Philadelphia soul

For the American arena football team, see Philadelphia Soul.

Philadelphia (or Philly) soul, sometimes called the Philadelphia Sound or Sweet Philly, is a style of soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featuring sweeping strings and piercing horns. The subtle sound of a glockenspiel can often be heard in the background of Philly soul songs. The genre laid the groundwork for disco and what are now considered Quiet Storm and smooth jazz by fusing the R&B rhythm sections of the 1960s with the Pop Vocal tradition, and featuring a slightly more pronounced jazz influence in its melodic structures and arrangements.

The style

Due to the emphasis on sound and arrangement and the relative anonymity of many of the "style's" players, Philadelphia soul is often considered a producers' genre.^[1]

Philadelphia soul or the sound of Philadelphia songwriters and producers included Thom Bell, Linda Creed, Norman Harris, Dexter Wansel and the production teams of Gene McFadden and John Whitehead, and Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff (the latter pair of Philadelphia International Records) worked with a stable of studio musicians to develop the unique Philadelphia sound used as backing for many different singing acts. Many of these musicians would record as the instrumental group MFSB, which had a hit with the seminal Philadelphia soul song "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" in 1974. A notable extension of the Philadelphia sound were bassist Ronald Baker, guitarist Norman Harris and drummer/Trammps baritone Earl Young, (B-H-Y) who also recorded as the Trammps and would produce records themselves. These three were the base rhythm section for MFSB and branched off into a sub-label of Philadelphia International, called Golden Fleece, distributed by CBS Records (now Sony BMG), after which Harris created the Gold Mind label, in conjunction with SalSoul. Gold Mind's roster included First Choice, Loleatta Holloway, and Love Committee (all of whom would feature Baker/Harris/Young productions of their material. Their hit by Double Exposure, Ten Percent, (1976) was the first commercial 12-inch single. The Salsoul Orchestra was composed of key players from MFSB. Salsoul Orchestra (as its name implies) leaned toward R&B-Latin-fused musical flavor. The group was conducted by one-time Mike Douglas television show bandleader/vibraphonist, Vincent Montana Jr., another founding MFSB member.

Philadelphia soul was popular throughout the 1970s and it set the stage for the studio constructions of disco and urban contemporary music that emerged later in the decade.

This style of music has had a very heavy influence on later Philadelphia acts, most notably Boyz II Men, Jill Scott and Musiq Soulchild.

Notable artists

Notable Philadelphia soul artists include:

• Jean Carn
• The Delfonics
• The Intruders
• The Jones Girls
• First Choice (band)
• Patti LaBelle
• Loleatta Holloway
• Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
• MFSB
• McFadden & Whitehead
• The O'Jays
• Billy Paul
• Salsoul Orchestra
• Teddy Pendergrass
• The Spinners
• The Stylistics
• The Three Degrees
• The Trammps
• Blue Magic
• The Soul Survivors
• The Vibrations - based in the city and did considerable recording with Gamble and Huff
• Dexter Wansel
• Gamble and Huff - Notable Songwriters and Producers
• Thom Bell - Notable Songwriter and Producer
• Todd Rundgren
• Daryl Hall & John Oates
• The Ethics
• Jerry Butler - Some Notable Songs with Gamble and Huff
• Charles M. Mann - Singer/Songwriter. ASCAP: CAE/IPI No. 066.26.43.72 (Do not confuse this Philly singer with Cajun/swamp pop/rock singer Charles Mann aka Charles Louis Dominique)
• Barbara Mason
• Grover Washington, Jr. - Saxophonist who would eventually lay the groundwork for what is now Smooth Jazz
• David Bowie (Young Americans & Thin White Duke era)

Further reading

• Cummings, Tony (1975). The Sound of Philadelphia. London: Eyre Methuen.

• Jackson, John A. (2004). A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-195-14972-6.

References

Philadelphia portal