Big Break Records, an imprint of the U.K.'s Cherry Red Group, doesn't have an office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  But it might as well.  Much of the remarkable music that emanated from ZIP Code 19107 has been revisited of late by BBR, and the latest title is one of the most fully loaded in the label's catalogue.  The Three Degrees' Maybe actually combines two early albums from that "When Will I See You Again" trio, both from the catalogue of Roulette Records: 1970's Maybe and 1975's So Much Love.  The original 20 tracks from these two albums of The Three Degrees' pre-Philadelphia International recordings have been augmented by 23 more songs in a whopping deluxe edition.

The first iteration of The Three Degrees formed in Philadelphia in 1963, though only Fayette Pinkney was still in the group by the time of its signing to New York-based Roulette in 1970.  This line-up of the group, with Pinkney, Sheila Ferguson and Valerie Holiday, would prove the most enduring.  Behind the scenes throughout the group's rise to fame in the 1960s was one Richard Barrett, a successful writer and songwriter behind hits for Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and another girl group, The Chantels.  Barrett was in charge of The Three Degrees' debut single in 1965, and was still behind the controls for 1970's Maybe, the first of the two albums included in BBR's new package.

Barrett drew from a variety of songwriters for Maybe.  Not every group could pull off songs by Sly Stone, Joe Walsh and Hoagy Carmichael on one album, but The Three Degrees did...not to mention the tracks by Jimmy Webb, Tommy James and Joe South!  The girls alternated lead vocal duties, and their overall blend could convincingly be coquettish or sassy, making the off-the-wall song choices sound natural.   The arrangements from Steve Swanson and Sammy Lowe veered from supper-club showbiz to driving soul music.  And so there's a funked-up version of South's "Rose Garden" (popularized by country singer Lynn Anderson) and a big, bold, brassy reinvention of Webb's "MacArthur Park" replete with rain effects.  Carmichael and Mitchell Parrish's "Stardust" was hardly a typical selection for an R&B group in 1970, but The Three Degrees pulled off the standard (said to be one of the most recorded songs ever) with aplomb.  Best of all, though, was the epic transformation of a song first recorded by Barrett with The Chantels and then with the Degrees in 1966: his own "Maybe."  Holiday wrote and recorded a lengthy spoken-word rap to introduce the song, and the group infused it with a gospel fervor only hinted at in the Chantels' original version.  The Three Degrees brought similar spirit to the Motown stomp of "Lonely Town," perhaps better-known in renditions by Barbara McNair, Tammi Terrell and Martha and the Vandellas.

"Maybe" is reprised in its mono version among the bonus material, one of ten mono single bonus tracks on Disc One of the new set.  Some of the singles would be included on follow-up album So Much Love.  One previously unreleased track, the long version of "Yours," has been included.  (The edited track was the B-side to "There's So Much Love All Around Me.")  The A-side of "The Grass Will Sing for You," "Melting Pot," was the work of Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, previously recorded by Cook's group Blue Mink.  Though well intentioned, it's one of the more "dated" tracks here but a fascinating time capsule nonetheless: "What we need is a great big melting pot...and turn out coffee colored people by the score," the song goes.

By 1975, the Three Degrees were already firmly ensconced on Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International Records (PIR) roster.  "TSOP" and "When Will I See You Again" had already become instant classics.  So it was commerce rather than art that motivated Roulette's release in '75 of So Much Love, which gathered up previously unissued masters.  But there was plenty of art in these cast-off tracks, many of which were recorded between 1971 and 1973.  Although the songs weren't recorded with an album in mind, So Much Love is as satisfying as its predecessor, and maybe even better.  It follows the same formula of current pop covers and standards, soul and showbiz, and perhaps as insurance, "Maybe" was included on this LP, too.  The most indicative song of the Degrees' future direction came with album opener "Magic Mirror," with its Philly soul credentials clearly evident in its first notes.  Co-written by the great guitarist/songwriter/producer Bobby Eli, it wouldn't have felt out of place at PIR.  The album also features an impassioned but still subtle recording of Roberta Flack's "Trade Winds," and takes on Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With" (always delicious when sung by a female!) and Bill Withers' fiery "Who is She (and What is She to You" with strings, funky guitar and the group's growling and insistent vocals.  There are even some Jackson 5-esque guitar licks on "Caught Between Two Fires": "Either way, I'm gonna get burned!"

