Music
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The fourth release in the Eccentric Soul series is another winner, proving again that tiny regional ’60s soul labels most of us outside those regions never even heard of were nonetheless producing ...read more
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Big Mack was a Detroit label in operation on a shoestring budget from 1962 to ’72. It never had much distribution, or a good sound engineer, but it had more than its share of talent, and there are ...read more
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What makes the Eccentric Soul series such joyous affairs is not just the sheer greatness of the music but the wonderful sense of discovery, the realization that soul music was not just the province...read more
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Never mind crate digging, the new thing is archive digging, and soul is proving to be especially rewarding territory. These 1973 tracks, most previously unreleased, offer yet another sterling examp...read more
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Another great compilation from the Eccentric Soul series, this time drawing on such a treasure trove that two discs are needed to contain its bounty. Forty tracks of Chicago soul and funk from the ...read more
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Reed Roberts of the Mighty Dog Catchers is quoted as saying, “I wasn’t listening to no local bands, the only band I was influenced by was James Brown’s. Straight up.” Based on this comp...read more
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Yes, Michael Jackson wasn’t the only prepubescent popster making the scene in the 70s. He may not even have been the best, just had the benefit of the slickest production. Certainly the Jackson 5 n...read more
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Numero’s third compilation in its Good God series rounds up obscure gospel 45s from the ’70s, mostly from Chicago. Don’t take “funk” in the title too seriously, because while there are certai...read more
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At the beginning, when she emerged on the scene early last decade, Sharon Jones was “just” (not to be dismissive) a good soul singer with an interesting back story. Upon the arrival of ...read more
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From 1969 to 1974, after Ethiopia’s liberation and before the country’s 1974 fall into Stalinist repression, Amha Records’ Amha Esèté released a huge volume of the country’s unique “Abyssian groove...read more
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Charles Bradley is 62 years old, but this is his first album
after a lifetime of tribulations. His singing is definitely James Brown-esque,
but the accompaniment here -- by the Menehan Street Band ...read more
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This album does not fall under the rule of “remix albums are
superfluous and worse than the originals” because, despite what some people are
saying/writing, it is not a remix album -- at least no...read more
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People are making a lot of fuss over young James Blake of the United Kingdom, and if you hear the fuss before you hear the record, you'll probably come to the record feeling sure it won't be all th...read more
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Original badass Jim Ford had just one studio album released during his lifetime, but 1969's Harlan County is so good it cemented him as a legend (it didn't hurt that his songs have been covered by ...read more
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A Record Store Day exclusive that we didn't think would stick around, this compilation of singles and never-before-on-LP tracks from NYC's undisputed champeens of soul-revue-style funk finds Sharon...read more
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Hope nobody's been taking the Roots for granted lately, you know, given their cultural ubiquity (late-night TV and all that). Because lucky album number 13, Undun, is a bit of a mind-blower: a suit...read more
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The latest from the Numero Group turns up 25 alternate worlds in which unknown artists like Jerry Townes and Voices are stars, bona fide Bandstand-rocking stars. The two Chicago labels on display h...read more
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At the time these sweet jams were committed to magnetic tape, the western Africa nation known as Burkina Faso was still called Upper Volta, but that's splitting hairs. At the risk of sounding like ...read more
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Oh my god! But that's only a part of the story here, and actually, not even that large a part. For while "gospel" is in the title -- and sure enough, every song here in one way or another exults th...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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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With music by Kool & the Gang, Rod recites a rhyming story of gamblers, pimps, and players. - All Music Guide
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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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This sparkling debut, fueled by "Smiling Faces Sometimes," a number three pop hit, zoomed to #43 on Billboard's Top 200 albums chart. Lead singer Joe Harris
had recorded as a teenager with Little...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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Wilson Pickett's
first album, from 1965, was a bit of a hodgepodge, including singles
from as far back as 1962. Three of these tracks were actually issued as
singles by The Falcons (for whom ...read more
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With everything the Temptations
released pretty much guaranteed to turn to gold, not to mention
platinum for that matter, even their tripped-out forays into sweet '60s
psychedelic experimenta...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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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