r&b Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Sam & Dave “I Thank You”

sfilzen — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 20:25:31 +0000

Sam & Dave “I Thank You” 1968. Released on Atlantic but recorded at Stax in Memphis. Soul, with some dashes of funk, I Thank You is a collection of songs that highlight Sam Moore’s and David Prater’s perfectly blended vocals; most are written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, who also both produced the LP. So many great classics! The title track, “I Thank You” was originally released as single in ’68; it was their final release on Stax Records and it went to #9 on the US singles chart and #4 on the R&B chart. “Wrap It Up” is also so good and the b-side to “I Thank You” (the 80’s child that I am, I think I first heard The Fabulous Thunderbirds version from 1986). Another soul-funky (and very Hayes flavored) standout is “Talk to the Man.” Penned not by Hayes & Porter but another Stax artist, Otis Redding, is “These Arms of Mine,” which Redding originally released in 1962. Another great funky soul track is “Don’t Turn Your Heater Down” – those horns! which was written by future Stax owner Al Bell and in-house Stax musician Steve Cropper.

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The Limboos “Off the Loop”

sfilzen — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 18:51:50 +0000

The Limboos “Off the Loop” 2024. Penniman Records. Madrid, Spain-based garage-soul, exotic r&b, psychedelic pop. Basically the kitchen sink of genres. Off the Loop is the 5-piece group’s fourth LP. I’m completely unfamiliar with this band – the album was a gift from some Spanish travels – so I can’t say anything about how it compares to their previous material. According to their Bandcamp page, on Off the Loop “they inaugurate a new cycle that confirms the restlessness and nonconformity of the band in the search for their own sound. How to define ‘Off the Loop’? The nine songs and 35 minutes of music included here reflect this broad perspective: lysergic passages, baroque pop, and beautifully crafted psychedelia intertwine with cinematic atmospheres, fuzz guitars, galactic keyboards and unique arrangements. In short, The Limboos’ sound has reached a place you never suspected.” My top pick is the almost-title track “In the Loop” which has a funky psych-garage vibe, followed by the hard, blues rocker “Stranded (I’m Moving On)” which also has more than a nod to psychedelia to it (love that 60’s organ sound). “Hangin’ Up” has a really laid-back soul-meets-psych groove and “Red Line” is a pretty decent ass-shaker.

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Amy Winehouse “Back to Black”

sfilzen — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 17:44:30 +0000

Amy Winehouse “Back to Black” 2006. Island Records. Today, September 14th, would have been Amy Winehouse’s 40th birthday (b. 1983, d. 2011). Back to Black was her second, and final, album. Infused with soul, r&b and 60’s American girl-group spirit, Back to Black was a smash hit, going to the top of the charts almost everywhere (though only to #2 in the US). It won the 2008 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album, is the UK’s second-biggest selling record of the current century and is on a ton of best-of lists. The LP is packed with top-picks including its singles: the insanely catchy/cheeky autobiographical “Rehab” (#9 US, #7 UK), “You Know I’m No Good” (#77 US, #18 UK), the title track “Back to Black” (#25 UK and then #8 in 2011 after Winehouse’s death), “Love is a Losing Game” (#46 UK) and “Tears Dry on Their Own” (#16 UK). I also really love the sad and sultry “Wake Up Alone.”

I admit to being somewhat late to the Winehouse party. I certainly was aware of some of the singles in 2006 but didn’t really listen to more than what I’d occasionally hear on the radio. But then we spent 10 days in London in 2019, three of those exploring Camden where she had lived. We took a Rock-n-Roll tour of the neighborhood one evening that visited many of the places where Amy hung out (pubs, mostly). Our tour guide, Alison (who I’m still in touch with), knew Amy tangentially I believe and told us a few personal anecdotes (again pubs, mostly, and boys). I also sort of got my picture taken with Amy Winehouse. Alison said that the statue is exactly to-scale of Winehouse – she was soooooo tiny!

