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| Barrabas - Musica Caliente
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(RCA Victor LSP-10458 Spa-72 VG+ 300:-)
Wonderful work from Barrabas -- a hip Spanish group of the 70s who effortlessly blend together elements of funk, rock, and soul -- at a level that made them surprisingly big!
They fit right in the record racks with other funk records of the time -- as they serve up a wild safari of grooves that's almost in a sort of party mode, with the band jamming on congas, organ, and guitars! The vocals trade back nicely between the lead singer and the ensemble in a soulful mode that shows that everyone was paying attention -- and the best tracks have a tight groove with choppy guitar and driving conga, almost in an LA Chicano funk mode.
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| Booker T & the MGs / Mar-Keys - Back to Back
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(Stax S720 US-67 VG+ 350:-)
Two great Memphis instrumental groups in a smoking little live set that keeps the Stax Records sound strong -- even away from the studio!
The set's actually heavier on work by Booker T & The MGs than it is cuts by The Mar-Keys -- as Book and crew handle seven out of the record's ten tracks -- all with that sublime Hammond-heavy groove that makes them so great -- and which takes on an even rawer sound here in the live setting!
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| Brown, James - Hell
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(Polydor PD-2-9001 US-74 VG+ 600:-)
James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul," was a prolific singer, songwriter and bandleader, as well as one of the most iconic figures in funk and soul music.
"Hell" is JB's wildest album, with a crazy cover that shows him running away from the devil, and great gatefold inner photo with him standing amidst a bunch of declarations of "Hell". The double album is filled with lots of different styles from James' funky bag – but the real highlight is the epic 13 minute version of "Papa Don't Take No Mess", as tight and jamming as any cut from "Doin' It to Death" or "The Payback"!
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| Brown, James - In the Jungle Groove
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(Polydor 829624-1 US-86 VG+ 600:-)
Massive -- and one of the best James Brown compilations ever, filled with rare and unreleased material!
This completely essential set features tracks pulled from James' best years ever -- the mighty early 70s, when he was working with the JBs, and laying down tracks that would forever change the face of funk!
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| Brown, James - Revolution of the Mind
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(Polydor PD-3003 US-71 VG+ 500:-)
An amazing double-live album that's to concert records what James Brown's "Payback" was to the sound of studio funk!
The JBs are wonderful – really showing their chops here, in a way that maybe even blows the tightness of the previous James Brown Band to pieces – as the long tracks allow for plenty of solos, rhythm changes, and monstrous moments of soul from James. Brown also opens up with some cool bad-rapping moments, too!
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| Flack & Donny Hathaway, Roberta - s/t
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(Atlantic SD-7216 US-72 VG+ 400:-)
An amazing record from the team of Flack & Hathaway – one of the hippest duos in soul!
Individually, each had taken the music to new heights and new audiences, through the use of jazzy phrasing and sophisticated lyrics, while never selling out in the way that earlier pop soul acts had been reduced to. Flack's somber folksy style is a perfect match for the warm spirituality of Hathaway – and the pair work beautifully in counterpoint!
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| Franklin, Aretha - Hey Now Hey
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(Atlantic SD-7265 US-73 VG+ 275:-)
One of Aretha Franklin's greatest records -- and a complicated batch of jazzy tunes that features arrangements and production by Quincy Jones!
The record breaks way past the stock southern soul style of some of Aretha's earlier work for Atlantic -- and it features a more sophisticated style that hits a number of different moods, and which shows off Aretha's strong commitment to growth as an artist.
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| Higgins & Alex Brown, Monk - Sheba, Baby
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(Buddah BDS-5634-ST US-75 VG+ 500:-)
A nice one! This obscure blaxploitation soundtrack features a hip Monk Higgins score for a Pam Grier film that's supposedly "Hotter than Coffey and meaner n' Foxy Brown".
The music's strong enough, right up there with the best of its kind. Barbara Mason sung the title track and a few more vocal numbers, all in the mode of her hipper work during the time, but the best cuts are the instrumentals, of course!
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| J.B.'s - Hustle with Speed
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(People PE-6606 US-75 VG+ 600:-)
One of the most fantastic albums by the JBs – a masterpiece of funky jamming, tight instrumentation, and that free yet tight style of the James Brown 70s years!
