Philly Soul-The Blueprint for Disco

[ashley]

.. well thanks again Disco_Funk .. I've found a seller in Germany who can sell me "Conquer the World" for 20 dollars .. he says it's a double LP ( .. does that sound right to you? ) .. like yourself, I love any 70s philly .. in fact I love almost all 70s soul .. those recording sessions must have cost a fortune, requiring a symphony orchestra at every take .. there are loads of superb British CD compilations featuring rare soul gems from this period ( .. which I presume you know ) .. it seems odd that 70s soul has been almost forgotten in the USA, while here in Britain there is still a market for this material .. I've spoken with Richard Searling, a British dj involved with Expansion Records, who assures me they are working on a new Spirit of Philadelphia CD .. although an actual release date seems some way off .. .. in the meanwhile it's worth checking out their Modern Soul Connoisseurs & Soul Togetherness compilations, which are full of terrific uptempo seventies tunes ( .. God, I sound like their A&R man) .. while the "Creme de la Creme / Philly Soul Classics" series on U.K. Warner are also essential ( .. although I imagine these are already firm favourites of yours .. )

[Disco Funk]

Originally Posted by ashley

.. well thanks again Disco_Funk .. I've found a seller in Germany who can sell me "Conquer the World" for 20 dollars .. he says it's a double LP ( .. does that sound right to you? ) .. like yourself, I love any 70s philly .. in fact I love almost all 70s soul .. those recording sessions must have cost a fortune, requiring a symphony orchestra at every take .. there are loads of superb British CD compilations featuring rare soul gems from this period ( .. which I presume you know ) .. it seems odd that 70s soul has been almost forgotten in the USA, while here in Britain there is still a market for this material .. I've spoken with Richard Searling, a British dj involved with Expansion Records, who assures me they are working on a new Spirit of Philadelphia CD .. although an actual release date seems some way off .. .. in the meanwhile it's worth checking out their Modern Soul Connoisseurs & Soul Togetherness compilations, which are full of terrific uptempo seventies tunes ( .. God, I sound like their A&R man) .. while the "Creme de la Creme / Philly Soul Classics" series on U.K. Warner are also essential ( .. although I imagine these are already firm favourites of yours .. )

Conquer The World is actually a single disc. I don't know if there's another version of it out in Europe, but I highly doubt it. I got mine from dusty groove america, which was around $13 or $14 US.

I'm already on top of those Creme De La Creme compilations! I look forward to another Spirit Of Philadelphia CD. I hope they can dig up some stuff I haven't come across yet, since I've been on a mad hunt for Philly singles since the last SOP CD was released.

If you like the late 60's, early 70's philly sound, there's a great instrumental record out called Muthafunkinsonsofbitches (I think that's how it's spelled). MFSB is whats on the CD cover, and its by Funkadelphia. Awesome funky grooves from the baker,harris and young rhythm section. You can hear the CD on iTunes. Type 'MFSB Mutha' in the search window.

Disco Funk

[ashley]

.. thanks again Disco_Funk .. the MFSB Mutha LP looks like a genuine rarity .. I presume it's a small independent label release .. despite it's recent 2006 issue, there are almost no copies available anywhere .. ( is it a U.S. release? ) .. Luckily I've found a seller in Poland willing to sell me a copy for 30 dollars, so I purchased it today .. I look forward to hearing it .. .. and I've now purchased "Conquer the world" from a U.S. dealer ( .. a double album from Germany called "Conquer the world" may be something altogether different )

[Disco Funk]

Originally Posted by ashley

.. thanks again Disco_Funk .. the MFSB Mutha LP looks like a genuine rarity .. I presume it's a small independent label release .. despite it's recent 2006 issue, there are almost no copies available anywhere .. ( is it a U.S. release? ) .. Luckily I've found a seller in Poland willing to sell me a copy for 30 dollars, so I purchased it today .. I look forward to hearing it .. .. and I've now purchased "Conquer the world" from a U.S. dealer ( .. a double album from Germany called "Conquer the world" may be something altogether different )

Wow, $30! Perhaps it's gone out of print? By the way, if you like the CD version, the vinyl version features a couple of bonus tracks not on the CD, but it also omits a couple of tracks that are on the CD. I'll tell you what they are if you end up getting the CD and liking it. Too bad it's so expensive, though.

