Moving on from yesterday’s Ray Charles post, but not completely… in the early ’50s he went down to New Orleans to work with Guitar Slim, and this was the result.

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I’ve heard this song by Marvin, I’ve heard it by Dusty and I’ve heard it by the Stones, but until now I’d never heard it by Barbara til now. In fact I’d never heard of Barbara Randolph at all.

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And then they were three… Tito Jackson’s death, at the age of 70, leaves the Jackson 5 down to a trio of Jermaine, Jackie and Marlon.

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This is a fantastic discovery If you like funky horn sections and you like powerful female voices. They don’t come much more powerful than Lydia Pense and her San Francisco-based band Cold Blood.

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Sixties soul veteran Gary U.S. Bonds had a second career in the early ’80s after Bruce Springsteen wrote and produced two albums for him.

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Bobby Byrd ought to be much more famous. He gave James Brown his big break and wrote most of his hits but never became a household name.

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This is such a sad and shocking song. The confessional domestic drama that unfolds over its two minutes is nothing less than heartbreaking. Especially if you listen all the way through to the abrupt surprise ending.

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This is the perfect soundtrack for a summer’s day, with the sun shining, and the perfect video for a summer night in the city. And today seems like it might (fingers crossed) be that day – and night – at last.

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This Northern Soul classic is, as far as I know, the only single ever released by Lester Tipton, a one-miss wonder who met a tragic fate. No wonder they call it Rare Groove.

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This song is such a masterpiece with which to launch a career. And Donny Hathaway is rightly regarded as one of the greatest of all soul singers.

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