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Prince “1999”

sfilzen — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 20:46:43 +0000

Prince “1999” released 40 years ago today, October 27th, 1982. Considered one of the greatest albums of all-time, 1999 catapulted Prince into the mass popular culture consciousness, where he remains even after his premature death in 2016. His first record with his band the Revolution went to #9 in the US and reentered the charts after Prince’s death in 2016, hitting #7. Funky, soulful, ridiculously sexy and danceable, 1999 spawned massive singles still played regularly 40 years later. The title track “1999” charted multiple times: first at #44 in the US (#1 on the Dance chart) in ’82, then #12 in ’83 with its re-release; in 1999 it went to #40 and then in 2016 to #27. “Little Red Corvette” made it to #6 in the US in early ’83 and then re-charted in 2016 on both the R&B and Hot Rock charts (#11 and #4 respectively). The manic “Delirious” went to #8. The ultra-dirty (and highly edited for radio: the album version has the lyric “I wanna fuck you…look here, Marsha, I’m not saying this just to be nasty. I sincerely wanna fuck the taste out of your mouth”) “Let’s Pretend We’re Married,” Prince’s final single from 1999 released in the US, only made it to #52. The synth-funk track “Automatic” was just released internationally which is too bad because it’s amazing. The rest of the 2-disk album is just as sexy and spectacular. “D.M.S.R.” (Dance, Music, Sex, Romance) is infectiously and hypnotically funky, as is “Lady Cab Driver.” And “International Lover,” while not a single, did earn Prince his first Grammy nomination in the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance category.

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Taj Mahal “Satisfied ‘n Tickled Too”

sfilzen — Tue, 17 May 2022 17:25:14 +0000

Taj Mahal “Satisfied ‘n Tickled Too” 1976. Today, May 17th, is Taj Mahal’s 80th birthday (b. Henry St. Claire Fredericks Jr., 1942). Satisfied ‘n Tickled Too is Mahal’s 9th studio album; it’s a mix of blues, jazz, world music and R&B. Not my usual fare, but I have a big soft spot of Taj Mahal as he was my first brush with musician celebrity. In 1976 just a bit before my 5th birthday, my parents took me to the Mariposa Folk Festival in Toronto where he performed and then I met him on the ferry from the island back to the mainland in a torrential downpour (you can read more about that here). I remember absolutely zero of his performance (the chances that I napped during it are super-high) but I strongly suspect he played much of the material on this record.

Satisfied ‘n Tickled Too is OK. The strongest track is the title track “Satisfied ‘n Tickled Too,” a cover of Mississippi John Hurt. It’s got a bit of groove Mahal delivers it with a hefty dose of sly wit. “New E-Z Rider” has moments of good funk, as does “Easy to Love,” and the world beats/reggae rhythms of “Black Man Brown Man” are catchy. I’m less fond of the smooth jazz/R&B numbers like “Baby Love” (which goes on forevvvverrr) and the cover of Irving Taylor’s “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” is kinda corny, as is “Old Time Song – Old Time Love” by Hoshal Wright.

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Aretha Franklin “Lady Soul”

sfilzen — Fri, 25 Mar 2022 18:21:55 +0000

Aretha Franklin “Lady Soul” 1968. Today, March 25th, would have been Aretha’s 80th birthday (b. 1942, d. 2018). Lady Soul was her 12th studio LP and it is considered one of the best albums of all-time. It went to #1 on the Soul Album chart, to #2 on the Pop Album chart and to #3 on the Jazz album chart in ’68 and had four Top 20 hits (two of those went to #1 on the R&B chart). Lady Soul boasts a huge and noteworthy backing band including Eric Clapton, Bobby Womack, King Curtis and Cissy Houston among many others. It is such a classic that to me it feels like a greatest hits record with some of my favorite Aretha songs: “Chain of Fools” (#2 US), “Money Won’t Change You” (originally by James Brown, 1966), “Since You’ve Been Gone” (#5 US), “Come Back Baby” (written by Walter Davis and made popular by Ray Charles) and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (#8 US). Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, King recorded her own version of “A Natural Woman” for her 1971 Tapestry album. Mary J. Blige recorded it in ’95, scoring a place in the Top 100 and Celine Dion did her version in 1995 as well, going to #31 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the US and to #47 in Canada. Franklin’s version is hands-down the best of the bunch.

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Prince “Controversy”

sfilzen — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 17:14:16 +0000

Prince “Controversy” released 40 years ago today, October 14th, 1981. Shockingly, our copy still includes the large poster which somehow escaped the normal rips, wears and tape tears from being attached to an 80′s teenager’s wall (the image cropped a bit here because posting it in its full glory got me thrown into “violates social standards” jail 🙄).

