1977 (Black Fire)

Label : Black Fire

Value :

A wonderfully spiritual album and one that's maybe a bit of a surprise, given the later fame of the group! The group here is billed by their full name  Experience Unlimited  but where later known to most of the world as EU, the DC funk outfit that went onto become pretty big in the GoGo scene, and who scored big with the 80s party cut "Da Butt". Yet as a classic album on the Black Fire label, this record is nothing like their 80s material at all – and instead catches the group when they were part of a more spiritual scene, the same DC one that gave the world Oneness Of Juju and the larger family of Black Fire artists! This album has the group very much in a mid 70s Earth Wind & Fire mode jamming hard and free, with plenty of electric guitar riffing, funky keyboards, horns, and lots of percussion. Some tracks have vocals, and some are instrumentals but the whole thing's an extremely unified album with a great overall vibe and a message to match the title and the cover. 

Taste :

Experience Unlimited - Peace Gone Away

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Senor Soul - Plays Funky Favorites 1968 (Double Shot Records)

Label : Double Shot Records

Value :

Tremendously groovy work from the legendary Senor Soul -- a fab little combo from late 60s LA, and one who played in a wonderful blend of soul, funk, and Latin-based modes! The sound here is made up from elements that include vibes, organ, piano, guitar, and drums -- plus plenty of funky flute on most numbers, really taking the lead in a snappingly soulful kind of way! Like most LA groups of the time, Senor Soul do a great job of blurring lines between genres working in some jazz, but staying more in a soul instrumental bag and acting Latin at times, but usually going for more of a funky approach in the end! Some tracks are covers, and some are originals.

Taste :

Senor soul - Poquito Soul 

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Gloria Barnes – Uptown 1971 (Maple Records)

Label : Maple Records 

Value :

One of the few rare albums on the Maple label – a 70s imprint that's known for some incredible funk and soul! Despite the title, the set's a record that sounds a lot more down-home than uptown – thanks to hard-wailing vocals from Gloria Barnes herself, and a nicely rough-edged quality to the instrumentation overall – supposedly handled by Lee Moses and The Ohio Players – the latter of whom wrote a few of the songs too! The album's one of the few on Maple – and in a way, it's almost a female soul counterpart to the Lee Moses record on the same label – done in a similar mix of rootsy modes and east coast indie soul – occasionally sweet at points, but mostly deep soul overall.

Taste :

Gloria Barnes - I Gotta Get Away

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Terry Callier - Occasional Rain 1972 (Cadet)

Label : Cadet 

Value :

Terry Callier's first album for Cadet -- and the kickoff of one of the greatest three album runs that any soul artist ever recorded! This one's got a different feel than the later two, as it takes songs by Terry, and structures them with these little musical "seque" tracks in between every song, done in a sparer folksy style that recalls Terry's roots in the Old Town scene in Chicago. At the time, Terry was making the transition from folk artist to soul singer -- and he'd been picked up by Jerry Butler and The Dells as a promising young songwriter, one of the best talents of the second generation of Chicago soul stars. The record's a stripped-down affair that features a small group with Charles Stepney on harpsichord and organ, Callier on guitar, and backing vocals by Minnie Riperton, Shirley Wahls, and Kitty Haywood.

Taste :

Terry Callier - Ordinary Joe

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Love Unlimited - In Heat 1974 (20th Century Records)

Label : 20th Century Records

Value :

Classic 70s female soul – and one of the best albums ever recorded by Love Unlimited – a trio of ladies recording with Barry White during his glory years! The album's got a really incredible approach – partly in the mode of older female group soul, but also done with a hipper, more righteous style – one that pushes the sound past older standards for the music, yet which falls into none of the disco cliches of the time.

Taste :

Love Unlimited - Share A Little Love In Your Heart

Love Unlimited - I Needed Love - You Were There

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Tee Mac Featuring: Majorie Barnes - Night Illusion 1980 (S.K.J. Records)

Label : S.K.J. Records

Value :

The distinguished UK label has dug up yet another tasty soul nugget, this from Nigeria's disco boogie scene. Originally released in 1980, Tee Mac's Night Illusion is one of the foreign private press joints that even the most knowledgable diggers might not be aware of. Produced in tiny numbers on the enigmatic artists' own S.K.J. imprint, the record is still unknown outside its native country. Thankfully Soul Jazz comes to the rescue (again!) and gives this lost masterpiece a long overdue reissue. From Soul Jazz: "The timelessness of this soulful, ground-breaking funk jazz lost masterpiece Night Illusion leads to comparisons with James Mason’s legendary lost classic album Rhythm of Life, with his unique individualism and intensity hinting at the boogie funk of groups such as Mass Production and Slave so loved by artists such as Moodyman and Theo Parrish. While Fela Kuti is now a cultural icon of Nigerian music throughout the world, the recent crossover success of William Onyeabor shows just how much undiscovered Nigerian music remains waiting to be explored outside of the country. Tee Mac was born in Lagos, the son of a Nigerian princess and a Swiss diplomat. He picked up the flute at age 7 and ten years later was studying classical musical in Switzerland under his uncle the composer J.J. Direndirger. Returning to Lagos, Nigeria in 1970 he formed the heavyweight afro rock group Tee Mac and Afro Collection (which included Johnny Haastrup on keyboards and The Lijadu Sisters on vocals). This band was famously joined by the legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker who came to Nigeria to play with them in 1971 (captured in the film Ginger Baker in Africa). At age 24, Tee Mac moved to Germany where he co-wrote and recorded the European disco group Silver Convention (whose ‘Fly Robin Fly’ became number one in the USA charts). This enabled him to return to Nigeria where he formed his own label SKJ Records to release his self-financed album Night Illusion...

