Just As Long As We Have Love: Rhino's Quadio Series Continues with Aretha, Spinners, Curtis Mayfield, Billy Cobham

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This morning, Rhino unveiled its first batch of Quadio titles for 2025 - and this time, the emphasis is on classic soul and R&B with a twist of jazz! The series, reissuing vintage quadraphonic (four-channel) surround mixes on Blu-ray Audio Discs, welcomes Aretha Franklin's Live at Fillmore West (1971), Curtis Mayfield's Roots (1971), The Spinners' Pick of the Litter (1975), and Billy Cobham's Spectrum (1973).

The Queen of Soul's Live at Fillmore West followed 1970's Spirit in the Dark in her storied Atlantic discography. Recorded over three nights at the San Francisco venue (March 5-7, 1971) with King Curtis and his band providing the accompaniment, the original 10-track album was culled from the setlists tailored by the artist and producer Jerry Wexler to appeal to the rock-oriented Fillmore crowd. It featured Ray Charles on the title track of Spirit in the Dark alongside Franklin's scorching interpretations of then-recent hits by Paul Simon ("Bridge Over Troubled Water"), David Gates ("Make It with You"), Stephen Stills ("Love the One You're With"), and Ashford and Simpson ("Reach Out and Touch"). Aretha played Fender Rhodes on numerous tracks including Lennon and McCartney's "Eleanor Rigby," her own "Dr. Feelgood," and her hit rendition of Ahmet Ertegun and Betty Nelson's "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)." The album opened, of course, with Otis Redding's "Respect," and Franklin more than deserved it for enchanting the Bay Area audience with pure, thrilling soul. (King Curtis' Live at Fillmore West was also released by Atlantic in 1971 with his band's solo sets; both albums were subsequently expanded by Rhino Handmade in 2005 as a 4-CD box containing both artists' complete performances over the three nights.) Aretha's Live at Fillmore West reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the R&B chart.

Curtis Mayfield's Roots was the Chicago soul man's second solo studio album, released on his own Curtom label. Roots expanded on the sound of its predecessor, Curtis, by branching out from the sweet soul stylings of Mayfield's old group, The Impressions, with funkier, more psychedelic textures. The album was imbued with the singer-songwriter's honeyed vocals, but also with a powerful social conscience on such anthemic tracks as "We Got to Have Peace," "Keep on Keeping On," and "Beautiful Brother of Mine." With just seven tracks clocking in at under 40 minutes, Roots was a compact but forceful statement from an artist who was on the cusp of another breakthrough with 1972's Super Fly soundtrack. Roots reached the top ten of the R&B chart and the top forty on the Pop countdown.

The Spinners' Pick of the Litter was the fourth straight winner for the group and its producer-arranger-composer-conductor, Thom Bell. The cover concept for the LP was unusual: as one of the first interactive covers in soul music, it invited listeners to "pick" their favorite Spinner. Each member was pictured as a perforated miniature, with an autograph across the silhouette on the inside. Fans could tear Philippé, Bobbie, Henry, Billy, or Pervis off the front cover and place the figure wherever they'd like. True to form, Bell gave each of the Spinners an opportunity to shine on the actual album, too. One member had his shining hour on the album's first single. Pervis Jackson shone with his booming "12:45!" on the lead single "They Just Can't Stop It (The Games People Play)," a uniquely Bell mélange of pop, soul, jazz, swing, and doo-wop as only The Spinners could deliver. It reached No. 5 Pop and No. 1 R&B. Bell co-wrote two of the album's tracks: the beautiful "I Don't Want to Lose You," with lyrics by Linda Creed, and "Honest I Do," with Sherman Marshall and Philip Pugh; the latter was originally written for an abandoned Dionne Warwick/Spinners joint LP. With other highlights including "Love or Leave," "Just as Long as We Have Love" (with Warwick joining Henry Fambrough in a touching duet), and "Sweet Love of Mine," Pick of the Litter (No. 8 Pop/No. 2 R&B) stands tall as one of The Spinners' finest hours.

The final entry in this Quadio batch, Billy Cobham's Spectrum, was the solo debut of the drummer and Miles Davis alumnus. It followed a period of productivity for Cobham in which he joined such artists as Stanley Turrentine, Milt Jackson, and George Benson at Creed Taylor's pioneering CTI label. Spectrum was recorded at New York's Electric Lady Studios over just two or three days with an eclectic cast of A-list musicians including Jan Hammer, Leland Sklar, Tommy Bolin, Joe Farrell, Ron Carter, and Ray Barretto. A benchmark in fusion with significant appeal to rock listeners, Spectrum was mixed in London by David Bowie associate Ken Scott; it has yielded multiple samples over the year including "Stratus" in Massive Attack's 1991 hit "Safe from Harm." ("Stratus" was also featured in Grand Theft Auto IV.) The quad mix of Spectrum, originally prepared but unissued in the 1970s, was previously released in the SACD format by Audio Fidelity in 2016.

All four titles are available now for order directly from Rhino at the links below!

Aretha Franklin, Live at Fillmore West (Atlantic ATL TP-7205Q, 1971 - reissued Atlantic/Rhino, 2025)