The best work we've heard in years from Terry Callier – the legendary soul singer from Chicago who's finally getting his due! This album avoids many of the mistakes of Terry's recent comeback efforts – and has him working with the best of the London scene – extremely fitting, as London's always given Terry some of his biggest support, and were crucial in bringing him back from obscurity! Most of the tunes on the set are produced by Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick, of Incognito – and they go for a spacious sound that's a strong extension of Terry's classic work for Cadet – rough vocals and acoustic guitar mixed with warmer keyboards, tight rhythms, and touches of strings. The album also features guest appearances by Paul Weller, Marc Mac of 4 Hero, and a number of other important London forces – and tracks include "Brother To Brother", "Imagine A Nation", "Monuments Of Mars", "Darker Than A Shadow", "Running Around", and "Speak Your Piece". LP features 6 tracks from the CD. LP, Vinyl record album

Possibly the greatest album ever by the legendary Chicago soul singer Terry Callier! Terry's rich mellow voice is mixed with superb arrangements from the Cadet studio team, with Charles Stepney at the head, and the result is completely sublime. The songs are longer than on earlier albums – and spun out with a complex groove that mixes equal parts of jazz, folk, and soul with the soaring spiritual vibe that was running through the Chicago scene at the time. The first side alone is the stuff that legends are made of – with classic tracks like "Dancing Girl", "What Color is Love", and "You Goin' Miss Your Candyman" all in a row, sewn together in a wash of love, soul, and emotion that you'd be hard pressed to find on any other album from the time. Other tracks include "I'd Rather Be With You", "Just As Long As We're In Love", and "You Don't Care" – and the whole album's a masterpiece beyond compare! LP, Vinyl record album

A great lost album from Jerry – and a key link in the hip Chicago scene that produced Terry Callier and Oscar Brown Jr! Sure, you might think of the album as a silly "cash in on the folk craze" effort – but Jerry keeps it soulful throughout, and thanks to some wonderful arrangements by Phil Moore III, the record stands out as one of the most compelling in Butler's early years. Jerry sings with a sophisticated style that turns the simple folk songs into compelling vocal numbers with a nice jazzy finish – and the backings are suitably varied from track to track, in a way that really spices up the album wonderfully. The album's got a bit of Terry Callier, a bit of Nina Simone, and a wonderfully large dose of Iceman soul! Titles include "Strawberries", "Eighteen Hammers", "Red Dress", "Who's Gonna Be Your Man", "Little Ole Lite", "When I Lost My Baby", and "Such A Feelin". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the great albums of trippy soul that Jerry Butler cut with his Fountain Productions group of players, arrangers, and engineers – a group that borrowed a lot of talent from the Chess/Cadet studios of the late 60s. Jerry produced with Gerald Sims, and the arrangements were handled by Sims, James Mack, and Donny Hathaway (who also played piano on the record.) Tracks include "Ain't Understanding Mellow", "Windy City Soul", "True Love Don't Come Easy", and a lesser known Terry Callier/Billy Butler track called "Sail Away". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little album by Jerry – recorded during a period where he was using his fame (and cash!) to showcase younger talents in soul music. In this case, the younger talents include Terry Callier – who contributed two songs to this album, including his semi-hit "Ordinary Joe", which Jerry does in a nice groovy style. Other tracks include "You & Me", "Real Good Man", "Life's Unfortunate Sons", "No Money Down", and "Winter Of A Loving Heart". LP, Vinyl record album

Completely sublime work from Beverly Glenn Copeland – a really unique artist who's almost a genre unto herself – and who sings here in a mix of folk, jazz, and soul – maybe resonant with work at the time by Terry Callier or Nina Simone, but every bit as individual as the best from those two giants too! The performance was recorded by CBC at a key moment in Beverly's career – after a time she'd spent on the scene in Montreal, really soaking up different influences and exploring musical pathways away from her American roots – to a point where she emerges here as a very righteous, yet very personal singer – clearly not immediately interested in chart success, even though she's got the power of a young Roberta Flack. Titles include "Northwind", "Swords Of Gold", "Don't Despair", "Nothing Beautiful", "Song From Beads", "Untitled", "Interval", "Reflections", and "Durocher". LP, Vinyl record album

