DONNY OSMOND: Young Love; A Million To One (MGM, available 10th August).
The first 45 I ever had (writes James Hamilton) was Tommy Steele’s EP of “Young Love”, the heart-rending teen ballad with which Sonny James topped the US for most of February / March 1957, and with which American actor Tab Hunter hit here. True to form, Donny Osmond has now revived it as his next single, and of course is suited to a “T” by its tender sentiments. Gulp! There’s even a soulful short monologue! Culled from his “Alone Together” elpee, it (in this American pressing) fades out rather arbitrarily after only 2:18. Flipside, Don revives another old ‘teen ballad, which hit in America for Jimmy Clanton during the Autumn of ’60 – however, because it sounds as though he recorded it before the famous voice -break, this version is more reminiscent of the 5 Stairsteps’ 1967 treatment. Which oldie will get the Osmond touch next?
Straight from the States
MARVIN GAYE: Let’s Get It On (Tamla).
As mentioned last week, Marv has a newie . . . and it isn’t his own song! Written and co-produced by Ed Townsend (of 1957’s “For Your Love” fame), and arranged by veteran Rene Hall, it’s a slow plodder which features some subdued blues guitar in behind the dominating thud beat pattern, through which Marvin weaves his old-style “How Sweet It Is”-type vocal. What a departure! What’s more, it’s completely hypnotic. However satisfying his recent amorphous sound may be, it sure is good to hear – and really HEAR – Marvin’s great Gospel voice at its sinuous best. He even gives Al Green a run for his money here. On the flip is a Norman Whitfield-produced wah-wah and fuzz-tone treatment of “I Wish It Would Rain” . . . huh? You’ll hear the times change at Motown . . . backwards?
THE MIRACLES: Don’t Let It End (‘Til You Let It Begin) (Tamla).
The heavy significance of the titles recorded by the old Miracles, the new Miracles and Smokey Robinson sure have been hammering home the point that they’ve reached a fork in the road. Yes, this is the first single to feature Smokey’s replacement, William Griffin. While he’s no Smokey vocally, he has a nice if anonymous crystal clear falsetto tone, and is well mixed in with the others on this lead-switching lush and delicate slowie, written with more than a hint of Robinson crossed with Bachadavid by co-producer/arranger Freddie Perren. It’s extremely pleasant, but in this age of Chi-Lites, Stylistics and Blue Notes it does not sound to me as if it would start a new group – and I emphasize “new” – on a major career, sounding as it does like so many others. Continue reading “July 21, 1973: Donny Osmond, Marvin Gaye, The Miracles, Jim Croce, Jerry Lee Lewis”
Whispering sweet nothin’s and still keeping up on the business
James Hamilton meets SYLVIA
“HELLO?” The voice is husky, laid back, welcoming – which, regrettably, is more than can be said of that of the sweaty fella who’s making the call. If you’ve ever tried conducting a trans-Atlantic telephone conversation while you’re wearing headphones, listening to the other person through the left channel by way of a microphone sellotaped to the receiver and hearing yourself through the right by way of another mike held in the same hand as the mouthpiece – to which, of course, you have to get as close as possible in order that you can be heard at the other end – well. . . . it’s not conducive to a relaxed exchange of sweet nuthin’s.
Sweet nuthin’s are what Sylvia’s “Pillow Talk” hit is all about. Sylvia actually wrote the song in the hope that Al Green might record it. “I took it to Memphis and played it to Al and to Willie Mitchell, but Willie thought it was a bit too sexy for Al! So, I brought it back, very despondent, and it was just left in the tape room here for about six months after that.”
You see, Sylvia Robinson is not just a singer and songwriter these days, she is primarily Vice-President (to her husband’s President) of a flourishing little group of Rhythm & Blues record companies – All Platinum, Stang, Astroscope, Vibration – in Englewood, New Jersey. Hubby takes care of the business business, she takes care of the music business: to the extent that one of her songs and productions with the Moments, “Love On A Two-Way Street,” was as big a hit for the company a couple of years ago as is “Pillow Talk” now.
As any Soul Group Freak must surely know, as well as the Moments, their other hit-scoring stars include the WhatNauts, George Kerr, Dave “Baby” Cortez and The Ponderosa Twins + One. (Actually, ace producer / singer Kerr is now with another label, but Vibration has recently signed Derek “Daddy Rolling Stone” Martin).
Sure, Sylvia used to be a full-time singer. With the currently Paris domiciled legendary guitarist, Mickey Baker, she recorded while very young in 1957 the original hit version of “Love Is Strange.” After the Mickey & Sylvia team split up, she recorded as Sylvia Robbins . . . but let’s get back to the present, and “Pillow Talk.”
“I had put my voice on it basically to take it to Al Green, and that same tape which I took down to Memphis is the same tape which is now the hit record. I would have wanted to re-mix it over again, but I was unable to because I had taken myself off of the eight-track as I had tried several other people on the track.
