The funkiest man? Could well be – and this set will more than support that case! By the time of these recordings, Rufus Thomas was already a legendary figure in the Memphis scene – an aging R&B star that also worked on radio and did a fair bit of promotion for other artists, including daughter Carla. At the end of the 60s, Stax brought him into the studio with the idea of pumping up his sound a bit – adding in some of the newer funky styles, which proved to be a perfect fit for Rufus' rough-hewn style of vocals. Tracks on the set feature a number of classic singles from these years, plus a few unissued numbers – with an all funky track list that includes "Funkiest Man Alive", "Give Me The Green Light", "Itch & Scratch", "Turn Your Damper Down", "Funky Hot Grits", "I'm Getting Better", "Sophisticated Sissy", "Funky Mississippi", "Git On Up & Do It", "The Breakdown (part 1)", "Push & Pull (part 1)", "Do The Double Bump", "Funky Robot (part 1)", "Memphis Train 75", and "Funky Bird". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Early work from Rufus Thomas – rollicking rhythm & blues sides he cut for Sun Records early on in the pre-rock & roll years – plus more early work cut for the Star Talent, Meteor, Chess and Bullet labels! Given the soul genius that Rufus would later cut for Stax, it's not terribly surprising that his early work is a bit overlooked, but it's great stuff that's worth catching up on – with lots of jumpin' r&b, some slow rolling and gritty tunes, teary-eyed soul and bleary-eyed blues! Bear Family has put together a beautiful package with a thick booklet of notes and photos, with 29 rare tracks: "I'll Be A Good Boy", "I'm So Worried", "Who's That Chick", "Beer Bottle Boogie", "Why Did You Deegee?", "Juanita", "Married Woman", "Bear Cat (The Answer To Hound Dog)", "Tiger Man (King Of The Jungle)", "The Easy Livin' Plan", "I'm Steady Holdin' On" and more. CD

The first album from Carla Thomas – and one of the first full statements from the burgeoning Stax Records scene of the early 60s! Carla was part of the Stax scene almost from the start – thanks in part to the fact that her father was Rufus Thomas – and she scored big with her own original composition "Gee Whiz, Look At His Eyes" – a single so successful that Stax let Atlantic handle the first full album by Carla, instead of issuing it themselves. The record's got a much sweeter sound than some of Carla's later work – with an approach that's almost uptown soul, and which sets Carla's little girl vocal style amidst fuller arrangements that have a lot of "classy" overtones. The result is a classic bit of 60s soul – and the album features some great original tracks that include "Gee Whiz", "It Ain't Me", "For You", and "A Love Of My Own" – plus versions of "Your Love", "To The Aisle", and "A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet set of Stax soul with a jazzy feel from Carla Thomas – previously unlreased live material from Carla really working in her most jazz vocal centric groove as well as few tunes by her pops Rufus Thomas! The set was captured in 1967 during a residence at the Bohemian Caverns in DC – with Carla backed by a great group that included Donny Hathaway on piano, and a well chosen set list that includes "You're Gonna Hear From Me", a medley featuring "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah", A Lovely Way To Spend The Evening", "It's A Lovely Day Today" and "On A Clear Day", "Mas Que Nada", "Gee Whiz", "A Lot Of Livin' To Day", "B-A-B-Y", "Never Be True" and more, plus Rufus Thomas doing his thing on Fine And Mellow", "Did You Ever Love A Woman" and "The Dog". Very fine live material only now seeing that light of day, with much of the stage banter left in for natural, true feel. CD

Damn! Orgone just keep getting better and better – to the point where we might almost say that there's no difference between the strength of the group's sound and all the funky 70s acts that have inspired their music! The instrumentation and production are right on the money throughout – and speaking of inspiration, the group pay tribute to some of their heroes – by taking on tunes by The Meters, Funkadelic, Rufus Thomas, Booker T & The MGs, and many others – but all at a level that makes the tunes completely their own. With Colemine on hand to co-present the record, there's a definite love of heavy funk in the whole production – both on the soulful vocal cuts, and the album's great instrumentals. Titles include "The Black Five", "Cynthy-Ruth", "Think", "Nobody's Fault But Mine", "Breakdown", "Melting Pot", "It's Serious", "It Ain't No Use", "Cosmic Slop", and "Let Me Be Your Love Maker". LP, Vinyl record album