The tracks are longer than on some of the earlier singles – especially the 8 minute jammer "(It's Not The Express) It's the JBs Monourail", a fantastic cut that you'll be playing for your grandkids!
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| Jackson, Chuck - Arrives!
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(Tamla Motown STML-11071 UK-68 VG+ 600:-)
Chuck Jackson only worked with Motown for a few short years, but his time at the label marked a big shift in his work – there's a growing southern soul sensibility to many of these tracks – as Chuck seems to be taking a cue from some of the better singers of the late 60s, and deepening his sound with influences brought north from Memphis and Muscle Shoals.
The core sound's still prime Motown, though – with top-shelf arrangements and productions – and in a way, these recordings mark the link between Memphis and Detroit that would be explored a lot more heavily in key 70s recordings by Don Davis and other producers who skirted between the two cities' scenes.
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| Johnson, J J - Willie Dynamite
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(MCA MCA-393 US-74 EX 600:-)
One of the greatest soundtracks of the blacksploitation era – served up with some incredible grooves from maestro JJ Johnson!
The album's got a non-stop, hard-hitting groove that ranks it with the best of its time – and which is arguably even better, because most of the record isn't nearly as well known as "Shaft", "Superfly", or other classics. Martha Reeves sings some of the deepest vocals of her career on the great title track "Willie D" – an old sample cut that you're sure to recognize – and the instrumental tunes are even better, filled with great percussion and jazzy flourishes from JJ – in a style that really keeps things interesting!
Original US pressing.
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| Jones, Gloria - Come Go with Me
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(Uptown ST-5700 US-66 VG+ 500:-)
Gloria Jones' career began in a church gospel choir, which led to spots singing backing vocals for artists such as Phil Spector and Bob Dylan. Her singing talent and years of studying piano and composition led to a job writing for Motown at the behest of Pam Sawyer. In 1972 she met T. Rex front man Marc Bolan with whom she became involved. She played clavinet and sang backing vocals for T-Rex until late 1977 when a tragic accident occurred - she crashed her Austin Mini, which caused the death of Bolan and spelled the end of T-Rex. Jones moved back to Los Angeles with their son Rolan Bolan.
Very nice lost Uptown soul album, with some very raw vocals from Gloria, and a good soulful groove.
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| Love Committee - Law & Order
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(Gold Mind GA-9500 US-78 VG+ 500:-)
A classic club album, and one of the most sought-after albums on Gold Mind/Salsoul – a soulful set of club classics that almost beats most of the other work by its contemporaries!
The session's grounded in some very solid help from the Sigma Sound team – production and arrangements by the likes of Norman Harris, Ron Tyson, or BHY Productions – in that wonderfully soulful style that was the best mode of the Harris Machine when it was working overtime! The style is disco, but far from the cliches of more commercial work like this – and much more in the legacy of Philly soul from the earlier part of the decade.
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| McDaniels, Gene - Wonderful World
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(Liberty LBY-1179 UK-63 EX 375:-)
Gene McDaniels had some early-'60s success with a pop-flavored R&B style. Born in Kansas City, he sang in Omaha choirs during the '40s and attended the Omaha Conservatory of Music. McDaniels led his own band in the '50s, then signed with Liberty. He had a Top Ten pop and Top 20 R&B hit in 1961 with "A Hundred Pounds of Clay," but the follow-up single, "A Tower of Strength," was his biggest.
Original UK MONO pressing; both sleeve and vinyl are graded EX.
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| Meters - New Directions
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(Warner Bros BS-3042 US-77 VG+ 300:-)
Considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of funk, The Meters created a unique sound that lasted through the sixties and seventies and was reborn in the late eighties. Their trademark sound blends funk, blues, and dance grooves with a New Orleans vibe.
"New Directions" is the eighth and final studio album by the funk group The Meters. It is the band's first and only album produced outside New Orleans and features the Oakland-based Tower of Power horn section.
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| Parks, Gordon - Shaft's Big Score!
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(MGM 1SE-36ST US-72 VG+ 275:-)
One of the more unusual albums in the Shaft Legacy – put together by director Gordon Parks!
After directing the first Shaft film, and letting Isaac Hayes have such a big hit with the music, Parks decided to handle the music for this sequel himself – and scored the whole thing with just as much skill as Hayes! The music is conducted by Dick Hazard, and produced by jazzman Tom McIntosh – but all the scoring is done by Parks, and he stays very true to the funky vibe set up by Hayes. OC Smith sings the vocal theme.
