An underground classic from Karen Dalton – a record that's almost out of time, given its early 70s release – as Karen sings with spare backings that are almost in a Folkway Records mode at points, but with all these headier currents that are also indicative of the Bay Area generation too! Dalton's voice is completely unique too – unlike anything you'll ever hear – phrasing that almost hearkens back both to vintage jazz and Appalachian folk, but a style that's more long hair – as are some of the backings too. The set was recorded upstate in Bearsville – and really has all the hallmarks of the freedoms of that scene at the time – summed up beautifully on material that includes "Something On Your Mind", "In A Station", "Take Me", "Same Old Man", Are You Leaving For The Country", "Katie Cruel", and "How Sweet It Is". LP, Vinyl record album

Genius work from Norman Feels – a virtually unknown mellow soul singer from the 70s, but one who should have been huge! Norman sings with this sweetly crackling style that we loved the moment we first heard it – a sound that's somewhere in territory covered by Marvin Gaye or Leroy Hutson at the time, but which has a personality and intimacy that's Norman's own. Arrangements on the set are by David Van De Pitte – who manages to use full backings, but keep things nice and upfront – never covering over Norman's voice, and allowing the singer to dominate the set with his mellow-grooving charm! Titles include "Shame", "Movie", "You Made Me Feel Better", "Mr Wanna Be", "Where Or When", "You Can't Stop My Love", and "I'll Show You The Way". LP, Vinyl record album

Betty Davis was one of the nastiest ladies in 70s soul – and this is one of her greatest albums – a killer batch of funky tracks all the way through! Betty has a sound like nobody else – and she takes heavy drums, throbbing bass, and ripping guitars – all as a hard and funky backing for raunchy, raspy vocals that are belted out with a slinky, sexy sort of sound! Davis' vocals are unlike anyone else we can think of – easily some of the most badass work you'll ever find on record – and the tracks are a mix of hip themes about sex, gal power, and struttin your stuff – all delivered by a righteous woman who can definitely do just that! The album features the classic break tracks "If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up" and "Steppin in Her I Miller Shoes", but every cut is a funky monster – including "Ooh Yea", "In The Meantime", "Your Man My Man", and "Anti Love Song". A great one if you dig hard female soul, heavy funky guitars, or both at the same time! LP, Vinyl record album

A masterpiece of sweet group soul! This was the first secular record cut by The Voices Of East Harlem – a group who'd had an earlier gospel-tinged album on Elektra, but who are soaring out here in a brilliant mix of righteous mainstream soul styles – courtesy of the Curtom power team of Rich Tufo, Leroy Hutson, and Curtis Mayfield! The album's an unusual non-Curtom effort by the Hutson and Curtom – who collaborated in producing the record with Tufo, who himself did most of the arrangements with Hutson – in a mode that's wonderfully in the same spirit as Leroy's seminal work for Curtom in the mid 70s. There's a depth here that makes the album one of our favorite-ever soul records from the 70s – brilliant not just for the overall sound, but also for the pointed lyrics and really personal feel of the songs. Lead vocals shift between the different tunes – but are mostly handled by Gerri Griffin and Monica Burress, with warm support by the rest of the group. Titles include "Giving Love", "Cashing In", "Could This Be Love", "New Vibrations", and "Wanted Dead or Alive". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Roy Ayers' biggest albums ever – and also one of his deepest, too! The whole thing's an incredible album of mellow jazzy soul – and it shows Roy at the crossroads, perfecting his earlier funk style with a sweet mellow R&B edge, getting a bit slicker, but still staying on the righteous path, and opening up a whole new bag in soul music. There's a wonderful electric vibe running through the record – not just from Roy's vibes, but from the Fender Rhodes and Arp work by Phillip Woo – and the amazing energy of the rest of the group too. Features the landmark title cut – "Everybody Loves The Sunshine", one of those tunes that becomes more and more of a classic each year – plus spiritual numbers like "Third Eye" , "Keep on Walking", and "The Golden Rod". Very righteous, and with a cool dope jazzy groove! LP, Vinyl record album

