Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers

Album: Peace in the Valley
Format: LP
Label/Info: Get Back 180 Gram Reissue (8063).

Sam Cooke joined the Soul Stirrers in 1951, replacing lead singer R. H. Harris after the Stirrers signed with Specialty records. Guided by the former teen wonder who would go on to be the superstar of early R&B, the Soul Stirrers are captured here at their best with 14 tunes of pure a cappella gospel feeling.

V/A - Nigerian

Compilations of Nigerian Afro-Beat, Afro-Funk, and Highlife from the 1970s.

Album: Nigeria70: Lagos Jump
Format: CD
Label/Info: Strut 035, 2008
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Album: Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues, 1970-76
Format: CD
Label/Info: Soundway SNDWCD009, 2007

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Album: Afro Baby: The Evolution of the Afro-Sound in Nigeria, 1970-79

Format: CD

Label/Info: Soundway SNDWCD002, 2004

V/A - Ethiopian

Album: Ethiopiques Series
Format: CD
Label/Info: Buda Musique, 1998-

Compilations of Ethiopian music from the 1960s and 1970s culled from singles and albums for Amha Records, Kaifa Records, and Philips-Ethiopia. Prominent singers and musicians from this era include Alemayehu Eshete, Asnaketch Worku, Mahmoud Ahmed, Mulatu Astatke, and Tilahun Gessesse. The series editor is Francis Falceto. All 23 discs are excellent, but the following stand out:

• Ethiopiques 1: the Golden Years of Modern Ethiopian Music (1998)
• Ethiopiques 3: Golden Years Of Modern Ethiopian Music (1998)
• Ethiopiques 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969-1974 (featuring Mulatu Astatke) (1998)
• Ethiopiques 7: Ere Mela Mela (featuring Mahmoud Ahmed) (1999)
• Ethiopiques 14: Negus of Ethiopian Sax (featuring Getachew Mekurya) (2003)
• Ethiopiques 21: Ethiopia Song (featuring Emahoy Tsegue-Mariam Gebrou) (2006)