Track Listing: I Want To Take You Higher; Everybody Is A Star; Stand; Life; Fun; You Can Make It If You Try; Dance To The Music; Everyday People; Hot Fun In The Summer Time; M'lady; Sing A Simple Song; Thank You;

After the end of Aretha Franklin's five year stint on Columbia Records (who tried marketing her as a jazz vocalist), she signed on with Atlantic Records. Produced by music biz veteran Jerry Wexler, Franklin's Atlantic debut found her flexing creative ...

A misleading title, while not "golden classics" these are the best of the Pockets' -- a self-contained band from Baltimore -- brief run. A career harpooned by misfortune and the complicated dynamics of keeping an eight-piece band intact. Pockets' sound ...

The Isley Brothers are one of the most important groups in R&B history. They modernized the concept of the black singing group, and broke new ground with hits that were either influenced by or borrowed from a variety of musical ...

PHOENIX RISING was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. "Stay" was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. Hey, it worked for the Isley Brothers, ...

Digitally remastered by Bill Inglot and Dan Herssch (DigiPrep). This single-disc Rhino compilation culls Curtis Mayfield's biggest '70s hits. One of the brightest lights of soul and funk music in the late 20th century, Mayfield's impact on music as a singer, ...

After becoming one of the decade's biggest newcomers with his 2010 debut, hip-hop star Drake makes a fast return with this sophomore album, released a year-and-a-half after the platinum-selling Thank Me Later. Although Take Care builds off the brainy, dynamic, ...

THE ESSENTIAL TEDDY PENDERGRASS is a meticulously selected and assembled collection of the R&B singer's best material. Across two discs ESSENTIAL covers all Pendergrass's biggest hits (he regularly topped the R&B charts in the late 1970s and '80s) from both ...

Additional personnel includes: Greg Jackson (vocals, keyboards); The Mighty Clouds Of Joy, Shirley Murdock, Bobby Glover (vocals); Carl Cowen (flute, horns); Clarence Satchell (saxophone); Jerome Derrickson, Eddie Barber, Larry Hatcher (horns); Dale DeGroat (keyboards, drum programming, background vocals); Billy Beck ...

A remarkably versatile singer, Lou Rawls distinguished himself in soul, but was also adept at performing pop, blues, and jazz. This excellent 21-track Capitol compilation forgoes the latter two styles and draws from his 1960s/'70s recordings, presenting listeners with the ...

Recorded from 1976-1985. Includes liner notes by Harry Weinger. Con Funk Shun's brand of funk was polished with spirited horns, titillating guitar rhythms, and ear-pleasing vocals. These 17 tracks encompass the group's tenure at Mercury beginning with their first charted single, ...

The expanded version of GREATEST HITS includes 5 bonus tracks and is newly remastered. Sam Cooke's death in 1964 left a huge void in the world of soul music not filled until Al Green's breakthrough in the early '70s. Although many ...

The long-awaited Atlantic debut from rapper Wiz Khalifa features the biggest-selling hip-hop single of 2010, "Black and Yellow," a track that doubled as the unofficial anthem for the Pittsburgh Steelers' run to Super Bowl XLV. Follow-up singles "On My Level" ...

The soundtrack to CAR WASH was performed by the R&B band Rose Royce. Digitally remastered by Paul Elmore (MCA Music Media Studios, Hollywood, California). This double album, the soundtrack to a hit 1976 urban-themed comedy starring Richard Pryor and George Carlin, was ...

The Light of the Sun, Jill Scott's first album for the Warner Bros. label, is led by the slick disco-funk of "So in Love," a duet with Anthony Hamilton. The `70s-flavored album features production work from JR Hutson and Dre ...

Recorded between 1979 and 1990. Includes liner notes by Sean Ross. Digitally remastered by Erick Labson (2001 Universal Mastering). This 19-track collection does come very close to fulfilling its promise of delivering the Ultimate Collection, delivering all the group's big hits -- ...

Rhino's 2001 retrospective The Very Best of Miki Howard is a generous, near-definitive overview of Howard's biggest R&B hits from the '80s. She didn't have many crossover hits, but she did have numerous entries on the R&B charts, all of ...

Although the duo LMFAO boasted Euro-pop synths and unmissable riffs well before their hit with David Guetta, "Gettin' Over You," it definitely didn't hurt to be featured on a world-wide smash that spent quality time at number one in France ...

Anyone who encountered his numerous mixtapes can tell you that before his official debut landed, rapper/producer J. Cole had spent some time bringing the whole Drake, Wale, and Big Sean style to a more street level. It's worth mentioning because ...

There are several Freddie Jackson anthologies on the market, but Capitol's GREATEST HITS, released in 2007, bests them all. Not only does GREATEST HITS contain all Jackson's number one R&B singles from the 1980s, including "Rock Me Tonight" and "You ...

There's no doubt that by Wild Ones' 2012 release, pop-rapper Flo Rida had become a "singles artist," one who soars high in the three- to four-minute format. Give him thin but clever ideas -- that acoustic guitar riffs might sound ...

Although he may be classified as a rap or hip-hop artist, Mark "Kaz" Kasperczk, operating under the name Redlight King, combines singing and rhythmic patter in a style not so much reminiscent of Kanye West as of Red Hot Chili ...

Initially intended to be an EP, Watch the Throne -- from rap superstars Jay-Z and Kanye West, aka the Throne -- took on a number of forms prior to its release as a full-length album. Nailed down during January 2011 ...

A long-forgotten mid-1970s film--a DREAM GIRLS precursor about a Motownish singing trio--yielded this interesting soundtrack collaboration between soul's reigning royalty, Aretha Franklin and Curtis Mayfield. Unbeknownst to many, the album is the source of the Mayfield-penned "Something He Can Feel," ...

After fronting a band in Thailand for several years, Hugo earned recognition in the Western world by contributing a track to Beyoncé's 2008 album. Several years later, he makes his solo debut with the release of Old Tyme Religion, a ...