Funk | Soul 280 Items

Limited Edition for Record Store Day 2018! Two seminal cuts from Norman Whitfields standout project, The Undisputed Truth. Remastered and reissued on 180g vinyl.
If you’re not familiar with “You + Me = Love”, well that bass synth intro will have you hooked from the off. “Sandman” on the B side is a funk bomb nestled on the Smokin’ LP….must have!

Limited Edition for Record Store Day 2018! Main Ingredient's fantastic take on the Average White Band's original funky classic - for the first time ever on 7" too.
Backed with a Main Ingredient track that's shot-up in popularity over the last few years - welcome to the long 7" version of "Instant Love" previously only available on the U.S. promo 7" which will set you back circa £80 large.
7 inch vinyl with a large dinked centre hole.

Limited Edition for Record Store Day 2018! 45th year anniversary release coinciding with Lamont Dozier’s 2018 Summer tour. One for the lovers and the ones that got away – a real gem for any soul disciples out there.
Large / dinked centre hole pressed on blue vinyl.

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2018!

The 20th volume of our flagship Eccentric Soul series has all the boxes checked: Guntoting, skip-tracing record producers, child stars, rip-offs, the “World’s Greatest Bail Bondsman,” swindles, soaring falsettos, and a dwindling rust-belt cityscape offering mere glimpses of hope before the record industry escaped for the coasts. Helmed by the O’Jays Bobby Massey, Saru was a creative vortex that pulled Cuyahoga County’s greatest talent in, making a strong case for Cleveland to contend with Detroit, Philly, and Memphis as America’s soul music’s capital. Includes obscure and unknown sides from the Out of Sights, the Elements, Pandella Kelly, David Peoples, Sir Stanley, the Ponderosa Twins + 1, Ba-Roz, Bobby Dukes, and of course, the O’Jays.

Official limited edition reissue of one of the rarest italian cosmic disco release from 1977. Previously available only as a 7" with short vocal and instrumental cuts for radio play. Now reissued as 12" including for the first time the extended disco version remastered from the original master tapes directly from the archives of the italian radio 101 that produced this song during mid seventies.

Tuxedo is back with a new single, “Shy,” the follow up to their critically acclaimed “II” album. In collaboration with the iconic funk band, Zapp. Tuxedo delivers a highly addictive new funk single for the dance floor.

Sensational early-seventies funk bomb by Muhavishla Ravi Hatchud and The Indo Jazz Following. Super-rough organ funk, like a dream combination of Mingus, Jimmy Smith and Zigaboo Modeliste from The Meters — plus Ravi’s ramped-up sitar, like a tripping, undercover Bo Diddley. In a numbered, limited edition, to launch a new series of Outernational 45s.

Following the acclaimed first album of Al Sunny released in 2017, Favorite Recordings proudly presents this single remix package of “Open Up Your Eyes”.
Al Sunny is a young composer emerging from the French soul music scene. Soon after learning the guitar, he started composing and became involved in numerous projects and collaborations. He quickly discovered deep inside himself the music that he truly loves, inspired by artists such as Tim Maia, America, Al Green, and Al Jarreau. During his studies he met musicians including Florian Pellissier, and it's then thanks to Florian that he met Pascal Rioux, founder and A&R of Favorite Recordings. Together they produced Time To Decide, a first album acclaimed by many tastemakers and gaining a solid success in Japan.
One of the highlights of the LP was the track “Open Up Your Eyes”, which disclosed the premise of Al Sunny music style, infused with Blue-Eyed-Soul, Pop and Folk. Also tainted with a funky dancefloor color, “Open Up Your Eyes” was a perfect match to build a nice remixes package for DJs. On the A side, Bruno “Patchworks” Hovart delivers again a hot Soulful/Disco version of the song with his famous touch. As for the B side, Favorite Recordings asked the Canadian producer Jex Opolis (Good Timin’ Records), with a Disco style slightly more oriented in Electronic and House vibes.

The Harlem Gospel Travelers were brought together by Eli Paperboy Reed, as they were students that he was mentoring as part of a gospel class he was teaching. As the students began to develop their own style and write songs, Eli decided they needed to get into the studio and put something down. So he enlisted the help of friends to serve as a band for his students, including drummer Aaron Frazer (Durand Jones & The Indications, The Flying Stars Of Brooklyn NY), and the results speak for themselves. Old-school, get up and shout southern gospel!

