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#2 - the Fabulous Emotions – 
Number One Fool b/w Funky Chicken (Nico/Tamboo)  

Not too long after finding the Tamboo release, I came across a listing that indicated that there was at least one other release on the label: The N.Y. Jets, ‘We Will Always Be Together’ b/w ‘Funky Chicken’. I managed to track down a copy. 

This is where the story takes yet another unusual turn. This release (with a group name no doubt chosen to capitalize on the Jets World Champion status) actually picked up a new - unique - A-side, 'We Will Always Be Together' with writing credit going to none other than Sam, Erv & Tom (of 'Soul Teacher' fame). In fact it is Sam, Erv & Tom singing on the track, a mildly funky outing. The flip side sees the instrumental track of 'Number One Fool' and 'Funky Chicken' recycled for a new, improved 'Funky Chicken', now credited to "H. Thomas' and featuring a  lyric and (wild) vocals by Sam, Erv & Tom. 

Strangely enough, Martin & Bell receive production credit on 'Funky Chicken' (as well they ought since it's their track out for a third go-round) where Sam, Erv & Tom are listed as producers on the a-side. 
If anyone knows the whole story on this one I'd love to hear it.
- LG

#3 - Family / MFSB - Family Affair (North Bay/PI)

The story of Philly’s master session players is a long and complicated one. Just listening to a wide variety of records on any of the big local 60’s soul labels, like Gamble, Arctic and Phil-L.A. of Soul it’s easy to hear the trademark sounds of players like Leon Huff, Vince Montana, Bobby Eli and Earl Young. That’s the easy part. The story becomes more complicated when you factor in the number of one-off  “bands” that were in large part composed of varying combinations of these musicians working under assumed names (like the Music Makers on Gamble).

I first came upon this month's record when I grabbed a Frankford-Wayne acetate in an E-Bay auction. I had never heard of the group but as an avid collector of Philly soul I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to grab a little piece of history. Not too long after picking the disc up, I heard that it had been issued on Philly’s North Bay label (also home to the Soul Devalents among others). I tracked down a copy of that one (which thankfully was in much better shape than the acetate) and still had no clue that Family was anything other than just another forgotten Philly group.

The a-side, ‘Family Affair’ is a cover of the Sly and the Family Stone tune. It’s got a nice jazz-funk groove, and definitely shows signs of what was becoming known as the ‘Philly Sound’. The flip side, ‘Nation Time’ has some nice organ work, and a chorus that bears resemblance to the O’Jay’s ‘Back Stabbers’.

Listen to a sample in Real Audio

A little further down the line I grabbed a copy of MFSB’s self-titled first album (the one before the blockbuster ‘Love Is The Message’). Imagine my surprise when their version of ‘Family Affair’ comes on and I recognize it as the “Family” recording (albeit about 2:30 longer than the 45). ‘Nation Time’ doesn’t appear on any MFSB albums, but I suspect the Family version may be the instrumental track to the Ebony’s version of the tune, which came out on Philadelphia International.

Though I have my suspicions about any number of Philly 45’s being (one or all of) the same group of musicians (especially the Philadelphia Society and a couple of groups on Phil-LA of Soul), I can’t be sure. If anyone has definitive information in that regard I’d love to hear it.

Left to Right - Vince Montana, Ronnie Baker, Earl Young, Bobby Eli

Click on the label to hear a sample!

 When the Electric Indian hit the charts in 1969 with the instrumental ‘Kee-Mo-Sabe’, they were just another anonymous, bubblegum-ish hitmaker, who would fade into obscurity as fast as they had appeared. Their LP was a loose (though not occasionally uninspired) outing with a number of soul covers (‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’, ‘Storm Warning’ etc.). The truth behind the ‘fake’ band was that it was composed of a collection of Philly all-stars (including Vince Montana on vibes and a young Daryl Hall on keyboards). Originally assembled by Philly blue-eyed soulster Len Barry, the Electric Indian saw their first 45 released on the local Marmaduke label (co-owned by Barry) , and then picked up by United Artists. Their secret weapon was this hot slice of funk, hidden on the b-side of their one and only hit. ‘Broad Street’ (named for the Philly byway) is one of the best examples of the kind of horn-heavy instrumental funk that was finding it’s way onto local Philly labels in the late 60’s (see this month's Funky 45s for more). Groups like the Panic Buttons, African Echoes, Delights Orchestra and Pal & The Prophets were laying down danceable tunes driven by funky guitars and blaring horn sections. The fact that so many of these instrumentals seem to tap into a definable ‘sound’ is no doubt related to the fact that the records featured many of the same players. ‘Broad Street’ (a non-lp track) is far funkier than anything on the Electric Indian LP, and features a nice fat drum break about a minute and a half into the tune.

