Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell might have been The Mighty Three, but dozens of musicians joined them in shaping The Sound of Philadelphia. That triumvirate’s lush, lithe productions were brought to life by the loose aggregation of players known as MFSB, or the house band at Sigma Sound Studios. These are the same musicians who went on to form The Salsoul Orchestra under the baton of Vincent Montana, Jr., including Norman Harris, Ronnie Baker, Bobby Eli, Ron Kersey, Lenny Pakula, Roland Chambers, Charles Collins, T.J. Tindall, Larry Washington, Zack Zachery,…
Bandcamp Bonanza: Top Picks For Indie Music Makers’ Sixth Monthly Event
On March 20, as the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic was just starting to be understood, indie music retailer Bandcamp made the bold choice of waiving their share of revenue for artists and labels who were cancelling shows and delaying album releases left and right. The result was more music bought by more fans than any day on the site, a record broken on the first Friday of May. Bandcamp Fridays have since taken place in June and July – plus the first of an annual occurrence when the service will donate…
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Release Round-Up: Week of July 28
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Elvis Presley, A Boy From Tupelo – The Complete 1953-55 Recordings (RCA/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.) A Boy From Tupelo: The Complete Recordings 1953-1955 journeys back to the birth of rock-and-roll to feature, on three CDs and digitally, every known Elvis Presley Sun Records master and outtake. In addition, the collection also contains Elvis’ four earliest, privately-pressed sides, and vintage radio and concert performances from the period, for a total of 73 tracks – including one previously unreleased, newly-discovered recording, “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” from the Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport,…
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Ace Throws a Philly Soul “House Party” with The Delfonics, Len Barry, Jerry Butler, More
What is the sound of Philadelphia? As Kent Records’ exciting compilation Nothing But a House Party: The Birth of The Philly Sound 1967-1971 readily admits, there were many such sounds – the sound of teen idols Fabian and Frankie Avalon; of “South Street” and “The Mashed Potato” and Cameo-Parkway Records; of the doo-wop of The Dreamlovers, and before that, of Italian-American singers like Mario Lanza and Al Martino. But the sound of Philadelphia referenced here is the one with capital letters – TSOP, the style perfected by the Mighty Three of Kenny…
Release Round-Up: Week of January 13
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up – our first of the New Year! Gerry Rafferty, The Very Best of Gerry Rafferty: United Artistry (Varese Vintage) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Varese Vintage goes right down the line with Gerry Rafferty’s greatest hits, including “Stuck in the Middle with You” from Stealers Wheel, and the solo “Baker Street,” “Get It Right Next Time,” “Right Down the Line” and more! This newly-remastered 16-track compilation has seven U.S. and U.K. single versions, six of which have never been on CD before. In addition,…
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Release Round-Up: Week of July 1
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! We’ve got the latest release from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music as well as plenty more that we know you won’t want to miss! Eddy Arnold, Each Road I Take: The Lee Hazlewood and Chet Atkins Sessions 1970 (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Our newest release brings together two seminal, never-before-reissued albums by Eddy Arnold on one CD, both from 1970. Love and Guitars captured Arnold in a raw, acoustic setting with many of Nashville’s greatest pickers including…
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La-La Means I Love You: The Delfonics, Survivor, Brook Benton and Sea Level Join Eddy Arnold On Real Gone’s July Slate
Yesterday we told you about Second Disc Records’ and Real Gone Music’s July 1 release of Eddy Arnold’s Chet Atkins and Lee Hazlewood albums from 1970 and now we’ve got the news of the rest of Real Gone’s line-up for right before Independence Day. First up is a compilation featuring notes by our very own Joe Marchese: 40 Classic Soul Sides from The Delfonics. When Stan Watson introduced a group (including brothers William and Wilbert Hart and Randy Cain) he was managing to a young Thom Bell at Cameo in the late 1960s, magic…
