Philadelphia soul

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For the American arena football team, see Philadelphia Soul.

Philadelphia (or Philly) soul, sometimes called the Philadelphia Sound or Sweet Philly, is a style of soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featuring sweeping strings and horns. The result is a much smoother sound than the more gritty deep soul found in Atlanta or Houston and also sets itself apart from Motown with its gentler sound.

1 The style
2 Notable artists
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] The style

Due to the emphasis on sound and arrangement and the relative anonymity of many of the "style's" players, Philly soul is often considered a producers' genre.

Philly soul songwriters and producers included Thom Bell, Linda Creed, and teams of Gene McFadden and John Whitehead, and Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff (the latter pair of Philadelphia International Records) worked with a stable of studio musicians to develop the unique Philly sound used as backing for many different singing acts. Many of these musicians would record as the instrumental group MFSB, which had a hit with the seminal Philly soul song "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" in 1974. A notable extension of the Philly Sound were bassist Ronald Baker, guitarist Norman Harris and drummer/Trammps baritone Earl Young, (B-H-Y) who extended the sound once the original producers above went in a different musical direction. These three were the base rhythm section for MFSB and branched off into a sub-label of Philadelphia International, called Golden Fleece, distributed by CBS Records (now Sony BMG). These three then created the Gold Mind label, distributed by SalSoul, that had First Choice, Loleatta Holloway, and Love Committee all produced by them. Their hit by Double Exposure, Ten Percent, (1976) was one of the first commercial 12" records and was a big seller. The Salsoul Orchestra was another extension of the MFSB orchestra, opting for an R&B-Latin flavor, conducted by one-time Mike Douglas television show bandleader/vibraphonist, Vincent Montana Jr., another founding MFSB member.

Philly soul was popular throughout the 1970s and it set the stage for the studio constructions of disco and urban contemporary music that emerged later in the decade.