The Foundations were the first of many successful British groups to break the American charts – and the first LP has the racially mixed group grooving like the best US soul acts from the same time. The set kicks off with the band's first big single – "Baby, Now That I've Found You", a huge radio hit on both sides of the Atlantic. 7-inch, Vinyl record

With Mike Holstein on bass and Austin McMahon on drums. CD

An incredible collection of lost recordings by the Four Tops – culled from the groups earliest days with Motown in the early 60s and through the rest of the decade – a mighty testament to the pioneering group's amazing track record! Most of their sessions with Holland-Dozier-Holland actually saw the light of day (there are only a couple here), so this set runs pretty deep, and it honestly sounds as great to our ears as most of their biggest hits do! Many of the earlier tracks on disc one stand up very well with the best soul of the era, with the glorious harmonies and sterling sound you know they laid down – even on the b-sides! Disc one features tracks from '63-'68, with productions by Mickey Stevenson, Smokey Robinson, Ivy Joe Hunter and others. Tracks include "Get My Hands On Some Lovin'", "I Can't Believe You're In Love With Me", "Baby Baby Come Home", "Fantasy", "Sweeter As The Day Days Go By". "Lost For Words", "I'm So Afraid Of Losing You" and many more! Disc two features the tracks we love the most on the set – late 60s numbers in which the lead vocals get grittier, the drums clap harder, the guitar and bass gets fuzzier – looser, funkier stuff – along with straighter soul ballads, so you know they could still do it all! Producers include Raynard Miner, Ron Miller, Pete Moore, Johnny Bristol and others. Tracks include "Same-O", "Clip My Wings", "No Time", "My Love Keeps On Growing", "Never Say No To Your Baby", "Magic Mary", "Rocks In My Bed", Which Way Is The Sky", "You're My Kind Of Woman", "Lost Without You" and more. 41 tracks in all! CD

Rare funky tracks from late 70s Kenya – both of which are pretty darn groovy! "You & Me" has a midtempo groove that's laced with these haunting spacey keyboards – and the English language vocals build things up in a nice way – with lots of catchy lyrics, but in a style that's as spare and moody as the instrumentation! "I Found A Note" has this pulsing clubby vibe, but again one that's relatively open – lots of room for a slightly exotic keyboard line next to more familiar rhythms – and more unusual vocals in the mix, plus a cool spacey keys breakdown near the end! 7-inch, Vinyl record

The title's a great one – as The Boston Horns have definitely found their own groove – a super-tight approach to funk, but one that's never slick at all! These guys have the sort of sharpness you might find in an older soul instrumental combo – but they also bring a touch of jazz to their instrumentation at times – a hint of deeper sophistication that brings a lot more complexity to the record than you might expect, especially from set with such a simple-looking cover. Tenor and trumpet lead the assault – with a bit of flute and added alto at times too – and there's lots of great Hammond, plus other keyboards – kicked up nicely with guitar, bass, and drums. The keyboards get slinky and soulful on a few more laidback number – adding in a dose of 70s electric jazz to the funk – and titles include "Ain't Nothin To It", "Love Will Slip Up On You", "Blues For Ben", "In The", and "Speedball". Also features a bonus live track! CD

A long-overdue look at the amazing Clark Sisters – a fantastic gospel group, and one with a vocal depth that we'd put right up there next to any of our favorite soul acts of the time! The Clarks are maybe best known for their landmark track "You Brought The Sunshine" – a completely righteous blend of gospel, soul, and disco that crossed over very big back in the day – but the group have an endless amount of great music to offer, a great deal of which is brought together in this wonderful set! The sisters always kept a strong ear towards the secular soul styles of their day – but they also always pushed things with the sort of amazing vocal interplay that used to only be the territory of male gospel groups in earlier decades – fantastic harmonies, soaring leads, and really great group formation. And if you're not a completely huge fan of gospel, don't worry – because the message here is often a more general one of positivity, which really lifts up the spirit of the tunes in a universal way. Titles include "You Brought The Sunshine (single edit)", "Everything Is Gonna Be Alright", "He Keeps Me Company", "Patience", "I'm Going To Have Just What I Want", "Power", "Overdose Of The Holy Ghost", "My Mind Is Made Up", "Nothing To Lose All To Gain", "No Other Name", "Keep On Looking Up", and "I Found What I'm Looking For". CD

