An excellent set that's filled with some of the best material you can find by this jazzy diva. The set includes 15 tracks from her early Buddah recordings – albums that are still probably our favorite work by her. Titles include "Loving You – Losing You", "One Thing On My Mind", "Sweet Music", "Living Inside Your Love", "Be Careful (How You Treat My Love)", "Beautiful Man Of Mine", and the fantastic "Children Of The World". CD

The third album in an amazing early run from The Delfonics – the kind of work that set a whole new standard for group soul in the 70s! A number of the tracks here had already risen to fame before the album's release as singles – and these are mixed with some additional tracks that are woven together in a near-perfect symphony of sound! The mighty Thom Bell arranged most of the numbers here – save for 2 by Anthony Dorsey – and the group's heavenly harmonies are in amazing form on both mellow ballads and a few more righteous numbers. Titles include "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time", "Funny Feeling", "Over & Over", "Baby I Love You", "When You Get Right Down To It", "Delfonics Theme", "Trying To Make A Fool Of Me", "I Gave To You", "Down Is Up Up Is Down", and "Think About Me". CD

Killer work by this fab Chicago soul group – a bunch of young kids, ala The Jackson Five, with sweet soul sound that actually predates the work of Jermaine and Michael and Tito, and which paved the way for countless 70s groups to come! The Five Stairsteps were first discovered by Curtis Mayfield – who wrote and produced a number of tracks on the set – but they had a strength of their own (thanks in part to a young Keni Burke, who was in the group), and continued to grow over the years, changing their sound to fit their expanding ages, and the changing material they needed to cope with the growth in soul in the early 70s. The set's filled with classics – including the super-huge hit "Ooh Child", plus "The Girl I Love", "Behind Curtains", "Come Back", "World Of Fantasy", "You Waited Too Long", "We Must Be in Love", "Oooh, Baby Baby", "Don't Waste Your Time", "Something's Missing", and the break-heavy "Don't Change Your Love". CD

A pivotal album for Gladys Knight and group – as the record features their super-huge hit "The Midnight Train To Georgia", a landmark track that not only had a catchy pop hook, but which spoke volumes about African-American migration in the postwar years. The track's one of those you've heard a million times, but it's got a strength that still holds up tremendously. Part of this is due to great production work by Tony Camillo – who handled arrangements and studio work on about half the tracks – and part is due to Jim Weatherly, who wrote the song, and about half the others on the album. The whole album's great – one of the best Buddah Records moments for the group – and titles include "I've Got To Use My Imagination", "Window Raising Granny", "Where Peaceful Waters Flow", "Once In A Lifetime Thing", "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me", and "Storms Of Trouble Times". Includes three bonus tracks ; "We Don't Look For Trouble", "Alone Again" & "Rainbow Ride". CD

Mindblowing music from Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band – a record that's got plenty of garagey grit at the core, but which also has a heady freak rock vibe overall! The 1967 album really captures this perfect moment – one when so many artists like Don Van Vliet had their feet in older rockish modes, but were really tripping out with new ideas – able to get nice and freaky in the course of a short tune, yet still never lose a groove that really helped send the music home! In other words, there's nothing too hippieish about the record, and nothing that's ever too self-indulgent – yet the blend of organ, guitar, and drums is completely mindblowing – and as revolutionary today as it was back then. Titles include "Abba Zabba", "Dropout Boogie", "Zig Zag Wanderer", "Electricity", "Yellow Brick Road", "Grown So Ugly", and "Autumn's Child". CD version has 7 bonus tracks, with alternate takes and more. Essential! CD

Waylon's close runner-up to Honky Tonk Heroes in overall quality, and one of the greatest outlaw albums ever! As with close buddy Willie Nelson's albums from the period, Dreaming My Dreams showed just how great he could be after wrestling full creative control from the label. The firm, proud attitude helps make the album one of the most cathartic hardcore country listening experiences you can have, as well as simply being packed with great songs. 70s country doesn't get much better, and certainly no truer than this. Book ended by 2 fine tributes to heroes, "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" and "Bob Wills Is Still The King". Other tracks include "Waymore's Blues", "I Recall A Gypsy Woman", "High Time (You Quit Your Lowdown Ways)", "Let's All Help The Cowboys (Sing The Blues)", "The Door Is Always Open", "Let's Turn Back The Years", "She's Looking Good", and "Dreaming My Dreams With You". 2 bonus tracks – "All Around Cowboy" and "Ride Me Down Easy". CD

