Emilio Castillo of Tower of Power joins Ross Boissoneau to discuss career-shaping albums by Curtis Mayfield, Howard Tate and the Spinners.

We review ‘Ragged & Dirty,’ which finds Devon Allman getting it done his own damned way.

In the same way that the Beatles were the undisputed kings among 1960s classic rock Desert Island Discs, Stevie Wonder owned R&B in the subsequent decade. You May Also Like: How an ‘Antique French Garage Band’ Nailed the Whole Soul Music Vibe Bluey of Incognito: The Albums That Shaped MyRead More

The Spinners, though finalists for the 2012 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, came up short. It was one of the only times something like that’s happened for the greatest soul group of the early 1970s. You May Also Like: Tower of Power’s Emilio Castillo: The AlbumsRead More

The new nominations for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 elicited the usual wailing and gnashing of teeth — even amongst us. You May Also Like: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Open Letter: Stop Being the Old Boys’ Club When John Frusciante Returned toRead More

From the first chunky guitar chords, the Spinners’ “I’ll Be Around” is a different kind of a song about getting dumped, and still loving her anyway, and thinking to yourself — and then saying out loud — that you’ll wait for as long as it takes for her to return,Read More

by Nick Deriso Hall and Oates are, of course, the poster boys for what happens when hair gel meets R&B. Funny thing is, they were originally anything but polished. Hall had reportedly been in an early Philly band with Thom Bell, later a central figure in that city’s R&B legacy.Read More