Massive massive Miami funk – and a record that seems to sound better and better as the years move on! Sure, KC and crew were a chart-topping act, but this first album's a stellar batch of heavy cuts – featuring great instrumentation on clavinet, conga, guitars, and horns – all bubbled into an extremely tight mix that riffs along madly on just about every cut! Sure, we grew up grooving to this stuff out of the AM radio in the car (hmmm. . . Maybe that was the problem), but honestly, it sure stands up to a lot more funk from the time than you'd expect! Includes all the big hits – like "Boogie Shoes", "That's The Way (I Like It)", and "Get Down Tonight" – plus some nice breaks and funky intros on "I Get Lifted" and "Let It Go". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful album by Bill Withers – filled with incredibly well written songs, and an amazing instrumental technique that blended folksy elements with smoother 70s soul, in a sound that would put Bill at the top of the charts for many years, yet still give him cred with soul fans for decades! Booker T Jones arranged, produced, and played electric piano on the album – and we can say without a doubt that the record's one of the few good things to come out of his move to LA! Although the album's not a greatest hits one, given the strength of the tracks, it may as well be, as it includes Withers classics like "Grandma's Hands", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Harlem", and "Hope She'll Be Happier". Also features the nice groover, "Better Off Dead", which has a very tasty intro! LP, Vinyl record album

A great batch of late 60s soft rock from the Sunshine Company – a group cut from the same cloth as the Millenium, Fifth Dimension and others of the ilk, with perhaps a little bit darker of an edge. Includes "Up, Up And Away", "I Need You", "Just Beyond Your Smile", "Rain", "Happy", "I Just Want To Be Your Friend", and more! LP, Vinyl record album

The breakout album for The Cryan Shames – a wonderfully groovy harmony pop combo from the 60s – one with a sound that's very much the best Sunshine Pop of LA, even though these guys hail from our hometown of Chicago! The vocals come together with a really magical feel – sometimes mellow and drifty, ala The Association – sometimes vibrant and soaring, in a really catchy way! The whole album's great – with just a touch of Brit invasion guitar jangle behind the vocals at times – and titles include "Heat Wave", "We'll Meet Again", "If I Needed Someone", "Hey Joe", "Sugar & Spice", "July", "I Wanna Meet You", and "Ben Franklin's Almanac". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal set from the Sunset Strip scene of the 60s – and just the kind of record that shows why the changes taking place in Cali were so important to the growth of so much other music at the time! A few years before, and The Grass Roots would have been a pop folk combo re-tuning traditional tracks for the coffeehouse scene – but here they're taking off with some post-folk modes that are partly sunshine pop, partly the headier currents that were the darker side of the west coast – all put together with superb production by PF Sloan and Steve Barri – who also penned some of the best tunes on the record. Titles include the great "Where Were You When I Needed You" – plus "Only When You're Lonely", "Look Out Girl", "Ain't That Loving You Baby", "I've Got No More To Say", "I Am A Rock", "Tell Me", and "Mr Jones". LP, Vinyl record album

Hard hitting, groove oriented psychedelia from Moby Grape – still making a wonderful racket, with a farther reaching overall sound than their previous work! Wow takes loads of interesting twists and turns thanks to the varied tastes of the band members – from mellow Cali sunshine, to walloping heaviness, to some baroque and lightly orchestral touches! Titles include "The Place And The Time", "Murder In My Heart For The Judge", "Bitter Wind", "Can't Be So Bad", "Just Like Gene Autry – A Foxtrot", "He", "Motorcycle Irene", "Three-Hour", "Funky-Tunk", "Miller's Blues" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Dreamy dreamy pop psych from Strawberry Alarm Clock – a great late 60s group who skirted the worlds of Sunshine Pop and more jamming garage rock! This album's got a lot more to offer than you might guess from just the title hit – as the instrumentation sometimes gets nicely tripped out – with cool use of organ, harpsichord, and guitar – plus plenty of special effects in production – and even some of the song styles and lengths are unusual too, making the album way more than just a batch of cute little tunes. Titles include the classic "Incense & Peppermints", the 8 minute jammer "The World's On Fire", the instrumental "Pass Time With SAC", and the cuts "Paxton's Back Street Carnival", "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow", "Strawberries Mean Love", and "Unwind the Clock". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic sunshine pop from the Strawberry Alarm Clock – an album that's a bit trippy, a lot sunny – and just the right mix of psych and harmony soul! There's some wonderful overlooked nuggets on the record – tunes that go past their chart hits, and which really remind us that the group was definitely a cut above most of their contemporaries – with these edges and surprises that really keep things interesting. The mighty George Tipton helped arrange some of the best cuts – and titles include the massive "Barefoot In Baltimore" – a perfect bridge between the earlier 60s harmony sounds, and the headier mode of the later generation – as well as the tracks "Sea Shell", "Lady Of The Lake", "A Million Smiles Away", "Shallow Impressions", and "Eulogy". LP, Vinyl record album

