''Spinners'' 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 Spinners, 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 released in March 1973 on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

label. The album was the group's first for Atlantic after leaving

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

History

''Spinners'' includes their first American top-ten and R&B number-one hit " I'll Be Around", along with the successful songs " Could It Be I'm Falling in Love", "

One of a Kind (Love Affair) "One of a Kind (Love Affair)" is a song recorded by the American R&B vocal group The Spinners (known as "Detroit Spinners" in the UK). It was written by Joseph B. Jefferson and produced by Thom Bell. The Spinners recorded the song at Philly's ...

", "Ghetto Child", and " How Could I Let You Get Away". The album was also the second of fourteen straight studio albums to make the ''Billboard'' 200, and their first in the Top-twenty, as it reached #14 on the charts. Additionally, it was their first of three consecutive R&B albums chart-toppers – and the second to hit those charts overall.

Reception

BBC Radio's

Trevor Nelson Trevor Ricardo Nelson, MBE (born 7 January 1964) is an English DJ and radio presenter. He is best known for presenting a range of shows across BBC Radio. Early life Born in Hackney to a family of St Lucian heritage, Nelson attended Centra ...

said producer Thom Bell created a sound for the group that was "lush yet gritty. Bell's insistently soulful orchestral arrangements played perfectly to their harmonic strengths. "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love" (later a hit for David Grant and

Jaki Graham Jacqueline Graham (born 15 September 1956) is a British singer-songwriter. Following her hit version of " Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" with David Grant in 1985, Graham scored a further five UK top 20 hits over a two-year period. In 1994, he ...

) is the keynote; sung by Smith, it is beautiful, optimistic and upbeat. Often cited as the birth of the Philadelphia Sound, ''Spinners'' yielded five American top 100 hits, and two UK chart successes."BBC Music Review by Daryl Easlea. The album was featured on Trevor Nelson's Radio 2 show, 23 June 2010 when he called it "a brilliant, brilliant album"

Track listing

Personnel

* Billy Henderson, Bobby Smith, Philippé Wynne, Henry Fambrough, Pervis Jackson – vocals *Roland Chambers, Norman Harris,

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 ...

– guitars *

– pianos * Ronnie Baker – bass guitar *Don Renaldo – strings * Earl Young – drums *Larry Washington –

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

bongos Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...

* Vincent Montana Jr. – vibes,

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

s * MFSB – orchestration **Jack Faith – alto saxophone, flute **Rocco Bene, Bobby Hartzell – trumpet **Joe DeAnglis, Robert Martin–

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

**Freddie Joiner, Bobby Moore, Richie Genevese, Eddie Keskarella – trombone * Linda Creed, Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson, Yvette Benton – backing vocals

Production

– producer, arranger, conductor * Joe Tarsia – recording engineer, re-mix engineer *Merrill A. Roberts, Jr. – photography *Loring Eutemey – album design

Charts

;Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1973 albums The Spinners (American group) albums Albums arranged by Thom Bell Albums produced by Thom Bell Albums recorded at Sigma Sound Studios Atlantic Records albums