Here's a link to Amazon, which only offers the songs as downloads, so you can hear the audio samples:

MFSB Truth Behind Philly

The bonus cuts aren't available for download.

Were you able to find out the track listing from the German dealer? Maybe they got confused because it comes in a gatefold sleeve?

Here's another philly instrumentals compilation also on Funkadelphia, where the audio quality isn't as great and only a handful of the tracks may have baker/harris/young playing rhythm:

Funky Philly Instrumentals

For sure, I can tell that Hot Pants Dance and The Elephant feature B-H-Y, and they may be on The Chicken, but that's about it.


Disco Funk

[FunkMaster]

Originally Posted by garrybcoston

To me Philly Soul provided the bridge and crossing from traditional soul, R&B, Funk, etc. from the 60's and early 70's to disco once disco finally established an identity for itself.

Back in the day, there was a formula or mathematical equation out regarding disco's make-up; it was:

ROCK + SOUL + JAZZ = DISCO

Now R&B and Funk were left out, but remember, R&B and Funk was derived and evolved from soul music. There was no R&B and Funk before soul music.

Enjoy y'all and Merry Christmas.

Garry

actually the real Rhythm and blues predates Rock,Soul and Funk.Rhythm and blues is a combination of Jazz and Blues which birthed Rock N Roll and Jamaican Ska,while Soul music is Jazz + Blues + Gospel music.Funk has all the attributes of Soul music (Jazz,Blues,Gospel) but is "harder" and more rhythmic.Funk was never left out of the equation for Disco because it's the form that basically birthed Disco.In order of evolution up until the birth of the Disco sound

1.Blues and Gospel music
2.Jazz
3.R & B
4.Rock
5.Soul
6.Funk
7.Disco

A good description of Funk

[Pete Denis]

According to Gamble and Huff, THE INTRUDERS were the band that started it all, they came up with the PHILLY SOUND formula. Or does it not matter anymore. That sound became everyone's sound.

[Disco Funk]

Originally Posted by Pete Denis

According to Gamble and Huff, THE INTRUDERS were the band that started it all, they came up with the PHILLY SOUND formula. Or does it not matter anymore. That sound became everyone's sound.

Did you mean the vocal styling were the Intruders' creation? They were a vocal group, and didn't play any instruments. Instead guys like Norman Harris, Earl Young, Ronald Baker, Bobby Eli and Vince Montana were the nucleus of the studio players that became MFSB.

Going back to the roots of Philly Soul and disco, there have been a number of releases of Philly Groove material on CD, featuring nice clean stereo mixes of tracks by artists like Broadway Express (Puff Puff You're Gone), Finishing Touch (Second Best), Nat Turner's Rebellion (Ruby Lee), Ben Aiken (When the Bottom Falls Out), etc.. I figured, if I bought the CDs, then I wouldn't need to bother with the original 45s. But I've already come across two 45s that feature mixes that differ drastically from the CD versions of the same songs! For example, You Are My Sun Sign by Nat Turner runs a minute longer on the 45 than on the CD versions, and features different vocals! And I just recently got my hands on Broadway Express' 45, and the same thing I've found with Puff Puff (You're Gone): Different vocals.

I wonder who did those stereo remixes that were put onto CD? Were they done by Tom Moulton and when were they done? As far as I can tell, Philly Groove only intended to put out mono mixed 45s. The LPs had stereo versions, but only The First Choice and The Delfonics got the LP treatment in the early 70s. Perhaps whoever did the stereo mixes of those 45-only tracks got the master tapes mixed up? Or maybe there were different tracks featuring different attempts at the vocals, and they used the wrong track? Anyway, for Philly completists, it appears the original Philly Groove 45 versions are worth tracking down.

Disco Funk