On the smoother side is the retro, romantic "I Do Take You" and "Ebb Tide," with the latter given a modern, soulful and urgent makeover.  Jimmy Webb's "If You Must Leave My Life," introduced by Richard Harris and also recorded by B.J. Thomas, gets a lush reading.  The song might be the best Burt Bacharach song not written by Burt Bacharach, and the Three Degrees do it justice.  A generous helping of twelve more singles rounds out Disc Two, including single versions of "Trade Winds" and "Ebb Tide."  The standard is a bit longer in its mono single mix, with sound effects of crashing waves and the like not heard in the album version.  "Ebb Tide" was the B-side to the 1971 single of Chicago's "Lowdown," written by Peter Cetera and Danny Seraphine.  Along with a heartfelt version of George Harrison's "Isn't It a Pity," it's among most interesting cover choices here.  Another rarity is Leon Huff's sultry doo-wop-influenced "I Wanna Be Your Baby," written sans Kenny Gamble, and released as the top side of a single in 1972.

BBR's definitive account of The Three Degrees' pre-PIR years is available now.  Fans of saucy, soulful vocals and impeccable musical arrangements will surely find so much love all around them with the expanded Maybe.

The Three Degrees, Maybe: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBRX0180, 2012)

CD 1: Maybe (Tracks 1-10) plus Bonus Tracks (Tracks 11-21)

1. Collage
2. You're the One
3. Sugar on Sunday
4. Maybe
5. You're the Fool
6. MacArthur Park
7. Rose Garden
8. Stardust
9. Lonely Town
10. The Magic Door
11. Melting Pot (Mono)
12. The Grass Will Sing for You (Mono)
13. Maybe (Mono)
14. Collage (Mono)
15. Sugar on Sunday (Mono)
16. I Do Take You (Mono)
17. You're the Fool (Mono)
18. You're the One (Mono)
19. Stardust (Mono)
20. There's So Much Love All Around Me (Mono)
21. Yours (Long Single Version)

CD 2: So Much Love (Tracks 1-10) plus Bonus Tracks (Tracks 11-22)

1. Magic Mirror
2. Trade Winds
3. Love the One You're With
4. I Do Take You
5. Who is She (And What is She to You)
6. There's So Much Love All Around Me
7. Ebb Tide
8. Caught Between Two Fires
9. Maybe
10. If You Must Leave My Life
11. Ebb Tide (Mono)
12. Lowdown (Mono)
13. Trade Winds (Mono)
14. I Turn to You (Mono)
15. I Wanna Be Your Baby (Mono)
16. Find My Way (Mono)
17. I Won't Let You Go (Mono)
18. Through Misty Eyes (Mono)
19. Requiem
20. Isn't It a Pity
21. Shades of Green
22. Handle with Care

CD 1, Tracks 1-10 from Roulette LP 42050, 1970
CD 1, Tracks 11-12 from Roulette single 7072, 1970
CD 1, Tracks 13-14 from Roulette single 7079, 1970
CD 1, Track 15 from Roulette single 7079 (subsequent pressing), 1970
CD 1, Tracks 16-17 from Roulette single 7088, 1970
CD 1, Tracks 18-19 from Roulette single 7091, 1970
CD 1, Track 20 from Roulette single 7102, 1971
CD 1, Track 21 previously unreleased, original version on Roulette single 7102, 1971
CD 2, Tracks 1-10 from Roulette LP 3015, 1975
CD 2, Tracks 11-12 from Roulette single 7105, 1971
CD 2, Tracks 13-14 from Roulette single 7117, 1972
CD 2, Tracks 15-16 from Roulette single 7125, 1972
CD 2, Tracks 17-18 from Roulette single 7137, 1972
CD 2, Tracks 19-21 previously released on The Roulette Years, Sequel NEM CD 753, 1995
CD 2, Track 22 previously unreleased