“So, that demonstration mix was the only one that I had of myself. I couldn’t alter it unless I had done the performance over again. ”
Once she had been persuaded that her version was the one to release, exactly as it was, Sylvia was pleasantly surprised to find that the R&B radio stations and their listeners just lapped it up. She had no trouble over the suggestive nature of her words until, long afterwards, the Pop stations began to programme it.
“I had a few problems because of certain things that they thought I said but which, if they’d listened properly, they’d have heard were not in there. Like, there’s one part where I say ‘nice Daddy, nice Daddy,’ but they thought it said ‘lie steady.’ Hahahaha! For certain stations we had to send out copies of the lead sheet to them. Everybody thinks I say that – I think I’ll have to incorporate it into my act, ‘lie steady!’ Hahahaha!”
Sweet dreams, Sylvia . . . and all you blokes out there, as the O’Jays say, it’s time to get down.
Straight from the States
CLIFF NOBLES: This Feeling Of Loneliness (Roulette).
Do you remember how, back in ’68, Cliff Nobles hit big, big, big with that great dancer, “The Horse“? And how “The Horse” was in reality just the instrumental backing track to Cliff’s vocal on “Love Is All Right“, which became relegated to the lowly B-side, where it was never heard from again? Well, Cliff is back, slowly climbing the R&B and Pop Charts, produced still by Jesse James, and . . . on a vocal hit at last! It’s a true hunk of throat-wrenching Soul, too. To a plopping, swaying, pretty, semi-slow melody he gives out all he’s got in a time-honoured fashion which is full of the type of anguished choking Soulful expression made famous by such as Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and all the other old ex-Gospelers. Interestingly, his voice does not sound double-tracked so much as phased (that is, the original take is re-recorded on top of itself, but slightly out of synchronization, to give a swimming sound that can sometimes make a freaky ear-messing noise which has been popular ever since the Small Faces and others used It in 1967). Here, the phasing is of the swimming variety, and ties well in with the smooth strings and brass backing to make an intriguingly unusual overall atmosphere.
ARETHA FRANKLIN: Angel (Atlantic).
Rita Frankel, as Mae West refers to her, begins her latest slowie (co-produced by herself and the great Quincy Jones) with a delicately backed rap: “I got a call the other day. It was my sister Carolyn, saying, ‘Aretha, come by when you can: I’ve got something that I wanna say.’ And when I got there, she said, ‘You know, rather than go through a long, drawn-out day, I think the melody on the box will help me explain.'” And it so happens that this pretty piece of gentle Soul wailing was written by that same sister, Carolyn Franklin, together with Sonny Saunders. Not, in fact, one of Aretha’s meatiest bits of material, it is however a perfect showcase for both her own laid back voice and Quincy’s perfectly lovely arrangement. On Aretha’s own flipside funker, “Sister From Texas“, the wukka-wukka-wukka-wukka wah-wah wins.
DONNY HATHAWAY: Love, Love, Love (Atco).
The eclectic Donny seems to be flirting with Soul again on this, his treatment of J. R. Bailey’s recent R&B hit. Bailey, with “Love, Love, Love” and the similar “After Hours“, has been tapping the Marvin Gaye market, starved of singles by the real thing but happy to buy J. R.’s accurate copies of that mellow echoing ethereal sound. Thus, Donny’s own treatment of Bailey’s version of the Gaye sound gets close to the original model in much the same way as did his “live” version of Marvin’s “What’s Going On” – although here the girlie group behind him sound at times as if what they’d really dig to be singing on is “Ebb Tide”. Very pleasant listening for the meantime, BUT . . . Marvin’s gotta newie out now too, about which, more later. Keep tuned! Continue reading “July 14, 1973: James Hamilton meets Sylvia, Cliff Nobles, Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway, Derek Martin”
Straight from the States Our exclusive service to RM readers. James Hamilton listens to records so far only available in the US.
AL GREEN: Here I Am (Come And Take Me) (Hi).
Willie Mitchell’s well-oiled backing eases into its usual satisfying groove with a solidly thumping slow drum beat, and Al “Crown Prince Of Soul” Green slips and slides all over the slick surface in his usual satisfying style.
Okay, so nothing else is new, and this pulled-from-the-album cut is not the tailored-for-Britain single which we were promised by Willie when he was here, but it is a four minute and ten second example of an extremely sophisticated singer’s highly personal art.
Al Green’s individual style is indeed an art, of the most avant garde variety. From the basis of a dependably rock-steady backing, he uses words less for their storytelling qualities than for their sound, which he twists into abstract patterns just as an instrumental soloist might restructure a melody in a jazz setting.
This single is by far the most abstract of Green’s career to date, and, if issued here, will probably prove to be his least accessible to British ears.
