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/ Thom Bell

March 8, 2021 By Joe Marchese 14 Comments

Get On Board the Soul Train

Back in late January, we shared news of Philadelphia International Records' 50th anniversary plans.  The centerpiece of the campaign announced by Sony Music's Legacy Recordings was a series of CD box sets presenting every PIR album in chronological order.  Now, the first of those box sets is available for pre-order with a release date of May 28. Get On Board the Soul Train: The Sound of Philadelphia International Records Vol. 1 is a product of the U.K.-based United Souls, an imprint of

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD, Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Billy Paul, Dick Jensen, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, MFSB, The Intruders, The O'Jays, Thom Bell

January 25, 2021 By Joe Marchese 10 Comments

PIR50 1 logo

Fifty years ago, the release of Billy Paul's Going East on LP and The Ebonys' "You're the Reason Why" on a 45 RPM single marked the birth of Philadelphia International Records.  By 1971, co-founders Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff had already garnered significant chart success with their songs and productions for such artists as The Soul Survivors ("Expressway to Your Heart"), The Intruders ("Cowboys to Girls"), Archie Bell and the Drells ("(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown"), Lesley Gore, Dusty

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD, Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Thom Bell

October 12, 2020 By Joe Marchese 6 Comments

New York City Im Doin Fine Now

Doo-wop veterans John Brown, Tim McQueen, Edward Schell, and Claude Johnson came together as New York City, hoping that the name of their new vocal quartet would reflect the melting pot that inspired it.  "We feel personally that a group should be able to sing anything from the lowest, dirtiest blues," Brown wrote in the sleevenotes of New York City's 1973 debut LP, "through spirituals, right up through pop to the heaviest kind of music."  I'm Doin' Fine Now, originally issued on Chelsea Records

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Categories: News Formats: Vinyl Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: New York City, Thom Bell

June 26, 2020 By The Second Disc 4 Comments

Johnny Cash Complete Mercury Albums

Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Johnny Cash, The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991 (Mercury/UMe) 7CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 7LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991 will be available on 7CD or 7LP, 180-gram vinyl formats. The box collects all six albums Johnny Cash recorded for Mercury Records during that era: Class Of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming with Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Carl

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Categories: Release Round-Up Formats: CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Disco/Dance, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks Tags: Alan Silvestri, Alanis Morissette, America, B.B. King, Bee Gees, Eric Clapton, Eugene McDaniels, Fanny, Flo and Eddie, Frank Zappa, George Formby, Gerry Beckley, Johnny Cash, Judy Garland, Kleeer, The Rolling Stones, The Staple Singers, The Turtles, Them, Thom Bell

May 7, 2020 By Joe Marchese 7 Comments

Thom Bell Ready or Not

After having previously celebrated two of his musical inspirations - Burt Bacharach and Teddy Randazzo - with their own volumes, Ace's Songwriters and Producers series is turning its attention to legendary soul maestro Thom Bell. On June 26, the label's Kent imprint will release Ready or Not: Philly Soul Arrangements and Productions 1965-1978. As the title indicates, all 23 tracks were either produced or arranged (or both!) by the multi-hyphenate musician-composer-producer-arranger-conductor who

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Connie Stevens, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Jerry Butler, Johnny Mathis, Lesley Gore, The O'Jays, The Spinners, The Stylistics, Thom Bell, Various Artists

April 8, 2020 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Dee Dee Bridgewater

Dee Dee Bridgewater has long defied easy categorization. The Grammy and Tony Award-winning singer-actress has fronted a jazz orchestra; worked with legends of the genre like Thad Jones, Dexter Gordon, and Max Roach; starred in two Broadway musicals; hosted a long-running NPR radio show; and served as a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador as part of her fight against world hunger. Cherry Red Group's Robinsongs imprint has recently collected her first four American albums on a 2-CD set. When Charlie

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Dee Dee Bridgewater, Thom Bell

April 3, 2018 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

MFSB Definitive Collection

MFSB - a.k.a. Mother, Father, Sister, Brother (or a rather more off-color series of four words, depending on whom you ask) - remains one of the all-time great aggregations of studio musicians, right up there with The Funk Brothers, The Wrecking Crew, and The Nashville Cats.  The legacy of the Philadelphia International group has just been celebrated by Cherry Red's Robinsongs imprint on a new 2-CD, 32-track anthology entitled The Definitive Collection. The talented, versatile musicians at the

