals "Night Flower", "Stratosphere", and "Grunga Mood". LP, Vinyl record album

The first full-length set from The Who – a blistering batch of rough-edged tunes that run the gamut from bluesy soul to sweeter pop to guitar-driven grinders that show an incredible amount of power – even at this early point! The album's somewhat all over the map, but in a good way – in that it already displays the rich talent the group had for many styles of music – that hard-to-peg quality that made The Who so undeniably Who-like over the years. Titles include original mono mixes of the classics "The Kids Are Alright" and "My Generation" – plus "Instant Party", "A Legal Matter", "Out In The Street", "The Good's Gone", "La La La Lies", and "It's Not True" – plus bonus tracks and demos! LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

A lesser-known Brunswick album from the great Jackie Wilson – a set that features the singer running through a set of mostly standards – doing them in a jazzier style than usual, but all with the soulful vocals that you'd expect. Titles include "Tenderly", "Mood Indigo", "One More Time", "I'm Comin On Back To You", "Lonely Life", "The Way I Am", and "Try A Little Tenderness", done as a soul tune years before Otis Redding's version! LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

A selection of tunes from the film Pete Kelly's Blues – a 20s tale of jazz and gangsters that starred and was directed by Jack "Dragnet" Webb! Given the setting of the film, the tunes often have a more traditional jazz bent to them – with backing from the orchestra of Harold Mooney that features a fair bit of Kansas City-styled jazz. Peggy and Ella's vocals are pure 50s Decca, though – and if anything, the album's a great chance to hear them singing in a slightly different setting, but with all the strength of their best work of the time. Peggy sings on about 2/3 of the album – on tracks that include "Sugar", "I Never Knew", "Somebody Loves Me", and "I'm Gonna Meet My Sweetie Now". Ella sings on the last third – on tracks that include "Ella Hums The Blues", "Pete Kelly's Blues", and "Hard Hearted Hannah". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little groover on Brunswick – with that kind of choppy club funk feel that you'll also find on some of the label's other obscure 12" singles, like the classic "You Are The One", by AMFM. The track's got a very nice groove – and the hook's enough to keep the track grooving nicely throughout! 12-inch, Vinyl record

Two obscure sessions from either player – recorded at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey! The Scott material features the great Dick Katz on piano. Nice cover too! LP, Vinyl record album

Part funk, part disco, and all the way soul – served up in this one and only album from Strutt! The group were an obscure New Jersey combo from the 70s, but they step out beautifully on this rare Brunswick album – which has the same sort of funk club groove you'd find on a few of the label's other gems from this late period – like work by Tony Valor or Marilyn Farra & Satin Soul! All cuts have vocals, but the real strength of the group lies in their funky combo backings – an approach that's really honed to a "t" here, in a style that shows that the best early club music always had plenty of live, spontaneous instrumentation in the mix! Willie Bridges turns in a few great sax solos on the set – and titles include "Funky Sign", "Funky Baby Feet", "We've Come A Long Way Baby", "Said You Didn't Love Him", "If Wishing Made It So", "Time Moves On", and "Front Row Romeo" – in both vocal and instrumental versions. LP, Vinyl record album

With Slam Stewart on bass and Tiny Grimes on drums. Titles include "Moon Glow", "Honeysuckle Rose", "I Got Rhythm", and "I Would Do Anything For You". 7-inch, Vinyl record

A great track from early disco maestro Tony Valor – mixed by Tom Moulton with incredible sound! The tune has an almost Bohannon-ish approach – with stomping beats at the bottom, and lots of warm instrumental twists and turns on the top – a bit more strings than guitar, but in a way that sweetens the groove nicely! Really tribal – and with a nice chanting of the title, too! 7-inch, Vinyl record

The first full-length set from The Who – a blistering batch of rough-edged tunes that run the gamut from bluesy soul to sweeter pop to guitar-driven grinders that show an incredible amount of power – even at this early point! The album's somewhat all over the map, but in a good way – in that it already displays the rich talent the group had for many styles of music – that hard-to-peg quality that made The Who so undeniably Who-like over the years. Titles include the classics "The Kids Are Alright" and "My Generation" – plus "Instant Party", "A Legal Matter", "Out In The Street", "The Good's Gone", "La La La Lies", and "It's Not True". LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

A nice relic from the Chicago scene of the postwar years – piano from Dick Marx and bass from Johnny Frigo! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Classic soul from Jackie Wilson! The record's an original Brunswick collection of some of his best singles – including quite a few that were penned by Berry Gordy back in Jackie's early soul days. 12 tracks in all, with titles that include "Baby Workout", "Doggin Around", "Baby Get It (And Don't Quit It)", "Shake! Shake! Shake!", "My Heart Belongs Only To You", "Am I The Man", "Alone At Last", "Please Tell Me Why", and "(You Were Made For) All My Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Jackie singing a bunch of different stuff, from a bunch of different sources, but still staying mostly in his Brunswick soul bag. Dick Jacobs did the arrangements, and the tracks include "Pianissimo", "Forever And A Day", "My Empty Arms", and "Hearts". LP, Vinyl record album