TS: Gamble & Huff vs. Thom Bell

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G&H, blazing visionaries--Jerry Butler--Intruders--O'Jays--Blue Notes--etc.

Bell, master of romantic sweetness--Delfonics--Spinners--Stylistics--Deniece Williams--etc.

"Betcha By Golly Wow"/"Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)"/"I'll be Around" vs. "Only the Strong Survive"/"Back Stabbers"/"Wake Up Everybody"??

― Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 3 February 2003 01:45 (twenty-one years ago) link

G&H...no, Thom Bell...no, G&H...wait a minute...Thom Bell! no, G&H...

can't

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 3 February 2003 01:50 (twenty-one years ago) link

Unfair question! Both rule!

(Picked up the three disc Philadelphia International comp a few months back, and was that ever sweet. Gamble and Huff = Neptunes 1972/3?)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 3 February 2003 01:51 (twenty-one years ago) link

Best unsung G&H tune: The Intruders, "Slow Drag"

― Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 3 February 2003 02:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

I've had my eye on that Philly International comp for a long time, too. As an aside, I'm often amazed that Philadelphians nowadays are so blithely oblivious to Gamble and Huff and Thom Bell -- this stuff was pop music for a goodly portion of the Seventies, and Philadelphia was its epicenter. In my mind it's tantamount to Detroit turning its shoulder to Motown, or Liverpool to the Beatles, or NYC to the CBGBs/Mudd Club scene. Was Philly International as much a casualty of punk and rap as other pre-1977 genres, I wonder?

Anyway, both Gamble/Huff and Thom Bell are responsible for so many musical goodies that I could be here all night describing it. Just a taste -- at their respective heights, they had an unerring, almost unerring knack for arranging their near-baroque productions to complement the voices of their acts. Just listen to the Three Degrees' "When Will I See You Again?"

― Tad (llamasfur), Monday, 3 February 2003 03:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

and lest we forget -- David Bowie (a resident demi-god to many ILXers, myself included) was so taken with Philly International that he dropped his Diamond Dogs schtick in mid-tour. And Young Americans and Station to Station are both unthinkable without reference to Philly International.

(dunno if the same can be said David Live, though)

― Tad (llamasfur), Monday, 3 February 2003 03:43 (twenty-one years ago) link

Agree with everyone else pretty much that both are production Gods, but I definitely listen to the Bell stuff at home a lot more. With the Philly stuff I have to be a little more in the mood for it, but the Spinners, Stylistics, Delfonics--I just can't (and have no desire to) shake that stuff from my head (especially the Spinners, the most graceful sounding pop band ever).

I love Young Americans too--"Win" is fantastic.

― s woods, Monday, 3 February 2003 03:50 (twenty-one years ago) link

they're not called The Mighty Three for nothing...
Thom Bell arranged many of Gamble & Huff's finest moments so it's pretty hard to separate them out, but Thom Bell on his own is just as good so he gets the edge (especially for The Spinners).

― Paul (scifisoul), Monday, 3 February 2003 04:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'm really glad to see the Spinners getting some love. I just put "It's a Shame" on a mix CD.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 3 February 2003 04:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

Rubberband man...

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 3 February 2003 04:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

I think a retitling of this is in order.

Cuz y'all cant give Bell love without showing some for linda creed

― robert lashley (brotherman), Monday, 3 February 2003 04:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

( creed was his songwriting partner for most of his hits, if anyone didnt know)

― robert lashley (brotherman), Monday, 3 February 2003 04:43 (twenty-one years ago) link

Mama can't buy love/Are you ready for love?My favourite Elton John tracks

― Paul R (paul R), Monday, 3 February 2003 14:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

I just discovered Thom Bell relatively recently. I've heard some of the more famous Spinners/Delfonics/Stylistics stuff. Can anyone recommend any particular standout tracks in this vein. I tend to like his stuff more than the G&H I've heard.

― James Annett (jlannett), Tuesday, 4 February 2003 02:01 (twenty-one years ago) link

one year passes...

Or better yet: how about a comprehensive Thom Bell collection? I've pulled down the Spinners/Stylistics/Delfonics stuff and own the G&H set. Is there one out there?

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Friday, 6 August 2004 17:29 (twenty years ago) link

twelve years pass...

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7549038/the-intruders-robert-big-sonny-edwards-dead

Robert “Big Sonny” Edwards of The Intruders -- the soul vocal group best known for the chart-topping R&B single “Cowboys to Girls” -- has died. After suffering a sudden heart attack at his Philadelphia home, the 74-year-old Edwards died at a local hospital on Oct. 15.

The news of Edwards’ death was announced Tuesday (Oct. 18) by Philadelphia International Records co-founders Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff

― curmudgeon, Friday, 21 October 2016 16:34 (eight years ago) link

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