Peter Guralnick has written some mighty big, career-defining books on key figures in music – but from the start, we've always loved his shorter pieces the best – the kind of work we first fell in love with in books like Sweet Soul Music and Lost Highway! And if you dig his shorter pieces, there's plenty of those here – really wonderful essays on artists in a variety of genres – penned by one of the few figures who can balance an understanding of their music with a mixture of historical detail and unabashed fandom! Guralnick's writing has gotten better and better over the years – and it's great to have it focused back on his roots – in chapters that focus on artists who include Solomon Burke, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Merle Haggard, Allen Toussaint, Howlin Wolf, Tammy Wynette, and even the great country trucker Dick Curless! Hardcover book is 554 pages, with black and white illustrations throughout. Book

James Brown lets it loose – exploding with a funkier, groovier sound here than in previous years, and really starting the extended groove that would blossom even more fully at the end of the 60s! The titles here are all pretty great – and given the strength of James at the time, the package is almost a no-filler collection that features Brown's pure dynamite sound on both a and b-sides of the singles! A number of tracks are presented in two-part versions that stretch out nicely in the studio – and the shorter takes are filled with a great mix of deep soul and funkier rhythms – the all-in-one sort of vamp that really hit hard in James' music in the post "Out Of Sight" stretch. There's also some great instrumentals too – showing James' growing talents on the Hammond for his Smash singles! 42 tracks in all – including "Get It Together (parts 1 & 2)", "Don't Be A Drop Out", "Stone Fox", "Bring It Up", "Let Yourself Go", "Yours & Mine", "Cold Sweat (parts 1 & 2)", "Sweet Little Baby Boy (parts 1 & 2)", "Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year (parts 1 & 2)", "Our Day Will Come", "Let's Go Get Stoned", "Ain't That A Groove (parts 1 & 2)", and "James Brown's Boogaloo". CD

Ahhhh. . . This one takes us back to the 80s – when there was so little good work by James in print that Rhino was actually able to scoop him up for a quickie compilation. And, given the bias of the time, most of the work on the set's from the mid/late 60s King years – which is unfortunate if you dig the funky stuff as much as we do. Titles include "I Got The Feelin", "There Was A Time", "Try me", "Out Of Sight", "I Can't Stand Myself", "I Got You", "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag", and "Cold Sweat". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare TK Records effort from James Brown – very much in the best uptempo funk mode of the later Polydor years! The groove here is quite similar to those better-known efforts – grooves that are a bit quicker than a few years before, but still played in a core JB funky style – live and lively, with plenty of emphasis on the rhythms! Brown often referred to his style here as disco, but it's a lot more like some of the P-Funk progressions of the period – a mode that's more polished than a grittier funky generation, yet far from smooth club or disco overall. There's plenty of choppy little groovers that make the record great – and titles include the long cut "Rapp Payback", plus "Funky Men", "Smokin & Drinkin", "Stay With Me", and "Mashed Potatoes". CD

The Lester in the title here is Lester Koenig, the legendary owner of Contemporary Records – for whom Ray Brown made this rare session as a leader shortly before his death! Ray had recorded often for Koenig in the 50s – probably most famously in the Poll Winners trio – but this session is a very different record indeed, and makes tremendous use of the piano of Cedar Walton and drums of Elvin Jones – in a way that's got the flowing, fluid, soulful energy of Walton's own best trio recordings of the 70s! Titles include the Walton originals "Ojos De Rojo" and "Something In Common", the Brown number "Slippery", and versions of "Sister Sadie", "Love Walked In", and "Little Girl Blue". CD

A great little record from Brown Sugar – a group who really soar here, thanks to the presence of Clydie King on lead vocals! King sung famously on many rock and soul sessions during the 60s and 70s – but she's a great talent in the spotlight, and really helps to give the record a lot of focus – uniting the group's mix of deep soul and southern elements – lots of burning underneath the rhythms, and horns compressed over the top – in a style that's a bit Muscle Shoals, but more restrained overall, and with a few moments that go for more of an east coast feel. Titles include "Soul Asylum", "Love Can Bring You Down", "Weep For Me", "Don't Hold Back", "Real Love", and "Moonlight & Taming You". CD

