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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 String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
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 Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American musical collective, music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton (funk musician), George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament (band), Parliame ...
, 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 Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production duo credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as P ...
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 Thomas Randolph Bell (January 26, 1943 – December 22, 2022) was an American record producer, arranger, and songwriter known as one of the creators of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s. Hailed as one of the most prolific R&B songwriters and prod ...
, 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 A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a record ...
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 A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...
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 A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm ...
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 Loleatta Holloway (, ; November 5, 1946 – March 21, 2011) was an American singer known for disco songs such as "Hit and Run" and " Love Sensation". In December 2016, ''Billboard'' named her the 95th-most successful dance artist of all time. Acc ...
, and Love Committee, all of whom would feature Baker/Harris/Young productions of their material. Their 1976 hit by
Double Exposure In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be id ...
, " Ten Percent", was the first commercial
12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compa ...
. 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 The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...
, 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.


See also

* Philadelphia International Records * Sigma Sound Studios * Rock and Soul (disambiguation) *
Progressive soul Progressive soul (often shortened to prog-soul; also called black prog, black rock, and progressive R&B) is a type of African-American music that uses a progressive music, progressive approach, particularly in the context of the soul music, soul ...


References


Further reading

* Cummings, Tony (1975). ''The Sound of Philadelphia.'' London: Eyre Methuen. * Jackson, John A. (2004). ''A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul.'' New York: Oxford University Press. . * Moore, Dave & Thornton, Jason (2016). ''The There's That Beat! Guide to THE PHILLY SOUND.'' Stockholm: Premium Publishing. . {{authority control Culture of Philadelphia Music scenes Soul music genres