Soul/R&B

This double LP from 1976 spent 14 of its impressive 80 week chart run at the Top of the U.S. Billboard 200, where it debuted in October that year, also reaching #2 in the U.K. Featuring a huge ensemble supporting cast, including George Bensen, Herbie Hancock and Michael Sembello, Songs In The Key of Life produced no less than six hit singles, with "Another Star," the frequently sampled "Sir Duke," "I Wish," "Isn’t She Lovely," "As" and "Knocks Me Off My Feet." The highly ambitious and experimental album became the best-selling and most critically acclaimed of Stevie's career and it went on to win Grammy Awards for Best Male Pop Vocal and Album of the Year. This vinyl version from Universal Records also includes A Something Extra 7" EP.

Tracks

• - Disc 1 -
• 1 Love's in Need of Love Today
• 2 Have a Talk with God
• 3 Village Ghetto Land
• 4 Contusion
• 5 Sir Duke
• 6 I Wish
• 7 Knocks Me Off My Feet
• 8 Pastime Paradise
• 9 Summer Soft
• 10 Ordinary Pain
• - Disc 2 -
• 1 Isn't She Lovely
• 2 Joy Inside My Tears
• 3 Black Man
• 4 Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing
• 5 If It's Magic
• 6 As
• 7 Another Star
• 8 Saturn
• 9 Ebony Eyes
• 10 All Day Sucker
• 11 Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)

20 Highlights from the New Career-Spanning Queen of Soul Box Set including Biggest Hits Plus Previously Unreleased Alternate Takes & Live Recordings!

To say that Aretha Franklin was one of the greatest American artists of all time is an understatement. Her multi-octave voice moved millions around the world during an unrivaled career that spanned six decades and garnered the singer-songwriter every achievement and honor imaginable.

Franklin's reign as the Queen of Soul is highlighted here with the 20-track vinyl 2LP collection. Includes the previously unreleased tracks "Call Me" – Alternate Version, "Until You Come Back To Me" – Work Tape, "You Light Up My Life" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" – Live, which was originally broadcast on The 38th Annual Kennedy Center Honors on 12/19/15. Franklin's biggest hits are here too, like "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)," "Think" and her signature smash, "Respect." But instead of using familiar takes for other hits, the collection selects different versions, like an alternate take of "Chain Of Fools."

Tracks

LP1

1. Never Grow Old
2. Today I Sing The Blues
3. One Step Ahead
4. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)
5. A Change Is Gonna Come
6. Respect
7. Chain Of Fools – Alternate Version
8. Call Me – Alternate Version 
9. Rock Steady – Alternate Mix/Take
10. How I Got Over (Single Edit) – Live

LP2

1. Master Of Eyes (The Deepness Of Your Eyes)
2. Until You Come Back To Me – Work Tape
3. Something He Can Feel
4. You Light Up My Life
5. Think
6. Freeway Of Love
7. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) – Aretha Franklin and George Michael
8. Someday We'll All Be Free
9. A Rose Is Still A Rose
10. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman – Live

J. Cole's fifth full-length effort, KOD debuted atop the Billboard 200 in April 2018, marking the North Carolina rapper's fifth consecutive No. 1 album. KOD - which stands for Kids On Drugs, King Overdosed and Kill Our Demons - takes us into a new world highlighting addictions of all sorts. The gold certified record is home to the two Top 10 singles "KOD" and "ATM." Cole explains the three acronyms starting with Kids On Drugs, "If I turn on the TV right now, it's not gonna take long for there to be an advertisement that pops up that says 'Are you feeling down? Have you been having lonely thoughts?' And then they shove a pill in your face. The first response of any problem is Medicate." As for King Overdosed he adds, "That's representing me, the times that I was, and am, afflicted by the same methods of escape." And Kill Our Demons, he explains, "That's the end goal: To face our shit, realize that we have some shit going on inside, everybody...whether it be from traumatic childhood experiences, whether it be from a lack of attention, confidence issues, insecurities. Whatever it is, we gotta be honest with ourselves."

