Philadelphia
Philadelphia appears in 2 Songsheets issues: Philadelphia Soul and Bossa Nova. 8 artists in the archive came from here, including Gamble & Huff, MFSB and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes.
Scenes
Artists from Philadelphia
- Gamble & Huff
Kenny Gamble grew up at 15th and Christian in South Philadelphia, in a house with no music in it.
- MFSB
Mother Father Sister Brother was Philadelphia International's house band, though the word "band" undersells what they actually were.
- Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Harold Melvin's Blue Notes had already logged eighteen years on the circuit — through shifting lineups and shifting styles since 1954 — by the time they signed with Philadelphia International in 1972.
- Billy Paul
Billy Paul was never a straightforward soul singer.
- Teddy Pendergrass
Teddy Pendergrass left Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in 1976 and became, almost immediately, Philadelphia International's biggest solo star.
- Thom Bell
Thom Bell got his musical education two ways at once: in Philadelphia's Black churches and at the Granoff School of Music, where he studied classical piano and theory alongside future jazz names like John Coltrane and Jimmy Heath.
- The Intruders
The Intruders had been recording since 1960, grinding through the decade with little to show for it, before "Cowboys to Girls" broke through in 1968.
- Stan Getz
Stan Getz's connection to bossa nova started secondhand, through a guitarist's souvenir.
