Sublime early Stax work from Sam & Dave – the kind of record that forever changed the way the male voice was used in group soul music! The rhythms on the tunes are totally raw – bass, drums, and guitar that are kind of fused into a dirty funky bottom that proves a perfect foil for the leaping vocal mode of the pair – a chunky sort of blend that was one of the boldest new sounds to come out of the Memphis scene of the time. Sam & Dave also get some key support here from another important duo – that of Isaac Hayes & David Porter, who wrote a good portion of tracks on the set, and were no doubt instrumental in the groove! A killer, and the sort of record that changed male duet (and group) singing for generations to come! Titles include "You Got Me Hummin", "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby", "Use Me", and "Sweet Pains" – plus a great cover of "I'm Your Puppet". PLEASE NOTE: there is an abrupt edit at the end of "Soothe Me" and "Just Can't Get Enough", which is how the record was originally pressed, probably from masters cut for 45s. LP, Vinyl record album

2 killers by the Soul Children – back to back on a single CD! Can we ever hope to accurately describe the genius of the Soul Children? It's virtually impossible to do so in a few short words – especially at this early point in their career, when the group were forging a whole new sound in vocal harmony soul! The group is unique in a number of respects – they've got 2 men and 2 women, they're from the south, they work in a style that's very different from other groups, with the voices getting a lot of individual space, ladies saying their thing, the guys (especially singer J Blackfoot) saying theirs – coming together on the choruses, but with more than enough space for everyone to testify, and get their own opinions out on love, life, and everything that makes loving and living great. On the sublime self-titled Soul Children set, production and arrangements are by the Isaac Hayes/David Porter team – who've never sounded doper here – and titles include "The Sweeter He Is (parts 1 & 2)", "I'll Understand", "Move Over", "Tighten Up My Than", "Take Up The Slack", and "Super Soul". Genesis has the group grooving in a raw Memphis sound, similar to their earlier recordings – but with a bit more sophistication and care on the vocals than before, reaching for a tighter, more modern sound than some of their contemporaries, showing the group to already be thinking towards the next level. Titles on the set include "I Want To Be Loved", "Hearsay", "All That Shines Ain't Gold", "I'm Loving You More Everyday", and "All Day Preachin". CD

Think you know the sound of Atlantic Records in the 60s? Think again – because this stunning series opens the vault to a huge amount of rare treasures from the legendary label! The package is amazing – and offers up rare tracks that were mostly only issued by Atlantic on singles – including some on the other imprints associated with the company – some by names we never even knew recorded for the label, others by bigger names, but represented here by obscure material that goes way past their hits – and which is ultra cool because of that. There's also a fair bit more deep soul than you might expect from the usual Atlantic mix – tremendous vocals, and often in less hit-heavy modes – which makes the whole thing a great revelation – and just one more reason to bow down and give even more expect to one of the key companies who helped soul music find a home in the 60s. Plus – as if that's not enough – the whole thing comes in a very cool 7" gatefold package – which emphasizes the from-singles nature of the collection. This volume features a whopping 50 tracks – with titles that include "King Of Love" by The Admirals, "Let Our Love Go On" by Music City Soul Brothers, "More Of The Jerk" by Bobby Harris, "Free For All" by The Barracudas, "Can't See You When I Want To" by David Porter, "Sweet Thing" by Gorgeous George, "Peepin" by Solomon Burke, "Ad For Love" by Lee Jackson, "The Record" by Ben E King, "Give You What I Got" by Wendy Rene, "Thank You John" by Willie Tee, "My Lover" by Barbara & The Browns, "It's Just A Matter Of Time" by Merle Spears, "Fancy Free" by Mary Wells, "You Make A Strong Girl Weak" by The Premiers, "Don't Stop Now" by William Bell, "Let's Go Get Stoned" by The Coasters, "Thank You For Helping Me See The Light" by Ted Taylor, "Just One More Day" by Otis Redding, "Do The Duck" by The Autographs, "Boss" by King Curtis, "Try Me Again" by Ted Taylor, "Every Night I See Your Face" by The Music City Soul Brothers, "I Don't Want Trouble" by Barbara & The Browns, "Keep Your Mouth Shut" by Lee Jackson, "It's Nice To Know You" by Rosetta Johnson, and "Dedicated To You" by Willie Tee. CD