Slinky, soulful, and completely seductive sounds from the great Erroll Dunkley – not the person pictured on the cover, but a wonderful Jamaican singer who works here alongside superb production from Sonia Pottinger! The tunes are all laidback, but never sleepy – that perfect early reggae balance of slowness and focus that can make a record like this so great – gently tripping rhythms that could sound funkier if they wanted to, but which are a masterpiece in restraint – so that all the elements are focused down into the groove, while Erroll serves up these snakey vocals over the top. Titles include "Movie Star", "Like To Be Boosed", "A Little Way Different", "Created By The Father", "Baby I Love You", "It Was Nice While It Lasted", and "I'm Not The Man For You". This pressing includes the bonus track "Hilite (parts 1 & 2)". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing sounds from one of the all-time greats – the legendary Little Willie John – not only a key inspiration to James Brown, but one of the formative forces in soul music at the start of the 60s! The material here was cut by King Records at the height of its R&B years, but it also stretches forth towards something new, too – a deeper, more expressive sound that really blows us out of the water, even all these decades later – vocals that are incredible, and virtually a blueprint for the style that would come to be known as deep soul in later years. The package features 17 tracks in all – all gems from those years before Little Willie John was incarcerated – titles that include "Home At Last", "All Around The World", "Need Your Love So Bad", "Sleep", "Walk Slow", "Spring Fever", "Leave My Kitten Alone", "Let Them Talk", "Tell It Like It Is", "Talk To Me", "Letter From My Darling", "Heartbreak", "Do Something For Me", and his famous version of "Fever". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little cooker from Christian McBride – a tight, soulful session that rightly returns him to the roots of the sound we first fell in love with during his early days as a leader! The group's a quintet – the well-named Inside Straight combo – with Warren Wolf on vibes, Steve Wilson on alto, Eric Scott Reed on piano, and Carl Allen on drums – all players who fall in nicely with McBride's musical vision for the record! Wolf is one of our favorites these days – a great vibist whose subtle tones really shape the overall tone of the record – and Wilson's in great form too, playing notes that have a slightly sinister feel, but which really win us in their sense of restraint. McBride's bass is right on the money – providing a solid, subtle groove to most numbers – and titles include "Brother Mister", "Theme For Kareem", "Rainbow Wheel", "Starbeam", "Used Ta Could", and "The Pursuit Of Peace". CD

William Parker's a player who always adds a lot to an improvisation session, but he's also a hell of a composer, and a visionary leader too – able to work in these large concepts and musical ideas that seem to come off better than most similar work by any of his contemporaries! There's a sense of power and vision to this record that recalls some of the most ambitious projects on Soul Note/Black Saint from the start of the 80s – an ability to mix improvisation with richer shades and group movements – as Parker directs a lineup that includes reeds from Rob Brown, Ori Kaplan, Charles Waters, and Darryl Foster – and trombones from Steve Swell and Alex Lodico, trumpet from Roy Campbell and Richard Rodriguez, and a bit of vocals from Leena Conquest. The performance has a majesty that takes us back to the Arkestra at their best – but the poetic power of the music is also all Parker's own as well. Titles include "Meditation For Two Voices", "Raincoat In The River", "Painter's Celebration", "Mountain/Maintain", and "Anast Crossing The Lake Of Light". CD