The fab second album by the Free Design – one that has them moving confidently into the realm of groovy pop – magically touching songs with their unique innocent harmony approach, and completely transforming them in the process! The set includes wonderful versions of groovy 60s pop hits like "Windows Of the World", "Eleanor Rigby", and "California Dreamin" – but stands out even more for Chris Dedrick's original compositions – like "Quartet No 6 In D Minor", "A Leaf Has Veins", "An Elegy", "I Found Love", "You Could Be Born Again", and "Ivy On A Windy Day". Sublime throughout – and as the cover says – "The Freshest Sounds You've Ever Heard!" LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album of the 60s – and a record that forever put Gloria Lynne on the map! The album's got a sense of poise and class that was almost a genre into itself – one that crossed Gloria over big with the title hit version of "I Wish You Love", but which was also supported here by 11 other gems all arranged in similar glistening style by Marty Paich. The set's got a great blend of jazz, soul, and pop – using strings alongside Gloria's deeply soulful vocals – and often inflecting tunes with just the right sense of jazz to put them on the hipper side of the spectrum. Titles include "I Wish You Love", "End Of A Love Affair", "Be My Love", "I Know Love", "There Is No Greater Love", "Love I've Found You", "And This Is My Beloved", "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", and "If You Love Me". LP, Vinyl record album

A really lost chapter in the career of trombonist Phil Ranelin – music from a period after he first rose to fame in the Tribe Records scene in Detroit, a time when Phil was living in Los Angeles and opening up a whole new groove in his music! If anything, the sounds here are maybe even more powerful and progressive than the Ranelin records for Tribe – leaner, and performed with a quartet that features a young Billy Childs on acoustic and electric piano, Tony Dumas on bass, and Ralph Penland on drums – on tracks that are all very long, yet very spiritual too! The album's maybe in more avant territory than some of Ranelin's more familiar recordings – but the trombonist also still has that strong sense of soul that's always characterized his music, which is definitely underscored by Childs' presence on the recordings. The set features nine long tracks from a gig in 1981, one more from a 1978 performance, and two more from a 1980 concert – titles that include "Of Times Gone By", "I Love You", "He The One We All Knew", "Love Dream", "Night In Tunisia", "Just The Way You Are", "Bye Bye Blackbird", and "Birdlike". CD

A really lost chapter in the career of trombonist Phil Ranelin – music from a period after he first rose to fame in the Tribe Records scene in Detroit, a time when Phil was living in Los Angeles and opening up a whole new groove in his music! If anything, the sounds here are maybe even more powerful and progressive than the Ranelin records for Tribe – leaner, and performed with a quartet that features a young Billy Childs on acoustic and electric piano, Tony Dumas on bass, and Ralph Penland on drums – on tracks that are all very long, yet very spiritual too! The album's maybe in more avant territory than some of Ranelin's more familiar recordings – but the trombonist also still has that strong sense of soul that's always characterized his music, which is definitely underscored by Childs' presence on the recordings. The set features nine long tracks from a gig in 1981, one more from a 1978 performance, and two more from a 1980 concert – titles that include "Of Times Gone By", "I Love You", "He The One We All Knew", "Love Dream", "Night In Tunisia", "Just The Way You Are", "Bye Bye Blackbird", and "Birdlike". LP, Vinyl record album

Quite possibly the greatest album ever from Side Effect – a wonderful set that mixes their soulful harmonies with some killer jazz funk from Wayne Henderson! The album may be the most perfect realization of the groove that Henderson was going for during his At Home Productions years – lots of funky fusion in the instrumentation, but all directed towards a tighter, more soul-based style – that perfect contribution that Fantasy Records made to the world in the 70s – after labels like Blue Note and Columbia first started setting things down. Whatever the chronology, though, this set's a standout no matter how you slice it – damn catchy tunes, incredible vocals, and a set of rhythms that are every bit as hip today as they were back when first recorded – really genre-defining grooves that you'll definitely recognize in the album's classics "Always There" and "Keep That Same Old Feeling" – and will go on to love in the cuts "Life Is What You Make It", "Changes", "I Know You Can", "SOS", "Time Has No Ending", "Finally Found Someone", and "Honky Tonk Scat". CD