1. Intro
2. KOD
3. Photograph
4. The Cut Off (feat. kiLL edward)
5. ATM
6. Motiv8
7. Kevin's Heart
8. BRACKETS
9. Once an Addict (Interlude)
10. FRIENDS (feat. kiLL edward)
11. Window Pain (Outro)
12. 1985 (Intro to "The Fall Off")

Vinyl LP pressing. Throughout their career, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings remained in high demand both publicly and privately to recreate and often re-imagine songs by other artists. More often than not, these covers were recorded by request, commissioned for placement in movies, television programs, tribute albums, or for samples. This album compiles some of their most popular as well as never-before-heard renditions. Though the band has mostly built their career on a prolific catalog of originals, these forays into other artists' compositions lay bare their gift for arrangement and the unmatched studio prowess that earned them their reputation as The Baddest Band in the Land.

• 1 Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours
• 2 Little By Little
• 3 Just Dropped in (To See What Condition My Condition Was in)
• 4 Here I Am Baby
• 5 What Have You Done for Me Lately?
• 6 Take Me with U
• 7 This Land Is Your Land
• 8 Inspiration Information
• 9 Giving Up
• 10 Rescue Me
• 11 In the Bush
• 12 It Hurts to Be Alone
• 13 Trespasser

The Weeknd -"After Hours" - LP Vinyl - EXPLICIT - The Weeknd's latest chapter via XO/Republic Records, After Hours, features global hits like "Heartless" and "Blinding Lights". Filtering R&B, pop, and hip-hop through an ambitious widescreen lens, quietly took over popular music and culture on his own terms. As a result, the multi-platinum two-time GRAMMY® Award winner has emerged as one of the most successful and significant artists of the 21st century. Double LP Set housed in gatefold jacket packaging.

• - Disc 1 -
• 1 Alone Again
• 2 Too Late
• 3 Hardest to Love
• 4 Scared to Live
• - Disc 2 -
• 1 Snowchild
• 2 Escape from la
• 3 Heartless
• 4 Faith
• - Disc 3 -
• 1 Blinding Lights
• 2 In Your Eyes
• 3 Save Your Tears
• - Disc 4 -
• 1 Repeat After Me (Interlude)
• 2 After Hours
• 3 Until I Bleed Out

Charles Bradley No Time For Dreaming on LP

Charles Bradley's voice has evolved from a lifetime of paying dues, having nomadically labored for decades at various day jobs from Maine to Alaska, singing and performing in his spare time, before re-settling in his hometown of Brooklyn and eventually finding a musical home at Dunham/Daptone.

In his distinctively rough-hewn timbre one hears the unmistakable voice of experience, each note and gruff infection a reflection of his extended, sometimes rocky, personal path. It's only fitting that No Time For Dreaming's producer Thomas "Tommy TNT" Brenneck (also a member of The Dap-Kings and The Budos Band) would recognize in Bradley a kindred musical spirit, a singer whose performances exude both raw power and poignant beauty.

Recorded at Dunham Studios, and mixed at Daptone Records' internationally revered "House of Soul" Studios, No Time For Dreaming is the inspired sound of an awakening.

Charles Bradley No Time For Dreaming Track Listing:

1.  The World (Is Going up in Flames)
2.  The Telephone Song
3.  Golden Rule
4.  I Believe in Your Love
5.  Trouble in the Land
6.  Lovin' You, Baby
7.  No Time for Dreaming
8.  How Long
9.  In You (I Found a Love)
10. Why is it so Hard?
11. Since Our Last Goodbye
12. Heartaches and Pain

UK double vinyl LP pressing. 2009 collection that incorporates material from their recordings with the Westbound and Warner labels. 2009 is the 40th Anniversary of Funkadelic's first release and this compilation celebrates that landmark. Over a period of 12 years from their Westbound debut album to the release of 1981's the Electric Spanking of War Babies, Funkadelic, piloted by George Clinton, redefined the way that black music was recorded and presented. They scored 20 R&B chart hit singles and a dozen chart albums, but their influence was far greater. Standing on the Verge includes the two #1 R&B singles 'One Nation Under a Groove' and '(Not Just) Knee Deep', sample favorites such as 'I'll Bet You' and 'Undisco Kidd' and dance floor monsters such as 'Cosmic Slop' and 'Better By the Pound'. 

