madison blogs
April 2008
I’m In a Philly Mood!
You may be really familiar with the Motown sound from Detroit and the Stax/Volt sound from Memphis but there was also a fantastic amount of brilliant soul music that came out of Philadelphia. Artists such as Harold Melvin and The Bluenotes featuring Teddy Pendergrass, The O’Jays, The Detroit Spinners, who were actually formed in Detroit but were marginalised by Motown, so headed east to take advantage of the studio mastery of Philadelphia’s Thom Bell. It paid off, and gems such as ‘Could it be I’m Falling in Love’ and ‘I’ll Be Around’ followed. Philly Soul was one of the most popular forms of soul music in the early ‘70s. Building on the steady groove of Hi Records and Stax/Volt singles,
Philly Soul added sweeping strings, seductive horns, and lush arrangements to the deep rhythms. As a result, it was much smoother and slicker than the Stax soul of the late ‘60s, but the vocals and the vibe remained just as soulful.
Like Motown, Philly Soul was primary a producer’s medium, Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell created the instrumental textures that came to distinguish their unique sound. Although, what really distinguishes the Philly sound is the use of the same core group of people. Songwriters, producers and arrangers would sometimes double up as musicians, so you’d have people like Gamble and Huff, Gene McFadden and John Whitehead, Norman Harris, Ron Baker, Earl Young and Thom Bell seeing the songs through from their very creation right up to the final mix. Also, the 40-piece MFSB (Mother, Father, Sister, Brother) orchestra which comprised of veteran jazz musicians with classically trained string and horn players. This gave Gamble and Huff’s records a smooth, but with-a-kick feel, unlike anything heard in soul music before. Echoes of The Philly Sound can be heard today through the work of Jill Scott, D’Angelo and Angie Stone.
Sat 24th Jan 2008