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A classic! This is the record that made Mancini's career, and forever transformed the face of crime and jazz. The record's a stunning batch of instrumentals, played by a crack group of west coast players who also performed regularly in the TV show. Titles include the classic "Peter Gunn" theme, plus "Brothers Go To Mothers", "The Floater", "Brief & Breezy", "A Profound Gass", and "Dreamsville". Four bonus tracks – "Walkin' Bass", "Blue Steel", "Spook!", "Blues For Mother's". CD

Recorded live at Newport in New York and features tracks by Big Mama Thornton, Jay McShann, Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson, Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup, Lloyd Glenn, Muddy Waters, Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, and BB King – 18 tracks over 2 discs! CD

Mindblowing music from Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band – a record that's got plenty of garagey grit at the core, but which also has a heady freak rock vibe overall! The 1967 album really captures this perfect moment – one when so many artists like Don Van Vliet had their feet in older rockish modes, but were really tripping out with new ideas – able to get nice and freaky in the course of a short tune, yet still never lose a groove that really helped send the music home! In other words, there's nothing too hippieish about the record, and nothing that's ever too self-indulgent – yet the blend of organ, guitar, and drums is completely mindblowing – and as revolutionary today as it was back then. Titles include "Abba Zabba", "Dropout Boogie", "Zig Zag Wanderer", "Electricity", "Yellow Brick Road", "Grown So Ugly", and "Autumn's Child" – this version includes 9 bonus tracks! CD

The Ebonys sing about life, and a host of other groovy topics too – in this lost soul treasure from the 70s! The set is one of only two albums ever cut by The Ebonys – a consistently great group from the 70s, as is testified by their constant popularity in our racks! The quartet has a 3 man/1 woman harmony sound that's very hip – often applied to righteous themes worked out in a heavy soul mode, and which sounds just as great on the ballads as it does dancefloor numbers. This second album's got an even sharper edge than their debut – thanks to production and arrangements from Tony Camillo – who gives the album some great undercurrents of funk, and a slightly righteous style that reminds us of some of Norman Whitfield's best studio work of the time. Vocals are wonderful – with really great harmonies that balance out beautifully – in ways that are much more unified than other girl/guy soul groups. Titles include "Neighborhood Gossip", "Mr Me, Mrs You", "One Thing On My Mind", "Sing About Life", and "A Love of Your Own". CD

A great leap forward for the 5th Dimension – a record that seems to have better vocals than any of their previous efforts – a strongly soulful quality that moves past just pop, and which hits even deeper territory than before! Jimmy Webb's not in the lineup this time around, but Bones Howe is still fully in charge of the sound – producing and doing part of the arrangements, alongside help from Ray Pohlman, Bob Alcivar, and Bill Holman. Instrumentation's got a dreamy, late 60s LA mode – studio, but plenty darn groovy – thanks to performances from Hal Blaine, Larry Bunker, Tommy Tedesco, and Jimmy Rowles. Titles include the group's hit version of "Stoned Soul Picnic" – plus "California Soul", "Bobbie's Blues", "It's A Great Life", "Sweet Blindness", "Broken Wing Bird", "Good News", and "The Eleventh Song (What A Groovy Day)". CD also includes a previously unissued version of "East Of Java"! CD

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Genius material from Waylon Jennings – one of those career-defining records from the early 70s that completely put him on top, and heralded a whole new generation in country music! The set's maybe equally noteworthy as a showcase for the up-and-coming Billy Joe Shaver, who wrote much of the songs on the record – and it's also a great showcase for the important production talents of Tompall Glaser, who really gets the spirit of the music right! Titles include great versions of "Honky Tonk Heroes", "Old Five & Dimers Like Me", "Ride Me Down Easy", "Black Rose", "Willy The Wandering Gypsy & Me", "Omaha", and "Ain't No God In Mexico" – plus 2 bonus tracks. CD

