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Originally from Yazoo City, Mississippi, Mike James Kirkland grew up singing doo wop and gospel. Eventually settling in California, Kirkland and his brother started a record label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bryan+Records%22">Bryan Records</a>, to release the love songs and socially conscious soul music that Kirkland had been writing. The two albums they released -- Hang On in There in 1972 and its follow-up, Doin' It Right, both echoed the style and sentiments of other artists determined to comment on social issues relevant to the African-American community: soul heavies like <a href="spotify:artist:3koiLjNrgRTNbOwViDipeA">Marvin Gaye</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2AV6XDIs32ofIJhkkDevjm">Curtis Mayfield</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7guDJrEfX3qb6FEbdPA5qi">Stevie Wonder</a>. The reputation of both albums slowly spread over the ensuing years, finally resulting in reissues in the '90s by archival label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Luv+N+Haight%22">Luv N Haight</a>, including the 2011 two-disc set Don’t Sell Your Soul, which combined both of Kirkland's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MCA%22">MCA</a> albums with rare early tracks from his first band, Mike & the Censations, comprising a kind of collected works. ~ Wade Kergan, Rovi
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