An amazing amount of greatness from the legendary Ann Peebles – easily one of the most important southern female soul singers of the 70s! Peebles was a seminal force on the Memphis soul scene, especially in the early part of the decade – working famously here for Hi Records, with lots of help from studio genius Willie Mitchell. Ann's work for Hi was second only to labelmate Al Green – and like Green, she worked in a similar slow-burning style that set a whole new sound for southern soul – one that updated an older Memphis mode into a more sophisticated, more adult groove that made tremendous use of Peebles' magnificent vocals! This 44 track package features some of the best tunes from those years – a great overview that includes "I Can't Let You Go", "I Can't Stand The Rain", "Do I Need You", "Put Yourself In My Place", "Part Time Love", "I Pity The Fool", "Breaking Up Somebody's Home", "I'll Get Along", "Generation Gap Between Us", "Heartaches", "If You Got The Time", "Mon Belle Amour", "Waiting", "Good Day For Lovin", "Beware", "Dr Love Power", and "Come To Mama". CD

A really well-selected batch of tracks from the Hi Records years of the legendary Ann Peebles – one of the deepest female soul singers of the 70s! Ann was the female equivalent of Al Green for the label – their female powerhouse singer, always at the top of their roster – and always getting top-shelf help from superproducer Willie Mitchell – who makes these sides as smooth and seductive as he did for Al Green's great run of records for Hi Records! Peebles hit Hi as an artist who was already very fully-formed – thanks to early years in gospel, and work in the group of Oliver Sain – and right away, her records for the company started burning hard – and didn't stop at all until her move towards retirement at the end of the 70s. Tracks here are most of the best from those years – and include "I Can't Stand The Rain", "Walk Away", "Part Time Love", "Give Me Some Credit", "Do I Need You", "Dr Love Power", "Old Man With Young Ideas", "I Didn't Take Your Man", "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down", "Somebody's On Your Case", "Slipped Tripped & Fell In Love", and "Breaking Up Somebody's Home". LP, Vinyl record album

A bit late in the classic Hi years, but Ann's still going strong – in a smooth southern style that recalls the best 70s work by singers like Millie Jackson or Shirley Brown. In fact, Ann takes a hit at the "Shirley/Barbara" answer song cycle that kept going on after Shirley's "Woman To Woman" – and throws her own version of "You've Got The Papers (I've Got The Man)" into the ring as proof! The rest of the record is in a similar man-leaving, man-stealing vein – and titles include "Bip Bam Thank You Mam", "Old Man With Young Ideas", "Livin In, Lovin Out", "Handwriting Is On The Wall", and "I Didn't Take Your Man". LP, Vinyl record album

A great litle early album from Ann Peebles – rawer than most of her more familiar stuff, with a gutbuckety soul quality that really keeps things fresh! We always love Ann's work, but in these early years she has a deep soul vibe that few other singers can touch – a level that easily rivals Aretha Franklin, but has more real southern roots – and which is handled here by the Hi Records sound. Willie Mitchell produced and arranged (of course!), and the record's got some sweet backing vocals by Rhodes, Chalmers, & Rhodes – very much in a Sweet Inspirations mode, but again maybe a bit deeper too. Tracks include a funky remake of The Isleys' "It's Your Thing", plus "Solid Foundation", "Crazy About You Baby", "Give Me Some Credit", and "Generation Gap Between Us". LP, Vinyl record album

Ann Peebles sings straight from the heart on this classic early set for Hi Records – a record that's to female vocals what Al Green's work of the time meant to male soul! As with Green's Hi Records of the time, Willie Mitchell is firmly in charge of production and backings – working with that warmly glowing Memphis soul style that carved whole new territory in soul music for the 70s – a maturing and mellowing of earlier southern modes, in a way that helps Peebles hit some fresh and uncliched sounds with her vocals. At a time when so many other singers were trying to copy Aretha, Ann's approach is mighty fresh – as you'll hear on tracks that include "I Take What I Want", "Slipped Tripped & Fell In Love", "What You Laid On Me", "Trouble Heartaches & Sadness", "99 Pounds", "I've Been There Before", and "Somebody's On Your Case". LP, Vinyl record album

Easily our favorite album ever by Ann Peebles – not just for the beathead title track, but also because it seems to be the one record where she brings a bit something extra to the studio! The sound is certainly in the classic Hi Records mode here – thanks to production by Willie Mitchell – but there's also a deeper groove overall, a stronger burning bottom, and an all-soul sound to most tracks that goes way beyond simple cliches of southern soul. Ann's vocals are tremendous throughout – sometimes sweet, sometimes mean – and titles include the sublime "I Can't Stand The Rain", plus "Run Run Run", "One Way Street", "You Keep Me Hangin On", and "If We Can't Trust Each Other". LP, Vinyl record album

A great litle early album from Ann Peebles – rawer than most of her more familiar stuff, with a gutbuckety soul quality that really keeps things fresh! We always love Ann's work, but in these early years she has a deep soul vibe that few other singers can touch – a level that easily rivals Aretha Franklin, but has more real southern roots – and which is handled here by the Hi Records sound. Willie Mitchell produced and arranged (of course!), and the record's got some sweet backing vocals by Rhodes, Chalmers, & Rhodes – very much in a Sweet Inspirations mode, but again maybe a bit deeper too. Tracks include a funky remake of The Isleys' "It's Your Thing", plus "Solid Foundation", "Crazy About You Baby", "Give Me Some Credit", and "Generation Gap Between Us". CD