A master of the mixing board, from the late '60s until the '90s Bernard Estardy was the wizard of French musical recordings. As head of CBE studios, he shaped everything from Gérard Manset's concept albums to Claude François' hit singles, Françoise Hardy's delicate tear-jerkers and Michel Sardou's soul-stirrers. This "giant" had his hand in the whole range of mainstream French music by making his studio a veritable playground for experimentation. His legendary album 'La Formule Du Baron,' released in 1969, and the eight LPs of production music he made between 1974 and 1978 for Tele Music are vivid proof.

Massive club floorfillers from 1965.

Big Crown Records is proud to present this tough as nails split 7”

The A side is Paul Ramos version of the Mandrill classic “Fence Walk”. Originally released on the Harlem label, and later licensed to Falcon only to oddly appear on their Kris Bravo LP. Ramos stays close to the original, but adds enough to the tune to make it a must have for funk collectors.

The B side “Funky Resurgence” comes by way of vibes player/bandleader Ulysses Crockett who was a stalwart on the Bay Area scene of the 1960's first with his Latin Jazz group Afro Blue Persuasion and later Ulysses Crockett Magic. He also played in The Skins w/ the legendary Bill Graham. "Funky Resurgence" was one of several compositions he wrote for the 1971 play "Resurgence." During this period, Ulysses was also going through law school and he remains a legal voice, writer and activist in the Bay Area.

Should not need any introduction to deep disco heads, huge spin for red Greg, Floating Points, Jeremy underground etc.. Love Tempo is this years banger in January, well know to those deep in the game for some time but dog rare and good makes finding an o.g a fantasty, so here you go……my pleasure.

A permanent fixture in the world of Rhythm and Soul, James Hunter follows up five critically acclaimed albums with his latest recording, Whatever It Takes, for New York City’s renowned label, Daptone Records. At the height of his famed recording career, Hunter and Daptone co-founder and producer Bosco Mann recorded an elegantly crafted collection of 10 originals that are evermore poignant and compelling than the singer’s previous works. The James Hunter Six and Mann recorded Whatever It Takes straight to tape at Daptone's Penrose Studios in Riverside, California.

The first Brit to sign to Daptone Records, Hunter is revered by critics both in his native UK and stateside, with MOJO touting Hunter as “The UK’s greatest soul singer” and the Los Angeles Times praising his “extraordinary soul voice.” Of his prior recordings, Rolling Stone called his U.S. debut People Gonna Talk, “a treat not to miss” and his second album “unbelievably awesome,” while The New York Times noted of The Hard Way, Hunter’s “tight, slithery groove” and “sweet growl.” Hunter’s accolades include milestones of reaching #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart, a GRAMMY® Award nomination for “Best Traditional Blues Album”, years as a singer touring and recording with Van Morrison, and many TV appearances on Conan, Later…with Jools Holland, and other late night TV shows.

Subsequent to his acclaim as one of today’s renowned soul singers, Hunter’s restless genius penning emotive and captivating works results in his best written compositions to date on Whatever It Takes.

Though Spencer Wiggins did not make the R&B charts until his Fame 45 ‘Double Lovin’’ in 1970, it is his eight Goldwax singles, released in the latter half of the 60s, for which he is rightly famous among soul fans. They epitomise Memphis soul, veering from deep melancholic ballads to raucous uptempo groovers.

Wiggins’ fans dig every aspect of his music; his voice is ideal for the southern soul sound. That genre is close to the blues and ‘Lover’s Crime’, his first 45 on the Bandstand subsidiary, was an early Isaac Hayes composition of that ilk. ‘Sweet Sixteen’, which was unreleased until 1977, is a full-on blues, but presumably not issued by Goldwax as they wanted to keep Spencer known as a soul singer, even though he excels on the number. Goldwax’s strong country influence is apparent on ‘I Never Loved A Woman (The Way I Love You)’ which certainly rivals Aretha’s breakthrough single from a couple of years previously. ‘Once In A While (Is Better Than Never At All)’, written by ex-country singer and Goldwax boss Quinton Claunch and George Jackson’s ‘Old Friend’ are also in the country bag.

