Changes: The Ru-Jac Records Story, Vol. 4: 1967¿1980 in Bloomington, MN

Changes
is an appropriate title for this, the final installment of
Omnivore
's four-part chronicle of the Baltimore-based R&B label
Ru-Jac
, because the imprint went through its share of changes during the period covered on this 25-track compilation. The set opens with
Winfield Parker
, one of the label's mainstays, turning out some Southern-influenced soul, and that's largely the path followed through the rest of the comp. It's a departure from the smoother sounds that characterized some of the earliest
singles, but there are still some easy grooves here, usually arriving from
the Fred Martin Revue
. Elsewhere,
hinted at funk in its embrace of Southern soul and also dabbled in psychedelic soul via the lysergic wah-wahs of
Saturday
. This variety makes
one of the richest volumes in
The Ru-Jac Records Story
, but it also benefits from mainly relying on material that was originally released on 45s between 1967 and 1974; these sides feel finished in a way a lot of the demos, backing tracks, and uncredited artists simply don't. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine