Soul-Funk

'll be honest, I had forgotten about Samuel Jonathan Johnson until i heard Theo Parrish play it recently. I used to spin the LP years ago but my copy got lost or beat. Soon as I heard it I made a call and sorted out the 45, just an amazing solid Groove on Sweet Love, you cant help but feel it. The flip 'Reasons, is the other great track from the same Columbia LP 'My Music' . First time on 45 for both of these, once they are gone that is it. Disco Essential!

Another personal mission was to reissue this legit so here we are STRICTLY 500 ONLY, NO REPRESS. Barbara Masons 'You Better Stop It' is a perfect peace of crossover perfection. Probably slightly disregarded on the Northern Soul Scene dancefloor wise recently although undoubtedly appreciated by many). The early 2000s Deepfunk scene and Euro Soul scene embraced this record tricky rhythm and rightly so Barbara Mason's vocal smashes it. When I used to do a regular Tuesday night in Edinburgh it was requested second only to Fredrick Hymes III. If you're not feeling this, quitOn the flip we got Barbara Mason's classic slowy 'Do I Love You' one for the heads or Lowrider team. First time on 7" for this huge LP spin, stone cold classic.

2015 Issue that contains one track from each of the two 7"s released by T'Spoon (Billy J. Bruner), in the 80's on Oil Capital Records.

Groove Line Records are proud to add to their 2015 releases of half-speed mastered re-issue singles with both the extended special disco version and instrumental version of Earth Wind & Fire's 1976 funk bomb Getaway gracing each side of a 180g 12” virgin vinyl disc.Looking to gain on his groups critical and commercial success from the early 1970s EW&F's main man Maurice White brought in the legendary Charles Stepney, who had tutored him at Chicago's Chess Records in the 1960s, as the co-producer and arranger on their incredible 1976 album Spirit, which opened up with the formidable funk track Getaway.Co-written by guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Bernard “Beloyd” Taylor (S.O.U.L.) and songwriter Peter Corbelenky around the theme of escapism and self-fulfilment, the primal urgency of Getaway was the ideal composition for White to record with EW&F. White felt the song's energy and positive, uplifting lyrics matched the attitude and ethos of his group perfectly. As a result EW&F created a funk gem both musically and lyrically perfect for the dance floor.The overwhelming immediacy of the multi-layered, arresting intro/bridge suggests the group had almost been held back in the stalls before being allowed to let rip on this classic recording. The urgency and excitement that envelopes the listener from the very first second is immediately taken up a level by the increasing momentum of the ascending riff which quickly reaches fever pitch by the time the track has only reached eight seconds! EW&F's trademark brass sound then takes centre stage on the first chorus with a punching, staccato horn line while the opening vocals invite you to “...leave today, let's getaway.” Concluding with a twelve note harmony of horns (borrowed' by so many dance floor tracks since) the break neck momentum is maintained in to the first verse which introduces, thanks to arranger Charles Stepney, an even more intricate horn line over a funky, viscous rhythm section before Maurice White, Philip Bailey and Verdine White blend effortlessly to deliver the impassioned vocals. The innate funkiness of the whole group is then exposed in an extended instrumental sequence before the bridge, slightly adapted from the intro, introduces the second chorus and verse. On this pass Stepney then cleverly places a third rousing chorus before the group stretch out on another extended instrumental section before verse three. The intensity is ramped up even more with an otherworldly, two second, stand alone synthesizer part added to the bridge, which heralds the extended chorus outro over which the groups vocalists soar until the track fades. And all of this within just over five minutes.The clever arrangement on this track and the complex musicianship displayed on it become even more apparent with the 3 minute 50 second instrumental version on the B-side where you can lose yourself within the intricate rhythms. On its release in the summer of '76 Getaway topped the Billboard R&B charts for two weeks and crossed over to #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and to this day puts R&B, Funk & Disco fans old and new under its enduring spell.All Groove Line Records releases are fully licensed and taken from the original master tapes, remastered by Nick Robbins at Sound Mastering, and cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy (Mastering Engineer of the Year 2013) using half-speed mastering for optimum sound quality. All vinyl is heavy weight 180g manufactured by Optimal Media in Germany, one of the world’s finest pressing plants.Groove Line Records cut no corners when making sure that each and every one of our releases has the highest quality performance possible.

Incarcerated funk has no right to feel this free. Musical convicts and actual convicts from across the Commonwealth, The Edge Of Daybreak's membership wrote and recorded Eyes Of Love while serving out sentences of six to sixty years. Set to tape inside Powhatan Correctional Center on the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia, these intimate 1979 sessions unlock the prison gates and peer into a collective consciousness concocted by a core of four confined artists. Assembled from distant love ballads and fanciful odes to freedom, Eyes Of Love is a prison letter composed by committee, recorded hastily, and circulated regionally amongst adventurous clientele willing to take a chance on these felonious talents.

Chicago’s own Specter of Tetrode fame joins the Sounds Familiar family and series of 45s with a double A-sider. ‘Circus Time’ is an hipnotic disco stomper, while ‘Concrete Jungle’ will please all the afro-funk headz!

Utterly magnificent, sublimely soulful survey of the Gospel Roots label, subsidiary of the mighty TK Records at the height of the Miami Sound.A&R was co-ordinated by Gospel legends Ira Tucker — from the Dixie Hummingbirds — and Ralph Bass, veteran producer with Savoy, King and Chess. The label was run by Timmy Thomas, who had recently smashed with Why Can’t We Live Together, for another TK spin-off, Glades. Operations were overseen by Henry Stone himself, unlikely King of Disco, who had recorded a young Ray Charles, and pushed forward James Brown. They drew in artists from all over the US, from St. Louis, Columbus, Memphis, Brooklyn, Cabrini Green in Chicago: unknowns like Camille Doughty, reluctant to jeopardise her job at GM (‘Generous Motors’) in Detroit, and huge-sellers like the revered Brooklyn All Stars, who started out on Peacock in 1958.Choral belters, deep ballads, harmony quartets, epic city-blues, gritty funk, powerhouse female soul… Killer-diller Philly like a scorching version of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes’ Wake Up Everybody; and Jean Austin’s raw Spirit Free, co-written by Ronnie Dyson, produced by Jesse James at Future Gold. Chicago Sound like The Fantastic Family Aires — named after the family’s furniture store on North Cicero, but reminiscent of the Staple Singers at their best — through to the full-blown glory of The Fountain Of Life Joy Choir, led by Marvin Yancy from The Independents, and featuring Natalie Cole… Singers like Versie Mae Gibson, from the Jordans, by rights up there with Irma, Etta and Ree… Bangers 100%-guaranteed to find their way into Theo Parrish sets; and mortal delirium for the prissiest of soul and gospel purists.Beautifully presented, with a 12”-square, full-colour, sixteen-page booklet of photos and original artwork — and truly outstanding notes, including insightful new interviews across the board; mastered at Abbey Road.