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Top 20 r&b/soul albums - Making a list (1 Viewer)

Rachael B

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Paul, for 3 southern R & B albums...just 3...hmnnn, Arthur Conley's MORE SWEET SOUL, Otis Redding's...well pick an album, and The Meters' STUTTIN'.

Other stuff you need, The Bar-Kay's 2-fer' CD, BLACK ROCK/GOTTA GROVE & somethin' by Wilson Pickett & Booker T. and the M.G.'s...

Hvae you gotten something to represent the "Philadelphia Sound"? Best of the O.J.'s maybe?:)
 

Ken_McAlinden

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R&B/Soul was primarily a singles medium through the 60s, and is arguably still that way now, which is why most of the best ways to hear the music are via compilations. That being said, the following artists contributed greatly to the development of album-oriented R&B.

Issac Hayes
Curtis Mayfield
Marvin Gaye
Stevie Wonder
Eddie Kendricks
Temptations
Isley Brothers
O'Jays

Their late 60s and/or 1970s albums are designed to work as albums rather than collections of hits plus filler.

Regards,
 

nickGreenwood

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I'm horrible when it comes to knowledge of R&B/Soul, but Smokey Robinson (with or without the Miracles, though I tend to prefer with) tends to come to mind when I think of it. A lot of the early Motown stuff sort of paved the way I think.
Now classic rock I could help you there. :)
 

Paul.S

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Mark: Apologies for delay in responding. I haven't gripped My Life yet, but I've added it to my lengthy Amazon Music/CDs Wish List. I'm frequently swinging through my lists and clickety click clicking on a half dozen or so used Marketplace copies of 'older' CDs for about $6-$8 each and will be sure to get MJB in an order soon. I'm kinda on a hi rez kick right now tho . . . ;)

-p
 

Rachael B

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It's a good Sack-Dee and sonically quite nice. When it first came out, when I got it, it was mistakenly (?) put in tall DVD-A style Super Jewels. Last time I saw a copy they'd gone short.

It's a nice album but not an all-time great, seemingly, for your project. It seems like an orignal album by Ray would more like it...?

It's hard to make suggestions here when I could easily suggest 50 different artists that seem worthy...

The Meters, The Temptations, Joe Tex, Bar-Kays, Otis Redding with or without Tammy Terell, James Brown, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Dr. John, Aretha, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, Arthur Conley, Labelle, Supremes, Stevie, Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, ect. on and on, there's alot of good one-hit wonders along the way too...

I stille think you should find some diverse sampler albums to throw in your mix to hit more artists...:)
 

Paul.S

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Yes, I agree an original album would be more appropriate. The post was partly designed to bump my thread and hopefully gather some additional attention. ;)

Several of the artists you mention are already on the list . . . and although I'm still resisting hits compilations per my introductory comments, I think you (and Ken, in his post #43) make a good point about the genre being singles driven in the 60s. So I welcome recommendations on outstanding compilations, with the caveats I've mentioned before about wanting the album versions of songs (unless of course it was the radio edit that was the most popular) and wanting good liner notes . . .

-p
 

Mark Schmitt

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I'm a big fan of early 70's funk and soul and I've enjoyed looking through this thread.

I would suggest trying a few best-ofs to get your feet wet, but personally I prefer original albums.

My personal picks:

The Meters. Without a doubt my favorite. All of it's great stuff and their anthology is a nice set. Personally I prefer Rejuvenation, Cabbage Alley and Fire on the Bayou but the earlier stuff is great as well. Enough has been said already about them so I'll move on.

Curtis Mayfield. I was reading through this thread astonished that nobody even mentioned Curtis until I got to Zen's post. Definitely go for a good comp of his solo work. Make sure it includes "So In Love", one of the best romantic soul songs I've ever known. The Very Best of Curtis Mayfield is a good bet. Right now, I like Curtis, Roots, Superfly (of course!) and Back to the World. But I mean to get me some more soon.

Stevie Wonder is a no-brainer. At The Close Of A Century is a great box set (if you toss the fourth disc). It includes almost all of Innervisions and most of Songs in the Key of Life as well as all some great stuff from his early "Little Stevie Wonder" career. If that's too much, I'd go for Innervisions.

