There's Gonna Be a Showdown [Import]

Archie Bell & The Drells | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 29, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Wea
• ASIN: B00003IQNS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,792,680 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bell & Gang Win Showdown, December 28, 1999

By 

June Marshall (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: There's Gonna Be a Showdown (Audio CD)

As a teenager in the mid to late 60's, I was a big fan of Archie Bell & The Drells and the Intruders. One of the things that I liked about their music was the way it was arranged. They were so different from what I was used to hearing on the radio. Reading the back of the album cover as I listened, I noticed that they shared the same studio musicians, arrangers and for the most part song writers. That was my introduction to the names of the writers, arrangers, individual instrumentalist and engineers. Mind you this was the latter half of the sixties. Just a few years later these same people became responsible for a new sound that came out of Philadelphia. It was called the "Philly sound," or TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia). "Showdown," to me was the Drells best album. Before disco they had three album releases. The first was "Tighten UP." I am not sure which came after that but the third album was "I Can't Stop Dancing." The first song is called "Hand Jive'" it has a nice infectious beat that hard to resist. Throughout the album you will notice how pretty, inventive and tight the arrangements are, and "Hand Jive," is a great on example to start off with. I have this album on cassette tape and not to long ago played it while my sister in-law rode in the car with my wife and I (I wanted to get her reaction and opinion). Without asking, she said, "who is that, they sounds nice." "Here I go again," is the next song (album was later re-titled as "Here I Go Again, for some reason), it too is a danceable beat that is sure to please, and is notable for the guitar parts that pop throughout the song. If I had to choose a favorite on the album, there would be a tie between "Hand Jive," "Go For What you Know," and "Green Stuff," There is not a bad song or one that could be mistaken for filler on this album. On this and the previously named albums, there are songs that are written by Archie himself and they show that he had that together as well. Its about time the original albums of artist like these are being released. Before this one all that Drell fans could find was two greatest hits packages (disco and pre-disco), and the one cd from Rhino records was not even in stereo, even though the original LP and tape were. I dislike greatest hits packages because of what they leave out, and hope to see record labels give us the one and only original album releases. I hope this review helps some. If you are a fan of this group and writers Gamble & Huff, as well as arranger/writers Tom Bell and Bobby Martin, this album is a gem and shows how their good their music was back then.

5.0 out of 5 stars hidden jewel, October 5, 2010

By 

Donald E. Gilliland (Bangkok, Thailand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: There's Gonna Be a Showdown (Audio CD)

I was amazed to find a copy of this CD at a chain store in Bangkok last year and immediately snatched it up (paid money as opposed to shoplifting it!). Of course I was familar with "Time is Tight" but I have to admit I didn't know much else about Archie Bell and the Drells. But I was intrigued by all the extra tracks on this CD, plus the fact the Gamble & Huff produced most of it. Well let me tell you, there are some fabulous songs to be found here, truly this was an unexpected treat to discover this album. Any fan of 60s or 70s soul would enjoy this CD. The excellent liner notes give informative background on Archie and his group.