A legendary album from the Texas scene of the 70s – exactly the kind of set that helps the city of Austin live up to its massive reputation for music! The group's got a wonderful blend of jazz, soul, and funk – a unique blend that reminds us of our favorite funky Fantasy Records sides from the Bay Area scene, but which is even more special here as a standout set from Austin. Like some of the best ensemble funk sets of the 70s, the groove's choppy one minute, jazzy the next – really drawing from the many spirits that inhabit the 8-piece lineup, in ways that really let everyone's talents sparkle. Drums are nice and tight, and the keyboard and saxophone work is wonderful too – and titles include "Ghetto Tool", "Groove Awhile", "Keep Your Eyes On The Merchandise", "Funk N Roll", "Frozen Tundra Lady", and "Radiator". CD

A groundbreaking set of work from the team of Jef Gilson and Hal Singer – a uniquely cross-cultural session recorded in the Paris scene of the 70s, and easily some of the best work ever from both musicians! Singer's probably best remembered on these shores for his older R&B tenor work of the 50s – but sometime during the 60s, he moved over to Paris, where he cut some mighty great music – including the legendary Paris Soul Food album, which predates this one by a few years. Gilson was always a great artist on the French scene – a modern pianist whose work of the 60s was always fresh and new, and a player who moved into more of a world jazz sensibility as the 70s approached. Together, both players work some real magic here – deep soul from Singers tenor, sharper tones from Gilson's piano – and a range of weird and wonderful notes from other players who include Bernard Lubat on vibes, Jacky Samson on bass, Frank Raholison on drums, and both Del Rabenja and Gerard Rakotoarivony on percussion – really helping the record live up to its "Africa" title! Samson's bass is especially amazing – roundly-toned, and incredibly soulful – as much so as his legendary work with Marco DiMarco, but pitched slightly differently here – and titles include "The High Life", "Liberation", "Mother Africa", "Chant Inca", and "Garvey's Strut". Plus, as an added bonus the CD also features 2 incredible earlier tracks by Gilson – material recorded with Lloyd Miller back in the 60s – playing "micro organ" and balaphon, with a sound that's almost even more haunting than the main album. Other players include "Pierre Caron on tenor and Alain Tabar-Nouval on alto – and titles include "Le Grand Bidou" and "Fable Of Gutenberg". CD

A long-overdue package – one that finally brings together all the many strands of music from underground Cali rock legend Merrell Fankhauser! CD1 features some of Merrell's earliest music – a host of early singles by Merrell & The Exiles, some of which were issued on the Glenn and Golden Crown labels – mixed here with rare unissued titles too – for a whopping 19 tracks that offer up a rare look at Fankhauser's earliest years! CD2 features the classic Fapardokly record – a lost bit of legend from the west coast scene of the 60s – and a record that's maybe best-known as a showcase for the early genius of Merrell Fankhauser – who wrote most of the songs on the set, a good number of which were actually recorded for the record by his previous group, The Exiles! Yet despite that little bit of trivia, there's a great vibe going on here – a seminal shift in the Cali scene from garagey work to trippier modes – served up beautifully on titles that include "Glass Chandelier", "Suzie Cryin", "Tomorrow's Girl", "Lila", "Mr Clock", "No Retreat", "Gone To Pot", "When I Get Home", "Supermarket", and "The Music Scene". CD3 features the album Things, recorded by Merrell Fankhauser & HMS Bounty – a perfect blend of Fankhauser's earlier garage rock modes and latter trippier styles! The tunes are short and wonderfully tuneful – produced at Gold Star studios, with a simple, straightforward style that makes all the deftness of the songwriting come through even more – an approach that, although supposedly steeped in Pacific Ocean inspiration, almost feels more like that great moment when some UK groups of the mid 60s were tripping out, but not too much. Titles include "Lost In The City", "Your Painted Lives", "In A Minute Not Too Soon", "A Visit With Ashiya", "The Big Gray Sky", and "Rich Man's Fable". CD4 features MU – an incredible record, and one that really lives up to all its well-deserved legend over the years – one of those sets that's not just rare, but which has all the chops to really deliver the goods! A few short years before, Merrell Fankhauser was recording garage and psych on the LA scene – but here, he steps off the latter with a bit of post-60s hangover – working with a current of darkness that really changes things up, while still providing a great outlet for his legendary work on guitar – and his mindblowing sense of a lyric! Titles include "Ballad Of Brother Lew", "Eternal Thirst", "Too Naked For Demetrius", "Mumbella Baye Tu La", "The Clouds Went That Way", and "Nobody Wants To Shine". CD5 features MU's The Last Album – 20 more tracks recorded in 1974, but unissued for many years – and CD6 features the legendary Maui album from the enigmatic Merrell Fankhauser – a self-released set that drew inspiration from his time in Hawaii – even though the set was mostly recorded in LA and San Francisco! The tunes are beautiful – nicely evolved from Merrell's psych of earlier years, with a much more personal vibe – yet all without some of those west coast cliches that were creeping into more mainstream music of the period. You might get the vibe partly right if you could maybe imagine a more personal singer/songwriter take on the AOR vibe of the period – with leaner, better instrumentation and unslick production – but that's also only part of the picture too! Titles include "On Our Way To Hana", "Make A Joyful Noise", "Garden In The Rain", "Waterfall", "The Source", "Sail It Over The Ocean", and "We Were All Free". Box set features a very detailed book of notes – bonus tracks added to most of the albums, and a massive 95 tracks in all! CD

