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How to buy: Philly Soul
Back where it all beganGuest contributor Jazzy Jeff writes about growing up with Philly Soul, and how Philadelphia International Records influenced his own career Sunday October 17, 2004 The Observer Growing up in Philadelphia, you had no choice but to be exposed to the Philly soul of Philadelphia International Records, just as if you grew up in Detroit you couldn't escape the sounds of Motown. I was the youngest of six so I had no control over the stereo. I was a sponge; I had to listen to the records that my brothers and sisters brought home and invariably that was Philly soul. I remember being five or six and hearing 'Backstabbers' by the O'Jays and 'Me and Mrs Jones' by Billy Paul. Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff were responsible for so many different aspects of Philadelphia International Records' success, from nurturing their own artists to writing and producing stars who would come to them for the magical Philly touch. Even the Jacksons ended up coming to Philadelphia to work with them, and 'Let Me Show You' for me remains one of their finest moments. 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 mixdown. A lot of what we've done at my label A Touch of Jazz is based around that Sigma Studios model. We have a core group of writers, musicians and producers. We look at it like it's our job to carry on the Philadelphia International Records tradition. When I started to break out as a hip hop artist I had the honour of meeting Kenny Gamble. I probably still see him two or three times a year for some words of wisdom, or we just talk about what's going on in the local scene with people like Musiq Soulchild, Jill Scott, Bilal and Kindred. When talking about his own music, I often heard Gamble talk about 'the groove'. That seemed to be very important to him. If you lock into a groove you can ride it for an hour and nobody's gonna get bored. Records like MFSB 'Love is the Message' are just pure groove. With that heavy Philly kick drum and the tempo, that one track was pretty much the start of disco music, house music, dance music - whatever you want to call it - right there. That's why I can still play 'Love is the Message' almost everywhere I DJ today. They're the forefathers of it all. So many of the stories he told me have made me go back and listen to those classic records. He told me once about an argument he'd had with his wife where she shouted at him, 'Sometimes I feel like I don't know you,' to which he replied, 'If you don't know me by now, you never will.' It's so obvious that most of their lyrics came from real life, real circumstances like that. If they hadn't, they wouldn't nearly have connected with so many people. Another time, much earlier in my career, I remember going to him when I was having a hard time. I must have vented to him for 15 minutes non-stop about how hard it was and how so many people were trying to pull you in so many different directions. He just sat there with a half smile on his face. When I'd finished he looked at me: 'You know what that's called? Success. Who the hell told you success would be easy?' The OMM recommended 10 Want to discover how the sweet, smooth Philly sound paved the way for disco and contemporary R&B? Marc Rowlands gets you into the groove. 1 Harold Melvin and The Bluenotes (Feat Teddy Pendergrass) PIR's leading lights. When drummer Pendergrass took over they really took off. This is a great overview of their classic 1971-76 period including the timeless ballad 'If You Don't Know Me By Now'. 2 O'Jays Ship Ahoy Debut Backstabbers contained the career defining title track and 'Love Train', but Ship Ahoy is considered by soul cognoscenti to be the greatest album by a PIR act. As cohesive as any themed Curtis Mayfield masterpiece, social consciousness combines with peerless Philly ballads. 3 Teddy Pendergrass Bar a few bewildering omissions such as 'Can't Hide from Yourself', this double CD covers the best of Theodore Pendergrass's solo output, from intimate slowies such as 'Love TKO' to uptempo fave 'The More I Get', plus a few Bluenotes highlights. 4 The Stylistics Stylistics records were marked by Russell Thompkins Jnr's unfaltering falsetto and lush, orchestral arrangements from Thom Bell. At least five other LPs are worth hearing, but this wondrous debut includes the definitive recording of 'People Make the World Go Round'. 5 The Detroit Spinners The Spinners formed in the Motor City, but were marginalised by Motown so headed east to take advantage of the studio mastery of Thom Bell. It paid off and gems such as 'Could it be I'm Falling in Love' and 'I'll Be Around' ensued. 6 Various DJ Norman Jay MBE gathers together some of PIR's finest and at times lesser-known dancefloor greats, including the Futures' sublime 'Ain't Got Time for Nuthin", as well as Billy Paul's epic 'East'. 7 Jean Carne Many of her classic albums are out of print, but this compilation offers most of the best of one of Philly's first and finest divas. From the emotive, uptempo 'Free Love' to sultry, slower cuts such as 'My Love Don't Come Easy', it covers the full spectrum of Philly tempos. 8 Various A landmark Philly Soul compilation which shows first-hand how uptempo PIR soul 7"s turned into extended 'disco' workouts at the hand of pioneering mixer Tom Moulton. Longer versions of tracks such as the Intruders' 'I'll Always Love My Mama' are considered now to be the definitive ones. 9 Blue Magic After establishing themselves with ballads such as 'Sideshow', Blue Magic should, with their MFSB/ Baker, Harris, Young backing, have made the transition to disco easily. Sadly they didn't, but numbers such as 'Welcome to the Club' show the magic of which they were capable. 10 Jill Scott There's no better measure of today's scene than this stunning debut album from Jill Scott. Its nods to hip hop may place it in a different category from Philly's Seventies classics, but listen to the smoothness and subtlety. Printable version | Send it to a friend | Clip  | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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