However, if it does well (as it is bound to do) in America, will it pave the way for him to experiment with some wordless scat singing in place of a song on his next single?
JOHNNIE TAYLOR: I Believe In You (You Believe In Me) (Stax).
One of the hottest hits at the moment, both R & B and Pop, the “Who’s Making Love” man’s latest is a delicately-starting silky slow thumper, taken from his accurately-titled “Taylored In Silk” album.
The gentle backing has some nicely unusual melodic shifts, and contains some odd flute and strings sounds which make me imagine them coming echoing down an eerily remote Scottish glen – why, I don’t know, but that’s my mental image.
Rather like Al Green’s music, here it’s the sound rather than the song that matters, although – not to discredit the ex-Soul Stirrer – the sound in this instance owes more to the overall backing than to Johnnie’s voice.
THE INVITATIONS: They Say The Girl’s Crazy (Silver Blue).
Hallelujah! Remember the Invitations, of “What’s Wrong With My Baby” fame? They toured here as the Fabulous Bloggs Brothers or some such back in the late ’60s, and cut their two Sandy Linzer & Denny Randell-penned/produced goodies (yes, “Hallelujah” was the other) back in ’65.
Now they reappear on, surprisingly, a melodic mid-tempo plopper which would not have sounded unusual even back then, yet which is hanging on and battling ever higher up the R & B Charts of today.
Surprisingly, too, it began by being but the flip side of their more adventurous reworking of “For Your Precious Love” – at least you get a double-sided beaut for your money.
Our exclusive service to RM readers. James Hamilton listens to records so far only available in the US.
BOBBY WOMACK: Nobody Wants You When You’re Down And Out (UA).
Possibly the last time that this old song was given an R&B treatment was as the adventurous B-side of the Hesitations’ 1968 “The Impossible Dream”. It now gets a slinky sensuous bass-driven slow reading in Bobby’s inimitable hoarsely screaming Gospel-ish derivation of the Marvin Gaye sound, a style with which Womack has become progressively more popular amongst an ever-widening audience with each new LP release. Following “Communication”, “Understanding” and the shared soundtrack, “Across 110th Street” (all of which are available here), his latest US hit album from whence comes this hit single is “Facts Of Life”. Do give him a listen.
S.O. U. L.: This Time Around (Musicor).
Standing for “Sounds Of Unity And Love”, S.O.U.L. are one of those modern R&B groups who draw on many influences, not unlike such as War, Bobby Womack, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. This, their latest R&B hit, is particularly reminiscent of the latter’s “What’s Going On”, in fact, and is a very pretty amalgamation of cool lead, chunkily schlerping rhythm, tootling flute and underlying melodic chords created by the ethereal wordless harmonies of the group. A lovely record, even if not entirely original.
THE MONTCLAIRS: Prelude To A Heartbreak (Paula).
Are these the “Happy Feet Time” Montclairs? Their first R&B hit for years, this Oliver Sain co-production is a wailing slowie which starts with a muttered rap over a sexily soaring sax before the lead singer emotionally swoops through the lush strings, sax and group backing. Old-fashioned and smoochy in sound, it’s almost a throw-back to the late ’60’s. Continue reading “June 30, 1973: Bobby Womack, S.O.U.L., The Montclairs, Bill Withers, Don Covay”
STOP PRESS SINGLE REVIEW Osmonds go for a Slade sound
THE OSMONDS: Goin’ Home (American MGM).
The Osmonds rock (writes James Hamilton) on their new American hit! Not only do they feature pounding piano, clanging guitars, buzzing clavinet (or some such other electric keyboard), and a chattering straight-ahead stomp beat, but also their frantic vocals include more than a touch of that Slade sound – especially where they emphasize the line: “I’ve gotta FIGHT, fight, fight, all day, and night, and day, ALL RIGHT!” Sorry I can’t say with authority which brother is singing lead (it’s not Donny or Jimmy!); whoever he is, his uninhibited rawly straining voice is just right, and is well backed up on the emphatic bits by the hollering full sound of the others. Yeah more than a touch of Slade. And a good solid rocker.
STRAIGHT FROM THE STATES
Our exclusive review service to R. M. readers. James Hamilton looks at the singles just released in the States.
FOUR TOPS: Are You Man Enough (Dunhill).
First “Shaft,” then “Shaft’s Big Score.” Now, are you ready for . . . “Shaft In Africa”? Yup, Ricky Roundtree will next be seen on the cinema screen taking giant steps all over the dark continent – as, coincidentally, will Ron O’Neal in the “Super Fly” follow-up. “Shaft In Africa” features music by the Four Tops, and this Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter–penned/produced piece of moody machismo is, if not the title song, certainly the big number. Strange, then, that it resembles the O’Jays’ “Back Stabbers” in just about every respect bar the words! Anyway, there’s always room for another Gamble & Huff dancer in discos, and this blends in with the genuine article pretty well. Uh, before we leave movieland – do go see “Slither,” it’s the flick that’s given me most satisfaction so far this year.
