The Sweeter Side of Philadelphia Soul
Source: Avco Records, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In 1974, the vocal group Blue Magic released the single “Sideshow.” A summer hit that year, it went to #1 R&B and reached #8 on the pop charts. The elegant arrangement could have easily been mistaken for a new song by The Stylistics: falsetto lead, lush strings, muted brass, and a gentle touch of vibes flowing through the music. The work of producer/arranger/songwriter Thom Bell. Or, so I assumed when I heard “Sideshow” for the very first time. Bell had no involvement in the track, even though it was recorded in the same Philadelphia studio where he produced many of his hits and used musicians that played on his records, including the song’s arranger Norman Harris. By the mid-seventies, imitating the sound that Thom Bell created had become commonplace. Still, Harris’ carbon-copy-like arrangement wasn’t a slight or a steal. It could only be seen as a compliment.
The imitation actually started much earlier than 1974. After the Bell arranged “La-La (Means I Love You)” by the Delfonics hit the charts in 1968, vocal groups began adopting his sound, taking soul music in a different direction in the early seventies. “The sound that Bell created for the Delfonics was the antithesis of the soul sound that came from Stax in Memphis and Muscle Shoals in Alabama,” wrote John Dougan in the All Music Guide. “He sandpapered away the grit, lightened up on the backbeat, brought in string sections, and created a smooth, airy sound—Bell and the Delfonics were setting the stage for a different kind of groove where subtlety and nuance reigned.” The sound is Philly soul, although most associate that style with Philadelphia International Records and its founders, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The label, formed in 1971, produced hits by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Billy Paul, The O’Jays, Jerry Butler, Lou Rawls and the solo work of Teddy Pendergrass. Bell wrote freelance arrangements for several of these acts, but he never joined the label, choosing to remain independent. While Gamble and Huff juggled a multitude of artists in the seventies, Bell put his best work into three: the Delfonics, The Stylistics and the Spinners. Thom Bell’s name isn’t as well known as Gamble and Huff or Philadelphia International, but his output created some of the sweetest music to ever come out of the City of Brotherly Love.
Some of the hits Bell produced include: “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” “You Are Everything,” “Betcha by Golly, Wow,” “I’ll Be Around” and “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love.” Growing up, terrestrial radio wasn’t played in our family home so I completely missed this era of music. But I heard The Stylistics in my friend’s mother’s car when she drove us to bowling or other activities. “You Make Me Feel Brand New,” played on the 8-track and my friend, who preferred Three Dog Night and The Beatles, would sing along, mock-mimicking singer Philippé Wynne’s falsetto, to our grand amusement. “Stop it, Tommy,” she snapped as we laughed in the back seat. It took me years to fully discover this musical period initially through two soundtrack albums for the film Dead Presidents and then later with the Rhino compilation series: Soul Hits of the ‘70s: Didn’t It Blow Your Mind! I bought the first eight volumes and then dug deeper into all these artists individual albums. I’m not sure when I first realized that Thom Bell’s blueprint was in so much of this music. All I knew was that I wanted to hear more.
In John A. Jackson’s book A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul, Jackson called Bell the “maestro of symphonic soul.” His sophisticated use of strings complemented the vocals, and the refined brass never overpowered the record. In an interview with Jackson, Bell explained that he didn’t want “blaring trumpets and crap,” but, “I wanted to hear those brassy notes, I wanted to hear them strong but soft at the same time…I kept fooling around and studying and studying and studying, and finally I came up with the French horns.” He was as much an artist as any group or singer whose name graced the front cover of the albums he produced.
As one might guess, Thom Bell came from a classically trained background. His mother was a classical pianist and Thom started with piano and drums. He listened to classical music in his youth and learned to play over a dozen instruments. Bell planned to become a Broadway conductor, but, when that didn’t pan out, he joined the Uptown Theater house band in Philadelphia. But his musical direction was better served after he became part of the rhythm section for the Cameo-Parkway label, where he would get the experience that helped him become an accomplished producer and arranger. By the mid-sixties, Gamble and Huff had become a songwriting and production team, earning their first million selling single with the Intruders “Cowboys to Girls” in 1968. Bell started his association with the Delfonics, producing them for the Philly Groove label and arranging their debut album, which included the magnificent “La-La (Means I Love You).”
Thom played most of the instruments on the Defonics’ first record and put William “Poogie” Hart’s falsetto vocals out front as the lead. La La Means I Love You is an LP of exceptional music, a trend Bell would follow with other albums he produced. The cover songs, including “The Shadow of Your Smile” and “A Lover’s Concerto” are well-chosen for the group’s vocal style and Bell’s graceful arrangements. And the inclusion of two Bacharach/David songs suggests Bell was also a student of Bacharach and his hits with Dionne Warwick. The second Delfonics album, Sound of Sexy Soul, is more elaborate with greater use of instruments and orchestration. Bell added bassoon, oboe and a harp, and on the third Delfonics album he included French horns, which is used in the opening of the group’s Grammy winning song “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time).” It would also end Bell’s time with the group, as he began work on his next project: The Stylistics. The Delfonics fourth album was made without Bell, but, by 1972, his sound was so ingrained in soul music, it’s difficult to hear the difference.
