VARIOUS / SOUL JAZZ RECORDS PRESENTS – Miami Sound: Rare Funk And Soul From Florida 1967-74 (Remastered) – 2LP – Yellow / Blue Vinyl

2LP – 20th Anniversary Newly Remastered Yellow (LP1) / Blue (LP2) Vinyl Reissue. Includes download code.

New 20th anniversary edition of Soul Jazz Records‘ long out-of-print Miami Sound: Rare Funk and Soul from Miami, Florida 1967-74. This album had been unavailable for more than 15 years and is newly remastered.

Soul Jazz Records Miami Sound features rare and classic Funk and Deep Soul from Miami, Florida between 1968 and 1974. The album brings together million-selling artists such as Gwen McRae, George McRae and Timmy Thomas alongside artists little known outside of the sunshine state such as James Knight and The Butlers, Frank Williams and The Rocketeers and All the People.

Miami Funk, Soul and Disco was dominated by TK Records, founded by Henry Stone in the early 1970s. Through a myriad of associated record labels such as Alston, Blue Candle, Dash, Glades, Cat and more, TK Records made international artists out of Gwen McRae and her brother George McRae, Betty Wright and KC and The Sunshine Band, all in the mid-70s crossover period between Soul and Disco.

The music on this compilation shows the roots of this Miami Sound. All the artists and musicians on this album work together throughout the heyday of TK Records when it produced hit after hit on an almost daily basis. The house band (the equivalent to Motown’s Funk Brothers) included songwriters such as Clarence Reid (AKA Blowfly, the adult comedian!), Casey Finch (KC from KC and The Sunshine Band) along with musicians Little Beaver, Frank Williams and Robert Moore. As well as being the in-house band, most of these artists also ran successful solo careers, making Miami one of the most musically creative hot spots in the USA.

The artists on this compilation include Helene Smith, Miamis first lady of Soul, Frank Williams and The Rocketeers (featuring a very young Little Beaver on vocals), George McRaes rare-groove classic “I Get Lifted” (written by Casey Finch), Timmy Thomas truly experimental track “Funky Me“, Gwen McRaes classic “90% of Me” as well as a host of practically unknown Miami artists who never managed to make it outside the city borders!

Soul Jazz Records latest curatorial masterpiece –THE WIRE

Soul Jazz Records compilations are a virtual guarantee of great music
– THE GUARDIAN

Just as they did in New Orleans, Soul Jazz have unearthed a funky treasure trove in Floridas vaults. – MOJO

Another smartly curated trawl through African-American treasures from Soul Jazz uncovers a host of classic funk and soul from Florida between 1968-74. – TIME OUT

Tracklist:

A1. All The People – Cramp Your Style
A2. Helene Smith – You Got To Be A Man
A3. George McCrae – I Get Lifted
A4. James Knight & The Butlers – Funky Cat

B1. Gwen McCrae – 90% Of Me Is You
B2. Little Beaver – Funkadelic Sound
B3. James Knight & The Butlers – Save Me
B4. Joey Gilmore – Do It To Me One More Time
B5. Helene Smith – A Woman Will Do Wrong

C1. James Knight & The Butlers Fantasy World
C2. Timmy Thomas Funky Me
C3. The New Clarence Reid – Cadillac Annie
C4. Frank Williams And The Rocketeers – The Spanish Flyer

D1. Della Humphrey – Don’t Make The Good Girls Go Bad
D2. Frank Williams And The Rocketeers – You Got To Be A Man
D3. Joey Gilmore – Somebody Done Took My Baby And Gone
D4. Little Beaver – I Love The Way You Love