My favorite Al Green album.

Album of the day. One of disco's crowning achievements (and one of the all-time great concept albums), Donna Summer's 1979 classic, Bad Girls turned 45 years old a few days ago. Enough said.

Album of the day. Today is the master flutist Bobbi Humphrey's 74th birthday. Perfect spring day to let her last album for Blue Note Records, Fancy Dancer flow—an elegantly smooth brew of jazz fusion, soul, Latin jazz, and funk co-helmed by none other than the Mizell Brothers.

While it may not be as tight and cohesive as Dirty Mind, Controversy's ambitious song structures and overall flow is a thrill. The opening run from 'Controversy' to 'Do Me, Baby' alone is one of the finest sequences of any Prince album.

Released in theaters, 4/22/74...

'The deeply introspective music in Claudine brings layers of emotional authenticity and nuance to a portrait of Black love and family'

How Curtis Mayfield and Gladys Knight Created a Sound for Working-Class Black America
criterion.com/current/posts/…

It still blows my mind that the title role in Claudine was originally intended for the late great Diana Sands with a young Laurence Fishburne as one of her sons.

Then they end up looking foolish when a certain reissue sounds better than the original pressing.

It makes no sense how Prince snapped on 'She Spoke 2 Me.' Steely Dan-level sophisti-pop with a strong jazz pulse.

Album of the day. I have to admit, things haven't been the same since Prince died eight years ago (still doesn't feel right writing Prince and death in the same sentence). Ironically, yesterday also marked the 20th anniversary of this solid 2004 late-period offering, Musicology.

Marvin Gaye's '60s period gets terribly under-appreciated. She didn't at least enjoy his indispensable duet work with Tammi Terrell?

Album of the day. Today would've been Luther Vandross' 73rd birthday. Believe it or not, this 1976 disco-soul curio (with its gaudy glam rock-looking sleeve) is the true first release of his career. Before his solo career took flight, he was part of a vocal group called Luther.

The absence of liner notes for R&B and soul reissues is utterly upsetting.

I guess when visual albums were more prominent in the digital era. But in actuality, visual albums are just logical extensions of the music video format.

It's hard to believe it's been nearly a decade since In Another Life.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, by a mile.

Album of the day. Dexter Wansel was a major figure in the Philly soul scene in the '70s and '80s, helming classics from everyone under the Philadelphia International banner. But he took a step into proggy soul and jazz-funk with his beloved space-themed 1976 debut, Life on Mars.

Album of the day. Why Bill Withers' third studio album, +'Justments isn't widely acknowledged as one of the finest breakup albums ever made is beyond me. Bill may not have been the most confessional of his soul contemporaries, but he conveyed a range of emotions like no other.

Sure did, and they were in pristine condition for dirt cheap.