Bell’s jump to another group project after just three albums was another trend he followed. When he had done all he could do with an act, he moved on, not overstaying his welcome. And on the three albums Bell made with The Stylistics, he cemented his position as being firmly in control of his art. With the Delfonics, he co-wrote songs and shared some of the instrumentation with “Poogie” Hart, but, moving forward, the music would all be his own handiwork. It’s even announced on the back cover of The Stylistics’ first album. In large, bold letters, second in size to the group’s name: “Produced, Conducted and Arranged by Thom Bell,” signaling his arrival. And what an incredible record it is.
From “You Are Everything” to “Betcha By Golly, Wow” and “People Make the World Go Round,” the group debut sounds like a “best of” collection. So many of these songs are still played today on radio and on streaming services. The integrate music and Bell’s vocal arrangements produced additional hits for the group’s second album, Round 2, including: “I’m Stone in Love With You,” and “Break Up to Make Up.” Round 2’s back cover photo tells the story of the camaraderie in the studio with Bell directing the group under a single microphone, like a Philadelphia doo-wop act from the fifties or sixties, creating beauty with verse and chorus. It would carry over to the group’s third album, Rockin’ Roll Baby, which included the first version of “You Make Me Feel Brand New,” a song that went to #1 a year later after it was edited to a radio-friendly length. By this time, Bell was already working with his next group, taking a Detroit ensemble that was dropped by Motown, and giving them new life. Thom Bell’s first album for the Spinners would feel like another “best of” collection of hits.
By 1972, Philadelphia International was becoming a force on early seventies radio. Bell still moonlighted for the label, arranging The O’Jay’s “Backstabbers” single and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ first R&B hit “I Miss You,” with Teddy Pendergrass on vocals. On his own, Bell would have his greatest success with the Spinners, producing four gold and one platinum albums for the group from 1973 to 1976. Each of these albums had a big hit or two but the first, simply titled Spinners produced “I’ll Be Around,” “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” “One of a Kind (Love Affair),” and “Ghetto Child,” all still in heavy rotation today. Mighty Love and New and Improved were both released in 1974, as Bell would often record two albums worth of songs at once to better manage his heavy schedule. The latter featured “Then Came You,” a duet with singer Philippé Wynne and Dionne Warwick. Bell stayed with the group until 1977, producing the group’s final gold single, “The Rubberband Man,” the year prior. All of Bell’s albums with the Spinners are stylish and enjoyable, even as disco elements began creeping into the arrangements. And the hyper popularity of disco music would eventually become one of the contributing factors in pushing the smooth sound of Philly soul off the charts in the second half of the decade.
There are several songs in the mid-seventies that could be labeled the first disco song. A strong contender may have come from Philadelphia International itself. “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” by the group MFSB—Gamble and Huff’s house band—could easily stake a claim as the first disco hit in 1974. But, within two years, dance music would be all the rage and the label’s other artists started falling behind on the charts. At the same time, the musicians that created the backing for Philadelphia International’s records began moving on, leaving to create their own production teams and make their own Philadelphia soul music. Philadelphia International suffered a sharp decline in the second half of the seventies, when their artists also began departing the label. By the end of the decade, their top remaining acts were down to three: The O’Jays, Teddy Pendergrass and Lou Rawls. The label’s laid-back music no longer fit with the public’s changing taste.
Thom Bell also moved on, leaving Philadelphia in 1976 and moving with his family to Seattle. He still traveled to Los Angeles and Philadelphia for sessions, but parts of the last few albums he made with the Spinners were recorded in a studio in the Northwest. Bell’s post-Spinner’s years wouldn’t be as productive but it yielded some additional hit records for Elton John, (“Mama Can’t Buy You Love”), Deniece Williams (“It’s Gonna Take a Miracle”), and a #1 with James Ingram (“I Don’t Have the Heart”). For the most part, he laid low, living his final years in Hawaii and Seattle before passing away in December, 2022. Gamble and Huff continued to produce recordings in the eighties and nineties until Philadelphia International finally shut down for good in 2001. The machine that had produced this great musical phenomenon in the early seventies just seemed to quietly drift away.
When I look at the blocks of music that remain in my listening diet—mid-fifties standards, rock ‘65-‘75, indie records 2000-2019—Philly soul, and all the artists and recordings it influenced, still continues to satisfy that appetite. When these musical movements happen—‘60s Motown, ‘80s new wave and ‘90s grunge can’t be excluded—they are invigorating and lasting. They will continue to occur despite the tired, oft-repeated statement that good music isn’t made anymore. These days, whenever I hear one of those beloved soul tunes from 1970 to 1975, I still turn up the radio a little louder.