An incredible set, and one that will definitely have you heaping praises on Barry Brown – as the singer was one of the most inventive of the late roots reggae years in Jamaica – and maybe gets his best presentation ever on the tracks on the set! There's a splashy brilliance to the way the tracks are put together – often with these subtle funky drums from Santa Davis, which provide this cool little kick underneath the heavy dub and echo used in the production – keeping the rhythms focused while Barry Brown lets his voice do all these amazing things! At times, you almost feel as if Barry's living in the world of fuzz and tripped-out sounds that make up the music – riding the waves and having a tremendous time in the process – on cuts that include "Fittest Of The Fittest (parts 1 & 2)", "Natty Rootsman (parts 1 & 2)", "Step It Up Youthman (ext)", "Look How Long", "Give Thanks & Praise (lion mix)", "Give Thanks (part 3)", "Creative Vibes (xylophone)", "From Creation", "Look How Long Dub", and "We Can't Dub Like This". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes the songs "Montoona Clipper", "Caravan", "Strange", "Baby", "Speaklow", "Rain", "Street Of Dreams", "Brown's Little Jug", "I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart", "Back In Your Own Backyard", "Invitation", "You're The Cream In My Coffee", "Midnight Sun", "Begin The Beguine", "Happy Hooligan", "I Would Do Anything For You", "Laura", "Jersey Bounce", " From This Moment On", "Crazy Legs", "Flying Home", "One O'Clock Jump", "Cherokee", and "Sentimental Journey". CD

Great early singles by this pre-soul figure! Titles include "Land I Love", "Two Faced Woman", "Is It True", "That Man", "I Cried Like A Baby", "Little By Little", "Open Up That Door", and "Skiddy Woe". CD

A wonderful electric groover from keyboardist Odell Brown – a player who's maybe best known for his Hammond organ work for Chess Records in the 60s, with his organizers group – stepping out here in a really different 70s record that's overflowing with great lines on electric piano! There's a nicely open sense to the rhythms – as the set is funky, but not straight funk – maybe similar in creative spirit to the Redd Holt records that were coming out on the same label at the time – but with a laidback and soulful vibe that's wonderful, and which also points the way towards contributions that Brown would make in the world of soul to come. The set is nearly all originals, but begins with a stunning 11 minute jazzy soul take on Stevie Wonder's "I Love Every Little Thing About You" – then rolls into gems that include "South of 63rd", "Simizzoke", "Song Theme", and "Tasha". CD

One of the instant classic Wu Tang solo projects – Ghostface Killah's essential, early peak Ironman – and a a record that stands strongly among the best hip hop albums of the its era! Produced by The RZA at a point in which it seemed there was little he could do wrong. An absolute high water mark for Ghostface and the entire Wu Tang empire. Titles include "Winter Warz", "Daytona 500", "Motherless Child", "Soul Controller", "Wildflower", "Poisonous Darts", "Fish", "Camay", "Black Jesus", "The Faster Blade", "260", "Assassination Day", "Box In Hand", "After The Smoke Is Clear" and "All That I Got Is You". LP, Vinyl record album

A great large group outing – one that showcases the arranging skills of Jimmy Heath as much as his reed work – with other players who include Claudio Roditi and Virgil Jones on trumpets, Jerome Richardson on alto, Bill Easley on tenor, Ted Nash on alto, and a rhythm trio that features Roland Hanna on piano, Ben Brown on bass, and Lewis Nash on drums! CD

Fantastic lean low funky fusion – and a lost Blue Note 70s gem – a set that's way different than any other work from the team of bassist John Lee and drummer Gerry Brown! The set's nice and spare – almost CTI in style at times, but with some excellent production work from Skip Drinkwater – who brings in some soul undercurrents, and a sense of focus that other Lee/Brown work is sometimes missing. The result is a wonderful little record that avoids any of the excesses the pair had on the European scene – yet still has a really sharp edge in the end. Wah Wah Watson plays guitar, as does Philip Catherine – and the set also features some excellent keyboards – handled by Jasper Van't Hoff, Rob Franken, and Lee himself. Funky nuggets include "Mango Sunrise", "Her Celestial Body", and "The Stop and Go" – all of them filled with jazzy breaks! LP, Vinyl record album