Very interesting soul material from this enigmatic singer. Ralph had a righteous approach that mixed larger arrangements with a folksy style – in an overall effect that was a few parts Terry Callier, a few parts late Jerry Butler, and a few parts Grady Tate – but which had an approach that was really all its own. The record is almost heading into the folk-funk realm, but the orchestrations are a bit too lush – although nice! Some tracks were produced by Clayton Ivey, and titles include "Stay On The Good Side", "Differently", "I Don't Want To Play This Game", "My Love Goes With You", and "Ain't No Need". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most unique soul music you'll ever hope to hear – recorded by a pair of artists who mostly worked in Buffalo, New York during the 70s – with a very odd style that's completely their own! We'd quickly place the duo of Jesse Key and Sylvester Cleary in territory that would include Shuggie Otis or Terry Callier – artists who are almost a genre to themselves, and who manage to make their message mean even more by standing apart from the pack! In this case, Key & Cleary work with very early use of a drum machine – often used at levels that are slower and gentler than the beat-heavy 80s – and given these lightly folksy guitar touches that underscore some of the more righteous currents in their music, and which make the more personal songs sound even better. Maybe imagine if Bill Withers teamed up with the very young Timmy Thomas – but recorded at home on an 8 track studio – and you'll get part of the picture of what's going on here. Titles include "There Are Troubles", "A Man", "Dog's Delight", "Turn Me On", "Storm Of 77", "Help Build Buffalo", "Salamanca", "What It Takes To Live", and "The Secret". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful lost record from the 70s – recorded by a singer from Harlem, but attending a Quaker school in Pennsylvania – which makes for a wonderfully cool blend of sounds and styles on the set! There's almost an acoustic core to the record, but the set also uses just the right amount of bass as well – next to piano that has some jazzy undercurrents, and which has the record coming across somewhere in the folksy soul territory of Terry Callier – recorded with a very similar sense of sophistication in both the songs and the performances! Shira's voice is great – very personal, and just right for the material – and titles include "Fingerpainter", "Cool Dude", "Here I Stand", "I Want To Lay With You", "Lights Gleam Lonely", "Touch Of Blue", "Gimme Magic", and "In An Open Field". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Oscar Brown's great ones, recorded live at the Cellar Door in Washington before an enthusiastic crowd of hipsters! The record's a beautiful mix of soul, jazz, and folk – in the same Chicago tradition that spawned Terry Callier (although Brown's style has a bit more of a "show" feel to it). There's a lot of great stuff on here, and most of it doesn't appear on Oscar's other albums in studio versions. Tracks include "Call of the City", "Muffled Drums", "Maxine", "Brother Where Are You?", and more! Backing's by a tight little combo that includes Floyd Morris and Phil Upchurch! LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning set from the mighty mighty Dells – a cool collaboration with the legendary arranger Charles Stepney and songwriter Terry Callier – and a record that shows just how far the group had come since their streetcorner harmony days! The vocals are incredible – that rich blend of deep notes and soaring highs that made The Dells one of the most technically amazing soul groups in the 70s – and Stepney's arrangements follow in the same mode as his work for their Dionne Warwick album, and his music for Minnie Riperton and Ramsey Lewis – with lots of groovy currents on the bottom and soaring strings on the top – sophisticated, but completely soulful too – at a level that nobody else can touch! Terry Callier wrote the original tunes "The Love We Had Stays On My Mind", "Freedom Means", "Melody Man", "Free & Easy", "Rather Be With You", and "It's All Up To You" – and the set also includes great remakes of "One Less Bell To Answer", "Make It With You", and "If You Go Away/Love Story". LP, Vinyl record album

A big move to Mercury for the Dells, after a pretty successful run at Cadet in the late 60s and early 70s – but the group's still in fine form vocal-wise, and on many of these they're still working with the great Don Davis, who gave the band a strong 70s soul groove, similar to his work with The Dramatics. Charles Stepney produced the great "Love Is Missing From Our Lives", which features guest work by The Dramatics, and a great sound that's very much in the classic 70s group tradition. Other nice cuts include "Overnight", "We Got To Get Our Thing Together", "Thank God You're My Lady", and a version of Terry Callier's "You Don't Care". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful sounds from Roger Fahkr – a Lebanese singer/songwriter who recorded most of this music in the late 70s – but with a sound and style that's every bit as compelling as western talents from the earlier part of the decade! The tunes often begin with voice and acoustic guitar, but usually bring in a bit of keyboards or other elements to expand things slightly, but all while keeping the moody quality of Roger's English-language vocals intact – all with a quality that could easily have this work standing next to some of our favorite recordings by artists like Rodriguez, Terry Callier, or Alzo & Udine! There's an inexplicable quality to all of these cuts – a uniqueness that really lives up to our comparison with those other greats – and the whole pacakge is a huge discovery of an artist who might have been a huge global force, had he had the chance back in the 70s. Titles include "Sad Sad Songs", "My Baby She Is As Down As I Am", "Express Line", "Insomnia Blue", "Lady Rain", "Everybody Is Going Home", "Sitting In The Sun", "The Wizard", "Trip Thru Time", "Gone Away Again", and "Had To Come Back Wet". LP, Vinyl record album

