Soul-Funk

Sho is Funky Down Here and The Grodeck Whipperjenny are a pair of albums that are the result of an unlikely but highly productive musical relationship between James Brown, a superstar at the creative and commercial peaks of his long career, and David Matthews, a then young arranger-musician whose limited professional experience had little or nothing to do with the funk and soul of his collaborator. The Grodeck Whipperjenny A psychedelic classic, created by his James Brown’s bandleader David Matthews, the first album issued on Brown’s famed People imprint. As progressive as it is funky, this album was issued in tandem with another Matthews project issued under Brown’s name – Sho Is Funky Down Here. One of the deepest albums in the Brown catalog, its story is finally told. Both albums were lacquered directly from the original master tapes at Capitol Studios. This is the first official reissue of both of these rare titles. Each album contains an extensive booklet with full annotation, liner notes by Brown historian Alan Leeds and never-before-published photos.

Soul Brother Records are delighted to present the first legal reissue of the Rare Groove classic ‘Give Me Your Love’ by The Sisters Love on a 45. Originally released as a B side on Motown’s Mowest label in 1973, this track has been in demand and played on various club scenes since the early 80’s and has maintained its popularity. Original copies now sell for £150 to £200 if you are lucky enough to find a clean copy. This is a fantastic slice of danceable Soul produced by Gloria Jones and Paul Riser. It was written by Curtis Mayfield whose own version appeared on the Superfly soundtrack. The track was sampled by Queen Latifah, Ruth Joy, Stereo MC’s and Robbie Williams and Kyle Minogue in their song ‘Kids’, amongst others.On the flip side is their great version of Willie Hutch’s song ‘Try It You Like it’. This is likely to be one of the most popular in Soul Brothers series of classic 45’s.

ORGONE is one of the most exciting bands in the new generation of funk bands; led by the powerhouse vocals of Adryon de León, ORGONE recalls such legendary groups as Rufus and Sly & The Family Stone at their best. Their new album Reasons illuminates a band hitting its stride, capturing the raw power and refined sensibilities that defines ORGONE.From the a cappella opening of “All Good Things” to the dance floor filler “Easy Love,” Reasons packs a punch. Vocal harmonies channeling late 70s Fleetwood Mac to synth lines evoking Bernie Worrell's involvement in the Talking Heads, 'Reasons' brings in a new set of influences on ORGONE's 10th studio album while maintaining their classic analog sound.De León is front and center on Reasons, and she does not disappoint evoking the deep soulfulness of Chaka Khan and the bedroom sweetness of Minnie Ripperton. Her versatile vocal performance firmly places her in the top echelon of soul singers today.Reasons is another solid step in a long and storied career. ORGONE’s accolades are too long to list in entirety. The well-traveled band has released albums on Ubiquity, Shanachie, and Colemine Records and served as the studio band on hits like Alicia Key’s “Teenage Love Affair” and Cee Lo Green’s Grammy-winning “Fool For You.”

November 5th, 2018 would have been Charles Bradley’s 70th birthday. In celebration of his extraordinary life, Daptone imprint Dunham Records will release his fourth and final album, Black Velvet, on November 9th—featuring ten studio recordings never before included on any full length album.Black Velvet is a celebration of Charles Bradley, lovingly assembled by his friends and family at Dunham/Daptone Records—including four entirely new tracks recorded during sessions from each of his three albums, heard here for the very first time in all their scorching glory. Though chronologically the material spans Charles' entire career, this is no anthology, greatest hits or other shallow rehashing of the songs that already made him famous. Rather, this album is a profound exploration through the less-travelled corners of the soulful universe that Charles and his longtime producer, co-writer and friend Tommy "TNT" Brenneck created in the studio together over their decade-long partnership.

Rain&Shine continue the love for Steve Elliott’s self-produced music by giving his second LP ‘Completion Of A Miracle’ (1982) another lease of life.Remastered from the original reel-to-reel tapes. Includes dancefloor cut ‘Wake Up’. Another essential release from Rain&Shine, set to become a future collector’s item.

Frotee has released two recordings of cover versions from Estonian Radio archives, both tracks have Estonian lyrics written by herself. In 1983, she recorded an incredible version of "I See Red". Few years earlier she recorded lovely version of classic "Feel Like Makin' Love". Both previously unreleased, now available on 7" single!

The 45 of Everyday People - World full of people is well known on the modern soul and funk scene and it relatively easy to find a copy for maybe 500 pounds. What was always less well known was that there was also an LP by the same band but labels as People Pleasure. I first came across this LP in Turku, Finland in the early 2000s when at the house of DJ and Collector Felix Manell who pulled a pile of rare and interesting bits that day. I did not really appreciate the true rarity until trying to source my own copy. The next copy I saw was in Japan in 2004 but was not going anywhere. Roll on 15 years, Russell Paine, collector, DJ and super record researcher called me saying he had finally unravelled the mystery and was talking to Bill brown & Al Hall Jr. Russel sets himself the hard task of only putting out unreleased material on his own label so we also work together on LPs and Singles on Athens of the North. After we managed to clear the rights the final hurdle was finding a clean copy, not an easy task. After asking loads of deep collectors, Zaf put me onto DJ Nick the Record who very kindly lent me his minty personal copy, a huge favour considering how rare this record is, almost impossible to replace. So we mastered from the vinyl (no tapes exist) and while it still sound pretty raw it is twice as good as the O.G. Been a long time coming.