A trio of revival albums from the legendary Little Richard – all of them pretty darn great! First up is the funky Rill Thing – a stunning comeback session from the start of the 70s – recorded at Muscle Shoals with a heavy funk component in the mix! Richard arranged and produced the record himself – and it's a beautiful illustration of his genius – hardly dimmed at this point in his career, and if anything, really redefined for a new generation – with some razor-sharp grooves that are perfect for his hard-wailing vocals! The title cut – "The Rill Thing" – is a monster 10 minute instrumental jam, with a heavy funk sound that you can't even begin to imagine – and the rest of the set is pretty amazing too, with tracks that include "Spreadin' Natta What's The Matter", "Freedom Blues", "Two Time Loser", "Somebody Saw You", "Lovesick Blues", and "Greenwood Mississippi". Next is King Of Rock & Roll – a much rootsier set than some of Little Richard's other work for Reprise Records – a record that almost goes back to the old days, but via the hipper styles of the early 70s! HB Barnum arranged and produced the set, but the groove is less funkier than some of Barnum's other work of the time – a bit more rockish in some of the rhythms and instrumentation, which is no surprise considering the title – with a nod back towards late 50s modes, but in that new-roots way that Warner was hitting with other artists of the period. Richard's vocals hold up very well in the setting – and apart from the original tunes "Green Power" and "King Of Rock & Roll", the album features versions of "Midnight Special", "Dancing In The Street", "Brown Sugar", and "Born On The Bayou". Last up is Second Coming – funky 70s Little Richard – very much in the spirit of his Rill Thing album, although a bit more polished! The album features production and arrangements from New Orleans soul legend Bumps Blackwell – who first handled Richard way back when – and the record's sort of divided half and half between tracks that have a 70s funky feel, and others that are going back for more of an older styled retro rocking groove – yet not nearly as much so as on Richard's previous Reprise album. Titles include "Nuki Suki", "The Prophet Of Peace", "Thomasine", "Second Line", and "It Ain't What You Do It's The Way How You Do It". CD

A record that no home should be without – and a stunning set that still carries all the raw power it did way back in 1969! The album's an apocalyptic vision of the future – a future it helped to shape, give its influence over the years – and from start to finish, the whole thing is brilliant – from the raw energy of the band, to the sneering lyrics of Iggy Pop, to the perfect production by John Cale – who's opening up a whole new side of his genius with his studio work here. The set begins with the boldly declarative "1969" – maybe one of our favorite Stooges songs ever – then moves into the landmark "I Wanna Be Your Dog", over to the ten minute freakout of "We Will Fall", to the classic "No Fun", through the cuts "Real Cool Time", "Ann", "Not Right", and "Little Doll". Imitated by many, but never done this well again – and a record that will most likely still be blowing the minds of our grandkids! LP, Vinyl record album

Breakout brilliance from Bobby Brown – the album that really showed the world he could stand on his own strongly after leaving New Edition! Given the tight production from LA & Babyface, among others, the sound here is hardly cruel – and instead, the album's got a catchily commercial groove that holds up surprisingly well – and arguably sounds a lot better these days, many years after these tunes were getting a bit too overplayed on the radio. Includes the hit singles "Don't Be Cruel" and "My Prerogative", plus "Every Little Step", "Rock Wit'cha", "Take It Slow", "All Day All Night" and "Roni". LP, Vinyl record album

Not as well-known as James Brown's live albums from the Apollo, but a really cooking set from the 60s that keeps up a plenty hard groove all the way through! As with most of James' live dates, the tracks here move at a clip that's often even faster than the studio work – played to perfection by the group with razor-sharp tightness that's simply breathtaking – possibly even more so in this environment. And although the crowd noise swells up at time, there's definitely less of the "fake" live sound of other JB albums of this nature – just a gritty little live party that blows the speakers out from all the action at the low end! Titles include versions of "Ain't That A Groove", "I Got You", "Bring It Up", and "Out Of Sight" – plus the groovy "Hip Bag '67" and "Let Yourself Go". Nice cover, too – with a back photo that has a picture of James and Hubert Humphrey, and a front cover that's a cool cartoony image of New York near the Garden! Plus, this massively expanded version features 2/3 more material than the original album – 19 more tracks from the Live At The Latin Casino show – plus some rare "after show" tracks too – and full notes that finally get at all the mystery of the record. Added titles include "The King", "Devil's Den", "Night Train", "Bring It Up", "Prisoner Of Love", "Please Please Please", "James Brown Thank You", "Let Yourself Go (instrumental jam)", "Let Yourself Go (extended version)", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", and "Heartache/Get Loose/Jabo". CD