Philly labels

[Andykempster]

Can anyone suggest some 70’s Philly labels worth looking at?

Been listening to some PIR lately so wanted to search a little deeper

As always any info is greatly appreciated 

mall the best, Andy

[Thinksmart]

Well Salsoul is of course the next logical step, with the musicians from PIR splitting away to work there https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsoul_Records. While there is a lot of Disco at Salsoul the Soulful output ranks highly. Alongside that, Stan Winston's Philly Groove label will be perfect too as home to The Delfonics and many more. Lots of explore there.

A lot of the legendary Sigma Studios recordings aren't on labels that are only Philly related, or artists from Philly, so worth checking out the Spirit Of Philadelphia CD series (volumes 1-4 so far) - or the artists and songs on there as a primer.  They still count as Philly produced Soul of the era.

The Trammps, The Futures and many dozens more weren't on specifcally Philly related labels - so it starts to blur.

There is a lot of crossover from sixties to early seventies on Philly labels such as Artic.  

Thom Bell as a producer is a great reference point working for Philly Groove and more widely for such as The Spinners on Atlantic by then.  Ace is helpfully issuing a new Thom Bell CD in the next couple of months: https://acerecords.co.uk/ready-or-not-thom-bells-philly-soul-arrangements-productions-1965-1978 

Inevitably there is a lot of interchange here between labels/producers/studios and artists, but this should give a good basis to start further explorations.

 

 

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Thinksmart

[Andykempster]

That's excellent, thanks for that

Plenty of food for thought there, I have also just purchased Dave Rimmers book on Philly soul releases so coupled with that I should be kept busy for some time

all the best, Andy

[The Yank]

The thing with the Philly Sound in the 70's is once it got popular, just about

every label got involved. You can add TSOP and Gold MInd to the list of Philly labels.

After that, it's all over the place from Atlantic/ Atco (Spinners, Trammps, Blue Magic),

Roulette (Ecstasy, Passion and Pain), Columbia (Philly Devotions), Old Town (Arthur Prysock).

And that's just the start. Even Tamla got involved with 2 Eddie Kendricks album ("He's A Friend"

and "Up In Smoke"). 

[Thinksmart]

To extend the Philly listening beyond the four volume set I mentioned before, also check the the Creme de la Creme two CDs that Richard Searling compiled of 70s Philly Soul (plus the not all Philly Soul 'You Better Believe It' CDs). Kent's Philly Groove CDs (Deep In The Philly Groove and Deeper In The Philly Groove) are a good primer for that label.

Edited June 16, 2020 by Thinksmart
adding the a in Searling

[Soulfusion]

On 07/05/2020 at 16:32, Thinksmart said:

Thom Bell as a producer is a great reference point working for Philly Groove and more widely for such as The Spinners on Atlantic by then.  Ace is helpfully issuing a new Thom Bell CD in the next couple of months: https://acerecords.co.uk/ready-or-not-thom-bells-philly-soul-arrangements-productions-1965-1978 

Great, revealing interview with Thom Bell in the latest issue (July 2020) of Record Collector.

[Thinksmart]

Excellent, thanks. I'll be sure to check this out.

[Robbk]

On 07/05/2020 at 10:15, The Yank said:

The thing with the Philly Sound in the 70's is once it got popular, just about

every label got involved. You can add TSOP and Gold MInd to the list of Philly labels.

After that, it's all over the place from Atlantic/ Atco (Spinners, Trammps, Blue Magic),

Roulette (Ecstasy, Passion and Pain), Columbia (Philly Devotions), Old Town (Arthur Prysock).

And that's just the start. Even Tamla got involved with 2 Eddie Kendricks album ("He's A Friend"

and "Up In Smoke"). 

The Stylistics on AVCO Int., and Gamble an Huff also having Neptune and Gamble Records, and being with Motown after Philly Int.  There were many other labels that sported Philly-Sound productions.

[Richard]

Also Golden Fleece, Uplook, Swan, Cameo Parkway, Arctic, Harthon, Phil-La Of Soul are a few others

Edited June 17, 2020 by Richard