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Gamble and Huff, MFSB, The Three Degrees, Thom Bell

July 13, 2017 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Nothing But a House Party

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 -

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Archie Bell and the Drells, Gamble and Huff, Jerry Butler, The Delfonics, The Intruders, Thom Bell, Various Artists

June 8, 2017 By Joe Marchese 9 Comments

Mathis 60th 1

Johnny Mathis is currently touring the U.S. on his Voice of Romance tour - and indeed, for over 60 years, that appellation has been apt.  This Saturday evening, June 10, Mathis is coming to your own city, courtesy of Public Television and TJ Lubinsky's TJL Productions' popular and long-running My Music series.   Yes, this Saturday is Johnny Mathis Night, because that's when Public Television stations nationwide will air Wonderful! Wonderful!, a concert film featuring all of Mathis' beloved

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul Tags: Angela Bofill, Deniece Williams, Dionne Warwick, Henry Mancini, Jane Olivor, Johnny Mathis, Thom Bell, Yolanda Adams

February 3, 2017 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

Lesley Gore Love Me By Name

Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring Second Disc Records' first release of the year plus another incredible slate from Real Gone Music, box sets, anthologies, and more! Various Artists, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Expanded Edition) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music are tipping off 2017 with the first-ever CD release of Thom Bell's soulful soundtrack to 1979's The Fish

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Categories: Release Round-Up Formats: Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Folk, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks Tags: Black Sabbath, Delaney and Bonnie, Duke Ellington, Jim Kweskin, Judas Priest, Larry Coryell, Lesley Gore, Lynn Anderson, Soft Machine, Thom Bell, Vangelis

February 2, 2017 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh

Here at Second Disc HQ, tomorrow is the biggest day of basketball season - because tomorrow is when we're unveiling Second Disc Records' first release of the year!  Thom Bell's soulful, all-star soundtrack to The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh - featuring The Spinners, The Four Tops, Loretta Lynn, Phyllis Hyman, Doc Severinsen, Eubie Blake, and more - arrives from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music for the very first time in a newly expanded, freshly remastered edition!  Trust us: this is one

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul, Soundtracks Tags: Bell and James, Doc Severinsen, Eubie Blake, Loretta Lynn, Phyllis Hyman, The Four Tops, The Spinners, The Sylvers, Thom Bell, William Hart

December 20, 2016 By Randy Fairman 5 Comments

Lesley Gore Love Me By Name

As Christmas approaches and 2016 winds down, we start looking ahead to 2017 and what will be released.  We've already told you about the Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music reissue of Thom Bell's all-star soundtrack to The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh due in February, and now we're here to tell you about the rest of Real Gone's killer lineup for that month. First up are two titles with liner notes by our very own Joe Marchese.  In 2015, Real Gone reissued Lesley's Gore's Someplace Else Now

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Categories: News Formats: CD, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Country, Folk, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Soundtracks Tags: Delaney and Bonnie, Duke Ellingfton, Jim Kweskin, Larry Coryell, Lesley Gore, Lynn Anderson, Soft Machine, Thom Bell

December 12, 2016 By Joe Marchese 7 Comments

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh

Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records are tipping off 2017 with a slam dunk release!  On February 3, we will be bringing Thom Bell's soulful, all-star soundtrack to The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh - featuring The Spinners, The Four Tops, Loretta Lynn, Phyllis Hyman and more - to CD for the very first time in a newly expanded, remastered edition! The 1979 cult favorite film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh featured an all-star team from the worlds of basketball and Hollywood - Julius "Dr. J"

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul, Soundtracks Tags: Bell and James, Doc Severinsen, Eubie Blake, Loretta Lynn, Phyllis Hyman, The Four Tops, The Spinners, The Sylvers, Thom Bell, William Hart

December 6, 2016 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Deniece Williams Black Butterfly

Let's hear it for Deniece Williams.  Since making her first big splash 40 years ago with debut album This is Niecy, the daughter of Gary, Indiana has scored 27 Billboard R&B hits and 14 Pop successes including two crossover Number Ones, won four Grammy Awards (and amassed another nine nominations), and recorded over fifteen albums blurring the lines between soul, pop, and gospel.  This singular artist has just been celebrated by Big Break Records on a new 2-CD anthology.  Black Butterfly -