Tracks

• 1 Cosmic Slop
• 2 Standing on the Verge of Getting It on
• 3 You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure
• 4 One Nation Under a Groove
• 5 Better By the Pound
• 6 Sexy Ways
• 7 Loose Booty
• 8 (Not Just) Knee Deep
• 9 A Joyful Process
• 10 Whatever Makes My Baby Feel Good
• 11 Can You Get to That
• 12 Maggot Brain
• 13 I Wanna Know Is It Good for You
• 14 I'll Bet You
• 15 Hit It and Quit It
• 16 Red Hot Mama
• 17 I Got a Thing You Got a Thing Everybody Got a Thing
• 18 Comin' Round the Mountain
• 19 Let's Take It to the Stage
• 20 Undisco Kidd

Double white colored vinyl LP pressing. Originally released in 1972, Amazing Grace cracked the Billboard Top Ten upon it's release, making it one of the bestselling gospel records of all time. Grace was recorded in a large Baptist church with an ultra-enthusiastic, loving audience in the pews and a full, funky, band as well as the Southern California Community Choir under the direction of her mentor Rev. James Cleveland. Now on 2LP, White Vinyl, Amazing Grace is the third live album by American singer Aretha Franklin. Released on June 1, 1972 by Atlantic Records, It ultimately sold over two million copies in the United States alone, earning a Double Platinum certification. As of 2013, it stands as the biggest selling disc of Aretha's entire fifty-plus year recording career. The double album was recorded at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles during January 1972. It won the 1973 Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance. The LP is the biggest selling live gospel album of all time.

• - Disc 1 -
• 1 Mary, Don't You Weep
• 2 Medley: Precious Lord, Take My Hand / You've Got a Friend
• 3 Old Landmark (With Rev. James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir)
• 4 Give Yourself to Jesus
• - Disc 2 -
• 1 How I Got Over
• 2 What a Friend We Have in Jesus
• 3 Amazing Grace
• - Disc 3 -
• 1 Precious Memories (Reprise)
• 2 Climbing Higher Mountains
• 3 Remarks By Reverand C.L. Franklin
• 4 God Will Take Care of You
• - Disc 4 -
• 1 Wholy Holy
• 2 You'll Never Walk Alone
• 3 Never Grow Old

The Dock of the Bay is the first of a number of posthumously released Otis Redding albums, and his seventh studio album. It contains a number of singles and B-sides dating back to 1965 and one of his best known songs, the posthumous hit "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay". In 2003, the album was ranked number 161 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967-once just days before his death in a December 10, 1967, plane crash. It was released after his death on Stax Records' Volt label in 1968, becoming the first posthumous single to top the charts in the US. It charted at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Redding started writing the lyrics to the song in August 1967, while sitting on a rented houseboat in Sausalito, California. He completed the song with the help of Stax producer and Booker T and the M.G.'s guitarist Steve Cropper. The song features mimicked seagull whistles and sounds of the waves crashing on the shore.

• 1 (Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay
• 2 I Love You More Than Words Can Say
• 3 Let Me Come on Home
• 4 Open the Door
• 5 Don't Mess with Cupid
• 6 Glory of Love
• 7 I'm Coming Home
• 8 Tramp
• 9 Hucklebuck
• 10 Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
• 11 Ole Man Trouble

Deluxe Edition Colored Vinyl 2LP+7"-Set with Original Album Plus 11 Bonus Tracks including 3 New Songs, 4 Covers and Unreleased Live Material!

Black Pumas is led by the creative partnership between Grammy Award-winning guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada and songwriter Eric Burton. The latter is a relative newcomer who arrived in Austin in 2015 after busking his way across the country from Los Angeles, while Quesada has a storied reputation for playing in bands like Grupo Fantasma and Brownout. After the two connected via friends in the Austin scene, they began to collaborate on a new sound that transmutes soul into something idiosyncratically modern.

Reminiscent of Ghostface Killah and Motown in equal measure, this original sound ensured that Black Pumas' weekly residency at C-Boys quickly became "the hottest party in town" (Austin-American Statesman). Produced by Quesada in his home studio and colored by Burton's dark imagery and haunting vocals, their Grammy-nominated eponymous 2019 debut is equally as indebted to East Coast hip-hop as it is to classic funk and soul, resulting in a project that is of the moment rather than retro. From the roiling, solar eclipse-inspired noir of "Black Moon Rising" to the ponderous yet epic "Oct 33," it's a stunner.

This Deluxe Edition reissue of their debut features the original album plus eleven bonus tracks, three new original songs and four covers, plus unreleased live material. The colored vinyl 2LP-set comes complete with a bonus 7" single, new artwork and unpublished studio and live photographs.