The funky side of Hi Records – music that goes way past the mellow burning soul you might normally know from the label – served up here in a wealth of rare singles from the Memphis powerhouse of soul! Hi had a lot more going on in the 70s than just the big hits and classic albums that most people know – and the cuts here show a version of the label that was working every bit as hard as Stax to come up with fresh grooves and unusual ways of mixing southern soul and funk for the new generation! The set list is huge – 25 numbers, many of which should be pretty fresh to your ears – and titles include "Sweet Thing" by Willie Walker, "Slidin In & Out" by The Memphians, "Got To Find My Baby" by James Gadson, "Fried Chicken" by Rufus Thomas, "Everybody Got Soul" by Gene Miller, "Disco Hustle" by Heinsight, "If You Can't Please Your Woman" by Tuxedo, "Love Map" by Lyndon, "You Made Me What I Am" by Erma Coffee, and "Patricia" by George Jackson. CD

1968 was the world of revolution around the world – and to our music-trained ears, one of the greatest revolutions occurred at the legendary Stax Records! Before that year, the label had been working with Atlantic Records – who totally screwed them, and took away all their catalog – leaving Stax to start completely from scratch, and reinvent themselves as an even more righteous company in the process! Make no mistake, Stax was already a pretty great company before – the leading light of the Memphis soul scene – but in 1968, the company went back to basics, and also embraced new waves of funk and blues, freed up to go into some very groovy territory. This 5CD set documents that amazing time – by bringing together all the singles released in 1968, both a-sides and b-sides – along with a big booklet of notes and photos that not only talk about the changes at the label, but also the city of Memphis in the tragic year of 1968 – which also saw the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King. The package is overflowing with as much history as it is soul music – and features over 120 songs by artists who include Booker T & The MGs, Linda Lynell, Judy Clay, Harvey Scales, Otis Redding, The Memphis Nomads, Shirley Walton, Bar-Kays, Ollie & The Nightingales, William Bell, The Goodees, Mable John, The Epsilons, The Soul Children, Mad Lads, Charmells, Lindell Hill, Jimmy Hughes, Delaney & Bonnie, Dino & Doc, Daaron Lee, Albert King, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Derek Martin, Johnnie Taylor, and many more! CD

Funky genius from the legendary Stax studios! During the 60s, Stax was well known for their work in the soul music field – turning out hit singles by the likes of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and others – but after 1968, when the label finished their deal with Atlantic, they really started getting down and dirty, and hitting on all burners in the funk department. This tasty set features 21 tracks from those exiting years –many of them only ever issued on singles, and a few of them by some of the label's more famous LP artists – but all of them with a nice Memphis funky groove! Titles include "Turn Your Damper Down" by Rufus Thomas, "Broadway Freeze" by Harvey Scales, "Life Is Funky" by Round Robin Monopoly, "The Dryer" by Roy Lee Johnson, "She's My Old Lady Too" by Lee Sain, "Slipped & Tripped" by The Sweet Inspirations, "Brothers & Sisters" by Kim Weston, "Movin Dancer" by Bobby Holley, "Eli's Pork Chop" by Little Sonny, "A Man Never Knows" by Chris & Shack, "Grab A Handful" by Art Jerry Miller, "I'll Kill A Brick (About My Man)" by Hot Sauce, "Watch The Dog That Brings The Bone" by Inez Foxx, "Sock Soul" by The Bar Kays, and "Getting Funky Round Here" by Black Nasty! CD

A mountain of funk from one of the greatest soul labels of all time! Stax is known round the world over for their soulful work – by singers like Otis Redding or Carla Thomas, and instrumental tunes by Booker T & The MGs – but the label was also quite a funky powerhouse – especially as the 60s drew to a close, and the management of the company got a lot hipper, and a heck of a lot more musically open-minded! This killer batch of tracks features 21 numbers from those days – including many obscure and funky tunes that only ever came out on singles, or which were recorded by artists that never made it as big as Stax stars from earlier years. The result of all that obscurity is an extremely fresh selection of tracks – plenty of down-n-dirty funky 45 numbers, played by hip Memphis combos, and featuring some really deep soul vocals. Titles include "Dark Skin Woman" by Sir Mack Rice, "Ain't No Sin" by John Kasandra, "Bump & Boogie" by The Wrecking Crew, "Shame On The Family Name" by Calvin Scott, "Cool Strut" by Bernie Hayes, "Bump Mean" by Sir Mack Rice, "Soul Machine" by Reggie Milner, "How Can You Mistreat The One You Love" by Katie Love, "Cold Blooded" by The Bar Kays, "Do The Side Saddle" by Rufus Thomas, "Stay Away From That Monkey" by Jimmy McCracklin, "Them Hot Pants" by Lee Sain, "Devil In A Man" by Stu Gardner, "Circuits Overloaded" by Inez Foxx, "From Toys To Boys" by The Emotions, "Got It Together (parts 1 & 2)" by Rudy Robinson & The Hungry Five, and "Crosscut Saw" by Albert King. CD