DIANA ROSS: Touch Me In The Morning (Motown).
The title track from divine Di’s new album, this brand new, non-Billie Holiday, tender slowie presents La Ross in a mature and unstrident mood, which may well be a result of lessons learnt while training for the “Lady Sings The Blues” vocal approach. The song itself is nothing unusual for her – it starts dead slow with just piano behind her wistful tones, then she breathes a “hey!” and the slow tinkle rhythm begins before the pace quickens and she gets into a typical fast, staccato chorus. The new difference is that even when the tempo accelerates and her voice rises, at no time does her old piercing shrill shriek spoil the easy listening qualities of the record. Still, what’s good news for some may be bad for others! Continue reading “June 23, 1973: The Osmonds, Four Tops, Diana Ross, Pep Brown, The Dells”
THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP: Gonna Make It Alright; I Got To Be Myself (The Gospel Truth).
I named the voice of Rance Allen as my “Tip For The Future” in our recent “Soulsation ’73” supplement, which means that the chap had better deliver or I’ll be upset! On his currently rising R&B hit (listed here as the B-side), he is poorly served by a clumsily constructed song, although his incredible swooping, Jackie Wilson-ish voice cuts through. However, it’s on the purer, simpler “Alright” side (straight Gospel) that his remarkable style comes into its own. The song is along age-old lines, used also by Marv Johnson’s “You Got What It Takes“, and the backing is just electric piano, tambourine, bass and guitar (the tempo even goes astray at one point!), which allow Rance to soar, squeal and scream in his spine-tinglingly exciting way. He’s now on his second Gospel market-intended single to go R&B, and his earlier “There’ll Be A Showdown” and “Truth Is Where It’s At” album are both at number five on the Gospel Singles and Albums Chart, so it looks as though he IS winning through in America. How long before he gets British recognition?
BEAUTIFUL ZION MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH CHOIR: I’ll Make It All Right (Myrrh).
Now, this Willie Henderson-arranged/produced Gospel record (on the Myrrh subsidiary of the religioso Word, Inc, of Waco, Texas, for whom Pat Boone has recorded inspirational ditties), is the same song in general as Rance Allen’s “Gonna Make It Alright”. It’s also on the R&B Chart and at number four Gospel. Here it’s given the big choir, lead chick and answering multitude, “Oh Happy Day”-type treatment, to a fast rhythm.
INEZ ANDREWS: Lord Don’t Move The Mountain (Song Bird).
The fourth pure Gospel record to go R&B in recent months, Inez’s calmly rasping treatment of the bass, guitar, organ and drums-backed slow and solid beater is still at number two Gospel, having topped the Chart. What is the cause of this new trend towards accepting straight (albeit accessibly treated) Gospel in R&B station programming? Was it the Vietnam Nam? Whatever, it’s good to see the roots of so much R&B being given non-specialist support.
Our new service for YOU
THIS week Record Mirror – the pop weekly that REALLY covers the record scene – has expanded its review section into a special four-page pull-out to bring you even more record and live reviews, every week. Featured are British and American albums and singles.
Editor’s Note: From this week, James’s American Singles reviews are given a whole page of their own, split off from his “Straight From The States” import reviews which continue on a separate page.
BOBBY (BORIS) PICKETT AND THE CRYPT-KICKERS: Monster Mash (Parrot).
Just to let you know that, following the initiative of some West Coast jocks, this 1962 classic is Charted and climbing, once again!
MANHATTANS: There’s No Me Without You (Columbia).
Rhythm & Blues hit-makers since 1964, these guys have yet to break big Pop. Now, however, following the success of the Philly Sound and the increased profits that they have discovered through their new involvement with R&B, Columbia Records have signed up the group and given them to Philly’s Bobby Martin, who has produced them on this superb slowie (which is already climbing Pop). A powerfully harmonized dead slow throbbing thumper, it features crystal-clear unison note-holding, meandering lead and a sexy gruff rap – the whole being a bit reminiscent of the Dells. If you dig the Blue Notes, you’ll love this!
JOHNNY WILLIAMS: Put It In Motion (Philadelphia International).
One of late-’72 / early-’73’s biggest-selling sleepers, which bubbled under the Hot 100 for months on end, Johnny’s Slow Motion was an out-of-character Gamble & Huff production, being a brassy dancer. Now continuing the same Motion, but at a much faster tempo, the team’s newie is still brassy in the background but much more in the G&H hustling groove (arranged by Thom Bell), which should help its chances when it’s issued here. Continue reading “June 9, 1973: Bobby (Boris) Pickett, Manhattans, Johnny Williams, Fred Wesley & The J.B.’s, Asleep At The Wheel”
SMOKEY ROBINSON: Sweet Harmony (Tamla).
