Booker T. & The M.g.s + Soul Men

There's not a note or a nuance out of place anywhere on this record, which featured 35 of the most exciting minutes of instrumental music in any category that one could purchase in 1962 (and it's no slouch multiple decades out, either).

The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads, simply referred to as Soul Ballads or Sings Soul Ballads, is the second studio album by American soul singer-songwriter Otis Redding, released in 1965. The album was one of the first issued by Volt Records, a sub-label of Stax Records, and Redding's first on the new label.

This 14 tracks compilation from Master Music label features a bunch of starring artists and titles. From Muddy Waters and Johnny Cash to Elvis Presley. From Dinah Washington to Etta James. From Ben E. King and Eddy Cochrane to Manfred Mann's Earth Band. All is here.

One of the most innovative jazz/pop vocal groups of all time, the pioneering Hi-Lo's influenced countless pop, R&B, and doo wop groups from the '50s right up to the present. This 1980 recording includes pop hits of the era (Just The Way You Are, After the Love Is Gone) and standards arranged to highlight the precise harmonies of the four members. The album was one of a pair the ensemble recorded after a 14 year hiatus; the response from the public encouraged the quartet to work together more regularly throughout the rest of the 1980s.

The J.B.'s - Doing It to Death (1973/1988)

Circling guitar lines; the rise of fall of delicate bass; deep, breathy horns: sonic elements that exist in a state of slow, perpetual motion, like ideas sprouting from some kind of cognitive compost. With wonder and charm, G. S. Schray's new solo album, Whispered Something Good, evokes a realm of new growth while offering a fitting soundtrack for its exploration, as if tailor made for both the daydreamer and silly adventurer.

"Mysteria" is a magnificent triple cd by M.A.S.S., the artistic name of Stephan Kaske, a founding member of the mythical band Mythos, created in 1969. This album joins Space Music with Synth-Pop in a very imaginative manner, which proves why the artist succeeded in becoming a musical visionary at a time when shaping risky concepts of sound was by no means as technologically easy as it is now.

It is well known that The B-52's are The World’s Greatest Party Band. And thirty five years and over twenty million albums into their career, there can be no doubt as to why they remain one of rock music’s most beloved and enduring bands. Any mystery concerning the band’s longevity and ongoing appeal is immediately solved when exposed to a B-52's concert experience. From groundbreaking songs like “Rock Lobster”, “Dance This Mess Around” and “Private Idaho“ to chart-topping hits like “Love Shack” and “Roam” and “Deadbeat Club”, the B-52s’ unforgettable dance-rock tunes start a party every time their music begins.

The Hi-Lo's were a close-harmony vocal quartet of the 1950's and early 1960's who brought the arrangement and harmonics of popular song to a standard which has seldom been equalled and never surpassed. One of the most innovative jazz/pop vocal groups of all time, the pioneering Hi-Lo's influenced countless pop, R&B, and Doo Wop groups from the '50s right up to the present. The group's personal appearances at this time are well remembered. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, the Mamas and the Papas, the Gatlin Brothers, Manhattan Transfer and Take Six were all awakening to their own musical ambitions at this time and cite the Hi-Lo's as a major musical influence.