The Isley Brothers. You need that. It's Your Thing (the 3-disc set) is a great comp (yeah you said two disc limit but the Isleys deserve three). I'm in the process of acquiring more Isleys, so I'd recommend 3+3, Brother, Brother, Brother, Live it Up, The Heat is On, Harvest For The World...I could go on...Personally I prefer when the younger Isleys joined the original three. Ernie's guitar is electrifying.

Also, Sly and The Family Stone. It took me a while to get to listen to anything besides their overplayed big hits, so I just got on board recently. And I'd been totally missing out. Fresh and There's a Riot Going On are excellent. Unfortunately, these two CDs are seriously overdue for remastering. Maybe the big tribute to Sly and the Family Stone on the Grammys this year will change that. For the first time in like ever, I'm going to watch the Grammys, if only to see if the rumors that the reclusive Sly Stone himself showing up are true. Make sure if you get a comp, they include songs from those two albums. Most comps sell these two short.

The Temptations' Motown comp Gold from last year is a good set, but it contains some of those forgettable 80's and 90's tracks. Still, the good stuff is great. I was just reading about another comp, Psychadelic Soul (2-disc) that features the period from 1968 to 1973 when they and Norman Whitfield were cranking out their funkiest stuff. God, I'm spending too much money lately...But I f'in need it.

Another one I need is from Southern R&B legend Johnnie Taylor. I haven't seen him mentioned here, but I had a bunch of great mp3s downloaded of his and now I'm picking up more stuff at the record store. Yeah, yeah, his biggest hit was "Disco Lady" (not a bad song, actually, for a disco song), but the meat of the stuff I like is from his years at Stax (late 60's/early 70's), when he was known as the "Philosopher of Soul". This week, I want to pick up Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits which was released in 1977, before he went to Columbia and started into disco.

It's weird. I love funk. Hate disco.

Also not mentioned so far: Tower of Power. I have 3 of the big Bay Area funk group's albums right now from the early 70's, Tower of Power (self-titled, featuring "What is Hip" and "So Very Far to Go"), Back to Oakland and Urban Renewal. All three feature Lenny Williams who lasted as the lead vocalist for only these three albums. I highly recommend all three. You can see their influence on such artists as Average White Band and later funk bands of the 70's.

I loved reading everybody else's posts as well. You can't go wrong with James Brown, Ohio Players, The O'Jays, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Otis Redding, Booker T and the MG's, early Prince, etcetera, etcetera...

Another thing I really like are the funk comps, Metro's Superfly Soul series in particular. There's three of these inexpensive two-disc sets available now, featuring some real cool less-overplayed grooves from big artists like Ike & Tina Turner, Curtis Mayfield, Maceo Parker, Richard "Groove" Holmes and Bobby Womack as well as a bunch of soul-jazz instrumental funky tracks that keep the head bobbin' along.

Anyways, Paul, I don't know if any of this helped at all, but I certainly enjoyed writing it. Whittled away a lot of time on a slow work day.
 

MichaelBA

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Here's a top ten, in chronological order, but without any "best of" collections, just actual albums:

James Brown, LIVE AT THE APOLLO [1962]

Booker T & The MG's, GREEN ONIONS [1962]

Sam Cooke, LIVE AT THE HARLEM SQUARE CLUB [1963]

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, GOING TO A GO-GO [1965]

Otis Redding, OTIS BLUE [1966]

Wilson Pickett, THE EXCITING WILSON PICKETT [1966]

Aretha Franklin, I NEVER LOVED A MAN [1967]

Sly & The Family Stone, THERE'S A RIOT GOIN' ON [1971]

Marvin Gaye, WHAT'S GOIN' ON [1971]

Stevie Wonder, INNERVISIONS [1973]
 

Paul.S

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Mark and Michael:

Thank you both for your terrific contributions!

Indeed, we were remiss with no mention of Curtis Mayfield.

Two mentions of There's A Riot Goin' On . . .
 

Greg_S_H

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What about Donny Hathaway's Everything Is Everything? I don't think I'm seeing any Bill Withers here, which is a shame.
 

