William Devaughn

Universal Music Presents Soul Man: 80 Timeless Classics From The Kings Of Soul. Must have for all Soul lovers, when Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, The Temptations, Ben E. King, Wilson Pickett, James Brown filled with the contrast of this selection.

Phenomenal French band, Soul Sugar, comes through with what could surely be the best reggae album of 2017—Chase The Light (Excursions in Soul, Reggae, Funk, and Dub). True to its name, this album is full of funky, soulful reggae tunes, and each one has a delightful dub version as well.

"Sounds Of The' 70s " - a collection of the best hits recorded and released in the 70s of various genres. The publication contains such groups and artists as: The Trammps, Heatwave, George McCrae, Maria Muldaur, Average White Band, Mungo Jerry, Bob Marley and many others.

Groove: 60 Soul & Funk Classics is a 2016 three compact disc compilation released by Rhino. It focuses on sixty (60) different soul and funk songs, which also touch into disco with hints of pop. Since Rhino released this, most of the material on this collection are from the WEA/Warner family of labels.

NOW Music is pleased to announce NOW Presents…Classic Soul, a stunning 5LP boxset of 85 of the greatest 60s & 70s Soul tracks ever.!LP1 opens with ‘I Say A Little Prayer’ from the “Queen of Soul”- Aretha Franklin, the peerless ‘Walk On By’ from Dionne Warwick and followed by massive hits from Marvin Gaye with the #1 ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ and Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Was Made To Love Her’, plus classic tracks from The Temptations and Otis Redding. Flip to the other side for legendary groups – The Supremes, The Ronettes, The Marvelettes, The Velvelettes and Martha Reeves & The Vandellas.

To many jazz purists, the fusion of funk, soul, and jazz that evolved from the late '60s through the mid-'70s quickly shifted from interesting diversion to unabashed sacrilege. Watching the open-ended improvisation adventurousness of bebop, "the new thing," and free jazz give way to four-on-the-floor rhythms, simplified melodies, and–gasp!–verse-chorus-verse vocals was too much to bear for the self-proclaimed keepers of the flame.

With the ‘main’ Yearbook for 1974 released on Friday, Now That’s What I Call Music have announced the companion ‘Extra’ version, which contains 64 tracks across three CDs. This set features songs from acts such as Elton John (‘The Bitch is Back’), Queen (‘Seven Seas of Rhye’), Slade (‘The Bangin’ Man’), Bryan Ferry (‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’), Leo Sayer (‘One Man Band’), Mud (‘Rocket’), Status Quo (‘Break the Rules’), David Essex (‘America’), Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel (‘Judy Teen’), Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye (‘Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)’), Commodores (‘Machine Gun’), Roberta Flack (‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’). Full tracklisting can be found below, and, as usual, this Extra edition comes packaged in a cheap-and-cheerful six panel card sleeve.