A fabulous look at a new wave of music that hit the American scene at the end of the 60s – sophisticated songs with a deep sense of narrative that went way beyond the usual – first sprung by the world of country music, but with an influence that went on to touch all other styles too! This set goes right to the core – and brings together cuts from the hippest songwriters of the period, delivered in versions that may well be the best to ever make it on records – including a few tunes that will really come as a surprise if you think you know the artists from their hits! As you'd guess from the title, the world here is very similar to that in "Ode To Billie Joe" – a world that's also given great illumination by the detailed notes within. Titles include "Endless Miles Of Highway" by Jerry Reed, "If Only She Had Stayed" by Chris Gantry, "July 12, 1939" by Charlie Rich, "What Am I Doing In LA" by Nat Stuckey, "The House Song" by Lee Hazlewood, "Mr Jackson's Got Nothing To Do" by John Hartford, "Widow Wimberley" by Tony Joe White, "Mr Walker It's All Over" by Billie Jo Spears, "Drivin Nails In The Walls" by Waylon Jennings, "Four Shades Of Love" by Henson Cargill, "The Back Side Of Dallas" by Jeanne C Riley, "Way Before The Time Of Towns" by Hoyt Axton, "Down From Dover" by Dolly Parton, "Fabulous Body & Smile" by Sir Robert Charles Griggs, and "Why Can't I Come Home" by Ed Bruce. CD

Fantastic lost work from Charles Mingus, from a very under-recorded time in his life – the same period in which he gave the world the seminal album Let My Children Hear Music! The setting's a live one – and as on some of Mingus' superb 60s concert sessions, there's a force and fire here that really surpasses the group's energy in the studio – long tracks that are filled with brilliant solo work, and handled by a sextet that includes Bobby Jones on tenor, Charles McPherson on alto, Jon Faddis on trumpet, John Foster on piano, and Roy Brooks on drums – a group with just the kind of young, imaginative horn players that Mingus always used to create a special sort of fire. Titles include the 19 minute "The Man Who Never Sleeps", the 30 minute "Mind Readers Convention In Milano", a 25 minute version of "Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress", and a 20 minute take on "Noddin Ya Head Blue" – plus a 35 minute jam on "Fables Of Faubus" and the shorter "Pops". CD