Controversy is Prince’s fourth album; it hit #21 on the US album chart and #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop album chart. Funky and danceable, its themes are a mix of socio-political commentary (most explicitly on “Ronnie, Talk to Russia” but also on the pro-gun control song “Annie Christian”), religion and sex sex sex without even a whisper of innuendo. Songs- and that poster! – like “Sexuality” (released outside of the US as a single – 1981 America was clearly not ready for it), “Do Me, Baby” (which was released, hitting #41 on the single chart and #1 on the R&B chart; it was supposedly written not by Prince but by Revolution bassist Andre Cymone), “Private Joy” and “Jack U Off” tell us exactly where Prince’s mind was at when writing the LP. Other singles he released were the title track “Controversy” (#70 US, #5 UK) and my favorite song on the album, the ultra-funky “Let’s Work” which went to #1 on the US Dance chart.

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Isaac Hayes “Shaft” soundtrack

sfilzen — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 18:57:33 +0000

Isaac Hayes “Shaft” soundtrack, released 50 years ago this month. Stax Records. Today, August 20th, also would have been Isaac Hayes’ 79th birthday (b. 1942, d. 2008). The Shaft soundtrack went to # 1, as did the the single “Theme from Shaft.” The soundtrack spent an astounding 60 weeks on the Billboard album chart, is part of the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry and won a bunch of accolades including Grammys for the Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical and Best Instrumental Arrangement and the film score as a whole won for Best Instrumental Composition Written Specifically For A Motion Picture or for Television. Hayes also won an Oscar for the theme single and was nominated for best Original Dramatic Score. Hayes had originally wanted to star in the film as John Shaft (Richard Roundtree had already been cast) so got a cameo in the movie instead. The soundtrack, written entirely by Hayes specifically for the film, is mostly instrumentals for specific scenes (i.e. “Shaft’s Cab Ride” and “Cafe Regio’s”) except for the title track, the excellent “Do You Thing” which charted in the top 40, and “Soulsville.”

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Stevie Wonder “My Cherie Amour”

sfilzen — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 18:58:36 +0000

Stevie Wonder “My Cherie Amour” 1969, Motown Records (ours is a 1984 reissue on Tamala Motown with an alternate cover). Today’s pull is a soulful, mellow Monday spin of Wonder’s 11th studio album is a mix of originals and wildly eclectic covers including one from The Doors (“Light My Fire”), a Broadway musical (“Hello Young Lovers” from The King and I) and film musicals (“At Last” from Sun Valley Serenade and “The Shadow of Your Smile” from The Sandpiper). The title track “My Cherie Amour” is a Wonder original and single from the LP which went to #4 in the US and the UK. The other single from the album “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday” is a cover, though not as well known as the other covers (written by Ron Miller and Bryan Wells, first recorded by Chris Clark in ‘66); it went to #7 in the US and #2 in the UK. My top track is the funky groover “Somebody Knows, Somebody Cares” (a Wonder original that he co-wrote with his mom, Lula Mae Hardaway, which in my mind makes the song that much better ❤️).

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Funkadelic “One Nation Under a Groove”

sfilzen — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 19:51:32 +0000

Funkadelic “One Nation Under a Groove” released on this date, September 22nd, 1978. Funkadelic’s tenth studio LP is considered the best funk album of all time, and one of the best records ever released in any category. It was also their biggest seller; it went to #1 on the R&B charts in ‘78 and hit the top 40 of the pop charts. I’m pretty sure this an original pressing (it’s a gatefold) but it’s clearly used – I have no idea who “J.W.” is who rudely inked his/her initials on the cover in black Sharpie – and it no longer has the 7″ bonus EP that came with the original LP’s (though the liner notes list the tracks included on that EP). The title track, “One Nation Under a Groove,” went to #28 on the US Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Soul chart; it hit #9 in the UK. It’s probably Funkadelic’s best-known song and is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as helping to shape the sound of rock music. It’s obviously funky as hell, super-danceable and just plain groovy. I also love “Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?!” (definitely not me, this song rocks AND funks hard with serious shred) and “Cholly (Funk Getting Ready to Roll).”. The winner for best track name goes to “Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo Doo Chasers)” – I think that might be one of the best song names ever. The gatefold has a comic strip that tells the story of the Funk Wars (the Doo Doo chasers have a starring role who are armed with Dookie Stick Blight Sabers – in case it’s not obvious, Star Wars had just come out a year prior to the album’s recording), which seems relevant today: the start of the text says “Once upon a time…in a faraway parallel universe , existed a intergalactic humbug between the forces of GOOD and EVILE [sic]. And on Planet Splurge, FUNK became THE FORCE to alter the cosmos beyond the limits of time and dimension!” We need the funk more than ever right now.

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