Tim Berne really seems to have found his great energy of old while working with his Snakeoil group – that richly-expressive sense of tones and timings that made him such a powerful force at the start, and which has really gotten us listening to his music all over again these days! Berne's on alto, but that's only part of the equation here – as the group also features these amazing lines from Oscar Noriega on clarinet and bass clarinet – used at a sharper level, to bring out even more edge than Tim's instrument. The group also has some excellent piano from Matt Mitchell – whose acoustic lines are a masterpiece of space and strength – sometimes balanced by his own electronics, and use of vibes, timpani, and other percussion by Ches Smith, the group's drummer. The guitars of Ryan Ferreira are used selectively, but in a way that only increases their power – and titles include "Lost In Redding", "Angles", "You've Been Watching Me", "Semi-Self Detached", and "False Impressions". CD

An amazing legacy in music from Mike Cooper – a British musician who started out in the world of folk blues, but never ended up moving towards some of the rockish modes of his contemporaries – instead finding his very own sort of special space in the freedom allowed by the Dawn Records label! The set begins with the very spare Oh Really – a set that has Mike Cooper mostly on guitar and vocals, in a style that's part Piedmont, part Delta blues – but also given a more folksy spin, and graced with Cooper's unusual vocals – almost making the whole thing feel like a spare acoustic version of Canned Heat territory – with titles that include "Maggie Campbell", "Saturday Blues", "Electric Chair", "Crow Jane", and "You're Gonna Be Sorry". Do I Know you is a record that follows up with a sound that's maybe a bit fuller than Mike Cooper's debut, but still relatively spare – with Mike on acoustic guitar and slide guitar, Harry Miller on bass (really great bass, by the way!), and Poor Little Anne on a bit of vocals. Miller brings these deep tones to the record that really transform things – and titles include "Do I Know You", "Start Of A Journey", "First Song", "Theme In C", and "The Link". Trout Steel is a beautiful set from the British scene at the start of the 70s – a record that's got a fairly folksy tone, but lots of jazzy currents as well! The set was issued on the seminal Dawn Records label – and really shows that imprint's commitment to the left side of the spectrum – as Mike Cooper's vocals and acoustic guitar come into play with more guitar from Stefan Grossman – plus alto sax from Mike Osborne, tenor and soprano from Alan Skidmore, piano from John Taylor, and bass from the late Harry Miller – all key players on the UK avant jazz scene of the time! The mix of these players with Cooper's core inspiration is not unlike some of the most progressive material coming from Island Records – or, even better, the special jazzy moments on records by Tim Buckley or Tim Hardin – company that Cooper could very easily keep, given the strength of his songwriting. Titles include "Don't Talk Too Fast", "On My Way", "Hope You See", "Weeping Rose", "Trout Steel", "I've Got Mine", "That's How", and "Pharoah's March". Places I Know blends Cooper's acoustic guitar and rootsy vocals with some very compelling arrangements from Mike Gibbs – the British jazz talent who was already known for his larger ensemble creations at the time, but who works here in these really subtle ways – to inflect Cooper's core inspirations with just some slight instrumental colors, tones, and phrases on most numbers – while Cooper brings in the core Machine Gun Co group on a few more. The result is a record that's way more than familiar folk – and arguably a lot hipper than most of the British acid folk of the time, too – on titles that include "Night Journey", "Paper & Smoke", "Country Water", "Time To Time", "Goodbye Blues Goodbye", and "Places I Know". The Machine Gun Co album is a partner record to Places I Know – recorded in the same sessions, but with tracks that are longer, and even more openly expressive – all with backings from the sweet Machine Gun Co quartet, a group with some especially nice electric piano from Alan Cook! Heavy use of that instrument really works against some of the folksier elements in Cooper's music – with these blocks of warm sound and color that really illuminate the tunes, and almost unlock a new level in the vocals. Cooper plays a bit of electric guitar at times – and titles include "So Glad That I Found You", "Lady Anne", "Midnight Words", and "Song For Abigail". CD also features songs from singles – "Your Lovely Ways (parts 1 & 2)", "Time In Hand", and "Schaabisch Hall". CD

A really massive package – one that features six full albums from Starpoint, plus 34 bonus tracks as well! The group began as a more conventional funk outfit, but by the time of these records, they'd really found a sound that was strongly their own – a way of taking older ensemble modes forward to the 80s generation, yet without losing any of the warmth and beating heart that made them so great in the first place! There's so many different elements that come into play that make these records great – including key lead vocal performances from Renee Diggs, and well-crafted production that kept things fresh from record to record. The package features loads of classics amidst the full albums within – including the cuts "It's So Delicious", "Don't Be So Serious", "Breakout", "Am I Still The One", "Let Go", "Restless", "Object Of My Desire", "He Wants My Body", "DYBO", "Another Night", "Touch Of Your Love", "Say You Will", "I Want You You Want Me", "Midnight Love", and "One Step Closer To Your Love" – and each album is expanded with bonus tracks that include all the rare single mixes issued at the time. CD