Dee Dee's come a long way from "The Mashed Potato Time" here – emerging as a full-blown modern soul artist, with the same sort of sophisticated twist as other Philly girl singers, like Jean Carn or The Jones Girls. The title cut is a great remake of Terry Callier's "What Color Is Love" – and other tracks include "Hang Your Portrait", "I Believe In Love", "Just As Long As I Know You're Mine", and "Tryin To Get The Feeling Again". LP, Vinyl record album

An underground classic from Beverly Glenn-Copeland – an artist who was later known more as a keyboard player, but who here works in this amazing blend of folk, jazz, and soul! The album's vaguely in the territory of Terry Callier on early 70s Cadet Records, but also has its own special vibe too – deeper, darker sound overall – with subtle blending of acoustic elements that are mixed with Beverly's vocals in a way that's unlike anything we can really describe! The singer has a subtle power – a style that could be too dramatic in the wrong setting, but which is fitted here with musical elements that really help the songs flower in the best sort of way – instrumentation that includes contributions from Jeremy Steig on flute, Don Thompson on piano, and Lenny Breau on guitar. Titles include the fantastic long groover "Erzili", plus "Cumberland Passing", "Song From Beads", "Colors Of Anyhow", "Ghost House", "Swords Of Cold", and "My Old Rag Or Hysterical Virgin". LP, Vinyl record album

A stone classic from Richie Havens – and we don't just mean that because of the title and cover! The record's got Richie really taking his music to the next level – moving past straighter folk lines, and hitting a more sophisticated sound that's not too far from territory Terry Callier was exploring at Cadet at the time! There's strings mixed in with the acoustic guitar and percussion on most numbers – used a bit less majestically than Callier's work with Charles Stepney, but still in ways that push Havens' music nicely past straighter folk modes. Richie's vocals are still beautifully warm and raspy – filled with life and honest energy – and although most tracks on the record are originals, the album also features a nice cover of "I Started A Joke". Other tracks include "Minstrel From Gaul", "Open Our Eyes", "Ring Around The Moon", "It's All Over Now Baby Blue", "Prayer", and "There's A Hole In The Future". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazingly soulful set of folk tunes from the late 60s – the only album we've ever seen from singer Jerry Moore, and a real rarity from the ESP label! Moore's got a style that's somewhere between Terry Callier and Tim Buckley – earthy and acoustic one minute, but stepping out with some hipper rock-influenced touches the next – in a style that makes the album way more than just a conventional folk set. There's a strong political undercurrent to many of the tunes – and Moore is backed by a quartet that includes Eric Gale on electric guitar and Ralph McDonald on percussion. Titles include "Ballad Of Birmingham", "Drugged", "This Is My Time", "Let Go Reach Out", and "Anti Bellum Sermon". LP, Vinyl record album

An easy album to overlook, but not without some nice moments! Johnny Bristol produced the record, and he gives it a nice sweet 70s soul groove, similar to what he was using in his own work from the time. And typical of Jerry's albums from the early 70s, there's lots of nice original material, including stuff by Terry Callier, Johnny Bristol, Billy Butler, and Jerry himself. Includes "What Do You Do On A Sunday Afternoon?", one of our secret faves, plus "Memories Don't Leave Like People Do", "Whatever Goes Around", "Whatever's Fair", and "Too Many Danger Signs". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost little gem from Jerry – recorded towards the end of his years with Mercury. The record's got Jerry working in a much hipper style than before, drawing off the pool of younger Chicago soul talents that he'd begun to collect on some of his earlier albums for Mercury – and the album features tracks by Leroy Hutson, Terry Callier, Marvin Yancey, and the team of Hanks and Grey. Richard Evans handled the arrangements, and they're a good extension of his work at Cadet – with strong bass-heavy soul grooves, augmented by strings and some great funky clavinet work. Titles include the funky classics "I'm Your Mechanical Man" and "You've Been Around Too Long" – plus "High Stepper", "Start Living It Up", "Sing To Me", "Take The Time To Tell Her", and "Playing On You". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing little record – easily one of the coolest albums ever on the legendary Ovation label – and a set that has the small imprint almost hitting the heights of their Chicago neighbor Cadet Records! The core sounds here are from the folksy duo of Chuck Hollins and Dave Starr – but their music is really expanded with some key studio touches – jazzy inflections from session players, some slight fuller arrangements – and an overall vibe that carries the same sense of hope and new voice that you'd find in records by Terry Callier or Rotary Connection! The dawn of the 70s was a great time to push the boundaries of what could be done with folk and psychedelic trappings, and these guys really find a great little space – balancing trippy lyricism, lots of ethereal atmosphere, and a few heavily percussive jams! Titles include "Talking To Myself", "Krishna Dov", "Cry Baby Cry", "Twin City Prayer", "John Hurt", "Hard Headed Women", "Lovable", "Digress", "Staying High", "Sidewalk's Talkin'", and "Feelin' Good". LP, Vinyl record album