Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes - Collectors' Item (All Their Greatest Hits!)

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000257D
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,719 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Leaves you begging for more..., May 29, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes - Collectors' Item (All Their Greatest Hits!) (Audio CD)

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes are one of the great forgotten soul groups, one of those groups with a distinctive sound that the listener knows...but has no idea whose sound it is. It was, of course, the sound of Teddy Pendergrass, before the jewel-bedecked Love Man phase and before the tragic injuries...back when all the man had was a voice that wouldn't quit. Buy this CD if you must, but know that once you do you'll be back for the more inclusive If You Don't Know Me By Now package, which is far superior.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Even Think About Calling Them A Disco Act, September 27, 2003

By 

BluesDuke "A sacred cow is worth but one thin... (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes - Collectors' Item (All Their Greatest Hits!) (Audio CD)

Their facility with the kind of danceable R and B that would soon enough be called disco (and, in their case, was spinning the disco clubs about as often as the earlier Donna Summer and the Trammps, among others) should never obscure that, first and foremost, the lineup of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes which became stars in the early 1970s was a soul ensemble and a powerful enough one. You can find plenty enough who mistake them for just another disco act, and that's horribly unfair.

Their regular albums tended a little too much toward either filler or extensions that didn't really enhance the songs, but here is where you get the absolute best of this quintet - from "If You Don't Know Me By Now" and "I Miss You" through "Bad Luck," "Where Are All My Friends," and "The Love I Lost" - without the excess and with everything that made them stars, from the effortless harmonies and rhythmic facility to the singular voice (maybe the most stentorian classic soul voice since Levi Stubbs) of Teddy Pendergrass (or, Theodore Pendergrass, as he was usually billed in the Blue Notes' heyday). Even three decades after their most successful period ended acrimoniously, this music is both the bridge between the vintage 1960s soul and what the 1970s ultimately became, for better or worse. Don't blame the Blue Notes for what was developed on the other side of the bridge; this set makes clear enough that, at their best, they had the music's best interest at heart.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hidden Treasure, September 21, 2005

By 

Carltouis Stevenson (Angeles Mesa, Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes - Collectors' Item (All Their Greatest Hits!) (Audio CD)

Over a span of 1972 - 1976 comprised over these years from Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes a Collectors' Item of a group with a soulful sound of deeply rooted R&B. Though I am a bit confused of the group's name, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, it should have been Teddy Pendergrass & the Blue Notes or simply Blue Notes. "The Love I Lost" is simply an upbeat tune of a love going in opposite directions. Titles such as "Bad Luck", "Be For Real" and "Where Are All My Friends" are songs with a message as the foundation, yet played a minimum role as the vocals were more relevant. They show their faults as some relationships may suffer instead of healing some surprising issues on "If You Don't Know Me By Now". Sharon Paige featured on "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon" aids with a more subtle tone to give this song the needed climax. The conclusion of this eight title LP, "I Miss You" was well worth the wait as Teddy vamps under the talk session of another member.