An insane package – one that features the material from the 6CD Complete Concert Wattstax set, plus 5 more CDs from Summit Club Recordings in 1972, plus one more CD of additional material too! First up are 6 CDs that feature a stunning presentation of the legendary Wattstax concert – that huge moment of pride and power when the folks at Stax Records filled up the Los Angeles Coliseum with one of the most memorable shows of the 70s! The meeting of talents here is the stuff of legend – and this great package brings together the complete show in running order – really building up excitement as the concert progresses – with different acts each bringing their own sort of fire to the stage, culminating in a fantastic long finale by Isaac Hayes! The presentation is different than the two double albums that Stax issued back in the 70s – and this expanded package features a number of unreleased tracks in place of material the label later added – such as work from Richard Pryor and The Emotions. There's a whole instrumental section at the start, and more spoken links between some parts – and new material includes unissued work from Kim Weston, Freddie Robinson, Ernie Hines, Eric Mercury, Tommy Tate, Billy Eckstine, and Isaac Hayes – in addition to famous performances by The Soul Children, Jesse Jackson, Rufus Thomas, Albert King, Carla Thomas, William Bell, The Bar Kays, David Porter, The Temprees, Eddie Floyd, and David Porter – plus plenty more from Isaac Hayes too! Great package – with a full color book with new notes and essays, and plenty more too. The Summit Club material follows on five more CDs – material that was partly issued on some other reissues by individual artists, but augmented here with a wealth of unreleased material too! There's a a full show of work from Johnnie Taylor and Rufus Thomas – the latter of whom even does some comedy bits – plus some extra funky performances from The Sons Of Slum, heavy blues from Little Milton, great soul from The Emotions, and a huge amount of never-issued work from the great duo Mel & Tim – arguably better here than on their Stax studio sessions. CD12 features additional recordings that were layered into some of the LP releases issued under the Wattstax name – 15 more tracks that include titles by The Emotions, Isaac Hayes, The Dramatics, Staple Singers, and Eddie Floyd – plus some comedy routines by Richard Pryor. CD

A great later date from Lou Donaldson, but one with a really classic feel – thanks to rock-solid soul jazz production from the mighty Bob Porter! At a time when so many folks couldn't get a Hammond/sax date right, Porter proves once again that his studio chops are in just the right place – recording Lou with a feel that reminds us a lot of his early 60s sides on Blue Note or Cadet! Donaldson's alto is right on the money – and gets support from David Braham on organ, Peter Bernstein on guitar, Fukushi Tainaka on drums, and Ralph Dorsey on congas – who gives the record a similar groove to Ray Barretto's work with Donaldson in the old days. Titles include "Blue Bossa", "Red Top", "Cherry", "Birdseed", "Dorothy", and "Walkin Again". CD

The "man" is at the top of his powers here – as the set pulls together an insanely great run of music from Isaac Hayes' first years as a solo act – coming on strong with a new sort of sophisticated soul sound that would transform a generation! Hayes had already hit big in the 60s working with writer David Porter – as the force behind some of Stax Records' fiercest, funkiest acts of the time – but as the 70s approached, he broke off as a magnificent artist on his own – full of righteous power, pride, and new ideas for soul music. This collection brings together some of Isaac Hayes' best work for the Stax/Enterprise label – with an especially strong focus on the kind of jams that have held up well for a 21st Century audience – including titles that have either been sampled by hip hoppers, or which represent some of Ike's strongest funkier tunes from the time. Titles include "Part Time Love", "Theme From The Men", "Ike's Rap 2", "Joy", "I Can't Turn Around", "Chocolate Chip", "Feel Like Makin Love", "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Walk On By", "Ike's Rap 1", "Good Love", "Rolling Down A Mountainside", and "Theme From Shaft". CD

The "man" is at the top of his powers here – as the set pulls together an insanely great run of music from Isaac Hayes' first years as a solo act – coming on strong with a new sort of sophisticated soul sound that would transform a generation! Hayes had already hit big in the 60s working with writer David Porter – as the force behind some of Stax Records' fiercest, funkiest acts of the time – but as the 70s approached, he broke off as a magnificent artist on his own – full of righteous power, pride, and new ideas for soul music. This collection brings together some of Isaac Hayes' best work for the Stax/Enterprise label – with an especially strong focus on the kind of jams that have held up well for a 21st Century audience – including titles that have either been sampled by hip hoppers, or which represent some of Ike's strongest funkier tunes from the time. Titles include "Part Time Love", "Theme From The Men", "Ike's Rap 2", "Joy", "I Can't Turn Around", "Chocolate Chip", "Feel Like Makin Love", "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Walk On By", "Ike's Rap 1", "Good Love", "Rolling Down A Mountainside", and "Theme From Shaft". LP, Vinyl record album

