Brenda & The Tabulations

The Casablanca Records Story is a 4CD box set exploring the soul and disco sides of Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records. Released in 1994, this is dedicated to just their soul and disco sides, not the rock side so no Kiss or Angel. This was taken from the promotional version of the collection so no booklet, as it was packaged in a thick case (clam shell).

Some years have passed since The Sweetest Feeling, Kent's first dip into the catalogue of the late Van McCoy, was issued to acclaim from soul fans all over the world. Back then Kent made a promise that, should sales warrant a second volume, they would release one. Well, it s taken a while for it to come together nine years, in fact but they are delighted to finally bring you that long-promised follow-up, This Is It! As promised in the notes to the previous set, the accent this time is predominantly on the upbeat.

Like the Motown Sound of the mid-60s, the Philly Sound of the 70s did not suddenly appear overnight with the establishment of Philadelphia International Records and the rise to international stardom of acts such as the O Jays, the Three Degrees and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. This new Kent release Nothing But A House Party focuses its attention on the years 1967-1971 and provides a first-class overview of how recording in Philadelphia moved on from the lightweight Cameo-Parkway sound of the early 60s to become considerably more inventive and sophisticated. Most of the musicians heard on these tracks became part of MFSB, the musical backbone of nearly every black American recording that came out of Philly between 1971 and 1976. Many of the songwriters and producers also went on to far greater fame in the 70s, after honing their craft with these and many other classics. Some artists featured here had fallen by the wayside by the turn of the 1970s, while others had moved their recording base elsewhere but all played a significant role in developing Philadelphia's standing as one of one of soul music's most significant cities of the 20th century. With the kind of copiously annotated and illustrated booklet and top-notch mastering you would expect from Kent, this is a release no serious soul fan should overlook.

The second volume of Philly Grooves from throughout the modern music era featuring artists like Ben E. King, Eddie Kendrick's, the Whispers, the Persuaders, the Four Tops, Jackie Moore, Little Anthony, Jimmy Ruffin, David Morris, the Temprees and many more.

2014 collection. The Black America Sings brand of Ace's acclaimed Songwriter Series continues with a volume that salutes the songwriting genius of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The most prolific performer of Bacharach/David songs is Dionne Warwick and it's no surprise that so many other black American artists should also have dipped into their catalog down the years. LET THE MUSIC PLAY offers an engrossing cross-section of these, ranging from the Drifters, Jerry Butler and Dionne herself to '70's Soul superstars such as Bobby Womack, Gloria Gaynor and Isaac Hayes. The tracks featured provide a remarkable tribute to two men who, for more than a decade, wrote classic after classic.

For the whole of the 1970s, the Philly Sound was a leading and immediately identifiable component of black American music. A crack team of producers, songwriters and musicians raised worldwide awareness of Philadelphia soul to the level the Motown Sound had enjoyed during the previous decade. Anyone with half an ear for music could spot a Philly soul record by its opening bars, whatever the location of the label on which it appeared. In the same way the Motown Sound really came together after the company started recording almost exclusively in its own premises, the Philly Sound quickly took shape once Joe Tarsia, the former chief engineer at Cameo-Parkway Studios, opened Sigma Sound in 1968.

Jamie Records was a record label founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1957 by Harold Lipsius (1913–2007) and Allan Sussel (1924–2003). Their first 45rpm single, "It's Great to Fall in Love"/"Truly" by Marian Caruso, was issued in 1957. The label was named after Allan Sussel's eldest daughter, Jamie Sussel Turner.

Philadelphia Roots Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Soul Jazz's releases tend to be groove-oriented, putting a premium on funky, rhythmic grooves – all the better to sample you with, my dear. Consequently, their loving reissues of obscurities are aimed at third- or fourth-generation listeners mining these recordings for sounds, not people who were there at the time, or collectors looking for great forgotten songs and singles. That's not to discount the material on their recordings, but it's to put them in the proper perspective – this is minutiae, collectors items only of interest to the diehard, or those who are only interested in arcania, since it'll provide great unheard beats for their own recordings.