A great blend of gospel roots and 60s soul jazz – served up in a smattering of key sides from Blue Note Records! The "gospel" here is more a vibe than a straight interpretation of the genre – and most of these numbers are soul jazz tunes that draw from gospel inspiration, but move things into a hipper, more grooving sort of style. Titles include "Go Down Moses" by Grant Green, "Rev Moses" by Lou Donaldson, "A Baptist Beat" by Hank Mobley, "Amen" by Donald Byrd, "Moanin" by Art Blakey, and "Christo Redentor" by Donald Byrd. CD

A surprisingly nice soundtrack, written by Williams before his over-the-top fame in the 70s – designed to accompany this big-budget disaster movie, one of Irwin Allen's last great films. The score is mostly orchestral, but has some very nice moments – especially in the warmer and calmer moments, two of which yield some very nice slinky groovers – gentle tunes in a 70s bossa style that almost feels like it could be lifted from a hip Italian soundtrack. Titles include "Susan & Doug", "Trapped Lovers", and "Something For Susan", plus the 24 minute Towering Inferno suite. 11 tracks in all. CD

Whip out your fuzzbox and get ready to rock! The Arrows eat it up mean and lean on this obscure biker soundtrack for a film starring John Cassavettes – and the groove's in that perfect fuzzy Tower Records kind of style, with plenty of sinister guitar work, and lots of chugging bass and drums. Titles include "Hole In The Wall", "Cody's Theme", "The Devil's Rumble", "The Ghost Story", and one vocal number, "Devil's Angels", which is sung by Jerry & The Portraits. LP, Vinyl record album

Very goofy record, but one that somehow manages to work in a great way. The great lost Chicago piano player Eddie Higgins lays down a set of tracks from the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, like "Hushabye Mountain" and "Lovely Lonely Man". It's as goofy as it sounds, and it was (amazingly!) produced by the Dunwich records team, and then licensed to Tower. LP, Vinyl record album

Nice early stuff from Sergio – also issued as the album Brazil 65 on Capitol! That's Brasil 65, not Brasil 66 – a distinction that marks a key early stage for the great Sergio Mendes – heard here on one of his first albums to mix together bossa jazz and vocals! The approach here is a bit more like vintage bossa dates from Brazil – or a bit like some of the Verve bossa records too – as Sergio's core trio is at the heart of every tune, playing with a great jazzy approach – then augmented in different ways by alto and flute from Bud Shank, guitar from Rosinha De Valenca, and vocals from the lovely Wanda De Sah! Production is perfect – really in a classic Elenco Records mode – and titles include "Let Me", "Consolacao", "Tristeza Em Mim", "Muito A Vontade", "Reza", "Berimbau", and "Aquarius". LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool record that we might well put right up there with Mel Torme's "California Suite" as a musical tribute to the west coast – or the "Manhattan Tower" of Gordon Jenkins as some sort of tribute to a city! The album's a long piece on the glory of San Francisco – with lots of differently-themed tunes that refer to aspects of the city in mid-century – composed by the team of Libby and Stephen McNeil, set to music by David Rose –a nd featuring vocals by Ray Goman, Shepard Menken, Bob Grabot, Bill Thompson, and others. Titles include "Fog Over Frisco", "Meet The Press", "When You Call It Frisco Smile", "Around The Town Sequence", andee "Mission Dolores". Side two features "Four Moods In Memory" – a suite of themes played by Rose, with narration by Don Sherwood. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most searing, soaring albums ever from Santana – a set that takes all the power of the previous two records, and packs it into one tight little set! There's plenty of Latin influences going on – mixed with heavy fuzz from Carlos, and lots of jazz and funky touches too – way more happening on the rhythm tip than most of Santana's contemporaries – which is why the record continues to find such a wonderfully wide audience over the years. Drop cuts like "Batuka","Toussaint L'Overture", "Jungle Strut", or "Para Los Rumberos" next to tracks by War, Mandrill or Tower Of Power and you'll see what we mean – and titles also include "No One To Depend On","Taboo", "Guajira" and "Everything's Coming Our Way". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Tower Of Power, Santana, Grateful Dead, Taj Mahal, Hot Tuna, New Ridgers Of The Purple Sage, Boz Scaggs, Malo, Cold Blood, and more CD

