W.b Mckay

Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band is a pioneering American soul and funk band. Formed in the early 1960s, they had the most visibility from 1967 to 1973 when the band had 9 singles reach Billboard's pop and/or rhythm and blues charts, such as "Do Your Thing" (#11 Pop, #12 R&B), "Till You Get Enough" (#12 R&B, #67 Pop), and "Love Land" (R&B #23, Pop #16). They are best known for their biggest hit on Warner Bros. Records, 1970's "Express Yourself" (#3 R&B, #12 Pop), a song that has been sampled by rap group N.W.A and others. The original line-up comprised of bandleader Charles Wright (vocals, guitar, piano), Al McKay (guitar), Gabe Flemings (piano, trumpet), Melvin Dunlap (bass), James Gadson (drums), John Rayford and Bill Cannon (both sax), and Ray Jackson (trombone). McKay left in 1969 to join Earth, Wind & Fire and was replaced by Benorce Blackmon.

Earth, Wind & Fire (EWF) is an American band that has spanned the musical genres of R&B, soul, funk, jazz, disco, pop, rock, Latin, and African. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1970s.[ Rolling Stone called them "innovative, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing" and declared that the band "changed the sound of black pop"…[/quote]

For a talent like Amy Winehouse, it's safe to say that a regular old "best-of" compilation doesn't feel like a proper encapsulation of a brilliant career that was cut tragically short in 2011. With a voice that contained so much passion, pain, and soul, the best way to experience her work is to just sit back and take it all in. Featuring her 2003 debut, Frank, as well as her R&B-charged 2006 follow-up Back to Black and the 2011 B-sides compilation Lioness: Hidden Treasures, The Album Collection provides the opportunity to do just that, packaging the singer's studio work into a neat little box set that gives you everything you need to take a journey through her discography.

Much can be said about the late Amy Winehouse, one of the U.K.'s flagship vocalists during the 2000s. The British press and tabloids seemed to focus on her rowdy behavior, heavy consumption of alcohol, and tragic end, but fans and critics alike embraced her rugged charm, brash sense of humor, and distinctively soulful and jazzy vocals. Her platinum-selling breakthrough album, Frank (2003), elicited comparisons ranging from Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan to Macy Gray and Lauryn Hill. Interestingly enough, despite her strong accent and vernacular, one can often hear aspects of each of those singers' vocal repertoires in Winehouse's own voice. Nonetheless, her allure had always been her songwriting – almost always deeply personal but best known for its profanity and brutal candor.

Lounge music is a type of easy listening music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It may be meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place, usually with a tranquil theme, such as a jungle, an island paradise or outer space. The range of lounge music encompasses beautiful music–influenced instrumentals, modern electronica (with chillout, and downtempo influences), while remaining thematically focused on its retro-space-age cultural elements…