Customer Reviews

Sound of Philadelphia: Gamble & Huffs G.H.

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I already had most of these tracks on other CDs, but often with less-than-stellar sound quality. I purchased this collection in the hope that 2008 remastering technology would finally get me these great songs with the sound they deserve. Boy, was I disappointed! Many of the tracks, including "Love Train", "T.S.O.P.", and "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" are overly bright and strain the ears. These actually sound worse than on my other, older CDs. Conversely, "If You Don't Know Me by Now" sounds warm and pleasant. Perhaps the larger set mentioned by previous reviewers is a better product both in terms of track selection and remastering. There's really no excuse for a new release from a major label to sound this poor.

Stupid question but... for anyone who loves Gamble & Huff, why wouldn't you buy the AWESOME 3-CD box set released a few years ago to wild acclaim? Sure, it's more expensive, but well worth it. (Box set name: The Philly Sound 1966-1976: Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff.)

Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's legendary Philadelphia International Records label was the most important and influential R&B label of the 1970s and most of the all-time classics featured on this CD remain both fresh and timeless (and still get considerable airplay on oldies stations and radio shows). The O'Jays, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls, Patti LaBelle, The 3 Degrees, The Intruders and Billy Paul were all consistent hitmakers whose classic PIR records still sound as great today as they did when originally released. Gamble and Huff's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is well-deserved indeed and this compilation pays a nice tribute to them.

They had some monsters and I have the full CD collection released a few years back, along with an excellent Sound of Philly CD with mostly their stuff on it. This is somewhat pedestrian by including songs like "I'll Always Love My Mama" vs. a monster like "For the Love of Money" or "When the World's At Peace". I know they were trying to show diversity in artists on this CD but let's face it, the O'Jays took Gamble/Huff's music and ran with it...unbeatable, historic collaboration...never to be duplicated.

I could do without cuts 8 and 9. Rather than "Wake Up Everybody" they could have included "Bad Luck" if they wanted another killer Blue Notes song or even better, slowed it down with "I Miss You". Instead of the People's Choice song, they could have included the awesome "You Are My Sunshine" by the O'Jays or better still, one of their Jerry Butler hits. So glad they included the Soul Train theme (TSOP)...that's a signature song for them.

Gamble/Huff's induction into the Hall of Fame is well-deserved and long overdue. They formed a lot of the soundtrack to my high school and college years and beyond. Love those guys! Driving down I-95 through Philly always causes me to want to put one of their songs on. :)

After years of proven hitmaking as contracted producers with singers such as Archie Bell ("I Can't Stop Dancing"), Jerry Butler ("Only the Strong Survive"), and Dusty Springfield ("A Brand New Me"), Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff took control of their own enterprise with the formation of Philadelphia International Records in 1971, its distribution handled by the marketing might of CBS. Thus they ushered in what came to be known as the Philadelphia sound in the early and mid-1970s alongside the work of producers Thom Bell and Bunny Sigler, eventually attracting crossover homage from mainstream rock heavyweights Elton John ("Philadelphia Freedom") and David Bowie, recording his 1975 Young Americans album at the city's Sigma Sound studios.

If James Brown and George Clinton were more interested in exploring the grittier, harder-hitting sounds of funk, Philadelphia International emulated the success of Motown in the 1960s in defining a particular approach, commercial but with substance, aligned with similar efforts at the time by Motown artists Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. In particular, the Gamble and Huff productions fit in snugly with the lushly arranged songs appearing as singles and albums created by Al Green and his producer Willie Mitchell, with one eye looking toward the dance floor. In tandem with the work of producer Thom Bell across town, the trademark sounds and arrangements for disco start here.

As a single-disc summary of the pair's work on their own label, The Sound of Philadelphia compiles fourteen tracks, of which all but "When Will I See You Again" and "I'll Always Love My Mama" were R&B chart-toppers, and nine of which were top ten on the market-encompassing pop charts. Gamble and Huff's heyday from 1972 to 1975 are represented by nine tracks, including the ubiquitous "Love Train" by the pair's main vehicle, the O'Jays, the theme from Soul Train used from 1973-1975, "T.S.O.P.," Billy Paul's soul-man anguish on "Me and Mrs. Jones," and possibly Teddy Pendergrass' finest moment from a storied career on Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' classic "If You Don't Know Me By Now." Of special note are the glorious "Back Stabbers," one of the highlights of 1972, and the best chart showing by the greatly talented Lou Rawls, "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," a singer who certainly deserved more visibility than his half-dozen or so Top 40 hits throughout his career suggested.

The flaw in the package, even with a relatively generous 65-minute running time, is the addition of a few too many songs that date after the duo's, and the Philadelphia sound's, golden age, simply because of their high chart positions. While undoubtedly worked on with great care, "Use Ta Be My Girl" and "If Only You Knew" could have been easily jettisoned in favor of overlooked songs from that golden age, like the O'Jays' "For the Love of Money" and perhaps their extended piece "Ship Ahoy." It's also a shame that someone can't put together a cross-label retrospective for the Philly sound. These caveats aside, it's all good music on here, well worth picking up if you want a concise view of this team's work.

This purchase was inspired by an episode of "Cold Case" on CBS - the show served as a reminder of that GREAT Philly-Soul sound in the '70s, and I wanted to hear some of these great songs again. :)

The album is a great trip down memory lane for us old geezers, and will REALLY take you back in time.

Recommended without reservation!