Taste :

Tee Mac - A Certain Way To Go

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

The Blackbyrds – Better Days 1980 (Fantasy)

Label : Echoes

Value :

Sweet warm grooves from the mighty Blackbyrds - a set that has George Duke working with the group, giving them some of the electric vibe of his own great work! The sound is less sharply funky than the early days of the group, but still mighty nice.

*This cover shows up for the first time on the web.

Taste :

The Blackbyrds - Do It Girl

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Johnny Bristol - Hang On In There Baby 1974 (MGM)

Label : MGM

Value :

The first solo album from Johnny Bristol - a genius soul talent who did a bunch of great work for Motown as a writer and arranger, breaking out here on his own! Like so many other behind the scenes talents from the late 60s, Johnny turned out to be an excellent soul artist in his own right -- even though he only got to cut a rare few albums during the 70s -- and this debut album already has him emerging straight away as a fully-formed talent! The vibe is a great mix of Detroit and California Motown -- arranged by HB Barnum, and produced with a style that's tight, but still open and fluid too. Backings mix soulful strings with sweet harmonies -- and lots of the tunes have a great 70s mellow soul groove.

Taste :

Johnny Bristol - Woman Woman

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

The Moments - The Moments On Top 1971 (Stang)

Label : Stang

Value :

The Moments’ On Top is a perfect example of symphonic soul. Amongst true heads, this is considered the most valuable of all their albums; an original copy of this LP, if you can find one, starts at around $75. Alongside contemporaneous acts from the early 70s - The Chi-lites, The Stylistics, The Delfonics, The Futures, Blue Magic and The Main Ingredient - The Moments exuded all that was compelling about deep, harmony-drenched, string-laden soul.The standout here is undoubtedly "To You With Love", a floating, tender ballad sung by Harry Ray that features the group’s patented handclap-tambourine combo, sweetly repetitive strings, serene guitar and gentle piano. It was famously sampled by J Dilla for “Last Donut Of The Night” - the gut-wrenching finale to his seminal Donuts.

Taste :

 The Moments - To You With Love

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Manhattans - That's How Much I Love You 1974 (Columbia)

Label : Columbia

Value :

Sublime work from The Manhattans who are on top of the world at this point! The group's harmonies are excellent, a bit rough in the best parts  ala Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes during the Teddy Pendergrass years but also capable of tremendous strength when forged together, which happens often on the album's tight set of Philly-produced tracks.

Taste : 

Manhattans - Blackbird

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Jeff Phelps - Magnetic Eyes 1985 (Engineered For Sound, Inc.)

Label :  Engineered For Sound, Inc.

Value : From 700 to 1200 euros (original)

An obscure bit of electro soul from the 80s – an excellent small label set with lots of cool electronics! There's a touch of Roy Ayers spirituality in the music, made slightly chillier through the 80s keyboards and drum tracks – but the balance is quite nice, a lot more soulful than you might expect – especially given that the whole thing was something of a home-grown effort from Jeff Phelps! Antoinette sings on a few tracks – giving the record some female vocals – but everything else was done by Phelps, and the album's about half instrumental, too.

Taste :

Jeff Phelps - Don't Fall Apart On Me 

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Susan Phillips – Soft Sexy Soul 1971 (All Platinum)

Label : All Platinum

Value :

An appropriately titled set from Susan Phillips -- an overlooked bit of slinky female soul that we'd rank right up there with All-Platinum early 70s releases by Sylvia and Eleanor Mills! The production is a wonderful mix of stripped down grooves with just the right amount of sweet strings and horns -- creating just a gentle sort of New Jersey soul style that really works well with Phillips' vocals.

Taste :

 Susan Phillips - This I'll Guarantee

 

Susan Phillips - Goodbye My Love

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Willie Bobo And The Bo Gents - Do What You Want To Do... 1971 (Sussex)

Label : Sussex

Value :

Incredible work by Willie Bobo -- a slamming record of hard funky instrumentals, one that sounds different than any of his other albums! The record's a killer all the way through -- a mixture of Latin and deep 70s funk, one of the few perfect fusions of the styles, held up beautifully all the way through the set. We've always liked Willie a lot, but honestly, we don't know how he managed to make a record this funky  but we're also not arguing, just enjoying the grooves with tremendous delight and surprise. Great all the way through, and includes the break cuts "Do What You Want to Do", "Broasted or Fried", and "Soul Foo Young" plus a version of "Dindi", which, for some reason, Willie seemed to record every chance he got!

Taste :

Willie Bobo And The Bo-Gents - How Can I Say Goodbye?

