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As a lifelong soul boy - poet, actor, presenter Craig Charles has been adding to his trunk of funk music since his youth, and now after almost 20 years hosting his world renowned Bbc6 Music and Radio 2 shows, DJing at clubs and festivals around the globe his reputation as an ambassador for all things soulful & funky is indisputable. Craig was overwhelmed with the success of Volume 1 which hit the Official UK Album charts; "It's been a whole year (and what a weird year) since I unleashed Volume 1 on a music starved world. It clearly hit home with a funk hungry public as it got into the UK charts, nestled between film soundtracks and pop compilations, so I'd like to thank everyone for supporting - especially those who grabbed the double vinyl album - that was an instant sell out!" Volume 2 contains all the trademark features his fans have come to love -kicking off with The Allergies - and their 100% exclusive Trunk Of Funk remix of their bombastic Move On Baby.

What do Tyler the Creator, Mantronix, Stetsasonic, DJ Shadow, Eric B and Rakim, Brand Nubian, Jay-Z and N.W.A. have in common?

What do UK Apachi and Shy FX, DJ Zinc, Bukem, Ganja Kru, Lemon D Ice, Dillinga, Photek, 4-Hero, Congo Natty, Krome and Time, Roni Size, Skream and Shut Up and Dance have in common?

Not to mention The Prodigy, Squarepusher, Leftfield, Oasis, Aphex Twin, Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa, David Bowie, Primal Scream, Lady Gaga and Dizzee Rascal?

Answer: They have all sampled The Winstons’ ‘Amen, Brother’!

The Winstons’ ‘Amen, Brother’ is THE most sampled drum break in the history of music (over 5000+ according to whosampled.com) and has shaped the history of electronic music ever since its creation in 1969.

This is the official release of the Winston’s ‘Color Him Father’ album, out of print for fifty years on vinyl, a glorious break-heavy album of soul, funk and gospel featuring the single ‘Color Him Father’, ‘Amen, Brother’ and loads more! The fully remastered album is housed in exact-reproduction original sleeve and design and comes with 4 extra bonus tracks that the group released only as singles. There is also a very special one-off first pressing only of this album that comes with an exclusive one-sided 12” of ‘Amen, Brother’ featuring a specially extended break mix of the classic tune.

The Fabulous Counts were originally a teenage instrumental group of five musicians, Mose Davis (Organ and Piano), Demetrius ‘Demo’ Gates (Alto Saxophone and vocals), Jim White (Tenor Sax), Andrew T. Gibson (Drums) and Raoul Keith Mangrum (Percussion and Flute) who were later joined by the older, more experience Leroy Emanuel (Guitar and vocals). Emmanuel was invited into the group as it’s band leader by the groups manager Fred McClure, a former Detroit boxing champion who also happened to be the manager of another popular Detroit group the singing Metro’s of the hit recording “Sweetest One” fame and their subsequent respected RCA album of the same name. The Fabulous Counts would often perform at shows as the Metro’s backing band.

The Fabulous Counts first big break came after knocking several Detroit Record labels doors. They were eventually invited in by Ollie McLaughlin’s Moira studio to record, under the tutelage of Popcorn Wylie the one take hit “Jan, Jan (Moira-103). A further two Moira 45’s followed of which “Get Down People/Lunar Funk “(Moira-108) also scored high on the R&B charts. Through a deal arranged by McLaughlin The Counts released their respected “Jan, Jan” album on the Atlantic distributed Cotillion label in 1969. Moving on to Armen Boladian’s Westbound label, during 1970 the group simply changed their name to The Counts and charted with their 1971 “What’s Up Front” Westbound album, also releasing a solitary 45 “Thinking Single/Why Not Start All Over Again”. In 1972 while still part of the Westbound set up The Counts recorded two major label 45’s under the pseudonyms of Bad Smoke “Crawl Ya’ll Part 1&2” (Chess-2124) and Lunar Funk “Mr Penguin Part 1&2” (Bell 45-172), the latter being thier biggest hit. A subsequent move to Atlanta, GA saw The Counts sign with Michael Thevis’s Aware records where they recorded a further two successful albums “Love Sign” (1973) and “Funk Pump” (1975), plus a string of 45’s. In 1976 although officially never breaking up The Counts members went their separate ways to explore different life opportunity’s.



During 1978 and while still in Atlanta Leroy Emanuel borrowed money from his family and reuniting with his fellow Counts, Mose, Demo, and Jimmy Jackson Jr, they, accompanied by a local strings section recorded a session of material that spawned two songs “What’s It All About” and “Motorcity”. Which Leroy later made a deal with Terry Mendelson to release on a 45 on his TM label. The Counts had previously known Mendelson through his brother Bernie at Westbound. The TM 45 made very little noise with many of the copies having mispressed labels. Although later reissued and mistakenly credited as two previously unissued Westbound recordings on several latter Cd compilations it came to light that quite a few avid European soul collectors actually owned copies of this high quality, very elusive and desirable 45! With demand still seemingly high it seems a good time for Soul Junction to reissue it. The A-side, “What’s It All About” features its composer Leroy Emanuel on lead vocals with the other Counts adding to the backing chorus. The flipside of this 45 from the same session is the previously unreleased Mose Davis penned “Watch The Clock” which is more in keeping with the Counts traditional funk groove, enjoy.

The amazing, unpredictable, one and only Sly Stone has never made a secret of his beginnings as a teenaged hopeful in Vallejo, California in the early 1960s. A trio of singles with his interracial high school vocal group The Viscaynes, followed by two more releases as a solo, recorded in Los Angeles with producer George Motola, comprise the fascinating apprenticeship Sly needed to undergo on the road to fame. For decades, Sly’s earliest works have been spread around on a parade of unauthorized collections, most with low-fidelity sound, artificially extended versions, and tracks by unrelated artists. Yellow Moon: The Complete Recordings 1961-1962 corrects this injustice by offering up Sly and the Viscaynes entire output from the correct master sources. This special 2 LP set complements the recent Ace Records CD of the same title and adds a brace of additional, exceedingly rare Sly-related material. Along with the original singles by The Viscaynes, and Sly’s first solo releases as Danny (Sly) Stewart and Sylvester Stewart, there are also several unissued demo tracks produced by teen idol and Viscaynes mentor Gary Stites, plus the sought-after Jasper Woods 45, featuring an incognito Richard Berry with the Viscaynes on vocal support. Exclusive to this vinyl edition are a rare High School recording by an early incarnation of the Viscaynes, both sides of the 1961 Royal Aces single on which Sly plays guitar, and as a special bonus, the Stewart Four gospel release from 1956, featuring a teenaged Sly on lead vocals – his very first appearance on disc. The deluxe package comes with an authoritative and heavily illustrated booklet with much heretofore unpublished information and fresh interview material from the group and associates, as well as commentary from Sly himself. Yellow Moon: The Complete Recordings 1961-1962 is the last word on Sly Stone’s very first phase, and this vinyl edition is a must for any fan of his work.