“This song is dedicated to some people with whom I had the pleasure of spending over half the years I’ve lived till now, when we’ve come to our fork in the road, and though our feet may travel a different path from now on, I want them to know how I feel about them, and that I wish them well.” With that spoken intro, Smokey launches into his first solo record since leaving the Miracles. The words to the rest of the Slowie are along the lines of encouragement to the group to go on singing sweet harmony and spread joy around the World. Isn’t that nice? It’s a pity that, while the words and singing of Smokey are good, the actual melody is monotonous.
THE EBONYS: It’s Forever (Philadephia International).
Penned by Leon Huff alone, arranged by Bobby Martin and produced by Gamble & Huff, this exquisite, shimmering strings, spine-tingling stately dead slowie features some breathtaking falsetto wailing offset against the gruff bellowing of the main lead singer. Hopefully it won’t take too long in coming out here, because it’s one that all lovers of the slower Philly Sound will want to hear.
SOULsation ’73 Edited and compiled by JAMES HAMILTON
RECORD Mirror’s ace reviewer of the American Singles scene, “Doctor Soul” himself, was saying in print in 1969 that Al Green would be a future superstar, and that Gamble & Huff would one day rule! Read what he has to say today! And remember, no one else reviews pre-release Soul singles “Straight From The States” in any other weekly music paper! SOUL-sational!
Britain’s taste in Soul reflected by America’s more subtle approach
GREAT things have happened since our last Soul Special – who would have guessed that Britain would suddenly go overboard for the Philly Sound? Maybe Motown’s move from Detroit to Los Angeles has affected it, but for one reason or another the label does seem to have lost some ground in the British Charts – ground that Philadelphian producers Thom Bell and Gamble & Huff have eagerly taken up, with hits by The O’Jays, Stylistics, (Detroit) Spinners, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Archie Bell & The Drells, Billy Paul. Now Norman Harris’s First Choice are in the Chart too.
The Detroit Emeralds have had a hit with their least successful US single, and are consolidating their position with a re-issued million-seller. Stevie Wonder is the only old Detroit star doing much here – The Jackson 5’s Chart placings have been surprisingly poor in the light of their supposedly fanatical fan following. At least Gladys Knight & The Pips have finally broken through. Timmy Thomas and Deodato are out-of-left-field ones who thankfully caught your fancy. All in all, Britain’s taste is beginning to reflect the current American fashion for less frantic, more subtle Soul . . . which can only be good.
In America itself it has been the Philly Sound all the way, too. The Detroit Spinners with I’ll Be Around, Could It Be I’m Falling In Love and One Of A Kind (Love Affair) are as hot for Thom Bell as The Stylistics were before them, the latter group only scoring big with I’m Stone In Love With You during the same period. Thom’s also up there via New York City’s I’m Doin’ Fine Now and Ronnie Dyson’s One Man Band (Plays All Alone). Gamble & Huff are of course the success story of the season: hit LP’s by The O’Jays, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Billy Paul, and hit singles from those LP’s with Back Stabbers, 992 Arguments, Love Train, Time To Get Down, I Miss You, If You Don’t Know Me By Now, Everyday I Have The Blues, Me & Mrs. Jones, Am I Black Enough For You. They’ve also had some success with The Intruders, Johnny Williams, Bunny Sigler, The Ebonys.
Motown has been doing much better in America than here, although even there it looks as though the Jackson 5 are slipping. Stevie Wonder’s smash Talking Book LP has spawned Chart-toppers with Superstition and You Are The Sunshine Of My Life while Marvin Gaye’s soundtrack score of Trouble Man made a big LP and single. Gladys Knight left Motown for Buddah, with the sentiment that Neither One Of Us Want To Be The First To Say Goodbye, a sentiment which earned her the biggest hit of her career. Jermaine Jackson’s accurate revival of the Daddy’s Home oldie was a deserved smash. And Motown won the Grammy with The Temptations’ Papa Was A Rolling Stone.
Producer / performer / label boss Willie Mitchell kept it all nasty at Hi, where the Memphis label’s superstar Al Green walked off with his sixth gold single and third gold album. Al is the star of the year, and has usurped James Brown’s position as the biggest crowd puller in R&B. In a similarly understated way, Bobby Womack’s Understanding LP continued to be a steady-selling sleeper hit, and he got into movie soundtracks with Across 110th Street. Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly score and its assorted singles, including one of Give Me Your Love by Barbara Mason, was the leader in the black movie score field, though an annoying misunderstanding barred it at the last minute from being considered for an Oscar.