Music from James Brown, Aretha Franklin, War, the Chakachas, the Jimmy Castor Bunch, the JBs, New Birth, Cymande, Tower of Power, the O Jays, BT Express, Kool & the Gang, George McCrae, the Ohio Players, the Isley Brothers, Brick, Brass Construction, Rick James, Fatback, the Gap Band & more. 55 tracks in all, plenty of funk essentials, and detailed notes – all in a fuzzy book-style cover! CD

Typical biker movie fare – but this time around played by some more famous groups! The album was put together by Mike Curb – the guy who crafted so many knock-off groups for Tower and Sidewalk biker soundtracks – and truthfully, Mike doesn't produce the work on the album by the big stars. Cream do a nicely gentle jazzy number called "Anyone For Tennis", and the fuzzy instrumental "Desert Ride" – and Iron Butterfly perform "Iron Butterfly Theme" and "Unconscious Power", plus some other instrumentals that are more in keeping with work on other Curb soundtracks. Barbara Kelly & The Morning Good do the rest of the album – very much in that instrumental rock vein that you'd get on other Curb scores – running through a pretty nice mix of instrumental tunes that includes "Savage Struggle", "The Medal", "Here Comes The Fuzz", and "Shacktown Revenge". LP, Vinyl record album

2 lost jazz rock classics from Cressida – back to back in a single package! While decidedly more rock-oriented than some of their progressive contemporaries in the UK jazz rock scene, Cressida still had a great approach to rock that used a lot of jazz-based chords and rhythms, in the manner that was being explored by other bands at the time – like Colosseum or Nucleus. On the self-titled Cressida album, the general instrumental mix features hard drums, organ, and guitars – plus vocals that are very much in a Moody Blues tradition, but which seem to have more of an early King Crimson approach to lyrics, touched by some of the Nick Drake chord progressions on guitar. A hard one to pin down, but surprisingly enjoyable today – and the kind of record that lives way way past its noodly progressive roots! Titles include "Lights IN My Mind", "The Only Earthman In Town", "To Play Your Little Game", "Time For Bed", and "Down Down". Asylum has an even fuller, more ambitious feel than the first album – and the lineup is expanded slightly to make some great room for the legendary Harold McNair on flute! Tracks are bold and focused – with great lead vocals from Angus Cullen, who sometimes sings in a jazzy mode – but other times comes off with a raspy, heartfelt quality – and there's almost a Moody Blues-esque sense of mysticism going on with some of the best tracks. Titles include "Munich", "Asylum", "Goodbye Post Office Tower Goodbye", "Let Them Come When They Will", "Summer Weekend Of A Lifetime", and "Survivor". CD

Mindblowing organ work from the mighty Kim Fowley – a rare instrumental set that has Kim carving out amazing sounds on the organ that really match is vocal force on other records of the time! The set's a bit more soulful than usual for Fowley – a record that almost pushes a soul instrumental sound more strongly than Kim's usual Sunset Strip sleaze – although there is a nice fuzzy undercurrent to the record at times too! The set burns like some lost Tower Records soundtrack – and titles include "Born To Be Wild", "Soul Limbo", "Space Odyssey", "I Can't Stop Dancing", "Savage In The Sun", "Fresno1963", and "Pictures of Matchstick Men". CD

An amazing setting for the righteous words and message of Nikki Giovanni – as the set has the poet working with backing vocals by the New York Community Choir, who also recorded a great soul album on RCA around the same time – and an overall approach that elevates Nikki's poetry into a very spiritual realm! There's definitely some gospel currents to the music, but Givoanni's words and spoken passages have much more down to earth concerns – the mix of political and personal themes that made her one of the most important young black poets of her generation. The whole thing is fantastic – very powerful throughout, with titles that include "My Tower", "Poem For A Lady Of Leisure Now Retired", "Second Rapp Poem", "Great Pax Whitey", "Poem For Aretha", and "Ego Tripping". CD

A weird batch of folksy rock tunes – composed and produced by Harley Hatcher for Sidewalk Enterprises, and sounding a lot more like a Sidewalk or Tower soundtrack than something on RCA. The groups are the usual obscurities that would show up on a Mike Curb soundtrack – pictured on the back cover, but still leaving us to wonder if they really existed at all. Tracks include "Holiday Rider" by The Saturday Revue, "Jailer Let Me Go Home" and "A Hurt In My Heart" by Don Epperson, "Playin Hard To Get" by Billie & Blue, and "Wine Women & Song" by Terry Stafford. LP, Vinyl record album

