The best black female singer of the 20th century. This is a stunning album. the definitive late 60’s Aretha Franklin, bold, beautiful, vulnerable, earthy, sexy, defiant, spiritual and strong.. Full of great songs.
A seminal session that furthered her deep soul agenda with key backings from Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd! The Sweet Inspirations provide sublime backing vocals behind Franklin’s maturing delivery of the lyrics — and the music is by an all-star group of players that includes Spooner Oldham, Bobby Womack, Jimmy Johnson, King Curtis, Tommy Cogbill, Roger Hawkins, and even Eric Clapton!
After all, she is the Queen, the Lady Soul!!
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Ranked #84 in Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” Aretha’s position as soul music’s premier female vocalist was consolidated by Lady Soul. Her strident reading of “Chain of Fools” set the tone on which the singer unveiled several stellar original compositions and reinterpreted a batch of classic songs. Franklin’s gospel roots were clearly displayed on “People Get Ready” while her interpretation of “(You Make Me Fell Like A) Natural Woman” showed both her vulnerable and assertive qualities. The album also features the fine soul ballad “Good to Me as I Am to You” with Eric Clapton on guitar. Lady Soul captures a performer at the peak of her power, restating her ability to take material and make it uniquely her own. This 1968 tour de force is one of the absolute pinnacles of the Queen’s incredible artistic legacy.
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At a 1968 concert in Chicago, Aretha Franklin was publicly and officially crowned the Queen of Soul in front of her fans by a DJ named Purvis Spann. This body of work shows why Aretha continues to reign supreme. The Queen takes on the Kings of Soul/Rhythm & Blues and pulls no punches as she covers Ray Charles’s “Come Back Baby” and “Be as Good to Me as I Am to You,” James Brown’s “Money Won’t Change You,” and Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready”. She’s classical, bluesy, funky, and right-down soulful on every cut. The poet Nikki Giovanni once wrote–”Aretha can sing Money Won’t Change You, but can James Brown sing Respect?” In other words, when the Queen covers a song, it becomes hers and one can easily forget about the original artist. For example, Carol King wrote and recorded “Natural Woman” but that song is and probably will always be associated with Aretha Franklin. Aretha wails and gets right-down funky on cuts like “Chain of Fools” and “Nikki Hokey.” She’s operatically soulful on “Ain’t No Way”–which to this day no female artist, including Whitney Houston, has been able to successfully cover.You have an absolutely classic and indispensable piece of American music history here. The one and only Aretha Franklin: “Lady Soul.”