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Sonya Spence - Sings Love 1981 (High Note)

Label : High Note

Value :

nitially released on Sonia E. Pottinger’s highly respected High Note Records in 1981, Sonya Spence’s Sings Love LP was relatively overlooked at the time her album came out. Sent on her final journey in 2007, the one-woman band leaves us with a legacy of exception.
However, time and a small first pressing has made it an object of desire for collectors, deejays and lovers all around the world. And, though it was shamelessly bootlegged throughout history, it is the first that time that this bliss of an LP gets the official reissue treatment on wax, with the love and respect it deserves.

Taste :

Sonya Spence - Now I Know What Love Is

Download Lp 

By Electric Looser

Rufus & Chaka – Masterjam 1979 (MCA)

Label : MCA

Value :

A definite masterjam from Chaka Khan and Rufus – one of the group's last key efforts together – produced to perfection by the mighty Quincy Jones! Chaka's vocals are sublime right from the start – taking on the soaring majesty she'd use on her initial solo recordings – and the group's tighter than ever – really hitting the right mix of jazzy funk and soul to make the whole thing come together perfectly. Greatness like this only gets better with years – and this sweet little album is more than proof of that fact!

Taste :

Rufus & Chaka - Any Love

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Soul City Orchestra - Meal Ticket 1977 (Rouge)

Label : Rouge

Value :

Killer funk British library on Rouge ! Soul City Orchestra's (aka DeWolfe in-house composers Chris Rae & Franck McDonald) 'Meal Ticket' on Rouge Music Ltd from 1977. A mixture of funk/disco/rock with an orchestra.

Taste :

Soul City Orchestra - Soul city drive

Downlod Lp

By Electric Looser

Ted Coleman Band – Taking Care Of Business 1980 (JSR Records)

Label : JSR Records 

Value :

We’re delighted to announce the reissue of this ultra-rare LP, originally issued on JSR Records back in 1980.
Heavily influenced by the likes of Bobby Hutcherson and Roy Ayers, ‘Taking Care Of Business’ is full of positive, uptempo soul/jazz gems, featuring Ted Coleman’s wonderful vibraphone playing throughout. Not only did Coleman both sing and play piano, synth and vibes on the record, but he also designed the artwork himself; a true DIY LP if ever there was one. This DIY ethos even extended to the New Jersey label JSR who originally pressed the LP, describing themselves as: “a new company that helps working club bands that can sell their own records. JSR artists spend no money for recording or production costs, and there are no recording contracts.” This could well explain the album’s rarity, with original copies selling on Discogs for eye-wateringly high prices. 

Taste :

Ted Coleman Band - Due Consideration

 

Ted Coleman Band - What A Lovely Way To Spend A Lifetime

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

John Fitch & Associates – Romantic Attitude 1969 (Beacon)

Label : Beacon

Value :

Romantic Attitude is strong, rich and tender!  Defined by Fitch’s heartfelt vocals as they hurl out sonic highs and intense lows, whilst soft backing vocals coax the gentle elements out.  A heavy melodic bass line guides the song giving depth and texture as a contrasting jangly loop cuts through and punctuates.  A gorgeous track! 

Taste :

John Fitch & Associates – Romantic Attitude

 Download 45s

By Electric Looser

Barbara & Ernie – Prelude To... 1971 (Cotillion)

Label : Cotillion

Value :

A folk funk classic from the early 70s – and a weird little record that has a sound that's unlike anything else we can think of! The arrangements are quite soulful, almost funky at times – with a righteous undercurrent that reminds us of Richard Evans or Charles Stepney at Cadet Records. But the vocals – by singer Barbara Massey – have a flanged-out quality that's clearly overdubbed, creating a double-voiced sound that's almost a bit like Brasil 66! This mix of modes is really great – completely unique, and sublime throughout – with a vibe that was years ahead of its time, and which is finally beginning to get some recognition these many years later. Arrangements are by the pair, but Deodato also had a hand in the record too – and the core combo of musicians includes Grady Tate on drums, Ralph McDonald on percussion, and Sam Brown on guitar – alongside more guitars from Ernie and keyboards and piano from Barbara.

Taste :

Barbara & Ernie – Play With Fire

 Barbara & Ernie – For You

Barbara & Ernie – Somebody to Love

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Tomorrow's People ‎– Open Soul 1976 (Stage Productions)

Label : Stage Productions

Value : 

A really legendary group from the underground 70s scene in Chicago – one who've got all the chops and capabilities of the bigger groups of the time, but who never fully got their due – maybe in part because of the racy image on the album's cover! The group are a sharp funky ensemble –and work with a hard jamming sound that's clearly influenced by the city's Earth Wind & Fire, but not nearly as slick or as broadly spiritual in scope – more like the grit of the funky 45 generation has been littered into the grooves of a full length record! The standout cut on the album is the 20 minute "Open Soul" – an album-side jammer that has lots of vamping and hard grooving, and just a little bit of singing – but the other side's equally great, with shorter soul tracks that have a nice harmony vocal approach.

Taste :

Tomorrow's People ‎- Lovers and Friends

 Download Lp

By Electric Looser