Tracks

LP1

1. Black Moon Rising
2. Colors
3. Know You Better
4. Fire
5. OCT 33
6. Stay Gold
7. Old Man
8. Confines
9. Touch The Sky
10. Sweet Conversations

LP2

1. Fast Car
2. I'm Ready
3. Red Rover
4. Black Cat
5. Politicians In My Eyes
6. Colors (Live In Studio)
7. OCT 33 (Live In Studio)
8. Confines (Live In Studio)
9. Know You Better (Live At C-Boys)

Bonus 7" Single

1. Eleanor Rigby
2. Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City

Limited 140gm vinyl LP pressing includes digital download. Lauryn Hill is best known for being a member of The Fugees and for her critically acclaimed solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which won numerous awards, broke several sales records and was listed by Rolling Stone as one of the greatest albums of all time. The acoustic MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 double album from Lauryn Hill came nearly 4 years after the first solo album and gives an insight in her deeper thoughts and emotions about her life, artist, the judicial system (in 'Mystery Of Iniquity') and spiritual side. Lengthy intros, conversations and deeply personal songs like 'Conquering Lion' accompanied with her acoustic guitar, with the audience add to the intimate performance in her typical raspy voice.

• 1 Intro (Live) 2:28
• 2 Mr. Intentional (Live) 6:58
• 3 Adam Lives in Theory (Live) 7:26
• 4 Interlude 1 (Live) 1:56
• 5 Oh Jerusalem (Live) 8:54
• 6 Interlude 2 (Live) 1:21
• 7 Freedom Time (Live) 4:59
• 8 Interlude 3 (Live) 3:18
• 9 I Find It Hard to Say (Rebel) (Live) 6:50
• 10 Just Like Water (Live) 6:09
• 11 Interlude 4 (Live) 1:40
• 12 Just Want You Around (Live) 4:36
• 13 I Gotta Find Peace of Mind (Live) 9:19
• 14 Interlude 5 (Live) 12:12
• 15 Mystery of Iniquity (Live) 5:10
• 16 Interlude 6 (Live) 1:42
• 17 I Get Out (Live) 5:17
• 18 Interlude 7 (Live) 0:20
• 19 I Remember (Live) 3:46
• 20 So Much Things to Say (Live) 5:59
• 21 The Conquering Lion (Live) 3:19
• 22 Outro (Live) 2:56

Curtis Mayfield recorded a string of hits with The Impressions before leaving the influential soul-gospel group to embark upon a solo career that produced some of his finest work. Known as the "Gentle Genius," Mayfield has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice - first as a member of The Impressions and later as a solo artist. Mayfield managed to combine some of the greatest soul ever recorded with thought provoking lyrics tackling the key social political issues of the time. Rhino Records presents the definitive collection of Mayfield's reflective, soul moving, evocative hits with the 16-track vinyl 2LP-set, The Very Best of Curtis Mayfield. Includes everything from the political to the romantic, from cuts from his genre-defining Superfly ("Freddie's Dead") to statement makers like "(Don't Worry) If There Is a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go."

Tracks

LP1

1. (Don't Worry) If There Is A Hell Below, We're All Going To Go
2. The Makings Of You
3. Move On Up (Extended Version)
4. Get Down
5. We Got To Have Peace
6. Freddie's Dead (Theme From 'Superfly')
7. Superfly (Recorded Live by WTTW-TV Chicago)
8. Pusherman

LP2

1. Future Shock
2. Can't Say Nothin'
3. Kung Fu
4. So In Love
5. Only You Babe
6. Do Do Wap Is Strong In Here
7. Between You Baby And Me (with Linda Clifford)
8. Do Be Down (with Linda Clifford)

Limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on purple coloured 180-gram audiophile vinyl. Funky Divas is en Vogue's most commercially and critically successful album. The album stands as one of the best pop/R&B albums to emerge from that time, incorporating soul, hip-hop, pop, dance, and rock to create one of the era's most diverse, dazzling, and exciting pieces of work. The album scored no less than five hit singles, three of which became Top 10 pop hits.