As in Britain, Timmy Thomas’s Why Can’t We Live Together? and Deodato’s Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001) intrigued huge audiences. War went straight to the top with their The World Is A Ghetto LP, after their All Day Music album had been one of last year’s most consistent sellers. And in a similarly inventive mood, Britain’s Cymande did commendably well with The Message.
If Britain’s taste continues to mellow like it evidently has been, how long before such groups as Cymande have a chance at home? Now, go out and buy Sylvia’s Pillow Talk and Barry White’s I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby, and learn to relax some more!
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY
AS you walk down towards South Street (that’s where the hippies meet), some of the architecture you see reminds you of London’s Bloomsbury – the same Regency elegance, in atmosphere if not in fact, for Philadelphia is as old as America gets. Here was signed the Declaration Of Independence, here is the home of the Liberty Bell.
When you get to South Street, a scruffy tawdry entertainment-lined thoroughfare, you step into Krass Brothers’ clothing store, and the reason for Philadelphia’s modern fame is before your eyes. Everywhere, the walls of this warehouse are plastered with publicity photographs of all the aspiring singers and groups who have come to the Brothers for their ready-to-wear stage gear. Philadelphia is old and it’s big, and if a boy is poor he can maybe break out of it by becoming a star.
Why are you, from England, in the Krass Brothers’ emporium, anyway? Well, brother Ben has a music publishing firm called Krasbe, and this is its address. You’ve seen its name coupled with Downstairs Music on an interesting record label: the other words read, Gonna Be Strong (Gamble-Huff) The Intruders Produced by Gamble & Huff, Excel EX 101. The year is 1966, and you are there at the start of the modern day Philadelphia Story.
The older story began in the ’50s, when Philadelphia became home of the “American Bandstand” TV show, the teenagers’ televised record hop, which Dick Clark still comperes (but from California now). Back then it was the poor white Italian community which spawned forth their Frankie Avalons, Fabians, James Darrens, Bobby Rydells, who became boob tube-created singing idols over -night.
Cameo/Parkway was the local record label which entered the ’60s with a bang. By then there were black artistes getting a look in, and Rock ‘n Roll was becoming a bore to dance. Chubby Checker covered Hank Ballard’s dance tune, The Twist, and a new era dawned. Bernie Lowe, Kal Mann and Dave Appell of Cameo/Parkway had found a winner, and they went on to pen/produce dance craze records like Pony Time, The Fly, Mashed Potato Time, Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes), The Wah-Watusi, Bristol Stomp, and the immortal Let’s Twist Again for Chubby, Dee Dee Sharp, the Orlons and the Dovells.
During the mid-’60s attention switched from Philadelphia to Detroit, Memphis, and London. Whatever happened locally tended to be handled at some stage by Harold Lipsious, lawyer head of the Jamie/Guyden group of labels, just as his associates Huey Meaux and Dick Clark had a finger in any small-size pie in the South and West, respectively. Bob Finiz, producer of Claudine Clark’s The Strength To Be Strong, was working at Jamie with Brenda & the Tabulations: Brenda’s voice and that of Barbara Mason established a distinctive house style for Philadelphian girls. Dee Dee Sharp married a songwriter whose name was beginning to appear on R & B records, Kenny Gamble. Another name was Leon Huff.
Arguably, New York’s Teddy Randazzo produced a precursor of the modern Philadelphia, or “Philly”, Sound with his mid-’60s hits for Little Anthony & the Imperials, whose style had many of the qualities later to be associated with Sweet Soul. However, it was certainly the teaming of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff with the Intruders which realized the first true Philly Sound hit in 1966, United (released here 19.8.66). By the time that the same team were hitting a year later with Together, Gamble & Huff’s reputation was growing amongst Soul Freaks but their sound, although identifiable, was in fact not so far removed from the New York-recorded results of producer George Kerr’s work with the O’Jays. In November ’67, Gamble & Huff’s gimmicky Expressway To Your Heart topped the Hot 100 (by the Soul Survivors) and seemed to clear the way for the crystallization of their definitive Philly Sound smash, the Intruders’ Cowboys To Girls, which hit during the following Spring.
The Intruders, four handsome slim young men, were now drawing screams from black teenaged girls, although they could still not be thought of as singing Sweet Soul as we know it. It was later that Summer that three even sexier young Philadelphians got as sweet as they were able – the Delfonics, on La La Means I Love You. Thus producer/arranger Thom Bell first made his presence felt.
Thom Bell had already been working as an arranger and writer, in a somewhat subordinate position to Bobby Martin (responsible for The Horse amongst others), with Gamble & Huff on their sessions with Jerry Butler. Soul veteran Butler, The Ice Man, had been drifting from one producer to another before having some renewed success at the hands of Philadelphia’s Jerry Ross. Gamble & Huff were called on to write for him, and soon took over his production too. There followed an extremely profitable and artistically satisfying collaboration between Gamble, Huff and Butler, which more than anything else helped put the Philadelphian team on the map. Thom Bell became more closely involved too, as time went by, and was replacing Huff in the hit composer credits by 1969 – such as Moody Woman and A Brand New Me were Gamble-Bell-Butler songs.