Like others in this series of funky break and deep soul compilations, this set's not long on packaging – it comes in a plain black sleeve with a sticker on the front, but it is long on harder to get nuggets, 19 of them in all: Ray Bryant "Up Above The Rock", Allen Toussaint "Louie", Rufus Thomas "The Breakdown", J Hines "Victory Strut", King Richard Fluegelknights "One Of Those", The Soulful Strings "Jingle Bells", Black Heat "Zumbaku", Tommy Roe "Daddy's Whiskey", The Whatnaughts "Why Can't People Be Colors Too", Wade Marcus "Spinning Wheels", Chuck Jackson "Through All Time", The Fireballs "Get Out Of My Life Woman", Georgie Fame "Music Talk", Natural Four "What's Happening Here", Buster Williams "Vibrations", Donald Byrd "Wind Parade", New Birth "UR What I'm All About", The Showman "The Tramp Pt 1" and Sam & The Soul Workers "Soulwalk". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky genius from the legendary Stax studios! During the 60s, Stax was well known for their work in the soul music field – turning out hit singles by the likes of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and others – but after 1968, when the label finished their deal with Atlantic, they really started getting down and dirty, and hitting on all burners in the funk department. This tasty set features 21 tracks from those exiting years –many of them only ever issued on singles, and a few of them by some of the label's more famous LP artists – but all of them with a nice Memphis funky groove! Titles include "Turn Your Damper Down" by Rufus Thomas, "Broadway Freeze" by Harvey Scales, "Life Is Funky" by Round Robin Monopoly, "The Dryer" by Roy Lee Johnson, "She's My Old Lady Too" by Lee Sain, "Slipped & Tripped" by The Sweet Inspirations, "Brothers & Sisters" by Kim Weston, "Movin Dancer" by Bobby Holley, "Eli's Pork Chop" by Little Sonny, "A Man Never Knows" by Chris & Shack, "Grab A Handful" by Art Jerry Miller, "I'll Kill A Brick (About My Man)" by Hot Sauce, "Watch The Dog That Brings The Bone" by Inez Foxx, "Sock Soul" by The Bar Kays, and "Getting Funky Round Here" by Black Nasty! LP, Vinyl record album

Damn! Orgone just keep getting better and better – to the point where we might almost say that there's no difference between the strength of the group's sound and all the funky 70s acts that have inspired their music! The instrumentation and production are right on the money throughout – and speaking of inspiration, the group pay tribute to some of their heroes – by taking on tunes by The Meters, Funkadelic, Rufus Thomas, Booker T & The MGs, and many others – but all at a level that makes the tunes completely their own. With Colemine on hand to co-present the record, there's a definite love of heavy funk in the whole production – both on the soulful vocal cuts, and the album's great instrumentals. Titles include "The Black Five", "Cynthy-Ruth", "Think", "Nobody's Fault But Mine", "Breakdown", "Melting Pot", "It's Serious", "It Ain't No Use", "Cosmic Slop", and "Let Me Be Your Love Maker". CD

At this point in his career, Joe probably was living off of nickels and dimes – despite the fact that he was one of the 70s hipper jazz singers, in a soulful spiritual camp that included vocalists like Andy Bey and Rufus Thomas. This album's a nice mellow effort, taken from a live show at Columbia Radio in 1972. The record features a nice moody reading of Harold Ousley's "Aquarian Melody", plus Horace Silver's "Strollin", Gloria Coleman's "You Make Me Want To Dance", and the groovy "Jazz Ain't Nothin But Soul". LP, Vinyl record album