Cheap Vinyl Classics
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The African Music Machine was an eight-piece funk outfit from New Orleans led by bassist/songwriter Louis Villery. They got their start as a house band for the Jewel/Paula label axis, playing on re...read more
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Bootsy Collins' debut solo album, Stretchin' Out in Bootsy's Rubber Band,
was an extremely tough act to follow, but thankfully, there are no
signs of a sophomore slump (either creatively or com...read more
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This record offers a pretty good sampling of vibraphonist Cal Tjader's influential Latin-jazz of the 1950s. With pianist Vince Guaraldi, bassist Al McKibbon, Willie Bobo on timbales and drums and t...read more
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Roots is Curtis Mayfield's visionary album, a landmark creation every bit as compelling and as far-reaching in its musical and extra-musical goals as Marvin Gaye's
contemporary What's Goin' On. Op...read more
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The choice of Curtis Mayfield to score the blaxploitation film Superfly
was an inspired one. No other artist in popular music knew so well, and
expressed through his music so naturally, the sha...read more
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After the modicum of success he'd experienced with his debut, Song of
Innocence, set to William Blake's epic suite of poems, composer,
arranger, and producer David Axelrod
turned to the British ...read more
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Finally – the long overdue release of one of the funkiest soundtracks
ever! The music to Black Belt Jones has always been the stuff of legend
– mostly only issued as a promo single back in the...read more
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Dennis Coffey's
solo debut offers a primer in psychedelic funk, marshaling fuzz-laden
guitar wizardry, deeply soulful organ fills, and rubber-band rhythms to
forge one of the most sample-read...read more
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In late 1964, Don Covay, then fronting Don Covay & the Goodtimers,
scored a Top 40 hit with "Mercy Mercy." He and the record label decided
to capitalize on the unexpected crossover success ...read more
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Don Covay
rides his most creative crest as a solo artist with this hearty
collection of songs. The settings are simplistic for Atlantic Records,
which recorded similar artists in lusher setti...read more
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Dr. John finally struck paydirt here and was certainly In the Right Place.
With the hit single "Right Place Wrong Time" bounding up the charts,
this fine collection saw many unaware listeners b...read more
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Having been in the employ of James Brown, who gave them a first-class education in funk and soul, Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker were obvious choices to contribute to George Clinton's P-Funk empire (...read more
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This follow-up to the righteous and soulful Winter In America
LP continues with the solid, decidedly left-of-center jazz-R&B that
made Gil Scott-Heron a cult figure throughout the '70s. Thi...read more
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As one of the first albums Herbie Hancock recorded after departing Miles Davis' quintet in 1968, as well as his final album for Blue Note, The Prisoner is one of Hancock's most ambitious efforts. A...read more
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Released at the tail end of the '60s, Hot Buttered Soul set the precedent for how soul would evolve in the early '70s, simultaneously establishing Isaac Hayes and the Bar-Kays as major forces withi...read more
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After Isaac Hayes kicked his career into high gear with the popular and
influential score for Shaft, and Curtis Mayfield managed the same feat
with Superfly, seemingly every major soul star of ...read more
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If "Cold Sweat" was a revolutionary single in 1967, clearly pointing the way to funk music, the Cold Sweat LP at least promised to be something new in James Brown's catalog as well. Where Brown's
...read more
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Extended live "funkafizing" including a ten-minute version of the #1
R&B hit "Doing It to Death." Written, produced, and arranged by James Brown. - All Music Guide
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In an era where Brown went on to make three studio doubles, Get on the Good Foot was the first. This 1972 album finds Brown
having great chemistry with both his newer J.B.'s and the New York
se...read more
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James Brown recorded the pet project Gettin' Down to It
in Cincinnati, OH, at King Studios, between December 1968 and March
1969. Although you can't tell by the album's title, it reflects Soul ...read more
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This is the Japanese Polydor CD replica of the original 1968 James Brown King album I Can't Stand Myself. Containing the album's 12-track original playing order and cover art including the Vox adve...read more
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Although historical evaluations of James Brown's
work during the last half of the '60s tend to focus on the innovative
funk of his biggest hit singles, his repertoire -- both live and on
reco...read more
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This live outing from Brown's seminal 1970 J.B.'s lineup features Bootsy Collins, Clyde Stubblefield, Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Bobby Byrd, and many more. While it's a cut below Love Power Peace i...read more
