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 Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

characterized by

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The genre laid the groundwork for the emergence of

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

later in the 1970s by fusing the R&B rhythm sections of the 1960s with the pop vocal tradition, and featuring a more pronounced jazz influence in its melodic structures and arrangements. Fred Wesley, trombonist with the J.B.'s and Parliament-Funkadelic, described the Philadelphia soul sound as "putting the bow tie on funk."

Style

Due to the emphasis on sound and arrangement and the relative anonymity of many of its artists, Philadelphia soul is often considered a producers' genre. Songwriters and producers Bunny Sigler, Kenny Gamble, and Leon Huff are credited with developing the genre. Other notable Philadelphia soul

songwriters A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

and producers included Bobby Martin, Thom Bell, Linda Creed, Norman Harris, Dexter Wansel, and McFadden & Whitehead of Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International Records, who worked with a stable of studio musicians to develop the unique Philadelphia sound. Many of these musicians would also record as MFSB, which had a hit with the seminal Philadelphia soul song " TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" in 1974. Written and produced by Gamble and Huff, "TSOP" also became the theme song for the musical variety show '' Soul Train''. Notable session musicians of the Philadelphia sound were bassist Ronald Baker,

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Norman Harris and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

Earl Young (B-H-Y), who also worked as a songwriting and production team and recorded as the Trammps. These three were the base rhythm section for MFSB and created a sub-label of Philadelphia International Records called Golden Fleece, distributed by CBS Records (now

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

). Soon after, Harris created the Gold Mind label in conjunction with Salsoul Records. Gold Mind's roster included First Choice, Loleatta Holloway, and Love Committee, all of whom would feature Baker/Harris/Young productions of their material. Their 1976 hit by Double Exposure, " Ten Percent", was the first commercial 12-inch single. Philadelphia soul was popular throughout the 1970s, and it set the stage for the styles of disco and R&B that would emerge later in the decade. The style also influenced many other Philadelphia acts, such as Hall and Oates, the Roots, Vivian Green, Jill Scott, and

Musiq Soulchild Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by his stage name Musiq Soulchild (or simply Musiq; pronounced "music") is an American singer-songwriter. His music blends Rhythm and blues, R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and Gospel music, ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

's 1975 album '' Young Americans'' was partially recorded at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios and influenced by Philadelphia soul.

Style

See also

References

Further reading