The Soul Mixtape's TOP 11 LP's of the 1970's

This mix is firmly in Grizz territory; The 70's. So when compiling this mix I put forward my choices to the man himself. And, suprisingly, found that we had no real differences in artists. Just the particular LP's. Stevie? Check, on his list too. Marvin? Check. And so on, just a different LP preference.

I have to say, this era of music (and indeed this list) contains at least 2 of my favorite LP's of all time. I'll let you know what they are at the end. So, my choices for Top 11 LP's of the 70's are:

1.Donald Byrd - (Places & Spaces)
2.Aretha Franklin - (You)
3.Marvin Gaye - (I Want you)
4.Johnny Hammond - (Gears)
5.Stevie Wonder - (Songs in the key of life)
6.Earth Wind & Fire - (All n All)
7.Minnie Ripperton - (Perfect Angel)
8.Al Green - (Still in love with you)
9.Leroy Hutson - (Hutson)
10.Brenda Russell - (Brenda Russell)
11.Lonnie Liston Smith - (Loveland)

Why "I want you" rather than "Whats Going on"? I love that sound Marvin developed with Leon Ware. Is "Whats Going On" a great LP deserving to be on a list like this? Hell yeah, but one per artist is my rule!

"Songs in the Key of Life". Recognised classic LP. No need to go on about it. Same with "All n All" and "Still in Love with you". So, lets do a little bit on the others:

- "Places and Spaces" and "Gears" - Great musicians in thier own right, complemented by some classic production work by the brothers Mizell.

- "You" - Why pick this Aretha LP? It was a commercial failure, has been out of print since the early 1980s and has never been issued on compact disc. But theres some great work on here from Gene Page and Jerry Wexler and I think "It Only Happens (When I Look At You)", "You Got All The Aces" and "You Make My Life" are some of the best work Aretha has done and are rare groove classics.

- "Perfect Angel" shows off Minnie to great effect IMO, a great voice and includes some classic tracks like the Stevie Wonder written title track and "Take a little trip", but is better known for the much pastiched "Lovin' You".

- and then theres the underrated: Leroy Hutson, Brenda Russell and Lonnie Liston Smith. You should all know about Lonnie from Grizz's recent artists mix, but "Loveland" is a great place to start your LLS collection. As for Leroy, the man has made so many classic soul tunes. I would highly recommend you listen to all of his 70's and early 80's LP's, but picked "Hutson" for its listenability start to finish. As for Brenda Russell, what a songwriter. Aside from the tune that Luther made his own, "If only for one night", this LP includes classic tracks like "In the Thick of it" and "Little bit of Love".

And thats that. Ive done the Seventies, Eighties, Nineties and Noughties and between all of those lists you will have some of the greatest Soul, Jazz and Funk LP's I know. We start off the holidays with a list and will end the year with one, the best LP's of 2011, so stay tuned and feel free to argue, correct, or agree with my choices.

Oh yes, my Faves? Stevie's "Songs in the key of life" and Johnny Hammond's "Gears" which both are classics from first track to last.

The Soul Mixtapes Top 11 LP's of the 1970's