It takes a record like this one to remind us just what a magical crossover time the post-disco, post-punk days of the early 80s could be! Take two white guys from Denmark – Tim Stahl and John Guldberg – give them a drum machine and some funky beats, and out comes the breakdance classic "White Horse", which was one of the more sinister dancefloor numbers of its time. Sure, it's super-kitschy, but it hit pop-and-break crowd bigtime, and had kids from The Bronx to Bed-Stuy ripping up linoleum everywhere, and dragging it out into busy sidewalks where they could block off traffic! The other tracks on the album aren't as great, but ok electro pop – and titles include "Sunshine Reggae", "Elevator Boy", "Slowmotion Girl", and "Walking In The Sunshine". LP, Vinyl record album

Chemical Brothers still riding high at the end of the 90s! In some ways, Surrender scales back on bigger, more boisterous big beat vibe for slightly hipper dancefloor vibe – but there's really a ton of ambitiousness here. Just a glance at the guest appearances is clue of how wild the ride is – a far reaching lot for sure – including Missy Elliot, Bernard Sumner, Hope Sandoval, Bobby Gillespie, Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev and more. Includes "Music: Response", "Under The Influence", "Out Of Control", "Orange Wedge", "Let Forever Be", "The Sunshine Underground", "Asleep From Day", "Got Glint?", "Hey Boy Hey Girl", "Surrender" and "Dream On". LP, Vinyl record album

The official full length debut from Lupe Fiasco – another wholly unique Chicago MC who's gotten the runaround from seemingly every major label in the biz – and a record that lives up to the long-building hype! Frankly, we were scared almost immediately when we heard the description "skate rap" applied to "Kick, Push" – only to find our fears unfounded. Lupe's only going to be himself – which is what makes him such a strong MC (other than the masterful breath control) – and that individualistic approach is proving to be Chicago's gift to mainstream hip hip. The Neptunes provide one of their best productions of the past couple years for "I Gotcha" – but the soundtracky productions by Soundtrakk (natch) are even better. Other tracks include "Real" feat Sara Green, "Just Might Be OK" feat Gemini, "Kick, Push", "The Instrumental" feat Jonah Matranga, "He Say She Say" feat Gemini & Sarah Green, "Sunshine", "Daydreamin'" feat Jill Scott, "The Cool" (produced by Kanye) , "Hurt Me Soul", "Pressure" feat Jay-Z, "American Terrorist" feat Matthew Santos, "The Cool", "The Emperor's Soundtrack" and more! LP, Vinyl record album

Wild stuff – and very different than Gary McFarland's earlier albums! Today was recorded late in Gary's career, and is has him moving a bit away from jazz – into a more sunshine pop feel – one that still retains plenty of the bossa and breezy elements of his Verve work, but which also features a bit more vocals and a cool and groovy style overall! Gary's singing on most tracks – not just in his wordless and whistling mode, but also taking some of the lyrics more directly – delivering them with a hauntingly-recorded quality that makes the whole thing sound beautifully moody. The core group is still quite jazzy – and features Hubert Laws, Curtis Fuller, and Grady Tate – plus some light cello, guitar, and even a bit of percussion by Airto. Titles include "Suzanne", "My Cherie Amour", "Sombras De Saudade", "Berimbau", "Desafinado", "I Will Wait For You", and the Beatles' beautiful tune "Because", done in a great breathy style! Moody and beautiful, and proof that McFarland was one of the 60s true pop geniuses! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the grooviest girl groups of the 60s – a fab trio who hailed from Brooklyn, and who worked in the best sweet styles of both soul and rock groups of the time! Reparata & The Delrons have a sound that's a real cut above the usual – a way of handling a tune that's free of some of the cliches of other groups from the period, but which also does a good job of bringing out their best elements too. It's hard to sum up just why the group's so great – but it's possibly because they were working at the end of the girl group era, and have a bit more of a depth to their work – a style that's also influenced a bit by harmony folk and Sunshine Pop, but which is stil unabashedly focused on shorter tunes with groovy hooks. LP, Vinyl record album