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| Parliament - Live
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(Casablanca NBLP-7053 US-77 VG+ 600:-)
Headed by George Clinton, Parliament's distinctive funk style drew on psychedelic culture, outlandish fashion, science-fiction, and surreal humor; it would have an influential effect on subsequent funk, post-punk, hip-hop, and techno artists.
This is what a live album should sound like -a quality recording with the full sound of an authentic performance. The exuberance. This is NOT a sterilized studio recording.
Includes the 22" x 33" poster and an iron-on T-Shirt transfer.
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| Smith, Clarence - Whatever happened to Love
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(Gospel Truth GTS-2716 US-73 VG+ 400:-)
A hip bit of gospel from the Stax Memphis scene of the early 70s -- a record that's gospel at its core, but done with some of the more righteous soul styles that were flowing through other Stax records at the time.
Backings are by The Movement and The Memphis Horns -- and Clarence sings and speaks his way through a set of tracks that mix the soulful and the spiritual.
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| Starr, Edwin - Hell Up in Harlem
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(Motown M-802V1 US-74 VG+ 400:-)
An excellent blacksploitation soundtrack - and every bit as funky as any of Willie Hutch's work for other Motown soundtracks at the time!
Larry Mizell and Dennis Coffey help out on the instrumentation - giving the album an extra funky instrumental edge, one that takes it way past Edwin Starr's other work -- and the tracks are a nice mix of vocals and instrumentals.
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| Supremes - A Bit of Liverpool
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(Motown MS-623 US-64 VG+ 350:-)
Berry Gordy tried to move Motown out of the ghetto of US soul indies by attempting various moves to realign the music with other spheres bigger than the scope of Detroit soul.
Such is an album like this, in which The Supremes strangely sing hits of the British Invasion. It's hard to imagine that such an album would appeal to either the group's regular fans or those who liked true British rock, but perhaps that's also why the record features a version of The Contours "Do You Love Me" and The Miracles' "You've Really Got A Hold Of Me".
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| Wells, Mary - My Baby just cares for Me
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(Tamla Motown TML-11006 UK-64 VG+ 500:-)
Maybe the most classic album ever from the legendary Mary Wells - and a set that really shows why she was one of Motown's first great singers at the start!
Mary's got a way of sounding strong while having her heart broken too - a complicated emotional approach that comes through wonderfully in the classic tune "My Guy", but which also really graces most of the numbers here. Smokey Robinson and Mickey Stevenson produced, and give Wells some of the best old school modes used in the early Miracles albums!
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| White, Barry - 20th Century Albums
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(Mercury 02567-41068 EU-18 EX 1000:-)
Barry White followed in the footsteps of Lou Rawls, Isaac Hayes, and even the politically charged Gil Scott Heron, all sharing creamy baritones and a tendency to mix spoken word with song. Those pillow talk interludes showed White's speaking voice to be deeper (and more impressive) than his singing voice. Like an amorous Orson Welles doused in Brut 33, White used the heady brew of disco sheen and bedroom voice to score hit after hit in the '70s.
This 9LP Box Set bring together all the albums Barry White released with the 20th Century Records label. The albums have been remastered from their analogue
master tapes.
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| Wonder, Stevie - Songs in the Key of Life
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(Tamla T13-340C2 US-76 EX 500:-)
A sweet little double LP – a real treasure with lots of hidden gems. Besides the hits "Isn't She Lovely" and "Sir Duke", which were more than enough to carry the set in the record shops, the record's got lots of other nice cuts, including many that have that complicated jazzy feel of Stevie's work on the "Inner Visions" album.
US pressing; complete with 24pg booklet and bonus EP
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| Wonder, Stevie - Songs in the Key of Life
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(Motown TMSP-6002 UK-76 VG+ 400:-)
A sweet little double LP – a real treasure with lots of hidden gems. Besides the hits "Isn't She Lovely" and "Sir Duke", which were more than enough to carry the set in the record shops, the record's got lots of other nice cuts, including many that have that complicated jazzy feel of Stevie's work on the "Inner Visions" album.
UK pressing; complete with 24pg booklet and bonus EP
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