The second anniversary of Gladys Knight & The Pips on Buddah Records – an album that really shows the new level of depth the group were able to hit at the label! A key factor on the album is work by Eugene McDaniels – who produced the record, and wrote a good number of tracks too – really pushing Gladys and the group into righteous territory they wouldn't have touched a few years before – a deeper groove that really matches some of their best soundtrack material of the mid 70s! Gladys really stretches out wonderfully with her leads – and the Pips provide just the right sort of warm backdrop to hold things together. Titles include "Street Brothers", "At Every End There's A Beginning", "Summer Sun", "Feel Like Making Love", and "Money". After hitting big as a singer on the soundtrack for Claudine, Gladys Knight finally got her chance in front of the camera for Pipe Dreams – a record that featured her both as the star on film and on the soundtrack! The styles here are a bit more wider-ranging than the usual 70s soundtrack of this type – a bit of ballad soul, mellow numbers, and more – arranged by Dominic Frontiere and Michael Masser in styles that are a bit like some of Knight's own albums of the time. We like especially the jazzy vocalesey number "Pot Of Jazz", a nice number that deserves further discovery on a compilation – and other cuts include "Find A Way", "Follow My Dreams", "So Sad The Song", and "Alaskan Pipeline". CD

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Melanie's a folkie at heart, but one who's very open to new ideas too – as you'll hear in this surprisingly offbeat set from the late 60s! The record mixes Melanie's raspy, almost eerie vocal approach with some compelling charts from Roger Kellaway – who respects the folk impulses at the core, but also brings in some unusual inflections in the other instrumentation – that post-folk approach that was showing up in records by Leonard Cohen and others of the singer/songwriter generation. The difference is subtle, but very striking – and very different than the way the set would have been recorded a few years previously. Titles include "Christopher Robin", co-written with AA Milne – plus "In The Hour", "I'm Back In Town", "Bobo's Party", "Close To It All", "Merry Christmas", and "I Really Loved Harold". CD

A great second chapter for Shadows Of Knight – post-Dunwich material cut by the seminal garage group, and easily some of the hardest-hitting work to come out on the Buddah label in the late 60s! There's plenty of fuzz on the guitars here – that hard-strutting sound you'd know from the Shadows' bigger hits – and the production is nice and raw too, with a gritty, garagey sound that's quite different from the usual sweet Buddah pop sides of the period. The group seemed to have picked up even more of a groove in their label shift, and there's some mighty nice drums propelling some of the best numbers here – a massive batch of tracks that includes "Follow", "Back Door Man", "Bluebird", "Under Acoustic Control", "Alone", "Times & Places", "Uncle Wiggley's Airship", and "I Am What I Am". CD also features a bonus 45 version of "Shake" – and the tracks "My Fire Department Needs A Fireman" and "Run Run Billy Porter". CD

Think what you want about Andrea True – the former adult film star works here with some super-sharp help from the mighty Gregg Diamond – who makes the record sound a lot more tight and groovy than other crossover disco efforts of the time! In fact, there's plenty of elements here that match the energy of Gregg's great Hot Butterfly album – topped instead with Andrea's voice, which is admittedly a bit thin at times – but hardly in a way that matters, given the currents that Diamond brings to the bottom! Gregg wrote, produced, and arranged the whole record – and the set features a 6 minute take on the classic "More More More" – plus "Fill Me Up", "Call Me", "Party Line", and "Keep It Up Longer". CD features bonus tracks – "Party Line (single edit)" and "Fill Me Up (single edit)". CD

Performances by Big Mama Thornton, Jay McShann, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Muddy Waters, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, and BB King. CD

Includes most of the early southern soul material that Alexander recorded for Dot at Fame Studios – plus a rare 70s track for Buddah! CD

A really incredible performance from Ornette Coleman – recorded in Italy in 1968, and featuring a unique lineup that includes Ed Blackwell on drums, plus the dual basses of Charlie Haden and David Izenzon! The two-bass lineup gives the set an amazingly tight edge – with one player bowing the instrument, and the other playing rhythm – in a way that bounces magically over the drums of Ed Blackwell, making for a rhythmic spirit that's missing from a lot of Ornette's other work from the time! There's still a sense of sound texture and exploration here that matches some of the Blue Note late 60s recordings – but the overall feel is a bit more focused, and (dare we say it?) more rhythmically swinging! Titles include long takes on "Lonely Woman", "Monsieur Le Prince", "Forgotten Children", "Tutti", "Three Wisemen & The Saint", "New York", and "Buddah Blues". CD

