Smoking soul from 60s Texas – a tremendous amount of rare tunes from obscure little singles – pulled together to showcase the Lonestar State as a musical powerhouse to rival Motown, Philly, or the Windy City! The tracks here are all from various labels headed by the legendary Huey P Meux – and unlike other Texas work you may know from the time, lots of these numbers are bubbling over with the kind of soul elements you'd normally hear from east coast indie work of the time – and in that way, are almost like some of the other 60s material cut by southern transplants on the LA scene of the time – familiar, but a little offbeat too – with odd little twists and turns that really keep things interesting, and which make the package a really fresh musical discovery. There's some nice deep soul elements at times, particularly on the mellower cuts – and titles include "Go Go Train" by Jackie Paine, "That Is Why The End Must Begin" by Joe Masters, "Irene" by Rockin Dave Allen, "Time" by Charles Barry, "Get To Gitten" by Big Walter, "Doggin Around" by Jean Knight, "Friends In Show Business" by Joe Melvin, "Neighbor Neighbor" by Alton Valier, "You'll Lose A Good Thing (demo)" by Barbara Lynn, "Let Them Talk" by Johnny Adams, "If You're Looking For A Fool" by David King Thomas, and "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down" by Margo White. CD

A baker's dozen of Stax's biggest hits: "Theme From Shaft" and "I Stand Accused" by Isaac Hayes, "Respect Yourself" and "You're gonna Make Me Cry" by the Staple Singers, "In The Rain" by the Dramatics, "Show Me How" by the Emotions, "Bring It On Home" and "California Girl" by Eddie Floyd, "Melting Pot" by Booker T & The MGs, "Jody's Got Your Girl And Gone" by Johnnie Taylor, "Hearsay" by the Soul Children,"I've Fallen In Love With You" by Carla Thomas and "Mr Big Stuff" by Jean Knight. LP, Vinyl record album

Music from Honey Cone, The 8th Day, Paul Humphrey & His Cool Aid Chemists, the Chi-Lites, Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose, King Floyd, Beginning Of The End, Dave & Ansil Collins, Freda Payne, Jean Knight, and the Undispuited Truth. CD

The great state of Texas turned out plenty of soul records in the 60s – and some of the best of them came from the hands of Huey P Meux – the legendary talent who's responsible for all the work on this set! Huey was also known as the Crazy Cajun – also the name of a label on which some of these cuts appeared – and his work shares a bit of the deeper, swampier sounds you might expect from Louisiana soul of the time, mixed with the rich bluesy currents that Texas had been turning out since the postwar years! The result is some stellar music that never fully got its due back in the day – tracks that maybe had a bit of regional fame, but never hit as big as sounds from Memphis or Muscle Shoals, which makes this collection such a great discovery – rare tracks by Texas artists, and other talents who were pulled down near the Houston scene for these recordings – all presented in a set of well-chosen tracks with some mighty nice notes. Titles include "Too Good To Be True" by The Traits, "Half A Man" by Charles Berry, "The Bad Times Make The Good Times" by Warren Storm, "T'Ain't It The Truth" by Jean Knight, "Strange Love" by Eugene Gamble, "All About Love" by Big Sam, "I'm Losing You" by Henry Moore, "Total Disaster" by Lee Maye, "At Your Wedding" by Jackie Paine, "You're Losing Me" by Jo Jo Benson, "Spunky Onions" by Johnny Adams, and "The Pleasures Of My Woman" by Rocky Gil & The Bishops. CD

Who's Dave Godin, you ask? Why Dave's one of the most important people in helping soul music attain greater recognition around the globe – thanks to his tireless efforts working on the UK scene from the 60s onward – as a fan, a writer, and even a record label and store owner – all arenas in which he really helped define everything he found special in soul! And one of Dave's most particular strands was what he called "deep soul" – a mode that's similar to some of the hard-burning styles that were coming out of the south in the 60s, but which could also be handled from singers in any scene – just so long as they got the spirit right, and found the right way to put their fullest level of expression into the music! This collection is the first in a genre-defining series from Godin – and it's filled with tracks that ended up being huge discoveries, even to folks who thought they already knew soul music. The landmark set features 25 tracks in all – and titles include "I'm Never Gonna Live It Down" by the Knight Brothers, "Have a Little Mercy" by Jean Wells, "Showdown" by Kenny Carter, "I'm Not the One" by Larry Banks, "The Turning Point" by Jimmy Holiday, "It's Not the Last" by Reuben Bell & the Casanovas, "I Still Love You" by Jean Stanback, "Songs To Sing" by Raw Spitt, and "I Fell Like Cryin" by Sam & Bill. CD

A great entry in this really wonderful series – one that's shifted a lot over the years, and in the best way possible! "Classiest" may be a tough word to peg down – but here, it refers to tracks that are well-done, and completely put-together – yet which have the kind of groove you'd expect from vintage Northern Soul of the 60s! There's a Motown influence felt throughout, but many tunes are nicely varied – a spectrum of acts from different US scenes, and a mix of arranging styles that match the well-penned songs – all handled in the usual Ace/Kent tradition, which means you'll find lots of rare singles, some unissued tracks, and great sound and notes throughout. Titles include "I Need Your Love" by Brothers Of Soul, "Girl Come On Home" by Major Lance, "I've Got To Come In" by Jean Battle, "So Glad" by The Lyrics, "Ready Or Not Here I Come" by Carolyn Crawford, "The Intruder" by Melvin Hicks & The Versatiles, "She's Supreme" by The Lovers, "I Wish I Knew" by Joe Buckner & Major IV, "I'll Fly To Your Open Arms" by The Family Brick, "Soul Kind Of Love" by The Hesitations, and "I Need A True Love" by Ray Gant & The Arabian Knights. CD