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James' third album (his first for King) features 1960-era James Brown,
moving from King's Federal subsidiary to the parent label with the hits
"Bewildered," "If You Want Me," "You've Got the Po...read more
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When a high school stage band tries to get funky, an upbeat version of
"When the Saints Go Marching In" with a fat girl singing scat vocals is
usually on the cards. High school is a strange pla...read more
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High school is a strange place to find deep funk,
but the uniformed afros in the Kashmere Stage Band's
class photo are reaffirming. The funk is far from juvenile and sounds
nothing but profes...read more
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Prior to James "JT" Taylor
adding pop flavor vocals, which help garner a handful of top selling
albums, this was Kool & the Gang's most successful album, spawning
three bonafide R&B h...read more
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Back in hip-hop's old school era -- roughly 1978-1982 -- albums were the
exception and not the rule. Hip-hop became a lot more album-minded with
the rise of its second generation (Run-D.M.C., Who...read more
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Benny Golson's writing for this date uplifts it beyond most of the jam session sets of the period. Trumpeter Lee Morgan (then 19) is in excellent form, holding his own with his impressive sidemen (...read more
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With music by Kool & the Gang, Rod recites a rhyming story of gamblers, pimps, and players. - All Music Guide
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Marvin Gaye turned to soundtracks in the early '70s, and came out with one that ranked right alongside the epic scores done by Curtis Mayfield and Isaac Hayes. The film itself was a typical '70s "b...read more
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This unusual record from 1972 is Nina Simone's
statement on the Vietnam War. The cover is a collage of news clippings
from the conflict, and the song selection and arrangement, though
dealing...read more
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This unusual record from 1972 is Nina Simone's
statement on the Vietnam War. The cover is a collage of news clippings
from the conflict, and the song selection and arrangement, though
dealing...read more
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After greatly increasing their visibility with Skin Tight, the Ohio Players became even more visible with Fire
-- an unpredictable masterpiece that boasted such explosive horn-driven
funk jewels ...read more
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Road to Ruin found the Ramones
stretching their signature sound to its limits; even though there were
several fine moments, nearly all of them arrived when the group broke
free from the suddenly...read more
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Of course the Ramones' second album, Leave Home,
is simply more of the same -- 14 songs, including one oldie
("California Sun"), delivered at breakneck speed and concluding in under
a half...read more
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The loud-and-fast, campy-and-catchy formula began to wear a little thin by the time of the Ramones' fourth album, Road to Ruin. Following the exact same blueprint as its three predecessors, Road to...read more
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The Ramones provided the blueprint and Leave Home duplicated it with lesser results, but the Ramones' third album, Rocket to Russia, perfected it. Rocket to Russia boasts a cleaner production than ...read more
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Roy Ayers's
leap to the Polydor label inaugurates his music's evolution away from
the more traditional jazz of his earlier Atlantic LPs toward the
infectious, funk-inspired fusion that still ...read more
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Original vinyl copies of Skull Snaps'
one and only LP continue to exchange hands on the rare groove market
for three figures. There are two reasons for this: one, it's rare, and
two, the drum br...read more
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1971's Here Comes Shuggie Otis was the debut album by the guitarist and songwriter, issued by Columbia, when Shuggie was only 18. Produced and arranged by his father, R&B legend Johnny Otis, th...read more
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While La La Means I Love You is the trio's debut LP, the Delfonics had actually been working with producer Thom Bell as far back as their 1966 single "He Don't Really Love You." By the time this al...read more
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Although self-titled, The Delfonics
was actually the fourth long-player for the Philly soul vocalists. The
album would not only be the band's entrée into the Top 100 pop album
chart upon its ...read more
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The Sound of Sexy Soul is the Delfonics' second long-player and builds upon the notable impact of their first, La La Means I Love You.
This album provides the trio a platform for their next batch...read more
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If rap could be traced to one logical source point, this exceptional
piece of vinyl would be it, without question. Though the strict
adherence to syncopated rhythms and standard song structures a...read more
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A legendary set featuring a group of extremely controversial street poets. The Last Poets
used offensive language brilliantly, talked in graphic detail about
America's social and racial failure...read more
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