A lost jazz gem from guitarist Chris Spedding – a musician whose work was such a key component of many other important albums from the time, but who hardly ever made a record like this! The album's much more jazz than the rock you might normally expect from Spedding – strongly linked to his sessions with players like Mike Westbrook, Ian Carr, or Frank Ricotti – with an all-instrumental approach that's spun out on some beautiful extended tracks! Chris plays both acoustic and electric guitar, but the album's really a full group effort – and features material by Roger Potter on bass, John Mitchell on acoustic piano and Fender Rhodes, Paul Rutherford on trombone, and John Marshall on drums. There's a moody, understated vibe to the record – never jamming at all, and this very introspective side of Spedding that we really love. For some reason, although the set was recorded for the Harvest label in 1970, Spedding didn't want it issued at the time – and it initially was only released in Japan. Titles include "Plain Song", "Station Song", "Song Of The Deep", "The Forest Of Fables", and "New Song Of Experience". CD

A 2CD set of Candi Staton – the complete Fame masters recorded by the female southern soul great and producer Rick Hall at the fabled Muscle Shoals studios – including a dozen previously unreleased tracks! It's one heartbreaking, soul stirring masterpiece after another on this set – some of best southern soul by anyone in this period, if you're asking us! Candi's voice brings grit and grace, sweetness and gruff truth. Includes the great late 60s/early 70s material plus some previously unreleased number cut before here mid 70s move to Warners – and that stuff is wonderful, too! 48 tracks in all: "Someone You Use", "Mr And Mrs Untrue", "Do Right Woman", "In The Ghetto", "Love Chain", "I'll Be Here", "Jolene", "It's Not Love", "Stand By Your Man", "For You", "Another Man's Woman, Another Woman's Man", "Where Were You", One More Hurt", "Do Right Woman" and many more. CD

Charles Mingus at Carnegie Hall – but playing here with relaxed and intimate feel that's not what you might expect from the staid setting! The original album features two long tracks – both done in more of a jam session mode than any other Charles Mingus recordings we can think of. Both numbers are Ellington classics – "C Jam Blues" and "Perdido" – showcasing Mingus' late fascination with the Duke, but in a way that still preserves all of the modern inventions of his own earlier work. As on much of the best Mingus albums from the time, there's a real focus on the strengths of the soloists here – players who include Roland Kirk on tenor and stritch, Hamiet Bluiett on baritone, Jon Faddis on trumpet, John Handy on alto and tenor, Charles McPherson on alto, and Don Pullen on piano – all of whom really play with some sharp edges and bold notes! This great expanded version features more very long tracks – over 70 minutes of unreleased music, with versions of "Celia", "Big Alice", "Fables Of Faubus", and "Peggy's Blue Skylight" – as well as Mingus' introduction of the music. CD

There have been lots of Lowrider soul compilations on the market over the years – documenting the great of of mellow cuts on the LA scene of the 60s – particularly the kind that could move slow, but with a heavy groove at the bottom – perfect for chilling out in the back of a car on an endless summer night! Yet few have ever done the job as well as this collection – because in the hands of Ace/Kent Records, the music finally gets proper historical context – moved past the jargon of the East LA in crowd, and presented with great sound, and the kind of detailed notes that really get at the special qualities that made the west coast soul scene so different than the east in the 60s! The set list is superb – fantastic mellow soul tracks that are perfect, even if you don't care about this history – and titles include "It's Not That Easy" by Reuben Bell with The Casanovas, "I Really Love You" by The Ambassadors, "As I Sit Here" by The Whispers, "One More Chance" by The Four Tees, "Take A Step" by Aesop's Fables, "Why'd You Put Me On" by Bobbi Row & The Englishmen, "I Wanna Chance" by The Vows, "Second Hand Happiness" by Jimmy Conwell, "Be Kind To Love" by The Interpreters, "As Long As I've Got You" by The Charmels, "Don't Forget About Me Baby" by Jeff Dale, "I'm A Lonely Man" by Bobby Burn, "Crying All By Myself" by William Bell, "I'm Just Passing Time" by Melvin Hicks & The Versatiles, "When You're Poor" by The Lovers, "It's So Hard To Break A Habit" by The Webs, "Find Me" by The Attractions, "Never Gonna Let Him Know" by Debbie Taylor, and "Pretending Dear" by The Lovelles. CD