VA - Psychedelic Soul Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (A Butterboy Compilation) (6 x CDs)

PSYCHEDELIC SOUL

VA - Psychedelic Soul Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (A Butterboy Compilation) (6 x CDs)

Psychedelic soul is the sound of transformation electrified. It’s where gospel’s spiritual yearning collides with funk’s rhythmic propulsion and acid rock’s sonic experimentation. Emerging in the late 1960s, this genre became a vessel for Black consciousness, civil rights urgency, and metaphysical inquiry. Wah-wah guitars, phased vocals, tape effects, and cosmic lyrics weren’t just stylistic flourishes they were tools of liberation. Psychedelic soul didn’t ask for permission. It expanded minds, questioned reality, and turned dance floors into sanctuaries.

What defines psychedelic soul isn’t just instrumentation, it’s intention. These tracks channel altered states, communal ecstasy, and political unrest through layered arrangements and sonic distortion. Whether it’s a fuzz-drenched bassline, a reverb-soaked sermon, or a lyric that bends time, each selection in Volumes 1 and 2 carries the genre’s DNA. From gospel psych to acid-funk, from spiritual jazz to outsider soul, this archive is a journey through the margins of mind-expanding music.

Volume 1 lays the foundation. It’s the canon: Cymande’s “Dove,” Funkadelic’s “Free Your Mind,” Isaac Hayes’ “Hyperbolicsyllabic…”, tracks that stretch time and space. Included is Rotary Connection, Black Merda, Curtis Mayfield, War, and The Chambers Brothers, anchoring the set in both protest and transcendence. Even curveballs like Gnarls Barkley and Herbie Mann fit the mold, modern echoes of the genre’s ethos. Volume 1 is the spiritual map, expansive, definitive, and emotionally resonant. It was previously posted in 2018 so it's a great time to expand the set.

Volume 2, a further 100 tracks dives deeper into the underground. It’s the excavation. A deliberate coupling of two Grodeck Whipperjenny tracks, “Inside Or Outside” (vocal) coupled with “Evidence for the Existence of the Unconscious”(instrumental), to form a 9-minute metaphysical suite. Though distinct on the original 1970 LP, their fusion here reflects the thematic and sonic continuum of psychedelic soul’s outer limits.” Turnarounds’ “Soul Walk” and its A-side Somewhere In This World are Tangerine Records deep cuts, blending cinematic soul with eerie atmospherics. Charles Hilton Brown’s “Argument’s” is abstract, spiritual, and sonically unhinged, a private press fever dream. 

Motherhood’s “Back In The Grass” and Brutal Force’s “The Number For Groove” are European psych-soul hybrids, full of tape echo and rhythmic dissonance. Mellow Madness appears twice, with “Going, Going, Gone” and the Kenny Dope edit of “Save the Youth” both socially conscious, fuzz-laced soul statements. Round Robin Monopoly’s “Life Is Funky” is pure wah-wah delirium, while Leo’s Sunshipp and Majestic Arrows offer shimmering, sun-drenched counterpoints.

Anchoring the set is The Chambers Brothers’ live epic “Love, Peace and Happiness” a 16-minute gospel-psych sermon recorded at Fillmore East. It’s ecstatic, communal, and deeply psychedelic. Final Solution’s “Brotherman” and Darondo’s “Let My People Go” bring protest and vulnerability, while Apple & The Three Oranges, Soul Caravan, and Equatics deliver fuzzed-out funk with spiritual , proving psychedelic soul is still evolving.overtones. 

The sequencing across both volumes is deliberate. Volume 1 builds the architecture, national releases, label-backed experiments, and genre-defining statements. Volume 2 expands the terrain, private press 45s, unreleased mixes, and outsider transmissions. Together, they form a sonic manifesto: a collector-grade journey through the genre’s known and unknown. The genre is honored, expanded and preserved.  This is a living archive. A map of the soul’s outer limits. A celebration of risk, resonance, and revelation.

While the majority of tracks in this set hail from the golden eras of soul, funk, and psychedelic groove, a few selections from the 2000s and 2010s stand out as heartfelt tributes to the genre’s legacy. Artists like Michael Kiwanuka and Khruangbin channel vintage textures, lush strings, analog warmth, and hypnotic rhythms, while infusing them with modern production and global influences. These newer entries don’t feel out of place; instead, they echo the spirit of crate-digging classics, honoring the past while expanding the sonic palette for a new generation of deep listeners. (B)

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Note - Vol. One was previously posted

https://butterboycompilations.blogspot.com/2022/11/va-psychedelic-soul-butterboy.html