To accompany their Gamble label, which starred the Intruders, Gamble & Huff formed Neptune, to which they have provided a shot in the arm with Wilson Pickett, Joe Simon, Laura Nyro and the Chambers Brothers. Thom Bell was producing Little Anthony & the Imperials as well as the Delfonics, and then hit his winning streak with the ultimate Sweet Soul group, the Stylistics. To consolidate their position, Gamble & Huff joined the mighty Columbia Records (CBS) distribution set-up when they formed their Philadelphia International label last year, with results which probably staggered even them: album and album track hits by the O’Jays and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, and, with Billy Paul’s Me & Mrs. Jones, the top selling single over the Christmas period.
The Philly Sound is big business – strange, then, that it should stem from just one recording studio, where most people seem to help each other regardless of their own commitments. This is Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios, at which Joe Tarsia is the over-worked engineer responsible for nearly all the Philly Sounds we hear. Everyone who works there, be it as producer, arranger or musician, is a member of a sort of co-operative, and works in one or other capacity on most of the sessions. Thus Gamble & Huff get arrangements from Thom Bell, Bobby Martin, Norman Harris, Lenny Pakula, Ronnie Baker, Roland Chambers, all of whom probably are playing on those sessions they are not themselves producing. Roles blur, so that it becomes difficult to tell who is responsible for what on which records.
No longer is it the record label which immediately indicates the Philadelphian source of the music, unlike in the days of Cameo and Jamie. True, Gamble & Huff’s work does now tend to be on either Philadelphia International or Gamble (CBS and Epic here), but Thom Bell’s hits with the Stylistics, (Detroit) Spinners, New York City and Ronnie Dyson, to name a few, are spread about on Avco, Atlantic, RCA and Columbia (CBS). These days there is an easier way then reading label copy to tell the city of origin . . . just listen for that Philly Sound!
SOULFUL SIX Influential stars of R&B
ISAAC HAYES
Began by playing keyboards, writing hits (often with David Porter), eventually producing, at Stax in Memphis during mid-’60’s. Stoned solo album debut was followed in 1969 by classic smash “Hot Buttered Soul,” which single-handedly ushered in the era of the long drawn-out Soul slowie and the super-spade rap. His 12:00 Walk On By remains the best example. Wrote the Shaft score in 1971, establishing the “chukka-wukka” guitar sound and a new fashion for black movie scores. Known as “Black Moses,” Ike is both witty and impressive on stage. (LP: Hot Buttered Soul / 45: (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want To Be Right – Stax).
JAMES BROWN
Now a law unto himself, whom nobody bothers to copy any more, Soul Brother Number One hit first with Please, Please, Please in 1956 but reached his present position of importance in the early ’60s, especially with his 1963 Live At The Apollo smash LP. Conscious of being black leader. Churns out incredible number of ultra-funky 45s, possibly more for juke box sales than the public. Unbelievably popular in Africa. Exciting soulful screams on slowies, complex rhythms on dancers. The hardest working man in show business on stage (LPs: Live At The Apollo, Volume 2; Revolution Of the Mind / 45s: I Got Ants In My Pants; King Heroin – Polydor).
THE O’JAYS
From 1963 and their work (as a quintet) on Imperial, the O’Jays have always been one of the most passionate yet cool Soul Vocal Groups. With producer George Kerr on Bell in the late ’60s they formulated a hesitant slow style in which rich harmonies counterpointed a pleading lead, and made an important contribution to Sweet Soul by having the stuttering percussion section carry much of the melody. Reduced through four to three, they have adapted their approach to fit their current hit-making Gamble & Huff formula. (LPs: Back On Top – US Bell; Back Stabbers – CBS / 45: There’s Someone Waiting (Back Home) – US Neptune).
MARVIN GAYE
Broke big as a solo star in 1963 with the first of a long line of dance hits, which culminated in 1968’s I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Tamla’s biggest seller and itself a departure from his norm. Always a sensitive singer, Marvin then withdrew to work (not necessarily with Tamla’s blessing) on a sound that was his own completely. The resultant What’s Goin’ On introduced a new casualness to Soul, with gentle, amorphous, swimming multi-tracked sounds concealing social commentary lyrics. Not a prolific recorder now, his only releases since 1971 being a political 45 and the mainly instrumental / Trouble Man score. (LP: What’s Goin’ On – Tamla Motown).