Features Link Davis Jr on saxes, piano, and organ – and titles include "Just Groove Me", "Girls Today", "Groover's Paradise", "Houston Chicks", "Beautiful Texas Sunshine", and "Her Dream Man Never Came". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweetly grooving set from The Spinners – one that moves along nicely at the midtempo clip the "trippin" in the title might imply – thanks to production and arrangements from Michael Zager! Zager nicely puts aside some of his more disco-oriented modes here – keeping plenty of respect for the group's excellent vocals, and allowing them some really great space on a number of warmly-crafted tunes. John Edwards gets in some great lead vocals on the album – most famously on the record's medley of "Cupid/I've Loved You For A Long Time" – which went onto become a fairly big radio hit. Other tracks include "Streetwise", "I Just Want To Fall In Love", "Now That You're Mine Again", "Split Decision", "I'm Takin You Back", "Heavy On The Sunshine", and "Love Trippin". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet jazzy work from War – a record that has them stretching things out a bit from before, and finding new ways to groove for the second half of the 70s! All the core elements are still firmly in place – that sublime blend of jazz, soul, funk, and Latin elements – but there's a slight shift in the presentation, with maybe just a touch more of the jazz promised in the title – which might have to do with the album's initial placement as a Blue Note Records title! The first half of the record features all new material, showcasing this slight shift in the group's sound – and a mode that's nicely free of any hits – and the second half of the set brings back some key jazzy tracks from earlier records, which fit perfectly into place. Titles include "War Is Coming", "I Got You", "LA Sunshine", "Platinum Jazz", "Slowly We Walk Together", "River Niger", "H2Overture", "City Country City", "Four Cornered Room", and "Deliver The Word". LP, Vinyl record album

Roy Ayers in a very Afro-styled mode – working here on his own after a famous collaboration with Fela Kuti – in a set that's filled with the same sort of hard-driving Afro-Funk grooves that you'd find in Fela's classic recordings! The songs are shorter than Fela's, and with more of Roy's usual smooth jazzy production style – but the overall influence is very much in the Afro-Funk vein, and the album's sort of a "part 2" to the Music Of Many Colors set that was cut a few years before. William Allen worked on the record with Roy – playing choppy Afro-Funk bass, and arranging and producing a lot of the material with Roy and Jaymz Bedford – and the record also features a host of extra percussion players, as well as some vocals by the lovely Sylvia Striplin. Includes the great groover "Africa, Center Of The World", plus "The River Niger", and a great remake of "Third Eye", which was on Everybody Loves The Sunshine, but is redone here with a heavier sound! Other tracks include "There's A Masterplan", "I'll Just Keep Trying", and "Destination Motherland". LP, Vinyl record album

Early funk from the Commodores – back in the days when Lionel Richie could still get up and groove! We'll be the first to admit that we're sometimes put off by the group, given their later hits, but it's records like this that actually remind us how great they could be – a mixture of funk and sweet soul, done with an incredibly well-crafted approach, and enough of a blend of the two styles to keep things interesting! The album's got a wonderfully tight quality – never slick or too smooth, but just nicely put together – commercial, but not so much so that it loses its soul. Titles include "Quick Draw", "Just To Be Close To You", "High On Sunshine", "Let's Get Started", "Can't Let You Tease Me", "Come Inside", and "Thumpin Music". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Aretha's sadly overlooked 70s gems – a great little session produced by Lamont Dozier, with a mix of smooth soul, driving rhythms, and just the right amount of rough edges to keep things real, very much in the tone of Lamont's own strong work for the ABC label at the same time. Lamont also wrote a fair number of the tunes – and titles include "Sunshine Will Never Be The Same", "Touch Me Up", "A Tender Touch", "No One Could Ever Love You More", and "When I Think About You". LP, Vinyl record album