The dramatic ballad ‘Uptight Good Woman’ was penned by Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham and Jimmy Johnson and is probably Wiggins’ best-known recording; it is a highlight of his live performances. Penn and Oldham also provided ‘Take Me Just As I Am’, another stand-out track. ‘He’s Too Old’ and ‘I’m A Poor Man’s Son’ are vibrant, warm-hearted numbers taken at a jaunty pace, still very much southern soul; ‘Lonely Man’ is the only song which hints at Detroit’s influence and has consequently cost Wiggins’ 45 collectors appreciably more than the norm.

Wiggins’ career suffered by being in the shadows of James Carr at Goldwax and that may have been the reason why Claunch, a very fair-minded man, let this superb singer move to nearby Fame, along with some Goldwax tracks they had already cut on him in those studios. He also had artistic success at Sounds of Memphis in 1973; unissued tracks from there as well as Goldwax have strengthened his reputation. He is primarily a preacher now but his 2010 appearance at the Cleethorpes rare soul weekender demonstrated he is still a great performer and he recently completed a successful two-date visit to London and Manchester with his brother, manager and fellow singer Percy.

Big Crown records is proud to present the first single from The Shacks debut album Haze, out worldwide March 30th. Since the release of their self titled EP in 2016 The Shacks have been collecting fans that are fast becoming as hypnotized as we've been since first hearing Shannon’s ethereal voice on top of “Strange Boy"". Highlights of the year have been opening tours for Chicano Batman, and Khruangbin, as well as ""This Strange Effect"" becoming world famous via the Apple iPhone 8 ad campaign. The A side, “Follow Me”, was one of the first songs recorded for Haze almost two years ago. With “black mirror” esque lyrics over a hypnotic mid tempo groove, Follow Me leaves you feeling joyful, calmed, and queasy, all at the same time. The B side “Texas” is an another song from their upcoming album. Recorded in Max Shrager's home studio in Princeton and then finished with Leon Michels at the Diamond Mine in Queens. Texas is a perfect representation of The Shacks signature sound with Shannon’s voice balancing out the gritty yet smooth production.

Raw gospel stuff! Most of the recordings included here were published in 45's or 78's for less known independent companies, some by tiny local labels and sometimes paid by the church congregation itself.

Athens of the North are proud to presentRenée Geyer's modern soul masterpiece ‘Be There In The Morning'. Recorded in the USA early 1977 but only released as a single in Australia how this was not a worldwide hit is beyond us. On the flip we have the impossibly rare 1976 version recorded in Australia before Renee headed to the USA. Timmion Cutting Laboratory did the lathe worksoit’s cut loud and deep, sounds amazing, an essential 45 for disco or modern soul heads.

Moniquea's Yes No Maybe is an album that is steeped in the synthesizer-heavy aesthetics of 1980's R&B funk (often referred to as "boogie") but is modern enough to move past the "retro" label into something that builds a fresh sound upon the blueprints created by seminal 80's acts such as Prince, Midnight Star, or Evelyn "Champagne" King. YNM was released at the height of the 'modern funk' movement, as championed by Dam Funk & carried on by a small but dedicated cadre of artists such as Moniquea herself, & album producer XL Middleton. Having been out of print and growing evermore scarce in the second hand market, a reissue was all but inevitable.

Originally released in 2014 as Vol.7 in the Luv N'Haight Edit Series which was the first on a 7-inch and featured heavyweight digger, edit-master, and producer Kon with his take on Twilight’s Modern Soul and Boogie classic “You’re In Love”. He stays true to the original but packs a bit more punch into the groove while keeping the focus on the catchy vocals and chorus on the A-side, and doing it Dub-style with minimal vocals and plenty of echo on the flip. The year prior to its release, 2013 was definitely the year of Kon with a remix released in March via On The Prowl's Party Mix Vol.7, his “All About You” EP dropping in May on Soul Clap’s newly formed record label, and his first solo all-original album “On My Way” released on BBE. In between studio work, touring in promotion of his new releases, and djing parties as one of the world’s most highly sought-after DJs, Kon couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add his name to our growing list of venerated producers that have blessed the Luv N’Haight Edit Series with their work. Supplied with the original stems culled from master tapes provided by Twilight’s own Lawrence Ross, Kon takes full advantage and crafts a classic remix and dub version of the song guaranteed to get any dancefloor jumping. Fast forward nearly 9 years later and Kon remains at the top of his game, both in demand as a DJ, Producer, and Remixer with subsequent releases on BBE (Kon and The Gang) and his celebrated work with his group The Vision (along with Ben Westbeech & Andreya Triana).