跟许多灵魂歌手一样，Otis Redding也是在教堂的唱诗班里得到音乐启蒙教育的。他出生于1941年九月，父亲是浸信会的牧师。喜爱音乐的他，高中都没有毕业就辍学了。有一次，他在一家医院里打工，还因为忘情的在大厅里歌唱而遭到开除。
为了能够接近他所喜爱的音乐，他在家乡找了一份工作，替当地一支合唱团担任打杂的小弟，偶尔也客串演唱。1962年，他开车送合唱团的成员到曼斐斯的某家唱片公司去试音，由于主角不是他，在录音的过程中，他只好乖乖的坐在角落里，合唱团录完之后，他忍不住表示自己也很希望能有机会录音。在录音时间还剩余二十分钟的情况下，唱片公司老板同意让他试试看。
他录了两首歌，第一首让老板觉得太像他从小崇拜的老牌黑人摇滚歌手Little Richard，第二首则是一首抒情的歌谣曲「These Arms of Mine」，老板虽然并不是特别的欣赏，还是决定予以发行，结果却意外的成了他的第一首进榜单曲。
其后的几年间，Otis Redding陆续又有了其他几首R&B的畅销曲，包括「Pain in My Heart」、「Security」、「I've Been Loving You Too Long」、「Respect」以及替他赢得更多注意的歌曲，翻唱自滚石合唱团经典的「(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction」等等。其中发表于1965年的「Respect」在1967年由Aretha Franklin成功的翻唱并且夺得冠军，轰动了歌坛。
只是当时他的知名度仅限于黑人，对于绝大多数的白人来说，仍然没有几个人认识他。为了替他宣传，唱片公司安排了巡回演唱的行程，把他的名声传到了欧洲，尤其是英国和法国，接著他们回到美国，参加蒙特利流行音乐节的演出。他是最后上场的，也是那次活动中唯一的灵魂歌手，而在他上台的时候，已经过了午夜，疲累的白人观众很多都在打瞌睡了，根本无心注意这位他们几乎毫不认识的黑人歌手。
Otis Redding以一首充满活力的「Shake」，炒热了现场，使得他在那次演唱会中的表现成了传奇。而由于他也是第一次接触到那种嬉皮听众，他颇有感触，演唱结束之后，他在停靠在旧金山附近的一艘游艇上写下了「(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay」这首歌。1967年十二月七号，他进入录音室，把这首歌曲录制下来，在歌曲的开头，他加上了海浪和海鸥的声音，用柔和的节奏，唱出了一个孤独男人心中的渴望。
三天之后，十二月十号，他结束了威斯康辛的一场演唱之后，登上了他刚刚购买的双引擎小飞机，准备前往康乃狄格去演出。当时的他，可以说是志得意满，因为不但他的「Respect」被灵魂歌后Aretha Franklin唱红，他本人也刚被英国著名的Melody Maker读者票选为全世界最佳的男歌手，取代了过去八年由猫王所霸占的宝座。
那天的气候十分不利于飞行，空中弥漫著浓雾。起飞之后不久，飞机就在离机场四英里的地方失事坠毁，很快的沉没在冰冷的湖水中，Otis Redding就这样结束了他短短的一生，只活了二十六岁。跟他一起丧生的，还包括了飞机的驾驶员、他的仆从和Bar-Keys乐队的四名团员。
四千五百位歌迷和亲友参加了他的丧礼。在他过世之后，唱片公司发行了「(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay」，很快的就直冲榜首，成为他一生之中唯一的冠军曲，可惜他自己却享受不到那些荣誉了。1980年，他的两个儿子跟一个表弟组成了「The Reddings」合唱团，翻唱了「(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay」，并且得到第五十五名，成为有史以来第一首由原唱者的后人重新唱红的冠军曲。

Hot Buttered Soul was Isaac Hayes' second studio album. Released in 1969, it is recognized as a landmark in soul music.

A frequent drummer on some of the most visible Kudu sessions, Idris Muhammad was finally signed to the label as a recording artist, and marked his album debut with the sensational POWER OF SOUL. With Bob James writing the charts, and Grover Washington, Jr. providing some exquisite contributions on the saxophone, the album made quite a splash at the time, and quickly established Idris as a force to contend with on the music scene. This is the first time this seminal album is available on CD.

French only 21 track collection of the best soul tracks that modern Hip Hop and R & B artists have sampled. Highlights include, Barry White 'Mellow Mood', Booker T & the Mg's 'Children Don't Get Weary', Ann Peebles 'Trouble, Heartaches, & Sadness', Al Green 'You Ought To Be With Me', Donny Hathaway'Little Ghetto Boy',The Emotions'If You Think it', Gladys Knight & The Pips 'The Way We Were', Sly Johnson 'It's Because I'm Black', Bob James 'Nautilus', Willie Mithcell 'Groovin' and many more! Standard jewel case. 2001 release.

Acoustic Guitar – Pierre Zogo
Arranged By, Written-By – Manu Dibango
Bass – Long Manfred*
Drums – Joby Jobs
Electric Guitar – Manu Rodanet
Lacquer Cut By – GP*
Percussion – Freddy Mars
Photography By – Xavier Auvert
Piano – Georges Arvanitas, Patrice Galas

Recorded in Paris and New York under the production guidance of Pierre Jaubert ("Berjot"), the Lafayette Afro-Rock Band were a jazz-based super session group that created a heavy, dense, no compromise ghetto funk that has since been sampled by everyone from Public Enemy to Wreckz 'N' Effect.

Soul Makossa was the debut release of the Lafayette Afro-Rock Band. At the time the band’s popularity was primarily contained within Europe, but the album is now considered a raw funk gem by collectors everywhere. Everyone was quick to recognize such an abundance of talent in one group. Such classics as "Hihache and "Voodounon" have secured the band’s place in funk history.

