25 Jan 2021
Commodores ‎- 1975 – Caught In The Act

The sophomore slump wasn’t a problem for the Commodores. The band’s first album, Machine Gun, was quite promising, but its sophomore album, Caught in the Act, is even stronger. This superb 1975 LP, which the Commodores produced and arranged with James Carmichael, is more diverse than its mostly up-tempo predecessor. There...
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22 Jul 2020
Black Heat – 1975 – Keep On Runnin’

Man, I’ve been waiting a century for this to come back in print ! ! ! We’re talking sizzling ’70s funk here right along the lines of Mandril, War, early Funkadelic, Ripple and Rasputin Stash… cuts with the rare energy of soul classics like Edwin...
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11 Apr 2020
Ripple – 1973 – Ripple

Bomb Killer Funk Album With “I Don’t What It Is But Sure Is Funky” & “Funky Song” . An interracial Michigan soul-funk band, Ripple had an R&B hit in 1973 with “I Don’t Know What It Is but It Sure Is Funky,” and made several...
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25 Feb 2020
The Bar-Kays – 1974 – Cold Blooded

A slept-on jewel of funk rock and greasy, laid back politically minded soul…  Come 1974, Stax Records was in trouble financially, but as far as the Bar-Kays were concerned, this didn’t really change anything much. The label had struggled with the band’s drive towards hard...
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13 Oct 2019
The Temptations – 1972 – All Directions

A monster album, the one that put them back in the spotlight and signaled that Norman Whitfield had saved the day. Damon Harris had replaced Eddie Kendricks, and there were many doubters convinced the band was finished. Instead, Whitfield revitalized them via the majestic single, “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone“. Despite its...
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02 Sep 2019
Shuggie Otis ‎- 1971 – Freedom Flight

AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek 1971’s Freedom Flight is perhaps, in its own way, every bit as adventurous and regal as Shuggie Otis’ masterpiece, Inspiration Information. Produced by Shuggie’s father, R&B legend Johnny Otis, the album features seven stellar, genre bending cuts, most of which were written...
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19 Oct 2018
Boscoe – 1973 – Boscoe

By Tim Lukeman This should have been the first of many albums from Boscoe, but it came & went without much notice — mainly because the band had integrity & refused to compromise their music in return for a big record deal, choosing to release...
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28 Aug 2018
Patti Drew – 1967 – Tell Him

Patti Drew’s 1967 debut album “Tell Him” may actually be her least consistent, containing as it does 3 covers of Southern soul staples. It’s perfectly forgiveable,  as Capitol was still feeling around for a proper image for the recently soloed lead singer of the Drew-Vels,...
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