STEVIE WONDER
Billed as The 12 Year Old Genius when his Fingertips topped the 1963 US Charts, Stevie has only recently managed to live down that “Little” appendage. Like Marvin Gaye, but from a stronger standpoint, he experimented with sound and composition until on turning 21 (contract renewal time) he was able to release Music Of My Mind, an LP that was literally all his own work. Working with synthesizers, over-dubs, and extremely pretty melodies, he has reinforced Marvin’s breakthrough with a joie de vivre. Thought of by many R&B musicians as the hope for the future. (LPs: Music Of My Mind; Talking Book / 45: If You Really Love Me – Tamla Motown).
THE FRIENDS OF DISTINCTION
Mistakenly considered by some to be another 5th Dimension, this two men / two girls (now, only one girl) group are much more Soulful, despite their tendency towards pretty material. Their 1969 vocal treatment of Grazing In The Grass accelerated Aretha Franklin’s “sock it to me” into a dazzlingly staccato percussive effect, at its fastest on “Icandiggit hecandiggit shecandiggit wecandiggit theycandiggit youcandiggit, oh let’s dig it.” A complete contrast, Going In Circles was a tortuous dead slowie of exquisite beauty. Although not as successful these days, their influence continues to be felt. (LPs: Grazin’ ; Best Of Friends – RCA).
TIP FOR THE FUTURE RANCE ALLEN
Rotund Rance is a Gospel artist whose work is beginning to hit the R&B Charts, and who appeared in the “Wattstax” movie. Known here only for his exciting, Jackie Wilson-ish and more, inspirational reading of There’s Gonna Be A Showdown and its powerful slow That Will Be Good Enough For Me flip. I have a hunch that this is but the start of something big – and I felt the same about Wilson Pickett in 1963 and Al Green in 1969. Watch out! (LP: Truth Is Where It’s At – US Gospel Truth / 45: as above – Stax).
BLAST FROM THE PAST JOE STUBBS
Ex-Falcons, ex-Contours, ex-100 Proof (Aged In Soul), Joe (brother of 4 Tops’ Levi) has dropped from view: reportedly, unable to cope with fame. His raw Gospel yelping voice is heard to spine-tingling effect on the Falcons live versions of I Found A Love and Alabama Bound, and on 100 Proof’s Backtrack; his sexy stoned conversation with a foxy chick on 100 Proof’s Ain’t That Lovin’ You is a guaranteed turn-on. In my mind, Soul’s most exciting voice. (LPs: Various – Apollo Saturday Night – Atco ; 100 Proof – Somebody’s Been Sleeping In My Bed – Hot Wax)
R&B TOP THIRTY Review of Billboard’s US Soul Chart for week ending 19 / 5 / 1973
1) LEAVING ME The Independents (Wand), a hesitant vocal group slowie with lots of empty spaces in the quiet backing, traditional and somehow “pure” in concept. Out here on Pye 7N25612.
2) PILLOW TALK Sylvia (Vibration), a sexy romp, coyly squeaked, sucked and hissed by the winsome label president / producer, Sylvia Robinson, to a delightful bubbling backing. Out here on London HLU 10415.
BROWNSVILLE STATION: Let Your Yeah Be Yeah (Big Tree).
Recently in reviewing the J. Geils Band’s Reggae-styled newie, I remarked that the new “R & B” boom was on its way. Maybe my reasoning was a bit obscure: my use of the term “R & B” in quotes was meant to denote what the British Pop public, and not Soul fans, thought of as that type of music, back in the mid-’60s. Thus, just as the British “R & B” groups of that era played a mysterious musical concoction which owed little to its American inspiration, so the new breed of white plagiarists are adapting Reggae to their own limitations, with the result that they may well create in the process a de-based “Reggae” boom that becomes to the ’70s what so-called “R & B” was to the ’60s. Here, for instance, the sometime Rock Reviving raucous white group have made Jimmy Cliff’s Pioneers hit into a crashing clomper which owes just about nothing to real Reggae. Of course, that may have been the group’s intention, as the song itself is strong, but the end result is very similar to the kind of coarse cover-job that made Pop hits out of subtle black songs in the “R & B” past.
FOSTER SYLVERS: Misdemeanour (Pride).
Open the trade mag, see a pic of Michael Jackson, think “Hi, Mike!”, then read the name “Foster Sylvers”, go “Huh?”, do a double take, and believe what I say in the American Singles column alongside when I describe the Sylvers as visually modelled on the Jacksons. What’s more, although there are differences, young Foster has even been made to sound as much like Michael as possible (although I’d imagine he’s a bit younger). The perky little plinker that he sings was penned, as was the group’s British single, by Leon Sylvers III, and the whole group sing Leon’s more intricate flip in their sophisticated Stairsteps/Friends Of Distinction/Miracles style. Again, this is one very good group which should be heard. As for Foster, who could well be the one to break them with the ‘teens, as they’ve obviously planned, he’s in at 127 first week on the Record World Top 150 Chart, jumping from 71 to 40 R&B.
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