Husker Du's debut for Warner – just barely "bigger" and "more polished" soundwise than their pivotal SST canon – and all these years later stands as tall as one of the more timeless and influential rock albums to appear on a major label in the mid 80s! A couple of heart-on-sleeve, get-get-it-all-out emotional numbers point the way towards some of Bob Mould's work to come, but more of them recall the Husker Du at near peak greatness. Includes "Crystal", "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely", "I Don't Know For Sure", "Sorry Somehow", "Too Far Down", "Hardly Getting Over It", "Eiffel Tower High", "Al This I've Done For You" and more. CD

Nice lively set of soul jazz tracks, recorded with much more of an open-ended groove than some of Les' other 60s sessions. The whole thing was caught live in DC in the mid 60s, a fact that's nicely emphasized by a groovy image of Les on the cover, with the Capitol tower coming out of his head, and by the photo of Les and LBJ shaking hands on the back! Nice tracks include "The Shout", "Colonel Rykken's Southern Fried Chicken", and "Goin Out Of My Head". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Essential dub material from the legendary King Tubby – a set that's one of the best of the genre during the classic years – and which stands as a true testament to how great the format can be when handled right! The watchword here is simplicity – as the key elements are almost isolated in little sonic chambers, then set to resonate alongside each other – pulled from rhythms from tracks initially done as vocal productions, but reworked through the mixing talents of Erroll "ET" Thompson and Tubby. Players include Bobby Ellis on trumpet, Richard "Dirty Harry" Hall on tenor, and Augustus Pablo on organ and piano, plus a bit of clarinet. Titles include "Keep On Dubbing", "Stop Them Jah", "Young Generation Dub", "Each One Dub", "555 Dub Street", "Braces Tower Dub", "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown", "Corner Crew Dub", "Say So", "Skanking Dub", and "Frozen Dub". CD

Essential dub material from the legendary King Tubby – a set that's one of the best of the genre during the classic years – and which stands as a true testament to how great the format can be when handled right! The watchword here is simplicity – as the key elements are almost isolated in little sonic chambers, then set to resonate alongside each other – pulled from rhythms from tracks initially done as vocal productions, but reworked through the mixing talents of Erroll "ET" Thompson and Tubby. Players include Bobby Ellis on trumpet, Richard "Dirty Harry" Hall on tenor, and Augustus Pablo on organ and piano, plus a bit of clarinet. Titles include "Keep On Dubbing", "Stop Them Jah", "Young Generation Dub", "Each One Dub", "555 Dub Street", "Braces Tower Dub", "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown", "Corner Crew Dub", "Say So", "Skanking Dub", and "Frozen Dub". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible chapter in the Arthur Russell story – and one that's not nearly as well-known as his club singles and art rock work of the 80s! The 2CD package presents some long-lost longer form work by Russell – instrumental pieces composed and recorded in the 70s and early 80s, most of which have a decidedly minimalist feel! In addition to being a dancefloor artist in the post-disco years, Russell was also music director of The Kitchen, and had ties to the more experimental side of the New York scene – and worked in a world that included Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Rhys Chatham, and many others from time. There's echoes of all 3 on this collection, and a large number of tracks that recall the brighter, more optimistic years of modern music – the almost DIY style that hit composition and performance in the stretch after early minimalism, conveyed beautifully on these recordings done for smaller ensembles, often in a mix of electric and acoustic instrumentation. A number of the titles here have never been released at all, and even those that did see the light of day did so only briefly – and often not under optimal conditions. The 2CD package features full notes on the music, and titles that include "Instrumentals Vol 1", "Instrumentals Vol 2", "Reach One – With Two Fender Rhodes (1973)", "Tower Of Meaning", and "Sketch For The Face Of Helen". CD