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Deniece Williams, George Duke, Johnny Mathis, Thom Bell

May 26, 2016 By Randy Fairman 3 Comments

Delfonics 40 Classic Soul Sides

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

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Categories: News Formats: CD, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Country, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks Tags: Brook Benton, Clint Eastwood, Eddy Arnold, Grateful Dead, Patty Duke, Question Mark and the Mysterians, Sea Level, Survivor, The Delfonics, The Electric Prunes, The Tubes, Thom Bell

March 30, 2016 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

OJays Back Stabbers

The O'Jays quietly began their association with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff on 1970's Neptune album In Philadelphia, announcing the Ohio group's shift to the City of Brotherly Love and its burgeoning soul scene.  But there was nothing quiet about the opening track of Back Stabbers, the trio's first album for Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International Records.  "When the World's at Peace," by Gamble, Bunny Sigler and Phil Hurtt, imagined a time "when it's safe to walk the streets/when we learn

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Categories: Reviews Formats: Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Gamble and Huff, The O'Jays, Thom Bell

December 3, 2015 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Spinners BBR

When The Spinners left Motown Records after nearly a decade, the vocal group had never scored a Top 10 Pop hit.  They'd come this close in 1970 with the irresistible, Stevie Wonder-penned "It's a Shame" (No. 14) - one of many fine tracks recorded for Berry Gordy's empire that, for one reason or another, never crossed The Spinners over to major stardom.  That all changed when Thom Bell - the multi-hyphenate musician, producer, songwriter, arranger and conductor - declared that he wished to

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: The Spinners, Thom Bell

August 6, 2014 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

stylistics free soul

In just three albums recorded between 1971 and 1973, The Stylistics positioned themselves at the vanguard of Philadelphia soul, introducing future pop and R&B standards such as “You Are Everything,” “People Make the World Go Round” and “You Make Me Feel Brand New” with multi-hyphenate Thom Bell (serving as producer, arranger, conductor, and composer!) and lyricist Linda Creed. Though Bell parted ways with the group to turn his attentions to The Spinners, ending their hit streak, The

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: The Stylistics, Thom Bell

August 20, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

dionne we need to go back

We need to go back to the songs we used to sing... - Nickolas Ashford and Valarie Simpson, “We Need to Go Back” What’s remarkable about the 19 outtakes on Dionne Warwick’s We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters (Real Gone Music RGM-0170) is that they’re every bit as good as – and in many cases, superior to - the music actually released during Warwick’s stormy five-year stay at the label.  Every one of the soulful stylist’s Warner albums is represented with outtakes save 1972’s

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, Thom Bell

August 19, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

dionne warner singles2

Dionne Warwick’s 1972-1977 tenure at Warner Bros. Records has long been a subject of much confusion.  Why couldn’t the Burbank giant yield any hit records with the superstar artist after signing her to a record-breaking deal? Sure, the “triangle marriage” of Warwick, Burt Bacharach and Hal David was breaking up, but Warner paired her with some of the most famed names in soul music: Holland-Dozier-Holland, Jerry Ragovoy, and Thom Bell among them.  Bell scored a hit for Warwick with “Then Came

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, Thom Bell

June 7, 2013 By Joe Marchese 9 Comments

dionne warner singles

When Dionne Warwick signed on the dotted line with Warner Bros. Records, the possibilities must have seemed endless.  The singer had embraced change, after all.  A new decade was in its infancy.  She had traded a feisty New York independent (Scepter) for a Burbank giant.  She had even added an "e" to her surname on the advice of an astrologer.  And although the exact amount wasn't disclosed, Warwick had reportedly signed the biggest deal ever for a female vocalist.  What didn't change, at least

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, Thom Bell

January 29, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

dick jensen dick jensen1

When Dick Jensen was signed to ABC’s Probe Records label in 1969, only one album title seemed appropriate: White Hot Soul.  The Hawaiian-born entertainer’s stage moves earned him comparisons to James Brown and Jackie Wilson, while his voice recalled the booming sonorities of Tom Jones or Engelbert Humperdinck.  Tucked away on Side Two of that Don Costa-produced LP, Jensen included The Soul Survivors’ “Expressway to Your Heart” as part of a medley.  That 1967 Top 5 hit, of course, was written by

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Dick Jensen, Gamble and Huff, Thom Bell

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