Philly Groove of the Month 

The sound of
The Interpretations

One of the really heartbreaking aspects of tracking down obscure music is how many of the fantastic 45s were laid down by groups that are now lost to the ages. In the cases of artists that made a single 45 on an obscure label, it’s often impossible to follow the story any further than what lays in the grooves. Hardcore collectors scan run-off grooves for pressing stamps, look for distributor information and try to use writing credits to flesh out the story of a lost artist.

On the other hand, sometimes 45s are filled with intriguing clues that in spite of themselves lead nowhere. Such was the case with Philadelphia’s own Interpretations.

I found my first Interpretations 45 digging in Trenton, NJ a few years ago. I’d never heard of the group, but the song title ‘Soul Affection” and the presence of an instrumental on the flip piqued my curiousity. That curiousity was rewarded when I got home and played the record. “Soul Affection” (and the flip “Snap Out”, which was an instrumental version of the a-side) was an extremely fast moving funk cut with a wild horn chart. Scanning the label I noticed the name Joe Stevenson listed in the credits and a publishing credit for “James Boy Music”. Stevenson was a long time Philly area independent soul/R&B impresario, having written and/or produced a number of excellent 45s. “James Boy Music” was the publishing company of none other than Philly soul star Jesse James. Both of these clues confirmed that this was likely a local record, but for a long time the trail ended there (that and the fact that the group’s name was misspelled as The Interpertations on all three pressings of their first 45).

About a year later I received a copy of the ‘Pow City’ comp as a gift, and the disc included another Interpretations tune, ‘Automatic Soul Pt2’, also a fantastic record , which I soon copped in 45 form in the basement of Webbs department store in North Philly.

Not long after that, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist released their ‘Brain Freeze’ mix, which included a snippet of yet another Interpretations 45 ‘Jason Pew Mosso’. I checked the internet (God bless you Google)  and discovered that along with ‘Jason Pew Mosso’ there was at least one other 45 on the Jubilee label, ‘Trippin’ b/w ‘Blow Your Mind’.

Unfortunately, the ‘Brain Freeze’ phenomenon made ‘Jason Pew Mosso’ a VERY hot commodity and copies were going on Ebay for upwards of $100 (as were copies of the other Jubilee 45). As a result both of these 45s eluded me for some time.

When I finally did track them down, the clues on these discs managed only to make the story more complicated. Now it appeared that Philly radio/record giant Jimmy Bishop had produced both of the Jubilee 45s, and that the tune ‘Trippin’ carried a writing credit that placed it firmly in the MFSB camp (Ronnie Baker, Norman Harris, Bobby Eli and Earl Young, the core of the mighty Philly rhythm section).

Thanks to a chance contact from guitarist Bobby Eli, and a huge amount of help from noted Philly soul historian Dave Brown, I was able to flesh out the story a little bit, and answer some questions.

The Interpretations were a North Philly band that got together in the late 60’s.  They recorded ‘Soul Affection’ as a demo in 1968, and brought it to Jesse James. James took them into the Virtue Recording studios and they rerecorded the tune, coming up with the instro version ‘Snap Out’.  James was unable to place the record with a major label and one of the band members who had a friend that worked at A&L Distributors got the 45 released on Haral Records.

The weekend of Thankgiving 1968, local DJ Carl Helm of the local black station WDAS-AM started to play the record (though the fact that Helm is listed as a producer on all three pressings of the 45 suggests he had a vested interest) and it became a local hit. It started to get airplay on white rock station WBIG-AM and became a top 20 hit, reaching #13 in January of 1969. At this point it was picked up for national distribution by Bell Records.

Their second 45, ‘Automatic Soul Pts 1&2’, in which we learn (via funky name checks) that the band included cats names ‘LB’, ‘Jason’, ‘Bobby’ and ‘Red’, is the better of the two Bell 45s, with a rolling funk party sound.

The band’s third 45 (and their first on Jubilee) is where the story gets complicated. The ‘Blow Your Mind’ side, a drum and wah-wah heavy instro is apparently the same band that appeared on the Bell 45s. The flip side ‘Trippin’ is another band entirely, this time the MFSB players Harris, Baker, Eli, Young, Vince Montana (who’s vibes are prominent in the opening of the tune) and Sam Reed, Fred Joyner and Johnny Lynch on horns. Why this change was made, and what happened to the original Interpretations is lost to the ages. No matter what the reason, from that point on (at least on vinyl), ‘The Interpretations’ were the MFSB players (who also recorded variously as Cupit, Hidden Cost, Daley Diggers, Brothers of Hope, Family and other pseudonymous acts).

The final Interpretations 45, ‘Jason Pew Mosso Pts 1&2’  is a funky killer of exceptionally high quality that comes close to justifying its recently inflated price.

After that point the trail goes cold. Not for the latter-day “Interpretations” of course who went on to sell millions as the core of MFSB as well as playing on countless classic records. As to what became of the original Interpretations, only they really know (and we’d love to hear from you).

NOTE: Many thanks to Dave Brown (of PhillyArchives/Distortions Records) who made serious research contributions to this piece.