Throughout the 1970s founder Henry Stone’s TK Records rose up to be one of the most important forces in black music, successfully pioneering the evolution in musical fashions from the early gritty funk and soul at the start of the decade to the arrival of disco in the mid-70s.
This album is a rollercoaster journey across soul, funk, disco and boogie, a party-rocking dancefloor-filling collection of monster tracks that includes million-selling hits such as Betty Wright’s classic ‘Clean Up Woman’, Timmy Thomas’s ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’, T-Connection’s ‘Do What You Wanna Do’, anthemic rare groove club hits including Gwen McCrae’s massive ‘All This Love I’m Giving’ and Milton Wright’s ‘Keep It Up’, plus a host of hard-to-find gems and rarities from the likes of Raw Soul Express, Chocolate Clay, Beginning of the End, Robert Moore, Clarence Reid, Little Beaver, Paulette Reeves and many more.
TK Records functioned more like a close-knit family than a typical record company. Based in the industrial Hialeah district of Miami, music man Henry Stone surrounded himself with a host of creative artists, musicians, songwriters and producers who created an immediately identifiable TK sound as well as making musical stars out of many of its artists.
Miami Sound 2 comes with extensive sleevenotes as well as an exclusive interview with Steve Alaimo, co-founder with Henry Stone of this musical empire. The album also features the photography of TK in-house photographer Larry Warmoth, whose rarely seen striking and unique images of Gwen McRae, Betty Wright, Clarence Reid and others offer a fascinating window into the pioneering record company.
TRACK LISTING
Side A
1. Betty Wright - Clean Up Woman (2.45)
2. Miami - Party Freaks (5.18)
3. Gwen McCrae - All This Love That I'm Giving (3.55)
4. Beginning Of The End - Monkey Tamarind (3.35)
5. Latimore - I Get Lifted (4.43)
Side B
1. Raw Soul Express - Burn The Candle (2.36)
2. Chocolateclay - Free (I'll Always Be) (4.38)
3. Betty Wright - I Love The Way You Love (3.03)
4. Little Beaver - Concrete Jungle (4.53)
5. Jimmy 'Bo' Horne - Clean Up Man (2.34)
Side C
1. Timmy Thomas - Africano (4.33)
2. Charles Allen - Winterman (3.16)
3. T-Connection - Do What Ya Wanna Do (7.03)
4. Robert Moore - Jimmie Bo Charlie (2.14)
5. Milton Wright - Keep It Up (4.11)
Side D
1. Clarence Reid - Ten Tons Of Dynamite (2.33)
2. Timmy Thomas - Why Can't We Live Together (4.37)
3. Little Beaver - We Three (4.07)
4. Paulette Reaves - Do It Again (5.33)
5. Lynn Williams - Kisses, Kisses, Kisses (2.22)