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Philadelphia Freedom — 10 of the Best from Philadelphia Records
Growing up, I loved the Philadelphia sound. Their brand of smooth, sophisticated soul was everywhere in the 1970s, bridging a gap between the rawer 1960s-style soul and the disco revolution, which would soon dominate our airwaves, record shops and cinema screens.
Philadelphia International Records, to use the label’s proper name, was founded in 1971 by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, along with Thom Bell.
Gamble and Huff had become friendly while working as session musicians in the Philadelphia area. Thom Bell was a classically trained musician whose skills as a session musician and arranger were also very much in demand in the recording studios of Philadelphia.
Their new venture hit its stride almost immediately, with their first single release, a track from Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes’ album “I Miss You”, reaching the top three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972…
1: “ If You Don’t Know Me By Now” — Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
Depending on how old you are, you might associate this song more with Simply Red, whose very successful 1989 cover reached Number One in the US and Number Two in the UK. Simply Red’s cover also won that year’s Grammy for Best R&B Song, which was quite an achievement for a bunch of mostly white Brits. However, even as a Brit, I…
