Kickin' Presents Hi Tide Groove: DJ's Choice 1969–1981 is a definitive compilation album curated by the renowned Japanese vinyl selector and funk specialist Daisuke Kuroda. This double-LP vinyl collection serves as a deep-dive retrospective into the legendary catalog of Memphis-based Hi Records. Spanning over a decade of groundbreaking soul, funk, and rhythm and blues, the tracklist bridges the gap between commercial masterpieces and buried musical treasures. The compilation highlights the label's signature gritty, brass-heavy production style, spearheaded by producer Willie Mitchell. Listeners will find timeless, charting anthems from genre definers like Al Green and Ann Peebles. However, the true value for record collectors lies in Kuroda's deep-cut selections. The album spotlights highly obscure, rare 7-inch singles from lesser-known artists such as Africano and Jean Plum, which are otherwise difficult to find on physical formats today. Essential tracks like Al Green's hypnotic Love Ritual and Peebles' driving Come to Mama anchor the album. Ultimately, this compilation acts as an essential sonic time capsule, capturing the rich, soulful atmosphere of the Memphis sound during its absolute golden era.

the eleven-time GRAMMY® Award-winning soul icon and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame® inductee Al Green releases his new 4-song EP ‘To Love Somebody’ via Fat Possum Records. Green stamps his signature stylings on the Bee Gees’ 1967 hit “To Love Somebody,” an unreleased, alternate version of his 2023 acclaimed single “Perfect Day,” featuring British singer/songwriter RAYE, The Velvet Underground’s “I Found A Reason” and his previously released rendition of R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts” This digital EP is available everywhere NOW! “When Fat Possum came to my studio and played me ‘To Love Somebody’ and ‘I Found A Reason,’ I felt this instant connection and harmonies immediately filled me” says Al Green. “The music spoke to me, so we immediately went to work.” Produced by Matthew Johnson & Clay Jones, Al Green once again went into the studio with the Hi Rhythm Section: Reverend Charles Hodges [organ]; Leroy Hodges [bass]; Archie “Hubbie” Turner [piano]; Will Sexton [guitar]; Steve Potts [drums] - from Booker T & The MG's. among others, and includes string section arrangements from Stax legend Lester Snell, bringing Al Green’s distinctive touch and feel to each song.  Lou Reed once stated  “I wanted to sound like somebody too! Al Green.  I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to humiliate myself by even trying to do that in public. I wanted to sound like Al.”  Now, Al Green lends his trademark soulful phrasing to The Velvet Underground’s ‘I Found A Reason’ and Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day,’ which New York Times described the 2023 release as “a sumptuous reimagining of Lou Reed’s 1972 classic.” In 2024, Al Green released his rendition of R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts”, to which R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe commented, “Speaking on behalf of the entire band—we could not be more honored, more flattered, more humbled...this is an epic moment for us.” One of the most gifted purveyors of soul music, Green has sold more than 20 million records. During 1972 and 1973, he placed six consecutive singles in the Top 10: “Let’s Stay Together,” “Look What You Done for Me,” “I’m Still in Love With You,” “You Ought to Be With Me,” “Call Me” and “Here I Am (Come and Take Me).” Green was born on an Arkansas farm in 1946 and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He sang gospel with the Greene Brothers, a family quartet, and belonged to the Creations and the Soul Mates in the Sixties. In 1967, Al Green and the Soul Mates had a Number Five R&B hit with “Back Up Train.” In terms of influences, “I was raised on the sound of Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers,” Green has said. A fateful crossing of paths between Green and Willie Mitchell in Texas, where both were performing, resulted in Green’s signing to Memphis-based Hi Records in 1969. Mitchell produced Green’s recordings and co-wrote material with him for the next eight years. It was a fruitful association that yielded high-quality albums (such as I’m Still in Love With You, 1972 and Call Me, 1973), as well as thirteen Top 40 hits that helped keep the sound of soul pure and alive in the Seventies. During the Eighties, Green recorded inspirational music for the Myrrh label while serving as pastor at a church he founded. The Nineties found him returning to his soul roots from time to time, yet to this day he remains primarily a singer and preacher of the gospel. On most Sundays, Green occupies the pulpit at Full Gospel Tabernacle Church on Hale Road in Memphis. The public is welcome to witness Green’s sermons, which are no less full of fire and feeling than the flood of singles that set the standard for soul in the Seventies. – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame