Thomas Randolph Bell is a Jamaican-born American songwriter, arranger, and record producer known as one of the creators of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s.
Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre of the 1970s. In addition to forming their own label, Philadelphia International Records, Gamble and Huff have written and produced 175 gold and platinum records, earning them an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the non-performer category. in March 2008.
Philadelphia International Records (PIR) is an American record label based in Philadelphia. It was founded in 1971 by the writer-producer duo, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, along with their long time collaborator Thom Bell. It was famous for showcasing the Philadelphia soul music genre that was founded on the gospel, doo-wop, and soul music of the time. This Philly Soul sound later became a prominent and distinct era within R&B itself. During the 1970s the label released a string of worldwide hits which emphasized lavish orchestral instrumentation, heavy bass, and driving percussion.
Archie Lee Bell is an African-American solo singer and former lead singer of Archie Bell & the Drells.
Gonna Take a Miracle is the fifth album by New York City-born singer, songwriter and pianist Laura Nyro, with assistance by vocal trio Labelle. It was released on Columbia Records in November 1971, one year after its predecessor, Christmas and the Beads of Sweat. The album is Nyro's only all-covers album, and she interprets mainly 1950s and 1960s soul and R&B standards, using Labelle as a traditional back-up vocal group.
Classic Soul Ballads is a 16-volume soul CD-set, released by Time–Life Records in 2005, featuring 264 songs from the 1960s through the 1990s. It was not sold in stores, but sold directly by Time–Life.
Walter "Bunny" Sigler was an American R&B singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer who did extensive work with the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and was instrumental in creating the "Philly Sound" in the early 1970s.
The Ice Man Cometh is Jerry Butler's eleventh album, released in 1968.
"Tighten Up" is a 1968 song by Houston, Texas–based R&B vocal group Archie Bell & the Drells. It reached #1 on both the Billboard R&B and pop charts in the spring of 1968. It is ranked #265 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and is one of the earliest funk hits in music history.
MFSB is the debut album by Philadelphia International Records houseband MFSB, released in 1973.
There's Gonna Be a Showdown is a 1969 album by American funk band Archie Bell & the Drells, released by the record label Atlantic. It was their last album released on Atlantic, and preceded a six-year gap before the recording of its follow-up, Dance Your Troubles Away, which appeared on producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's own label, Philadelphia International.
Dance Your Troubles Away is a 1975 studio album by American funk band Archie Bell & the Drells, released by the record label TSOP Records and recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
This One's for You was the sixth album by R&B crooner Teddy Pendergrass. It was released just after a bad car accident Pendergrass was involved in, which left him paralyzed from the waist down due to a spinal cord injury. The album did not do as well as his previous albums did on the Billboard 200, peaking at only #59, but it did do well on the R&B album chart, reaching #6. Only one single was released, "I Can't Win for Losing", which peaked at only #32 on the R&B charts.
Heaven Only Knows was the seventh album by R&B crooner Teddy Pendergrass. It was his final studio album for Philadelphia International, released just after he left the label to record his album for Asylum Records. It only produced one single, "I Want My Baby Back", which reached #61 on the Billboard charts for six weeks in 1984.
Going East is an album by soul singer Billy Paul. The album was arranged by Bobby Martin, Lenny Pakula and Thom Bell.
War of the Gods is an album by soul singer Billy Paul. The album was produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and arranged by Bobby Martin and Lenny Pakula. Released in 1973, the album reached #12 on the Billboard soul chart and #110 on the pop chart. The single "Thanks for Saving My Life" was a top 40 hit reaching #37 on the pop chart and was a top-ten soul record reaching #9. In 2012, Big Break Records remastered and reissued the album on CD with bonus tracks and new liner notes.
Cary Grant Gilbert was an American lyricist who wrote songs with Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff at Philadelphia International Records in the 1970s. Among the songs he co-wrote are the international #1 hits "Me and Mrs. Jones" and "Don't Leave Me This Way."
The Hits of Johnny Mathis is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the UK in 1995 by Columbia Records and has three of his UK singles chart entries. This collection, however, focuses primarily on his covers of hits from the late 1960s through the 1970s.
Now I'm a Woman is a studio album by Nancy Wilson, released on Capitol Records in July 1970. It marked a transition in Wilson's career towards R&B-oriented material that she would record over the next decade. The production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, known for developing Philadelphia soul, wrote songs for Wilson and used their staff of arrangers-conductors, including Bobby Martin and Thom Bell, to create a record with "the Philly sound." David Cavanaugh, who had produced all of Wilson's albums since her 1959 debut, served as executive producer on the project.