Solid soul from Eddie Floyd – 2 tremendous albums on a single CD, plus bonus tracks too! I've Never Found A Girl is tremendous late 60s work from Eddie Floyd – a great date from the post-Atlantic years of Stax Records – material that really shows the hipper, more righteous sound of the label at the time! Eddie's moving way beyond the standard southern soul of his roots – recording with backings from Booker T & The MGs, plus horns from the Mar-Keys – a blend that makes for instrumental magic that's already plenty darn great before Eddie comes into the mix – a classic late 60s Memphis sound that's positive and progressive throughout. There's a bit of female backing vocals on the set – but these are used very sparely – and titles include "Never Give You Up", "Bring It On Home To Me", "I'm Just The Kind Of Fool", "I'll Take Her", "Sweet Things You Do", and "I Need You Woman". Rare Stamps is not really as "rare" as the title implies – but a great little record that easily stands as some of Eddie Floyd's best work of the 60s! The album features a few key cuts from earlier years, mixed with material from the second generation of Stax – the point when the label was moving into hipper territory, and really helping artists like Eddie expand their groove. Titles include "Knock On Wood", "Love Is A Doggone Good Thing", "On A Saturday Night", "Raise Your Head", and "Got To Make A Comeback". CD also adds in bonus tracks that include "I've Got To Have Your Love", "Laurie", and "Consider Me" – plus "Never Let You Go" and "Ain't That Good", which are duets with Mavis Staples! CD

A fitting title to this one – as it virtually describes the standard that the blues business was operating on during the early 70s – as artists came out of the shadows and found big audiences on college campuses, rock clubs, and other crossover scenes! The concept is carried to the Nth degree on the cover – which has a front image of a young Asian boy eating a big watermelon, Sambo-style – and the back cover features notes that say things like "Chinese kids like watermelon, Irish like bagels, black people like Jewish rye, and today everybody loves the Blues." Fortunately, this comic packaging doesn't affect the album too much – as Junior's still in the fine form he was at the end of the 60s, cruising between blues and soul, with a slight touch of jazz, in a unique way that sounds better to our ears than the work of most of his contemporaries. Titles include "Five Long Years", "That's Alright", "Way Back Home", "Man Or Mouse", and "I Like Your Style". CD

Previously unissued work from tenor saxophonist Brew Moore – recorded in the mid 60s during his time in Scandinavia, and played with a much deeper soul than his American sides! The group on the session is a Danish trio, backing Brew at the Cafe Montmartre – but the main focus here is on Moore's creative tenor solo work, recorded in a mode that's a bit similar to that which Dexter Gordon found a strong home for at the same location. Titles include "Zonky", "Svingtet 15", "If I Had You", and "Blue Monk". CD

A wonderful bit of sunshine pop from the very obscure Peppermint Rainbow – a male/female harmony group with a sound that was a lot like the Mamas & Papas – blending folk rock and sweet pop into a really sunny groove! The album's worth it alone for the massive title track – "Will You Be Staying After Sunday", a tune that's got a sad undercurrent that seems to single-handedly dismantle all of the sexual freedom offered by the late 60s with a one sentence confession of the emotionality that was also attached. Other tracks are also nice – and include "Don't Wake Me Up In The Morning Michael", "Run Like The Devil", "I Found Out I Was A Woman", and "Walking In Different Circles" – most of which were written by arranger/producer Paul Leka. CD features lots of bonus tracks – 10 more numbers that include ""You're The Sound Of Love", "Good Morning Means Goodbye", and "Don't Love Me Unless It's Forever" – plus single mixes of tracks on the album. CD

Soulful, spiritual sounds from North Carolina legend Johnny Ray Daniels – an artist who started out in soul, but soon found gospel more to his liking – then went on to create a decades-long legacy of wonderful music like this! The album's contemporary, but given a very old school treatment in the best style of the Bible & Tire label – small combo backing by the Sacred Soul Sound Section, who warm things up with Hammond organ and guitar – while Johnny Ray handles some of the lead guitar on the cuts, and gets support from Amp Daniels and Keamber Daniels on his lead vocals! Titles include "I Shall Not Be Moved", "Whatever You Need", "Something Within Me", "Thank You Lord", "Church Get Ready", and "Lord You've Been Good To Me". CD

