Soul Music

Cissy Houston - Presenting Cissy Houston (1970) {2012 Remastered & Expanded - Soul Music Records SMCR5054}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 441 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 164 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 96 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1970, 2012 Janus Records / Soul Music Records | SMCR 5054
R'n'B / Soul / Retro Soul

Cissy Houston's solo debut album from 1970 ("Presenting Cissy Houston") alone would be flirting with five stars, but with this "expanded edition"'s 12 added tracks, including all six of her singles issued over the following five years (including the original single version of "Midnight Train to Georgia," adapted from Jim Weatherly's "Midnight Train to Houston"), what we have here is truly definitive. If I overused the word "including," it's only because so much is included!

SoulMusic Records is very proud to present “I Kinda Miss You – The Anthology: Columbia Records,1973-87,” a spectacular first-of-its-kind 2-CD set by the legendary Manhattans that includes all of the soulful group’s charted singles recorded for the label over almost fifteen years along with choice cuts from the dozen albums the team cut and one non-LP ‘B’ side (‘Gypsy Man’).

Atlantic Starr hit its commercial peak in the late '80s, when the bland, insipid adult contemporary ballad "Always" soared to number one on both the pop and R&B charts. That song put Atlantic Starr in the Whitney Houston/Lionel Richie realm – in other words, people who associate Atlantic Starr with "Always" think of them as a crossover act. But from an R&B standpoint (as opposed to a pop/adult contemporary standpoint), Atlantic Starr provided their best work in the early '80s, when Sharon Bryant was still on board and the East Coast residents were being produced by James Carmichael. Released in 1982, Brilliance was the second of three albums that Carmichael produced for Atlantic Starr – and it is also one of the band's finest and most essential releases.

One of the five releases that comprise SoulMusic Records’ October 2012 "Motown-themed” month (featuring artists who recorded at some point for the globally famous label), ONE TO ONE was the third Motown album by the late, multi-talented singer/songwriter Syreeta. A truly remarkable piece of music, her third album ONE TO ONE was produced by Syreeta and then-new husband, musician Curtis Robertson, Jr. with whom she wrote four songs and Motown stalwart Leon Ware (fresh off the triumphant Marvin Gaye LP, I Want You) who collaborated on three songs for the project; one track, the R&B charted and popular UK single, ‘Harmour Love,’ was written and produced by Stevie Wonder in 1975.

Digitally remastered and expanded edition of this 1977 album from the Smoky Robinson-less Soul outfit who managed to maintain a healthy career outside of the shadow of their former leader Like their final Motown album the Power of Music, the group's Columbia debut, Love Crazy, was produced in it's entirety by Pete Moore, with all the songs written by him and Billy Griffin (who replaced lead singer and group co-founder Smokey Robinson in 1973) including two co-penned by Billy's brother Donald (who had also joined the team as lead guitarist in 1973 and was featured for the first time on the cover art). Acclaimed arranger John Barnes along with famed bassist Willie Weeks and drummer James Gadson were among the personnel on the album.

D.J. Rogers - Love Brought Me Back (1978) {Soul Music Records SMCR5110, Remastered & Expanded rel 2013}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 421 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 147 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 112 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1978, 2013 Columbia / Sony Music / Soul Music Records | SMCR 5110
R&B / Soul / Funk / Quiet Storm

Released in 1978, "Love Brought Me Back" was D.J. Rogers' most commercially successful album. The gorgeous title track is a mid-tempo ballad that deservedly became a Top 20 R&B hit and this album (as a whole) is very much enjoyable. While it does have a couple of obligatory uptempo Disco tracks the slow-tempo, slow-burn Quiet storm ballads and mid-tempo numbers are what make this album special. This remastered edition from Soulmusic.com Records reissues the entire original album plus a few bonus remixes and single edits as bonus tracks.

Esther Phillips - Brand New Day: The Lenox Atlantic & Roulette Recordings 1962-1970 (2020) {5CD Set, Soul Music QSMCR-5194BX}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.76 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 801 Mb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 45 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1962-70, 2020 Soul Music Records | QSMCR-5194BX
Jazz / R&B / Jazz Blues / Soul

The late Esther Phillips (1935-1984) has often been considered one of the ‘unsung’ pioneers in the world of R&B, stretching back to the early ‘50s when as a child star working with famed bandleader Johnny Otis, she enjoyed a run of chart-topping singles at the age of 15, making her the youngest female artist to ever have an No. 1 R&B hit at the time. The Texas-born vocalist returned in 1962 with a soulful version of the country hit, ‘Release Me’ for Lenox Records, subsequently signing with Atlantic Records for whom she recorded a total of four full albums between 1964-1970 with a brief spell at Roulette Records in 1969.