One of the few solo albums ever cut by organist Chester Thompson – a player who's known to most as the keyboardist in Tower Of Power, but one who's also remembered by a select funky few for this killer record for the Black Jazz label! The album's a stripped-down quartet session – with labelmate Rudolph Johnson on tenor, blowing some beautiful lines alongside long, drawn-out Hammond solos from Thompson! The overall feel is similar to some of the great late 60s Prestige sessions – especially Don Patterson dates – with the group free swinging away in a very live format, just like you might have heard if you caught them in some hip southside club. Other players include Al Hall Jr on trombone and Ray Pounds on drums – and the album features four long jamming tracks, with titles that include "Mr T", "Trip One", "Weird Harold", and "Powerhouse". LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty much flawless collection of tunes from Townes Van Zandt's most loved album from the late 60s to late 70s – a different tracklist from earlier Best Ofs, and a set that really does serve up a treasure trove of achingly beautiful songs! Includes some of the best material from Our Mother The Mountain, his self-titled LP, High, Low And In Between, Delta Mama Blues, Flyin' Shoes, Delta Momma Blues, the earlier records in that run long beloved, the later just as great if not oft-mentioned or the songs as oft-covered, with 16 great songs on 2LPs: "For The Sake Of The Song", "Pancho & Lefty", "To Live Is To Fly", "I'll Be Here In The Morning", "St John The Gambler", "Black Widow Blues", "Tower Song", "Tecumseh Valley", "Lungs", "Rex's Blues" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Lenny's working here with Frank E Wilson – a great producer who really understood his style of singing, and who classed up his act considerably after the early days in Tower of Power. The album's got a good mix of smooth soul and uptempo numbers – and tracks include "Sweet Ecstasy", "If You're In Need", "Last Night I Dreamed", "Doing The Loop De Loop", "Here's To The Lady", and "Though We Loved Once". LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Santana, Grateful Dead, Hot Tuna, Malo, New Riders Of The Purple Sage, Quicksilver, It's A Beautiful Day, Taj Mahal, Boz Scaggs, Tower Of Power, Cold Blood, Elvin Bishop Group, Sons Of Champlin, and Lamb. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing setting for the righteous words and message of Nikki Giovanni – as the set has the poet working with backing vocals by the New York Community Choir, who also recorded a great soul album on RCA around the same time – and an overall approach that elevates Nikki's poetry into a very spiritual realm! There's definitely some gospel currents to the music, but Givoanni's words and spoken passages have much more down to earth concerns – the mix of political and personal themes that made her one of the most important young black poets of her generation. The whole thing is fantastic – very powerful throughout, with titles that include "My Tower", "Poem For A Lady Of Leisure Now Retired", "Second Rapp Poem", "Great Pax Whitey", "Poem For Aretha", and "Ego Tripping". CD

Ray Greene was the vocalist in Tower of Power for a number of years, but with a record like this, it's clear that he's more than deserving to be out front on his own – as a soul singer with a range that lives up to some of the greats from years back, yet possessed of this very personal quality that really sets him apart from the rest! Greene sings here in a way that's free from some of the more standard modes or overdone cliches that could hold a record like this back – yet at the same time, he's also got a confidence and power that could easily push the record over the top – on titles that include "Tears Away", "Stay", "Jealous", "Tell Her", "Shoulda Known Better", "Hole In Our Hearts", and "Coming Home". CD

An incredibly beautiful set of work from Arthur Russell – one of the few records to be issued under his own name during his tragically short life – and a hauntingly spare blend of vocals, hand percussion, and solo cello – recorded with more than enough echo to live up to the title! The style is incredibly hard to peg – at times delivered with an almost Nick Drake-like approach that's extremely personal, but also sharing some styles with the mellower work of Suicide and other New York art rock groups from Russell's generation. Russell's voice billows out in a field of echo, directed almost imperceptibly by resonant notes on an electrified cello, and bumped along by muted rhythms that have almost no "attack" but lots of delay. One thing is extremely clear: that the album, which virtually died upon release back in the 80s, was years ahead of its time – and has a quality that easily ranks it as one of the most inventive recordings of its decade. The whole thing's as surprisingly appealing as it is experimental, and this extra-deluxe package features a number of additional tracks. Titles include "Wax The Van", "Tone Bone Kone", "Answers Me", "Being It", "She's The Star/I Take This Time", "Tree House", "See Through", "Lucky Cloud", "Happy Ending", "Tower Of Meaning/Rabbit's Ear/Home Away From Home", and "Our Last Night Together". CD

The last album ever recorded by Townes Van Zandt – and a set that shows just how strong his talent was, right up until the end! The album came out two years after Townes passed away in 1997, and features core recordings of the legend on vocals and guitar, augmented by studio backings added to flesh out the sound of the material – yet done in a way that's very respectful to the spirit of the original tunes! The vocals are wonderful – maybe even more powerful at this point in Van Zandt's career than on some of the earlier recordings – and titles include a version of the great "Pancho & Lefty", which seems to have learned from the Merle Haggard/Willie Nelson version of Townes' classic – plus "Tower Song", "For The Sake Of The Song", "Waitin Round To Die", "Sanitarium Blues", "Greensboro Woman", "Dollar Bill Blues", and "To Live's To Fly". LP, Vinyl record album