A stunning look at one of our favorite singers of all time – captured here in the grooviest period of her career, and presented with a huge amount of rare and unreleased material too! In the late 60s, after her famous recordings for Verve, Blossom Dearie moved to the London scene, worked with hip arrangers, songwriters, and producers – and came up with a sound and style that was even more sublime than her earlier work – sometimes with touches of mod rhythms, sometimes bits of jazz, bossa, or soundtrack elements – and delivered in a mode that's unlike anything else she recorded before, or afterwards! This massive package brings together four albums from that time – That's Just The Way I Want To Be, Soon It's Gonna Rain, Sweet Blossom Dearie, and Blossom Time At Ronnie Scott's – plus two full CDs with 27 more London sessions that appear here for the first time ever! Those tracks include mono versions of some album tracks, but also some unusual tracks too – like "You Have Lived In Autumn", "The Joker", "Rings & Things", "Now That We're Here", "Wave", "What Is", "Feeling Good Being Me", "Windows Of The World", "Inside A Silent Tear", "Until It's Time For You To Go", "Didn't We", "Inside Out", "Let It Be Me", "While We're Lovin Me", "My Favorite Things", "What The World Needs Now", and "I'm Hip" – and the package then also has some bonus singles added to the albums – including "The Music Played", "Discover Who I Am", "Moonlight Saving Time", "Wallflower Lonely Cornflower Blue", and "Feelin Groovy". Plus, the whole thing comes in a cool 10" slipcover, with a huge booklet of notes and images in the middle! CD

Amazing stuff – and proof that there's way more to America than just their classic singles! The sound of the trio is the sweet sound of 70s pop at its best – wonderful harmonies, with a heartfelt quality that's never cloying at all – produced to perfection, yet never too slick, either! The balance is completely perfect on this early album by the trio – a set that gave the world such gems as "Sandman", "Children", "I Need You", "Rainy Day", "Never Found The Time", and "Three Roses". CD

Sublimely satisfying work from Ashford & Simpson – a stone killer from the height of their late 70s glory days on Warner Brothers! The pair are working together wonderfully at this point – wrapped up in that blend of upbeat soul and righteous undercurrents that made them a real cut above in mainstream soul – getting great help from arrangers William Eaton, Paul Riser, and Al Gorgoni – all of whom know how to hit that perfect Ashford & Simpson balance between tightness, class, and soulful spontaneity! Backings are always filled with lots of jazzy touches, too – the kind of sophisticated soul elements other would cop from the pair in years to come – and titles include "Over & Over", "It's You", "If You're Lying", "Couldn't Get Enough", "Destiny", "So So Satisfied", and "Tried Tested & Found True". LP, Vinyl record album

The last-ever Chet Baker recording with a quartet – and a set that shows just how completely magical the legendary trumpeter was even up to the end! Chet at this time is completely different than Chet in the 50s or 60s – as he'd really found a way to make all these amazing new sounds on his horn, partly as a way of getting around some of his physical limitations, but also as a way of opening up some of those mid 60s ideas that he barely explored on record at the time. He's working here with a very important musical partner from the last decade – getting great help on guitar and flute from Nicola Stilo – plus Marc Abrams on bass and Luca Flores on piano – on titles that include "Portrait In Black & White", "Funk In Deep Freeze", "Arborway", "In A Sentimental Way", and "If I Should Lose You". LP, Vinyl record album

William Bell was one of the first great soul singers to record for the legendary Stax Records in Memphis – an artist who really helped set the tone for deep soul singles to come from the likes of Otis Redding and Johnnie Taylor – and one whose early work is still some of the best he ever gave us! This well-done package brings together all of Bell's first 14 singles for the label, both a-sides and b-sides – standing together as a testament to all the greatness the singer brought to the fray right from the start – as Stax not only found a way to record him so much differently than he would have been handled in other spots, but also matured along with Bell to keep on creating fresh magic as the 60s moved on! As always with Ace/Kent, the presentation is wonderful – a detailed set of notes that matches the wonderful set list – which includes "Formula Of Love", "Just As I Thought", "Whatcha Gonna Do", "I Told You So", "Don't Stop Now", "Crying All By Myself", "I'll Show You", "Monkeying Around", "Ain't Got No Girl", "Every Man Oughta Have A Woman", "Never Like This Before", "Marching Off To War", "Soldier's Goodbye", "One Plus One", "Eloise", "You're Such A Sweet Thing", "Don't Make Something Out Of Nothing", and his great farewell to Otis Redding, "Tribute To A King". CD