Funky soul from one of the less-discovered scenes in the south – the hotbed of small labels that were making some mighty great grooves in Atlanta during the 70s! The Peachtree city isn't nearly as well-cited as a soul music source in comparison to places like Memphis, Muscle Shoals, and even Miami – but back in the mid 70s, there was something really special going on – and for a strong moment, a few different labels really gave the city some great music! Much of the work here represents the changing character of Atlanta itself – deep soul vocals that were forged in a longer southern tradition, mixed with well-crafted grooves that show all the modern elements coming into play as the city grew and matured. Most of this work has a pre-disco vibe – with rhythms that are similar to the early work of Fatback or Kool & The Gang – with the difference that the singers in the lead are all pretty darn great on their own. BGP did an excellent job of choosing the tracks for the set, and the notes, as always, are great – and the package features 22 titles that include "Let's Dance" by Family Plann, "Seeds Of Life" by East LA Car Pool, "Down At The Disco" by Maggabrain, "Ain't It Funky" by Johnny Jacobs, "The Bump" by Floyd Smith, "Help Me (parts 1 & 2)" by Archie Russell, "I Don't Know What It Is But It Sure Is Funky" by Ripple, "Funk Pump" by The Counts, "Claim Jumpin" by Bill Brandon, "Checkmate" by The Ebony Godfather, "Shouldn't I Be Given The Right To Be Wrong" by Joe Hinton, "Husband In Law" by CL Blast, "Only A Fool" by Loleatta Holloway, "When I Build My World" by Jimmy Lewis, and "Complain To The Clouds" by Deep Velvet. CD

A record with a freaky sort of cover, but one that's got this very laidback, down to earth vibe – almost like a small funk combo taking on territory from 70s AOR, but serving things up with a much looser, easygoing sort of style! The vocals are great – blue-eyed soul, and compressed down into the instrumentation, which includes keyboards, guitar, and light strings – plus occasional flute and trumpet – all handled with this stripped-down vibe that almost makes you feel like you're sitting in with a big label act like America or Hall & Oates as they're cooking up some mellow soul tracks in the studio. Titles include "Rialto Winds", "Gift Of Life", "Peach Optimo", "Hanging On", "NyNy", "I Will Be", and "Too Yung". CD

A record with a freaky sort of cover, but one that's got this very laidback, down to earth vibe – almost like a small funk combo taking on territory from 70s AOR, but serving things up with a much looser, easygoing sort of style! The vocals are great – blue-eyed soul, and compressed down into the instrumentation, which includes keyboards, guitar, and light strings – plus occasional flute and trumpet – all handled with this stripped-down vibe that almost makes you feel like you're sitting in with a big label act like America or Hall & Oates as they're cooking up some mellow soul tracks in the studio. Titles include "Rialto Winds", "Gift Of Life", "Peach Optimo", "Hanging On", "NyNy", "I Will Be", and "Too Yung". LP, Vinyl record album