''Rockin' Roll Baby'' is the third

studio 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 ...

recorded by American R&B group

The Stylistics The Stylistics are an American Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. All ...

, released in November 1973 on the

Avco Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron, which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming. History The Aviation Corporation was formed on March 2, 1929, to prevent a takeover of CAM-24 airmail service operator Embry-Riddle Compa ...

label. It was produced by

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 ...

and recorded at Sigma Sound Studio North in

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 ...

. This was the group's last album produced by Bell. Lead vocals are by

Russell Thompkins, Jr. Russell Allen Thompkins Jr. (born March 21, 1951) is an American soul music, soul singer, best known as the original lead singer of the vocal group The Stylistics and noted for his high tenor, countertenor, and falsetto vocals. With Russell as ...

Background

While on Avco, they began working with producer/songwriter

, and along with songwriter Linda Creed created a bunch of hit singles that used lavish production backing the lead vocals of

Every single that Bell produced was a hit. The album includes the original full version of the song, "

You Make Me Feel Brand New "You Make Me Feel Brand New" is a 1974 single by the Philadelphia soul group The Stylistics. An R&B ballad, the song was written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed. Background and composition According to a Thom Bell interview for Record Collector : " ...

Chart performance

The album reached No. 66 on the ''Billboard'' LPs chart and No. 5 on the R&B albums chart. The title track reached No. 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 3 on the R&B singles chart, and No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.

Track listing

Personnel

– lead vocals, backing vocals *Airrion Love – backing vocals, lead vocals on "You Make Me Feel Brand New" *James Smith, Herb Murrell, James Dunn – backing vocals *

Linda Creed Linda Diane Creed (December 6, 1948 – April 10, 1986), also known by her married name Linda Epstein, was an American songwriter, lyricist, background singer and record producer who teamed up with Thom Bell to produce some of the most successfu ...

Barbara Ingram Barbara Jane Ingram (February 9, 1947 – October 20, 1994) was an American R&B singer and songwriter who was active throughout the early 1970s until the mid-late 1980s, enjoying modest success as a backup singer for almost two decades. ...

, Evette Benton, Carla Benson – additional backing vocals * Norman Harris, Bobby Eli – guitar * Ronnie Baker – bass * Earl Young – drums *Larry Washington – timbales, congas, bongos *

Vince Montana Vincent Montana Jr. (February 12, 1928 – April 13, 2013), known as Vince Montana, was an American composer, arranger, vibraphonist, and percussionist. He is best known as a member of MFSB and as the founder of the Salsoul Orchestra. He has b ...

– percussion *

– keyboards *Joseph DeAngelis, Milton Fipps – French horn *Jack Faith – alto saxophone, flute *John Davis – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone *Bobby Hartzell, Rocco Bene – trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet *Freddy Joiner, Bobby Moore – tenor trombone *Richard Genevese – bass trombone *Walter File – harp *Don Renaldo and His Swinging Strings – strings

Charts

;Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rockin Roll Baby 1973 albums The Stylistics albums Albums produced by Thom Bell Albums arranged by Thom Bell Albums recorded at Sigma Sound Studios Avco Records albums