G. G. Love

Ronnie Dyson was a Broadway star before making records. He was born in Washington D.C., but grew up in New York, taking to the stage in 1960s and ultimately voicing one of the decade’s best known show tunes “Aquarius”. He was just 18 when he joined the cast of “Hair” with a lead role in the show. Ronnie also featured in a movie “Putney Swope” in 1969 before signing to Columbia Records the following year. The albums we present here were Ronnie’s third and fourth for the label and represent the complete set of songs recorded by the artist produced by Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy. The style was a departure from what Ronnie had recorded previously but similar to the sound the producers had brought to hits for Natalie Cole. Listen to Natalie’s song “This Will Be” from 1975 and compare with Ronnie’s single “Close To You” in 1976, the year in fact that Marvin Yancy married Natalie Cole. Lush arrangements by Gene Page and Richard Evans determine this music definitive luxury soul, There’s also some incredible 70s soul music here that’s been preserved from the original master tapes and brought on CD for the first time.

A native of Indiana, singer/songwriter Josh Garrels has built his career on deeply personal, introspective lyrics and exploratory sounds that range from pastoral indie folk to hip-hop. After playing in punk bands during his teenage years, he fell under the spell of East Coast rap before college. In his early twenties, Garrels came into the Christian faith, which became a major thread in his musical journey. He began releasing self-produced, home-recorded albums with 2002's Stonetree, followed a year later by Underquiet, and Over Oceans in 2006. Possessed of a rich, soulful voice, he began to add more orchestral elements into his folk-based sound, sometimes rapping, sometimes crooning his complex but approachable songs.

Sounds Of Universal Love” is a top of the range collection of quality S.O.U.L. from the finest musical champions of the genre. The album is compiled and presented by The Soul Survivors, a publication that since 2006 has featured all the artists selected on this 16 track CD, interviewed by Fitzroy facey (Da Buzzboy). The primary audience for this collection is those in their formative teenage years when artists like Earth Wind & Fire, The Gap Band and Cameo were in their prime. Album also features contemporary artists Omar, Amp Fiddler, Kenny Wellington (from Beggar & Co), Incognito (with a special ‘Latin Remix’), and Personal Life with a mix EXCLUSIVE to this CD. Tracks appearing for the first time on CD are courtesy of Brass Contraction, Steve Arrington and Linda Clifford. An amazing selection of music, as you would expect from Expansion.

Ronnie Dyson was a Broadway star before making records. He was born in Washington D.C., but grew up in New York, taking to the stage in 1960s and ultimately voicing one of the decade's best known show tunes, Aquarius. He was just 18 when he joined the cast of Hair with a lead role in the show. Ronnie also featured in a movie Putney Swope in 1969 before signing to Columbia Records the following year. The albums we present here were Ronnie's third and fourth for the label and represent the complete set of songs recorded by the artist produced by Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy.

Freddie Jackson ended his five-album stay at Capitol ended with Time for Love, a satisfying effort that isn't much different from his previous Capitol releases. The New Yorker obviously knew what his strengths were – smooth soul/urban contemporary music and romantic ballads – and once again, the singer succeeds by zeroing in on them. The standout track is a poignant cover of the Gamble & Huff classic "Me and Mrs. Jones" (recorded by Billy Paul in 1971 and subsequently by the Dramatics), and Jackson also brings plenty of honest emotion to such slick yet gritty tunes as "I Could Use a Little Love Right Now," "Trouble" and "Can We Try." Though it falls short of the excellence of Rock Me Tonight and Just Like the First Time, this CD was a welcome addition to his catalog.

Following the combination of indie success and massive hype leading up to the band's first album proved to be too much for the original lineup, with Bickers leaving after a series of problems and pressures once the group signed to Fontana. Yet rarely has a fraught series of recording sessions resulted in something so flat-out stunning. The House of Love's second self-titled album in a row – third counting the German singles comp…

When Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack teamed up in 1983 to record the Capitol album BORN TO LOVE, the pair had already experienced success as a duo thanks to the 1980 LP, Live & More (a Top 10 R&B best-selling album). By the time they headed into the studio to cut BORN TO LOVE, Bryson was six years into his recording career and had established himself as one of the premier black male vocalists of the day; Flack was already considered an internationally-renowned artist thanks to classic recordings such as ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ and ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song.’