At this point, we could go on and on, but for those who already know the band, you will be fully aware of what we mean. For those who are listening for the first time, the Lafayette Afro-Rock Band’s bandwagon is becoming larger and is ready to take people on their heaviest musical trip.

Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger. Hathaway has been described as a "soul legend" by Rolling Stone. His most popular songs include "The Ghetto", "This Christmas", "Someday We'll All Be Free", and "Little Ghetto Boy".

by Alex Henderson
Long after the Average White Band disappeared from the charts, its impact was being felt. Hip-hop, urban contemporary and new jack swing artists sampled AWB's '70s classics to death in the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s, and such retro acts as the Brand New Heavies

45-track, 3-CD set featuring Al Green, Gary Jules, Ronan Keating, Roy Orbison, Macy Gray and more. Warner. 2004.

More than three decades after its original release, and for the very first time on CD, is Marie Queenie Lyons cult classic "Soul Fever", one of the most well regarded "lost" albums of all-time. Queenie certainly had the qualifications (in both sass and vocals) to be hired by James Brown as one of his "funky divas". Marie "Queenie" Lyons is an enigma. After the 1970 release of this, her only album, she disappeared forever. Because of the prodigious wealth of talent in black America at the time, great albums with tiny marketing budgets were often overlooked. 'Soul Fever" was just one drop in a fabulous, funky ocean. Over the decades, this album has become one of the rarest and most prized Southern soul albums from that prolific era. Seriously recommended for fans of Betty Davis.

tags: 90s hip-hop/rap jazzy hip hop sample-based underground hip hop Portland

"If, in the mid '90s, when I first heard real “new” funk and soul music made by the likes of Poets of Rhythm and the Desco crew – that in 2015 some of the realest funk left to be recorded would come from Russia, I would have said you were out of your mind. But The Soul Surfers are sincere, and their geographic location matters little when it comes to chicken scratch guitar, syncopated drums, throbbing bass lines and overall attitude: this is funk for the universal get down."
-Eothen Alapatt aka Egon (Now-Again Records)
"One deeply impressive line-up of guests, and quite right too, as the Soul Surfers are one deeply impressive funk outfit"
-Craig Charles (Craig Charles Funk And Soul Show, BBC 6 Music)
"This album shows a great variety of styles and moods, given to the fact it enlists contributions from some of the top rulers of the contemporary raw soul scene. Yes, this record is killin´it!!!"
-JJ Whitefield (Poets Of Rhythm/Whitefield Brothers)
"What a fantastic album! Deep, rich authentic soul music made with real passion. This album could easily be mistaken as a rare nugget from the late 60's & early 70's."
-Smoove (Smoove & Turrell)
After releasing countless collectable and in-demand 7in singles and making a name for themselves in the contemporary “raw funk and soul” scene, The Soul Surfers drop their debut album “Soul Rock!”; a magnum opus of raw, gritty soul and greasy funk featuring eminent guests from the aforementioned scene that birthed their sound. Soul crooners Myron & E break out of their “smooth” vocal personas and deliver a decidedly more stripped down and visceral performance in the lead-off single “You Can Run (But You Can’t Hide) From My Love that also promises to be a dance floor filler. Co-collaborators JJ Whitefield from The Poets of Rhythm and Malcom Catto of the Heliocentrics add their signature touch on two of the album’s ”heavier” cuts “Raw” and “Stop Fooling Around.” Label-mate, multi-instrumentalist and studio genius Shawn Lee lends his vocal, guitar and mixing board talents to “Time Is A Gun” while noted producer Didier from the Soul Investigators gets in on the mix, vibes, and percussion on the heavy slow-burner “Astra”. Smoove & Turrell round out the album with the blue-eyed soul stomper “Straight Up”.
Formed while still in highschool and eventually releasing 20+ singles on Detroit’s “Funk Night Records” starting in 2011, The Soul Surfers are just getting started, led by Igor Zhukovsky who has this to say about their debut album, “we had a chance to collaborate and make this international album with so many cool guests from the best groups in the game all over the world. And there is no barriers with people worldwide - everybody can do what they love together, don't believe the shitty words of politicians!”