• 1 This Is Your Life
• 2 My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)
• 3 Hip Hop Lover
• 4 Free Your Mind
• 5 Desire
• 6 Giving Him Something He Can Feel
• 7 It Ain't Over Till the Fat Lady Sings
• 8 Give It Up, Turn It Loose
• 9 Yesterday
• 10 Hooked on Your Love
• 11 Love Don't Love You
• 12 What Is Love
• 13 Thanks / Prayer

When you love yourself, anything becomes possible. Channeling boundless self-confidence through a downright earth-quaking voice, colorful persona, and undeniable star power, Lizzo struts into the spotlight and steps up with a whole lot of sass, spirit, and soul. Embracing her vocal range like never before and celebrating herself to the fullest, she speaks her mind, censors nothing, and delivers an enviable level of honesty, pure passion, and fresh fire. She's worked towards this moment since the release of her 2016 EP, Coconut Oil, which delivered such hits as "Good As Hell," "Phone," "Water Me," and "Truth Hurts." Building on enthusiastic critical acclaim and a rapidly growing fan base, 2018 represented a high watermark for the Detroit-born and Houston-raised songstress. A string of singles hit maximum velocity as "Boys" took the culture by storm. A definitive and inescapable anthem for 2018, it closed out the year on many a Best Of list. 

Lizzo hit the studio in late 2018 to record her highly anticipated third full-length, Cuz I Love You. For the first time, she enlisted the production talents of X Ambassadors' Sam Harris. Recording in a "haunted ass studio," the producer encouraged her to break out of her comfort zone. "He reached inside of me and brought out a vulnerability I didn't realize I had," she says. "He called out my lyrics by name and pulled them out of my life experiences." Galvanized by those sessions, she also reteamed with an old friend Oak Felder [Rihanna, Alessia Cara, Kehlani] as well as longtime collaborator Ricky Reed [Meghan Trainor, Halsey]. She introduced this chapter with "Juice." Eighties-style synths slink hand-in-hand with a steady beat before climaxing on funky guitar and boisterous horns as Lizzo drops eyebrow-raising lines. Whether it's the emotionally charged "Jerome" or dynamically delicate "Crybaby," she clings to an overarching message on Cuz I Love You intimated by the title.

"I want people to know this process is all because I love them – and because I love me," Lizzo says. "It's a double-sided statement. You can say Cuz I Love You to millions of people, or you can say it to yourself in the mirror. It's about what you go through when you're trying to love yourself in a world that makes it so hard. You can persevere and come out stronger on the other side though." In the end, Lizzo's message of empowerment and love rings true because it comes straight from the heart. "When you listen to this, I want you to know you're not alone," she leaves off. "I want you to hear my songs and feel a connection to me. I hope you can apply what I'm saying to your own life and maybe have a better day. Share this experience with me. Celebrate who you are. If I can change the world for the better one song at a time, I'm cool."

1. Cuz I Love You
2. Like a Girl
3. Juice
4. Soulmate
5. Jerome
6. Crybaby
7. Tempo (Feat. Missy Elliott)
8. Exactly How I Fell (Feat. Gucci Mane)
9. Better in Color
10. Heaven Help Me
11. Lingerie
12. Boys
13. Truth Hurts
14. Water Me

50th Anniversary Vinyl LP Reissue with Lacquers Cut from the Original Master Tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound

2023 marks the 50th anniversary of Al Green's Call Me, and to celebrate, Hi Records/Fat Possum will reissue the 1973 R&B classic on vinyl with lacquers cut from the original master tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. A combination of 'sweet' and 'funky' is certainly the secret to Al Green's gloriously sentimental and sensual pop songs. Green's subtly controlled falsetto, which he tones right to the threshold of audibility, swings along gently always anchoring the proceedings. However, this sublime set also belts out some fiery sounds right from the very first number. The sinuous, swinging request in the brilliant hit single "Call Me," the relaxed and groovy "Stand Up" with its sharp wind interjections which demand one's unerring attention, are typical of Green's style, just as is his almost disturbing capability to gain comfort from loneliness ("I'm So Lonesome, I Could Cry"). This rhythmically powered music can best be described as light, intensive, dynamic but never flashy ("Your Love Is Like The Morning Sun") and it finds its earthly culmination in soul ("Jesus Is Waiting") and spiritual depth.

1. Call Me
2. Have You Been Making Out Okay
3. Stand Up
4. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
5. Your Love Is Like The Morning Sun
6. Here I Am (Come and Take Me)
7. Funny How Time Slips Away
8. You Ought To Be With Me
9. Jesus Is Waiting