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the C.M.R label, the third instalment of Groove Sessions is here. In 7 tracks, CHINESE MAN revives the sound that made them such a success. Classic hip-hop with South African rapper TUMI on "Once Upon A Time", or piano and mariachi trumpets on "Scatter" with rapper Ex-I.DELUXE offers 2 productions in line with the success of "The Deluxe Family Show" and the label also invites its new signings. S.O.A.P and TAIWAN MC invite Indian singer Tritha for a broken beat track combining electro bass and ragga flow.The mysterious Tomapam and LeYan invite OfNazareth on the track "Rosita", and Cyph4 on the track "A.M. Horrorscope", one of the label's best-known voices, on a track mixing traditional Turkish music and Hip Hop beat.

"Automatic Soul, like my previously compiled Late Night Tales Music For Pleasure, is based very much on a sound. It's a sound that I feel has been overlooked: 80s R&B-infused music, with drum machines, synths and invariably brilliant vocals. It’s formed the bedrock of my rare groove sets for all the years I’ve played. It’s not the most fashionable, but to me it’s the perfect marriage of technology and soul, hence the title for this album, Automatic Soul. There are plenty of songs I could have included, and no doubt some that I shouldn’t, but I’ve tried to represent what’s best to me from this era. It’s not a classic Late Night Tales. It’s a pretty personal journey, which I hope some of you might be willing to share." Tom Findlay Groove Armada September 2014.

Originally released in 2014. Ikebe Shakedown’s powerful instrumental soul takes “big unison horns, slinky bass lines, tight little guitar licks—and blends them with tasty grooves culled from '70s-style horn-driven funk (WNYC Soundcheck).” The Brooklyn-based collective is set to follow up their well-received self-titled debut album with the heavier, more mature sound of their second full-length Stone By Stone. The self-produced album was recorded at the famed “House of Soul” Daptone Studios in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Notes bassist Vince Chiarito, "Thinking of all the great music that has come out of the Daptone Studio really pushed us to refine our songs and grow as a band. It was really inspiring to record there." The band adds that, “Stone By Stone is a much more layered and arranged album. The self-titled debut captured the raw energy of us playing live and the new record is much more of a studio effort. Psychedelic textures weave in and out of the grooves while the horn section offers an explosive response. The songs are heavy and danceable and show our moodier, more melodic side.” The seven-piece band—named after a favorite Nigerian boogie record and pronounced “ee-KAY-bay”—formed in 2008 and has developed a mighty horn section anchored by tight, deep-pocketed grooves. Following 2009’s debut EP Hard Steppin', the band released their self-titled debut full-length LP on Ubiquity Records in 2011 that Okayplayer called “an adventurous trip through time” and “one of the best releases of the year.” Their music has also been featured on a number of television shows and commercials including HBO's Eastbound and Down, Mini Cooper and Vans.

With Darondo’s passing in 2013 the world truly lost a singular and unique talent. “Didn’t I” was undoubtedly his most beloved and well-known song making the rounds in Soul collectors’ circles for some time and reaching a much wider audience with numerous placements on TV and movies including the iconic show “Breaking Bad.” Three producers from across the globe have paid him homage by adding their touches and flavor to the classic tune. French producer GUTS remix was previously included on a limited double 7in EP called “Brand New Revolution”. His take on the tune became a summer time favorite with it‘s laid back groove and Darondo’s emotion-tinged vocals layered on top. Florent F also from France, adds some heavier live drums to create a harder-hitting version on his mix. Hailing from Montreal, Canada, noted edit and remix producer Dave Allison’s version picks up the tempo, highlighting the groovier elements of the track transforming the soul tune to a dancefloor mover.

Repress! Sixteen never-before-reissued R'n'B and early soul stompers, compiled by Jordi Duro. Killer!

It's finally repressed. This 180g heavy weight vinyl comes in a gatefold cover with liner notes. Funky Chicken brings together some of the best Belgian dance tracks from the early seventies.

It's finally repressed. This 180g heavy weight vinyl comes in a gatefold cover with liner notes. Funky Chicken brings together some of the best Belgian dance tracks from the early seventies.