Joe Tex - From The Roots Came The Rapper (Expanded) (1972)

 The era this material represents wasn't an artistic or commercial high-water mark in Tex's career, although it's OK. Like his late-'60s sides, it bridges smooth soul with funk and anticipates rap, though it's a little lusher than his slightly earlier stuff. From From the Roots Came the Rapper itself, a highlight is the epic, eight-minute version of "Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby)," which naturally includes some extended spoken sections. That and the similarly constructed 11-minute cover of "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" make you wonder whether there was some influence traveling back and forth between Tex and Isaac Hayes. The rest of that LP had fair, and not great, good-natured yet earthy soul with a bit more of a slick Northern soul production influence than his '60s records. Tex himself, surprisingly, wrote just one of the tunes, though the other writers included stalwarts Jerry Williams Jr. (aka Swamp Dogg) ("The Baby Is Mine") and Don Covay ("I Can Do It Better").