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Track lists

VA - Psychedelic Soul Vol. 1 

CD1

01 Cymande - Dove 10:56 1972

02 Rhinoceros - Apricot Brandy 1:59 1968

03 Meters - Come Together 3:10 1976

04 Stone Coal White - Stone Coal White 2:42 1972

05 War - The World is A Ghetto 10:09 1972

06 Merry Clayton - Gimme Shelter 3:30 1970

07 Next Morning - A Jam of Love 4:24 1971

08 Baby Huey - Hard Times 3:21 1971

09 Curtis Mayfield - Give it Up 3:49 1970

10 Shuggie Otis - Ice Cold Daydream 2:29 1971

11 Chi-Lites - (For God's Sake) Give More Power to The People 3:09 1971

12 Chambers Brothers - All Strung Out Over You 2:30 1967

13 Fifth Dimension - Age of Aquarius 3:53 1969

14 Blackrock - Blackrock Yeah Yeah 2:55 1969

15 Lyn Collins - Take Me, Just as I Am 5:36 1975

16 Temptations - Cloud Nine 3:32 1969

17 Rotary Connection - I Am The Black Gold of The Sun 5:41 1971

18 Black Merda - Cynthy-Ruth 2:53 1970

19 Isaac Hayes - Hyperbolicsyllabicsequedalymistic 9:35 1969

20 Funkadelic - Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow 10:03 1970

21 Sly & The Family Stone - Hot Fun in The Summertime (Mono Single Master) 2:39 1969

22 Minnie Riperton - Les Fleur 3:20 1970

23 Gnarls Barkley - Who's Gonna Save My Soul 3:13 2008

24 Bill Withers - Use Me 3:49 1972

25 Billy Paul - War of The Gods 10:03 1973

CD2

26 Herbie Mann - Push Push 10:05 1994

27 Chambers Brothers - Time Has Come Today 11:07 1967

28 Cymande - Bra 5:03 1972

29 Horace Silver - Acid, Pot Or Pills 4:25 1971

30 Funkadelic - Super Stupid 4:01 1971

31 Isley Brothers - Ohio  Machine Gun 9:14 1971

32 Grodeck Whipperjenny - Sitting Here on A Tongue 2:53 1970

33 George Benson - White Rabbit 6:56 1972

34 War - Four Cornered Room 8:35 1972

35 Funkadelic - Into You 5:41 1978

36 Curtis Mayfield - (Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Gonna Go 7:52 1970

37 Isaac Hayes - Ike's Mood [single version] 5:49 1970

38 Grootna - I'm Funky 5:30 1971

39 Pacific Gas & Electric - Are You Ready 5:45 1970

40 Chambers Brothers - So Fine 6:20 1965

41 Undisputed Truth - Smiling Faces Sometimes 3:18 1971

42 Undisputed Truth - What it Is 4:58 1971

43 Brothers Johnson - Strawberry Letter 23 3:38 1977

44 Sly & The Family Stone - Dance to The Music 3:00 1968

45 Eric Burdon & War - Spill The Wine 4:53 1970

46 Temptations - Psychedelic Shack 6:22 1970

47 Edwin Starr - War 3:28 1970

48 Earth, Wind & Fire - Help Somebody 3:41 1971

49 Wilson Pickett - Engine Number 9 2:50 1970

50 Black on White Affair - Auld Lang Syne (Previously Unissued) 4:02 1970

VA - Psychedelic Soul Vol. 2

CD1

01 Leo's Sunshipp - Give Me the Sunshine 6:22 1978

02 Equatics - Merry Go Round 2:42 1972

03 Terry Callier - You Goin' Miss Your Candyman 2:58 1972

04 Larry Williams & Johnny Watson - Nobody 2:35 1967

05 Doris - You Never Come Closer 4:15 1970

06 Soultans - Rain Down Soul 3:54 1968

07 Messengers Incorporated - Elenor Rigby 4:46 1972

08 Leon's Creation - Mirage 6:39 1970

09 Lonnie Liston Smith - Expansions (7' Edit) 3:02 1975

10 Masha Hunt - Walk on Gilded Splinters 3:30 1971

11 Charles Hilton Brown - Argument's 4:42 1974

12 Roy Ayers Ubiquity - Mystic Voyage 3:43 1975

13 Round Robin Monopoly - Life is Funky 3:47 1974

14 Turnarounds - Somewhere in This World (A Telephone is Ringing) 2:18 1969

15 Parliaments - All Your Goodies Are Gone 3:14 1967

16 Motherhood - Back in The Grass 2:36 1969

17 Funkadelic - Can You Get to That 2:51 1971

18 Brutal Force - The Number for Groove 4:15 1979

19 Darondo - Let My People Go 3:54 1974

20 Mellow Madness - Going, Going, Gone 2:44 1980

21 Fabulous Souls - Take Me 2:44 1971

22 Majestic Arrows - The Magic of Your Love 3:21 1973

23 Grodeck Whipperjenny - Evidence for The Existance of The Unconscious 5:59 1970

24 Grodeck Whipperjenny - Inside Or Outside 4:09 1970

25 Chambers Brothers - Love,Peace and Happiness 16:14 1969

CD2

01 Isaac Hayes - Walk on By 4:25 1969

02 Shuggie Otis - Strawberry Letter 23 3:59 1971

03 Roy Ayers Ubiquity - We Live in Brooklyn, Baby 3:45 1972

04 Temptations - Ball of Confusion (That's What The World is Today) 4:08 1970

05 Eddie Hazel - California Dreamin' 6:11 1977

06 Ebony Rhythm Band - Drugs Ain't Cool 2:45 1969

07 Black Merda - Prophet 2:54 1970

08 MRCY - Purple Canyon 3:13 2024

09 Darrell Banks - Love, Why Have You Forsaken Me 3:45 1969

10 Final Solution - The Final Solution 4:33 1976

11 Lotti Golden - Motor Cycle Michael 8:15 1969

12 Chairmen of The Board - Life and Death in G & a (Part 2) 3:50 1974

13 Rare Earth - King of A Rainy Country 2:43 1968

14 Ethics - Lost in A Lonely World - The Ethics 2:34 1971

15 Fabulous Originals - It Ain't Fair, But It's Fun (Pts. 1 & 2) 4:55 1971

16 MerkinTime - Take Some Time 3:54 1973

17 Enrique Olivarez Y Los Vampiros - Al's Place 2:22 1972

18 Soul Lifters - Hot Funky and Sweaty 2:51 1970

19 Boscoe - Writin' on The Wall 8:03 1973

20 Marsha Hunt - Black Flower 4:44 1973

21 Janko Nilovic - Drug Song 3:12 1975

22 David Axelrod - Mental Traveler 4:04 1968

23 Relatives - Don't Let Me Fall 2:53 1971

24 Eddie Floyd - Big Bird 2:59 1968

25 Soul Caravan - Psychedelic Soul 5:10 1967

CD3

01 Supremes - Reflections 2:46 1967

02 Isley Brothers - Summer Breeze 6:11 1973

03 Isley Brothers - That Lady (Part 1 & Part 2) 5:34 1973

04 R. Dean Taylor - There's A Ghost in My House 2:26 1967

05 Michael Kiwanuka - Cold Little Heart 10:10 2016

06 Ebony Rhythm Band - Soul Heart Transplant 2:54 1969

07 Soul Caravan - Just A Fantasy 4:18 1967

08 Dimas III - I Won't Love You Again 2:34 1966

09 Mandala - Don't Make Me Cry 3:08 1968

10 Jeannie Piersol - The Nest 2:48 1969

11 Christian Madden & The Enemy Chorus - Twice as Thick 3:51 2025

12 Summits - Let's Do it Over 3:28 1972

13 Anthony Mawer - Soul Power 2:27 2018

14 Arcesia - Soul Wings 4:01 1972

15 Essra Mohawk - Spiral 4:08 1970

16 Lotti Golden - A Lot Like Lucifer 6:37 1969

17 Sidney Pinchback & The Schille - Soul Strokes 2:41 1970

18 Grey Imprint - Do You Get The Message 3:04 1969

19 Gimmicks - California Soul 3:22 1971

20 Group Therapy - Foxy Lady 2:58 1968

21 Equatics - What They Doin! 3:26 1972

22 Apple & The Three Oranges - Curse Upon the World 2:59 1970

23 Mr. Cix - Motivation - Pt. 1 & 2 4:43 1975

24 Sons of Champlin - Black and Blue Rainbow 3:20 1969

25 Sensational Saints - How Great Thou Art 3:28 1973

CD4

01 Turnaround - Soul Walk 2:19 1969

02 Sensational Saints - The Fool 3:48 1973

03 Focus Three - 10,000 Years Behind My Mind 2:16 1967

04 California Gold Notes - W.B. 302 3:21 2010

05 Funkadelic - Holly Wants To Go To California 4:26 1979

06 Motherhood - I Feel Free 4:05 1969

07 Stevie Wonder - Do Yourself A Favour 6:03 1971

08 Tyler, The Creator - Sticky 4:16 2024

09 Fugi - Mary, Don't Take Me on No Bad Trip 6:30 1968

10 Ike & Tina Turner - Bold Soul Sister 2:35 1969

11 Mandrill - Fencewalk 5:28 1972

12 Flavor - Heart-Teaser 3:12 1968

13 Vibrettes - Humpty Dump 2:31 1973

14 Young Senators - Jungle 3:26 1971

15 Billy Larkin & The Delegates - Funky Fire 3:36 1978

16 Mellow Madness - Save the Youth (Kenny Dope edit) 3:49 1980

17 Oliver Sain - California Sunset 3:31 1974

18 Majestics - Funky Chick 3:29 1969

19 Hot Soup - Groovy Feelin 3:18 1969

20 Pacific Ocean - I Can't Stand It 2:14 1968

21 Khruangbin - Maria También 3:11 2017

22 Eugene McDaniels - Reverend Lee 6:25 1970

23 Harari - Uzulu 8:54 1978

24 East Coast - The Rock 4:18 1978

25 Xhol Caravan - Planet Earth 2:39 1969

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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.

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