I'm a huge philly soul and disco fanatic, if you guys haven't figured out by now. I appreciate any recommendations you guys come up with. Lately, I've been hunting down stuff released on the Warner,Atlantic labels, most of which were produced by Thom Bell and Company.
Well, here are a few Philly albums that I recently discovered on CD:
Collins and Collins - this is a self titled effort. Produced by John Davis, this doesn't like his other more uptempo disco efforts. More like the mid-tempo feel of the Lowrell album, if you guys are familiar with that. There is one or two somewhat danceable songs. Top Of The Stairs (I added 'At The' by accident in another thread) is the Barry White sounding tune from this album.
Hear To Tempt You by The Temptations - this is a Japanese CD release, which is another Atlantic Philly record they've put onto CD, in addition to the Major Harris 'My Way' and True Reflection 'Where I'm Coming From' records. A Norman Harris production, this album is full of great philly soul and disco. Uptempo tracks like Snake In The Grass and Think For Yourself are great. There's even a track on the record that features Melvin Franklin (the deep bass/bariton singer in the group) on lead throughout the whole track. I don't recall hearing that on any other Temptations album from the 60s to mid 70s Motown era.
Soul Survivors self titled - this was a TSOP release from 1974. This has been on CD for a few years, but I only discovered it recently. There are some good disco dance tunes, but the instrumentation is by the group, not by the usual Philly session musicians, so the feel isn't really the same as the typical philly record. Still, these guys had the best of the best working with them, including John Davis arranging some of their tunes. Being a Gamble & Huff production, I'd still recommend checking out this album.
Disco Funk
Ashford & Simpson also recorded "Top Of The Stairs" i have it on the "Bourgie Bourgie" lp.
Bookmarks