The group's first, with production courtesy the great Gary Katz, who's put a fine touch on many Steely Dan LPs. While we were a bit dismissive of this effort at the time, it's kind of become a bit of a watershed in retrospect, the high water mark for the American Acid Jazz scene, if a bit commercial, and definitely a nice portrait of the mid 90s NYC scene, with loads of great players from all over the spectrum. Titles include "El Gollpe Avisa", "Buddah Head", "Nerd", "Balimka", "Rentstrike", and "Saturday Afternoon". CD

One of the nicer things about the global centralization of culture into the hands of a few giant companies is that you can at least get a "greatest hits" comp like this which spans the artists career on a number of different labels! As proof, you'll find killer stuff from Jean's best years, on Buddah, Philly Intl, and Columbia – with tracks like "Back For More" with Al Johnson, "Valentine Love" with Norman Connors, "Free Love", "Don't Let It Go To Your Head", "Was That All It Was", "When I Find You Love", and "Closer than Close". 16 cuts in all, and way better than we expected from a US major! CD

Some great tracks from the jazzy soulful genius of Norman Connors! Connors is one of the best crossover soul jazz artists of the 70s – with a masterful blend of styles that's matched by only a few other artists, like Roy Ayers or Leroy Hutson. This set includes tracks from his Buddah and Arista recordings – and the sound is classic all the way through! Titles include "You Are My Starship", "This Is Your Life", "Betcha By Golly Wow", "Valentine Love", "Dindi", "Romantic Journey, "We Both Need Each Other", "Love From The Sun", and "Once I've Been There". The "friends" are all vocalists – including Michael Henderson, Phyllis Hyman, Jean Carn, Phillip Mitchell, and Dee Dee Bridgewater. CD

Very obscure work from the great Barbara Mason – a set that has a Buddah Records-era photo of her on the front, but which feels as if was recorded about a decade later – although it's a bit hard to tell, as there's not much detail in the notes! Yet despite that lack, there's some great material here – tracks that really showcase Barbara's maturing vocal approach, with a range that's much stronger than her late 60s hits – as she takes on a few soul tunes by others, redoes some of her classics, and throws in a few new tracks too! Titles include "Don't You Ever Take Your Love Away", "You Got Me Runnin", "People Make The World Go Round", "Feel Like Making Love", "Give Me Your Love", "Easy", "I'm So Proud", and "The Ghetto" – plus two different versions of the tunes "From His Woman To You", "Shackin Up", and "Yes I'm Ready". CD

Redman at an early peak – raw cosmic funk-steeped hip hop from the wildly creative, gritty-voiced man himself! Like a lot of the greatest 90s hip hop, there's a strong George Clinton influence to the beats – but the thick atmosphere is really on another level – then and now, there's nothing exactly like Redman's flow, which is crazy and charismatic at the same time. The great Erick Sermon co-produces and probably had a big hand in keeping it funky and from going to far into the murky deep end, it's a straight up classic to this day. Tracks include "Dr Trevis", "Bobyahed2dis", "Journey Throo Da Darkside", "A Million And 1 Buddah Spots", "Noorotic", "Cosmic Slop", "Rockafella (R.I.P.)", "Rockafella", "Can't Wait", "Wuditlooklike", Sooperman Luva II", "We Run N.Y.", "Da Journee", "Slide And Rock On" and more. 19 tracks in all. CD

Redman's third album – and a mad 90s classic – for both the Funk Doc himself, and for the Def Jam label! By this point, Redman has perfected his wylin'-out blunted rhyme style, spitted over heavy, funkified east coast beats. Much of the production is handled by Erick Sermon & Rockwilder, and sounds killer to this day. We don't dare discount Redman's previous couple LPs, but honestly, this might be his high water mark! . Includes "Whateva Man", "Yesh Yesh Y'All", "Smoke Buddah", "Case Closed", "Mary Jane", "Do What Ya Feel", "It's Like That (My Big Brother)", "Soopaman Luva 3", "Da Bump", & "Rock Da Spot". 17 tracks in all. CD