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A long-overdue tribute to the fantastic soul trio of Pat Hodges, Denita James, and Jessica Smith – a group who were often joined by a young Carolyn Crawford, to cut some fantastic singles back in the 70s! The group is wonderfully dynamic – as if everybody could be a soaring soulful lead – which gives the girls this sound that's way more than just the usual slice of female group soul from the time – something you'd know if you were lucky enough to score one of their rare 45s! And while the group did get the chance to cut a few albums, their best moments were often on 7" singles – which lead here to a whole other host of unissued tracks that sits nicely with cuts they released on labels like Pride and Mpingo. We've been huge fans of the group for decades, and have always treasured their singles – but here, we're discovering even more greatness than we knew existed – as the set features 13 tracks that were never issued back in the day, joining up with another 8 to make a glorious set list that includes "Wishful Thining", "Nobody", "In My Fantasy", "Write Me A Letter", "Let's Pick Up The Pieces", "Again", "Baby My Love Is Showing", "Let It Out Let It In", "I'm A Woman Who Loves You", "Ain't That Right", "If You wanna Love Me", and "It Cracks Me Up". CD

A big new chapter for Prince in the 90s – his first set with the New Power Generation, and a record that definitely has him amping up his game for the decade! There's maybe a bit more sampling here, and a groove that certainly has one ear open for the younger sound of R&B at the time – while still coming across with all that care, class, and top-shelf vibe that made Prince's work of the previous generation such an important funky influence on the younger crowd who were growing up with equal parts soul and hip hop to influence their sound. Tracks include "Daddy Pop", "Diamonds", "Cream", "Insatiable", "Live 4 Love", "Push", "Money Don't Matter 2 Night", "Jughead", "Gett Off", "Walk Don't Walk", "Strollin", and "Willing & Able". CD

A big new chapter for Prince in the 90s – his first set with the New Power Generation, and a record that definitely has him amping up his game for the decade! There's maybe a bit more sampling here, and a groove that certainly has one ear open for the younger sound of R&B at the time – while still coming across with all that care, class, and top-shelf vibe that made Prince's work of the previous generation such an important funky influence on the younger crowd who were growing up with equal parts soul and hip hop to influence their sound. Tracks include "Daddy Pop", "Diamonds", "Cream", "Insatiable", "Live 4 Love", "Push", "Money Don't Matter 2 Night", "Jughead", "Gett Off", "Walk Don't Walk", "Strollin", and "Willing & Able". 2CD version features lots of bonus material – the tracks "Horny Pony", "Gangster Glam", "Call The Law", and "Violet The Organ Grinder" - plus remixes that include "Gett Off (damn near 10 minutes)", "Gett Off (houstyle)", Do Your Dance (KC's rmx)", "Insatiable (edit)", "Cream (NPG mix #1)", "Thunder (DJ fade)", "Willing & Able (video version)", "Money Don't Matter 2 Night (edit)", "Things Have Gotta Change (Tony M rap)", and "Diamonds & Pearls (edit)". CD

A big new chapter for Prince in the 90s – his first set with the New Power Generation, and a record that definitely has him amping up his game for the decade! There's maybe a bit more sampling here, and a groove that certainly has one ear open for the younger sound of R&B at the time – while still coming across with all that care, class, and top-shelf vibe that made Prince's work of the previous generation such an important funky influence on the younger crowd who were growing up with equal parts soul and hip hop to influence their sound. Tracks include "Daddy Pop", "Diamonds", "Cream", "Insatiable", "Live 4 Love", "Push", "Money Don't Matter 2 Night", "Jughead", "Gett Off", "Walk Don't Walk", "Strollin", and "Willing & Able". CD

A wonderful package – four full albums by one of the most unique groups of their time! First up is These Things Too – the first Reprise album from Pearls Before Swine – a bit more straight ahead and folksy than their work for ESP – but in a really great way, one that lets you hear the best of Tom Rapp's amazing songs and vocals! The album follows in a tradition that includes Tim Buckley, Tim Hardin, Leonard Cohen, and Fred Neil – but it's also got a really unique style that's the unique province of Tom Rapp – the main force behind the group, and the voice on all of the tunes. Rapp's vision was quite unique for the time – not nearly as revolutionary or personally preoccupied – more sad at the fading world, and granted with a unique ability to paint any subject in shades of blue. Titles include "Wizard Of Is", "Frog In The Window", "Footnote", "Look Into Her Eyes", "These Things Too", and "Mon Amour". Use Of Ashes is an incredibly beautiful album from Pearls Before Swine – one that uses light orchestrations to create a baroquely folksy sort of feel – easily elevating the album past previous efforts, into classic territory we'd rank with the best from Nick Drake or Leonard Cohen! The whole album's great – with fragile and haunting songs from Tom Rapp, all supported by sparsely arranged instrumentation that includes harpsichord, flute, oboe, cello, and dobro. Genius throughout – and a clear inspiration for music still being made 30 years later – with classic tracks that include "The Jeweler", "Rocket Man", "Song About A Rose", "The Old Man", "When The War Began", and "From The Movie Of The Same Name". Next is Beautiful Lies You Could Live In – one of the most perfectly formed albums ever recorded by Tom Rapp's enigmatic group Pearls Before Swine – a record that does an incredible job of skirting between Rapp's earthy sense of the planet's passing, and his ambitions for larger forums of expression. The core group is lightly folksy – with strong use of acoustic guitar that goes far beyond any folk rock cliches – plus some additional arrangements that feature contributions from the team of Bob Dorough and Stu Scharf, who seem to have a habit of appearing on under-discovered gems like this one, and making them sound all that more hip! The whole thing's great – filled with beautiful songs that should have been as over-recorded as the best by Tim Hardin or Leonard Cohen – with titles that are even better, too! Tracks include "Snow Queen", "A Life", "Butterflies", "Simple Things", "Freedom", "She's Gone", and "Island Lady". Last up is City Of Gold – a return to folksier forms for Tom Rapp and Pearls Before Swine – working here in territory that's very different than some of the baroque light arrangements used on previous records. Rapp's emerging as a more confident singer/songwriter – recording in an almost Dylan-like setting, but with more of the irony of Leonard Cohen, and as always, working in a timeless idiom that's still beginning to be understood more than 30 years after its inception. Beautiful work throughout – as earthy as it is majestic – and with titles that include "My Father", "The Man", "Once Upon A Time", "City Of Gold", "Nancy", and "Wedding". CD