Paul.S

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Greg: Thanks for the Donny Hathaway mention. Any specific Bill Withers album you'd recommend?

Neil: Right on. SItKOL has been in the mix since my first post.
htf_images_smilies_smile.gif
 

Paul.S

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Okay, ya'll. After an absence here borne of everything from remodel recovery, to focus on an ongoing Mahler cycle, to further attempts to whittle away my DVD-A and SA-CD Wish List, to ongoing sales of my DVDs as I transition to Blu-ray, I'm back.

I think I've got a fairly good handle on a putative top 20 r&b/soul albums thanks to so many folks herein. Even moreso now than when I began, this project is as much about broadening my own personal awareness and appreciations as it is compling the list for my partner. After re-reading the entire thread and being impressed by and thankful for all over again the wonderful contributions, I've added TOWER OF POWER, THERE'S A RIOT GOIN' ON, Mayfield's BACK TO THE WORLD, The Meters' STRUTTIN', the double album of the Bar-Kays' BLACK ROCK / GOTTA GROOVE, Solomon Burke's HOME IN YOUR HEART and Philip Bailey's INSIDE OUT to my 430+ title-strong Amazon CD Wish List. (I use those Lists as a way to track all the stuff I want!)

But everything from a recent (tardy) purchase of the DualDisc (the OOP SA-CD was more coin than I wanted to spend) of Miles Davis' KIND OF BLUE, to being almost through my Netflix rental of Volume 1 of Naxos' JAZZ ICONS DVD set, to reading a recent Wynton Marsalis interview in which he posits that the blues is the aesthetic headwaters for all American music have me wanting to broaden the scope of the discussion to include seminal blues and jazz albums (in addition to the hip hop, rap and reggae that have been briefly mentioned herein already).

So, I welcome a new round of comments, suggestions and discussion with that in mind. To kick start things, some comments on previous posts:

Originally Posted by Rich Malloy

Rich: Any comment on a criticism the reviewer (William Ruhlmann) makes about the choice of mono tracks where stereo may be available:


But the most bizarre aspect of this Anthology is the choice of presenting most of the tracks in monophonic sound. That sound is punchy, reminiscent of 1960s AM radio, but it's not as though there weren't stereo versions of these recordings, and when a few stereo mixes are introduced on the second disc, they stick out.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Rachael B

Did you have a chance to check out My Life?

Mark M.: Finally bought a copy and I have given it a few background spins. I will give it a dedicated listen soon.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Schmitt

Also, Sly and The Family Stone. It took me a while to get to listen to anything besides their overplayed big hits, so I just got on board recently. And I'd been totally missing out. Fresh and There's a Riot Going On are excellent. Unfortunately, these two CDs are seriously overdue for remastering. Maybe the big tribute to Sly and the Family Stone on the Grammys this year will change that. For the first time in like ever, I'm going to watch the Grammys, if only to see if the rumors that the reclusive Sly Stone himself showing up are true. Make sure if you get a comp, they include songs from those two albums. Most comps sell these two short.

Mark S.: Did you note that what you had been hoping for happened in 2007? A remastered TaRGO: http://www.amazon.com/Theres-Riot-Goin-Family-Stone/dp/B000MTFG1W/ref=reg_hu-wl_item-added

Paul
 

Allflame

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I would rank my favourites like this:
Brandy- Never Say Never
Usher-Confessions
Destiny's Child - The Writing's on the Wall
Beyonce- Dangerously In Love
R Kelly-Tp2
Justin Timberlake-Future Sex/Love Sounds
Alicia Keys-The Diary Of Alicia Keys Maxwell-Now
 

Paul.S

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Welcome to the Forum and thanks for stopping in to the thread, Steve.

Scroll back a bit if you haven't--although personal faves can of course be delicious, and you've mentioned artists who've made some nice contemporary waves, my/the goal herein is to fashion some kind of top 20 list of albums of these genres . . . of all time.

I think the only artist you've mentioned that might be of the level of historical significance as many of the others discussed over the past two pages is Alicia Keys . . . ?
 

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