''Thirteen Blue Magic Lane'' is the third

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

group Blue Magic, produced by Norman Harris and Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey and released in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

on the

Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing com ...

label.

History

The album was recorded at

Sigma Sound Studios Sigma Sound Studios was an American independent recording studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1968 by recording engineer Joseph Tarsia. Located at 212 North 12th Street in Philadelphia, Sigma Sound is closely associated with Philade ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and features Sigma's famous

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

MFSB MFSB, officially standing for "Mother Father Sister Brother", was a pool of more than 30 studio musicians based at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom ...

. ''Thirteen Blue Magic Lane'' is the third of Blue Magic's highly regarded triumvirate of classic

Philadelphia soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The ...

albums of 1974-1975, admired for its mixture of equally strong ballads and uptempo tracks. "Chasing Rainbows" and "The Loneliest House on the Block" are ballads in the style for which the group had become known, while tracks such as "We're on the Right Track" are seen as being at what was at the time the cutting edge in the development of

disco music Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife, particularly in African-American, Italian-American, Gay and Latino communities. Its sound features four-on-the-floor ...

out of established soul music forms. "What's Come Over Me" is a remake of a track from the group's first album '' Blue Magic'', featuring vocalist

Margie Joseph Margaret Marie Joseph (born August 19, 1950) is an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. Her greatest success came in the 1970s with a duet with Blue Magic on " What's Come Over Me" and her versions of Paul McCartney's " My Love" and The Supre ...

Track listing

Personnel

;Blue Magic *Vernon Sawyer, Wendell Sawyer, Richard Pratt, Ted Mills, Keith Beaton – vocals ;Musicians *

Bobby Eli Bobby Eli (born Eli Tatarsky; March 2, 1946 – August 17, 2023) was an American musician, arranger, composer and record producer from Philadelphia. He was a founding member and lead guitarist of Philadelphia studio band MFSB. Overview Bobby ...

, Norman Harris, Roland Chambers – guitars *

Ron Kersey Tyrone Garfield Kersey (April 7, 1949 – January 25, 2005), known as Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey, was an American keyboardist, songwriter, producer and arranger most known for writing the music to " Disco Inferno" by The Trammps. Kersey was born in ...

, Cotton Kent,

Dexter Wansel Dexter Gilman Wansel (born August 22, 1950) is an American R&B/jazz fusion artist, singer, arranger, musician, composer, conductor, synthesist and A&R director. Early life Dexter Wansel began as an errand boy backstage at the Uptown Theater i ...

, Ted Mills – keyboards * Vincent Montana Jr. – vibraphone * Ronald Baker, Michael Foreman, Rusty Jackmon, Larry LaBes – bass * Earl Young, Charles Collins, – drums *Larry Washington, Robert Cupit, Bunny Harris – percussion *Don Renaldo and his Strings and Horns – strings & horns accompaniment

Production

* Norman Harris, Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey – producers, arrangement *Alan Rubens, Steven Bernstein, Bruce Gable – executive producers *Carl Paruolo, Kenny Present, Jay Mark – recording engineers *Dirk Devlin, Mike Huchinson, James Gallagher – assistant engineers *Nimitr Sarikananda, Wayne Wilfong – mastering *Richard Rome – arrangement *Ted "Wizard" Mills – rhythm arrangement

Charts

;Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1975 albums Blue Magic (band) albums Albums produced by Norman Harris Albums recorded at Sigma Sound Studios Atco Records albums