"You're Letting Me Down" is a great southern soul ballad from Ann – slow, sad, with descending horn lines on the intro that echo the depth of her emotion on the vocals. "You've Been Gone" is more upbeat – a nice swinger with a brassy horn line, almost in an Ann Peebles mode, but even heavier vocally! 7-inch, Vinyl record

The first album in decades from Memphis soul legend Don Bryant – a singer who hardly even gave us any recordings back when he was in his prime! Don was one of the lesser lights at the famous Hi Records – not as successful as Ann Peebles or Al Green, but steeped in the same wonderful sound as those great artists – and still going wonderfully strong after all these years! In fact, the album almost feels more like some lost Hi tapes from Bryant's glory days than a contemporary set – as his voice is wonderful, the songs are tight, and both the production and instrumentation have just the right sort of classic approach – soulful, but without overstating things in any sort of cloying "resurrection" mode. Instead, Don's just right on top, and right in the pocket – doing his thing wonderfully on titles that include "Don't Give Up On Love", "I Got To Know", "First You Cry", "It Was Jealousy", "Something About You", "Can't Hide The Hurt", "One Ain't Enough", and "A Nickel & A Nail". LP, Vinyl record album

The Westbound debut of Denise LaSalle – and a killer bit of southern soul recorded down in Memphis with Willie Mitchell, despite the Detroit address of the label! The set is a real burner throughout – one that features mostly original material by Denise, recorded with a spare and compressed southern soul groove that's a lot more Stax Records than anything going down on Westbound at the time. Denise is in perfect form vocally, too – never overdoing things, and really presenting her lyrics with a great sense of confidence – one that matches the best power of Ann Peebles, Carla Thomas, or any other contemporaries on the Memphis scene. Tracks include the classic "Trapped By A Thing Called Love", plus "Good Goody Getter", "Keep It Coming", "Hung Up, Strung Out", and "Now Run & Tell That". LP, Vinyl record album

19 songs from Charlie Rich, Don Bryant, Syl Johnson, Otis Clay, Al Green, Willie Mitchell, OV Wright, Majik, Don Bryant, Ann Peebles, Quiet Elegance, Bobo Mr. Soul, and more. CD

Includes selections from Bill Black Combo, Ace Cannon, Willie Mitchell, Don Bryant, Ann Peebles, Al Green, George Jackson, and Otis Clay. LP, Vinyl record album

Includes selections from Al Green, Otis Clay, Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson, Erma Coffee, Hi Rhythm, and OV Wright. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing collection of some of the original tracks that Wu-Tang has sampled over the years! No over-used Puffy beats here – and the set's a great batch of rare soul tracks nicely pulled together! The set features 21 tracks – including "Trouble, Heartaches, & Sadness" by Ann Peebles, "Let's Straighten It Out" by OV Wright, "I'll Never Grow Up" by The Charmels, "Mellow Mood" by Barry White, "In The Rain" by The Dramatics, "After Laughter" by Wendy Rene, "The Way We Were" by Gladys Knight & The Pips, "Children Don't Get Weary" by Booker T & The MGs with Judy Clay, "Little Ghetto Boy (live)" by Donny Hathaway, "Could I Be Falling In Love" by Syl Johnson, and "Ain't No Sunshine" by Lyn Collins. LP, Vinyl record album

A bit blues, a bit soul, and a great illustration of the strengths of the Memphis Scene and Hi Records! Includes a few biggger names like Al Green, Willie Mitchell, Ann Peebles, and Syl Johnson, but also some great selections from under-recorded talents like Donald Hines, Big Amos Patton, Norm West, and Big Lucky Carter! 57 tracks total. CD

Recent concert performances by Ann Peebles, Rufus Thomas, Wilson Pickett, Mary Wilson, the Chi-Lites, Isaac Hayes, Carla Thomas, and Jerry Butler. CD

A wonderful record from Dorothy Moore – done at a time when the singer was not only one of the leading lights of the southern soul scene, but also maybe the heir apparent to styles that had previously been handled by giants like Aretha Franklin, Ann Peebles, or Shirley Brown! Many of the tunes here have an older origin – soul or pop songs of the 50s and 60s – but they're reworked in that hip Malaco blend of deep soul and modern soul modes – warmed up a little, but never too much – given contemporary instrumentation, but never in a way that's too commercial. Titles include "It's All In The Game", "Angel Of The Morning", "Something", "If I Could Feel That Old Feeling Again", "Crazy In Love", "Lonely", and "Talk To Me/Every Beat Of My Heart". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the last albums ever issued by the great Cannonball Adderley – and one of the most ambitious, too! The set's a concept album – done in close collaboration with David Axelrod, in a similar spirit to some of Cannon's projects on the zodiac or the bible – but this time turned towards the legend of John Henry! The set's got some fuller orchestrations than some of the others – a bit of strings and a chorus, which sometimes gives the record the feel of a blacksploitation album, sometimes more of a Melvin Van Peebles project. Lead vocals are by Joe Williams, Randy Crawford, and Robert Guillaume – and the core combo features work from Cannonball on alto sax, Dawili Gonga on keyboards, Airto on percussion, and George Bohannon on trombone – on titles that include "Hundred an One Year", "Poundin", "The Steamdrill", "New Star Risin", "On His Bones", "Anybody Need A Big Man", "The Broomstick Song", and "Ten Mile Of Mountain". CD