THE BIRTH OF THE PHILLY SOUND 1967-71. Like the Motown Sound of the mid-60s, the Philly Sound of the 70s did not suddenly appear overnight with the establishment of Philadelphia International Records and the rise to international stardom of acts such as the O’Jays, the Three Degrees and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Our new Kent release “Nothing But A Houseparty” focuses its attention on the years 1967-1971 and provides a first-class overview of how recording in Philadelphia moved on from the lightweight Cameo-Parkway sound of the early 60s to become considerably more inventive and sophisticated. Most of the musicians heard on these tracks became part of MFSB, the musical backbone of nearly every black American recording that came out of Philly between 1971 and 1976. Many of the songwriters and producers also went on to far greater fame in the 70s, after honing their craft with these and many other classics. Some artists featured here had fallen by the wayside by the turn of the 1970s, while others had moved their recording base elsewhere – but all played a significant role in developing Philadelphia’s standing as one of one of soul music’s most significant cities of the 20th century. With the kind of copiously annotated and illustrated booklet and top-notch mastering you would expect from Kent, this is a release no serious soul fan should overlook.
