Professor Eddy

There is, I guess, Philly soul and Philly disco. On this mix I emphasize the disco sound of Philadelphia, although it is a thin line between soul and disco, to paraphrase a famous Persuaders song (and later redone by rock band the Pretenders). The main character of that typical Philly sound is probably guitar player, producer, arranger and songwriter Norman Harris. He may have been more important to the Philly sound than legendary producers Gamble and Huff. Harris can be heard on countless Philly soul sessions of the '60s, '70s and '80s. He was a key figure of MFSB, the rhythm, strings and horns orchestra that was formed as house band for Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International label, but the musicians played on other labels too. As member of production trio Baker-Harris-Young, Norman Harris produced songs for First Choice, Eddie Holman, the Dells, the Salsoul Orchestra, the Trammps and Love Committee. He also had hits with Gloria Gaynor, the Delfonics, Jerry But...

My tribute to Teddy and Philly was featured on Mixcloud and a huge success, so why not think like Sylvester Stallone and make a follow-up? And here it is: another road to Philadelphia. There are two or three tracks that are technically no exponents of the so-called Philly soul, but they sound just the same. One of them is Kai Warner’s ‘On the road to Philadelphia’. He’s the brother of German conductor James Last and the song is the title track from his homage to the Philly sound. I saved the best for last: I know nothing about the singer, but the Dianne Steinberg track is really the bomb! I hope you’ll enjoy this new mix as much as part 1. Picture by PaPeR.cLiP Tracklist: O’Jays – Darling Darling Baby (1976) MFSB – The Zip (1975) Billy Paul – Bring The Family Back (1979) Kai Warner – On The Road To Philadelphia (1975) Flashlight – Thank You Baby (1978) Jean Carn – Was That All It Was (1979) Teddy Pendergrass – Close The Door (1978) The Dells – Our Love (1977) Ron Hall...

This mix is a tribute to the sound of Philadelphia and is created in memory of Teddy Pendergrass , the singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, who passed away last Wednesday. I was devastated by the news. During the mix you can hear session drummer Earl Young, Kenny Gamble, Tom Moulton, Daryl Hall and Patti Labelle talking about Philly soul. It was the most popular form of soul music in the early and mid ‘70s. Building on the steady groove of Hi Records and Stax singles, Philly soul added sweeping strings, seductive horns and lush arrangements to the deep rhythms. As a result, it was much smoother and slicker than the deep soul of the late '60s, but the vocals remained as soulful as any previous form of R&B. Philly soul was primary a producer's medium, as Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and arranger Thom Bell (who was inspired by the innovative arrangements of Burt Bacharach) created the instrumental layers that came to distinguish the genre. The songs were mostly played b...