Very early work from the Jamaican scene – a set that includes cuts by artists who'd later record classic tracks in the rocksteady years, but who here are working in a much different mode! The title is plenty apt, but only gets at part of the sound – as this isn't straight doo wop as you'd know from the American scene, but instead some early group harmony – of the sort that would flourish even more strongly on famous Jamaican trio recordings of the late 60s – handled here with much more stripped-down instrumentation, and a shifting set of rhythms that mixes US influences with other more Caribbean modes. Titles include "Muriel" by Alton & Eddie, "Dearest Darling" by Jiving Juniors, "Til The End Of Time" by Chuck & Dobby, "Dearest Beverly" by Jimmy Cliff, "Heavenly Angel" by Laurel Aitken, "Do You Know" by Owen & Millie, "I'm Going Back" by The Charmers, "Diamonds & Pearls" by Dobby Dobson, "Album Of Memory" by The Mellowlarks, "Have Faith In Me" by Jiving Juniors, "Now You Want To Cry" by Prince Buster & The Charmers, "I Love My Teacher" by Chuck & Dobby, "Call Your Name Forever" by The Blues Busters, "I Love You Forever" by The Echoes Celestials, "Hear My Cry" by Wilfred Jackie Edwards, "Guilty Convict" by Rupert Edwards, "Julie" by The Moonlighters, "Worried Over You" by Keith & Enid, "My Heaven" by Alton & Eddie, "Sweet As An Angel" by Jiving Juniors, "First Time We Met" by Annette & Shenley, "Dream Girl" by Ricketts & Rowe, "Don't You Know" by The Moonlighters, "I'll Always Call Your Name" by Belltones, "Never Go Away" by Wilfred Jackie Edwards, "Change Of Mind" by Higgs & Wilson, and "I've Done You Wrong" by The Blues Busters. CD

Haunting work from Jimmy Campbell – an overlooked British songwriter at the end of the 60s, and one with a really unusual approach to his music! At some level, Jimmy's got some of the folksy touches of the Nick Drake generation – a sound that might have been right at home on Island Records – but at another level, his style here is very much his own too – a bit more sensitive, and delivered with this odd vocal quality that's unlike anything we can think of – as unique to Jimmy as Tom Rapp's voice was to Pearls Before Swine, or Biff Rose's was to his own great late 60s sides! Instrumentation is relatively spare on most numbers – just acoustic guitar and a bit of rhythm, yet hardly in typical folksy modes – and titles include "When I Sit Down To Reason", "Adrian Henri's Party Night", "On A Monday", "Lyanna", "Dear Marge", "Penny In My Pocket", "Another Vincent Van Gough", and "Michelangelo". CD

A mighty deep dive into the music of the Private Stock label of the 70s – a short-lived but important imprint in the disco generation, and one who did a lot to bridge the worlds of soul, rock, and pop in the clubs! PS maybe didn't go as deep as Salsoul or some other contemporaries, but they did turn out some great cuts that managed to balance polish and groove in a really great way – qualities that really come out strongly here on the collection, which does a mighty nice job of getting past bigger hits to focus on more obscure Private Stock tunes from the time! The set's got 21 titles in all – and titles include "I'll See You In My Dreams" by The Pearls, "Gotta Find A Way" by Wild Honey, "Love Connection" by The Mob, "Think It Over" by Cissy Houston, "Good Bread Alley" by Soul Mate, "Disco Satisfaction Medley" by Tommi, "Jig A Boogie" by Tightrope, "Let's Get Crazy Tonight" by Rupert Holmes, "I Can't Help Myself" by Franklin Micare, "This Old Man" by Purple Reign, "More" by Toga, and "Sunshine Of My Love" by Rosetta Stone. CD