The Philly Soul sound that emerged in the first half of the 70s made a massive impact on music. Armed with a combination of top producers, writers, studio musicians, and artists, The Sound of Philadelphia, TSOP for short, still stands as a high-water mark in music history.
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Some of the best ballads from that period in history could be classified as Philly Soul. Here are four particularly lush slow ones that still hit hard today.
“You Are Everything” by The Stylistics
Of all the memorable voices who sang Philly Soul, Russell Thompkins Jr.’s falsetto might have been the most distinctive of them all. Technically, The Stylistics were a vocal group. But Thompkins’ leads were essential to their winning formula. It also didn’t hurt that they received a steady diet of excellent songs, most of them courtesy of songwriters Thom Bell and Linda Creed (with Bell usually handling production as well). “You Are Everything” was their breakthrough, hitting the Top 10 in 1971. The title suggests a devotional love song. But as you listen to the lyrics, you start to realize that the narrator is singing her praises even though she’s gone from his life.
“Could It Be I’m Falling In Love” by The Spinners
The Spinners had been bouncing around the music industry without a ton of success for the better part of a decade when they moved to Atlantic Records at the beginning of the 70s. That move also brought them into the Philly Soul ecosystem. And that’s precisely when they started churning out hits. “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love”, which hit the Top 5 on the pop charts in 1973, was written by brothers Melvin and Mervin Steals, who went by the intriguing stage name Mystro & Lyric. Thom Bell’s production keeps hitting new peaks throughout the song, with strings swirling in every direction. Meanwhile, Spinners’ lead singer Bobby Smith glides along effortlessly on this musical cloud.
“If You Don’t Love Me By Now” by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
If it wasn’t Thom Bell and Linda Creed formulating the Philly Soul material, then it was usually Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The pair wrote and produced a bevy of classics for Philadelphia International Records. With Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Gamble and Huff had access to one of the most powerful voices of the era in that group’s lead singer Teddy Pendergrass. Pendergrass could huff and puff through uptempo numbers. But he also knew how to uncork his vocals at just the right time on the ballads as well. His ad-libs on “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”, which is a stellar song to start, take the track to majestic levels. The contrast between Pendergrass’s emotive lead and the sad, resigned backing vocalists proves subtly effective.
“Sideshow” by Blue Magic
Vincent Barrett and Bobby Eli wrote this beauty after a trip to a museum, one that must have been devoted to circuses in some way. They handed it off to Blue Magic, who formed in 1972 in Philly and benefitted from the excellent production techniques of Norman Harris. Harris adds some proper three-ring touches, including the horn fanfare and the carnival barker at the start. From there, the song relies on the ever-so delicate falsetto of Blue Magic’s Ted Mills. His backing vocalists come swooping in for support in all the right places. The lyric imagines all the heartbroken people in the world congregating and becoming an attraction of sorts for the morbidly curious to witness.
Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
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