“Get Down with the Philly Sound”   Black Beat 4   Epic Records

(45 votes, average: 4.09 out of 5)

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“At the Party”   Hector Rivera on Barry Records.   When you talk about Latin Soul, this record always comes up as one of the ten best. This was a HUGE hit in New York and almost nowhere else in 1966.

“Bring your records everybody / don’t you be late to the party / don’t you be late, ’cause I can’t wait / ’cause I’m anxious to get started / time’s a wasting, so get moving / we’ll be dancing, dancing and a-grooving…”

(39 votes, average: 3.51 out of 5)

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The Fabulous Miracles     TAMLA Records   (1963) “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me,” “A Love She Can Count On,” etc.   Cover Design: Barni Wright   Produced by: Smokey Robinson   Published by: JOBETE BMI

Liner Notes:

THE “MIRACLES” HAVE STYLE. THEY HAVE AN INDEFINABLE WAY OF DOING A NUMBER THAT MAKES YOU KNOW IT’S RIGHT. WHETHER IT’S A SWINGING ALL-OUT PRODUCTION NUMBER OR AN INTIMATE BALLAD, THE “MIRACLES” HAVE ACQUIRED THE PROFESSIONAL POLISH TO BRING ACROSS THE MOOD AND THE MESSAGE. THE “SOUND” OF THE “MIRACLES” IS THE SOUND OF SUCCESS. THE DYNAMIC VOCAL INTER-REACTIONS OF ROBERT ROGERS, TENOR, RONALD WHITE, BARITONE, PETE MOORE, BASS, BILL “SMOKEY” ROBINSON, LEAD AND CLAUDETTE ROBINSON, QUEEN OF RHYTHM, WITH MARV TARPLIN, THE GROUP’S GUITARIST. THE HOUSE LIGHTS DIM, IN THE GOLDEN GLOW OF A SINGLE SPOTLIGHT STANDS A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF HIGHLY COORDINATED ENTERTAINERS, AND THE AUDIENCES STILLS. THE MOMENT COMES WHEN THE STYLE OF THE “MIRACLES” IS AT ITS FINEST. THEIR STYLE IS REALLY A METHOD. IT’S A METHOD OF TELLING A STORY IN PRECISE, WELL-PLANNED, WELL-EXECUTED ARRANGEMENTS THAT DISPLAY THEIR CONSIDERABLE TECHNICAL ABILITIES . . . ABILITIES MOLDED OVER MANY SUCCESSFUL ENGAGEMENTS AND RECORDINGS. PRECISION HAS GAINED FOR THE GROUP A WELL-DESERVED FAME. THE HALLMARK OF THEIR STYLE IS THE CLOSE, INSIDE-TIGHT, HARMONY OF VOICES TRAINED FROM WORKING TOGETHER IN SUCH REVUES AS THE “MOTOR TOWN SPECIAL” AND ON SUCH RECORDING HITS AS “I’VE BEEN GOOD TO YO”, “YOU’VE REALLY GOT A HOLD ON ME”, AND “A LOVE SHE CAN COUNT ON”. THEY PRESENT PRECISION, PERFORMANCE, AND PROMISE . . . IN SHORT, THE “MIRACLES” HAVE STYLE.

(31 votes, average: 3.81 out of 5)

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“Road Runner” Jr. Walker & The All Stars On Motown’s Soul subsidiary label. (1966) A stone cooker from Jr. Walker — the kind of hard-driving soul that made his 60s Motown work a key link between the Detroit sound of the time, and R&B sounds of earlier years! Jr‘s soulful sax is right up in the mix on most numbers — and the overall sound is nicely freewheeling and almost spontaneous — almost a Motown studio jam at times, with vocals and instruments dancing together in joyous formation! Most tracks are instrumentals, but many also have some sort of vocal chorus — and titles include “Anyway You Wanta”, “Pucker Up Buttercup”, “Twist Lackawanna”, “San Ho Zay”, “Money”, “Last Call”, “Ame Cherie”, “Mutiny”, and “Road Runner”. – Dusty Grooves

(33 votes, average: 2.30 out of 5)

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“Sweet Soul Music”   Vol. 6     Top Hits by Charlie & White Cloud Orchestra   Including “Hawaii Five-O”

(62 votes, average: 3.63 out of 5)

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Foster Sylvers.   Pride Records.   “Misdemeanor” was a top ten hit in 1973 and still holds up as well as any of the Jackson Five songs from that time.   (Foster was ten!)   It’s just a great, funky, pop-soul song with great arrangements by Jerry Peters.   Other cuts on the album are nice covers including  “I’m Your Puppet”, “Mockingbird”, “I’ll Get You In The End”, “Swooperman”, “More Love”, “Happy Face”, “Lullabye/Uncle Albert”, and “Only My Love Is True”.     Foster was part of another family group “The Sylvers” that had a couple of hits in the mid-seventies, “Boogie Fever” which went to #1 in 1975 and “Hot Line” which reached #3 the next year.

(31 votes, average: 2.87 out of 5)

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“Sixteen Tracks of Non-Stop Superfunk” “Funk Paarrrty!”   The first track is “Kung Fu Man” by UltraFunk.   Thats a good one.   Also on this British compilation from 1974 is Oliver Sain’s “Bus Stop”, “Party Bump” by Gentlemen and their Ladies (this record has been posted here before), “Dance Master” by Willie Henderson and “Let’s Jam” by Bobby Williams.

(37 votes, average: 4.35 out of 5)

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Chick Willis “Stoop Down Baby, Let Your Daddy See”   Laval Records (1972)   Features funky cuts like the 20- minute title song and my favorite, a salacious take on B.B. King’s “Mother Fuyer” – about a furry little animal called a “fuyer.”   Dirty Red also put out a version.   I remember finding the single of “Mother Fuyer” in the basement of a record store in Boston.   Sometimes you remember where you found a record.   I don’t know why.   Chick shouldn’t be confused with his cousin “the King of the Stroll” Chuck Willis, whom he played with in the fifties.   No doubt his stint in the sixties playing with Rudy Ray Moore led him to the raunchy material he became best known for.

(45 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

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“Ya! Ya!”   The GREAT Lee Dorsey! on Fury Records (1961)   “Oh well I’m uh sitting here la la waiting for my ya, ya, uh huh”   Lee Dorsey opened for the Clash on their 1980 U.S. tour.   He passed away in 1986.   There are so many great soul and funk songs by Lee Dorsey.   He worked with Allen Toussaint on this, his first hit, and often including on his album “Yes, I Can” in 1970.   Always positive and funky.   His song “Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky” from 1969 is a DJ favorite.

(31 votes, average: 3.58 out of 5)

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Charles Wright and The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (Aka, “Hot Heat and Sweet Groove”) (1968)   Warner Records.   Includes “Spreadin’ Honey,” and “Fried Okra”.       Bill Cosby writes the liner notes here as he brought the band to Warner Bros. after they backed him on his comedy LP “Silver Throat”.   They were the first soul group to be signed by Warner Bros.   The band’s biggest hit was “Express Yourself” which was on their second album out a year later.   Love it, love it, love it.   And what a funky cover!

(32 votes, average: 2.97 out of 5)

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