Great work from one of the tightest acts of 60s soul – the always-energetic Sam & Dave, working here with an excellent batch of tracks by Isaac Hayes & David Porter! Sam & Dave had made records before this period – but the cuts here are all from the years when they were recording with Stax Records – really burning things up, thanks to the great material that was often both penned and produced by Hayes and Porter, and always given a sharp Memphis groove that took the already-great dynamics of the pair and knocked it out of the park! At the time of these recordings, Sam & Dave were so hot that James Brown refused to have them open for him – as they'd completely exhaust the energy of the crowd – and you'll be able to hear why, on titles that include "Hold On I'm Comin", "May I Baby", "Soul Man", "I Thank You", "You Don't Know Like I Know", "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby", "You Got Me Hummin", and "Wrap It Up". LP, Vinyl record album

Johnnie Taylor's first album for Stax – and a tremendous little set that easily stands as one of his greatest records ever! Sure, we love Johnnie in all his incarnations – but there's a special sort of something here – a rawness and earnestness – that makes the whole thing shine right from the start – a crispy sort of Memphis vibe that has the Stax Records team really hitting their stride. The set's filled with great tunes from the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter – including "I Got To Love Somebody's Baby", "Toe Hold", "Outside Love", "Little Bluebird", and "I Had A Dream" – and also features great versions of "Watermelon Man", "Ain't That Loving You", and "Where Can A Man Go From Here". CD

More funky breaks than Evel Knevel after the Snake River Canyon jump! The groove hounds at BGP records were set loose on the Ace catalog – which includes holdings from Atlantic, Stax, Volt, Westbound, and other funky classic labels – and they managed to come up with a killer batch of funky cuts, even though this is their 3rd dip into the crates! If anything, perhaps they dipped even deeper this time – especially as some of the once-trusted sources for breaks, like the famous Ultimate Breaks & Beats series, are now disappearing from the market. Titles include "Soul Pad" by The Coasters, "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" by Johnny Jenkins, "T Plays It Cool" by Marvin Gaye, "Nappy Dugout" by Funkadelic, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by Jimmy Ponder, "Get Out Of My Life Woman" by The Mad Lads, "The Rose" by 50 Foot Hose, "Holy Ghost" by The Bar Kays, "No Strings Attached" by The Mad Lads, "After Laughter Comes Tears" by Wendy Rene, "River's Invitation" by Freddie Robinson, "This House Is Smokin" by BT Express, "Music Man (parts 1 & 2)" by Pleasure Web, and "I'm Afraid The Masquerade Is Over" by David Porter. CD

A mind-expanding look at Memphis soul – one that gets way past common cliches about the city and its music! There's a heavy dose of funk in the mix on most numbers here – a gritty, fuzzy approach to the music that seems slightly borrowed from the Detroit scene at the end of the 60s – then mixed with some rougher, rootsier southern soul styles too! But other tracks take on a more sophisticated sound too – some of the righteous elements that hit Stax in the post-1968 period, especially as Isaac Hayes and David Porter were working on their own great solo work. Yet unlike Hayes and Porter, most of the artists here are much lesser-known – singers and groups who never charted big, but who got the chance to record for Memphis labels like XL, Stax, Select-O-Hits, and Sounds Of Memphis. CD features 20 tracks in all – and titles include "Dig It" by The Optimistics, "Mississippi Mud" by Smithsonian, "Two Paces Ahead Of Love" by Willie Walker, "Pullin" by The Minits, "It's Bump Time" by Gene Bowlegs Miller, "Blackrock Yeah Yeah" by Blackrock, "Keep The Faith" by Mel & Tim, "Watch Dog (alt)" by Barbara & The Browns, "Come What May" by John Gary Williams, "Strange Things" by Art Jerry Miller, "Shake" by The Ovations, "Tip Toeing" by Alvin Cash, "The Way Of Me" by Hannon, "Take A Giant Step" by LaCleve Milon, "Papa Killed A Chicken" by Willie Toliver, and "Don't Boom Boom" by Lillian Hale. CD