The cool thing is that for a pretty nice funk side, it shouldn’t be too hard to find. It was released at least three times; first locally on Marmaduke, then nationally on United Artists, then again on UA in Europe.

To fans of Philly Soul, the Ambassadors are fondly remembered for their 1969 hit ‘I Really Love You’. The tune was a great slice of sweet soul that bore the marks of an earlier Philly sound as well as the smoother sounds to come. The Ambassadors went on to record four 45’s and an LP, ‘Soul Summit’ for Philly’s Arctic records. Though they never hit the charts again, they are well remembered by collectors who spend many an hour digging for their scarce Arctic 45’s.

However, the Ambassadors have another history that predates their time with Arctic.

The band formed in the mid 60’s, and soon came to the attention of Arctic Records co-owner (and Philly radio star) Jimmy Bishop. Bishop took the Ambassadors into the studio and recorded several sides. Bishop took these to Atlantic Records, who released them between the end of 1967 and the summer of 1968.  These five songs (one song appeared on two of their three Atlantic 45’s) are among the best songs they ever recorded.

The first 45, ‘I’m So Proud of My Baby’ b/w ‘(I’ve Got To Find) Happiness’ was released in December of 1967. Both sides are upbeat, Northern-style dancers with solid leads and harmony vocals. Both tunes were written by the group, and recorded in Philadelphia with arrangements by Bobby Martin. ‘(I’ve Got To Find) Happiness’, which would also appear as the b-side to their second 45, features string arrangements that pre-sage the later Gamble-Huff sound.

The a-side of their second 45, released in April of 1968 was co-written by Jimmy Bishop and Kenny Gamble. ‘Good Love Gone Bad’ has a Motown sounding intro, and features great falsetto backing vocals. The tempo is a little slower than the first 45, but still danceable.

In most standard references, the Atlantic part of the story stopped here, and the Ambassadors were next heard of with their first Arctic 45 in December of 1968. However I’ve tracked down a third Atlantic 45, ‘We Got Love’ b/w ‘Never Get Tired of Loving You’. The 45 was arranged by Mike Terry, with the group penning ‘We Got Love’, and the flip being a Wylie/Hester composition. ‘We Got Love’ is a slower, string-laden harmony ballad with a Temptations feel. ‘Never Get Tired of Loving You’ is a more upbeat number.

Unfortunately, despite the consistently high quality of the records, none of the Ambassadors Atlantic sides have seen the light of day as reissues. ‘(I’ve Got To Find) Happiness’ and ‘I’m So Proud of My Baby’ appear in differently titled live versions of the CD reissue of the Ambassadors Arctic LP (which also carelessly omits the group’s single non-lp track from the Arctic era, ‘I Can’t Believe You Love Me’, the flip side of ‘I Really Love You’).

The city of Philadelphia has a long and storied history of starting, and riding music trends. During the 60’s there were countless dance hits out of the City of Brotherly Love, not to mention the plethora of knockoffs that followed the success of Cliff Nobles & Co’s ‘The Horse’.

In 1969, the Electric Indian, a studio band assembled by Len Barry and John Madara and composed of all manner of Philly studio all-stars hit the charts with ‘Keem-O-Sabe’. The tune was a funky dancer filled with Indian ‘motifs’. The rest of the group’s LP features a number of variations on the same theme including some cool covers like ‘Storm Warning’. The band on the record included Vince Montana, who arranged the LP, and a young Daryl Hall (nee Hohl) on keyboards.

The LP was the first record associated with Marmaduke records (though only the initial 45 release of ‘Keem-O-Sabe’ came out on Marmaduke (previous to their using the cartoon of the 'Electric Indian' on the label) with the LP and other 45’s coming out on United Artists).

Sometime later that year, many of the same musicians (also at the behest of Barry/Madara) reentered the studio and recorded ‘Pass The Pipe’ b/w ‘Cupid’s Holding’ (Wand 1122). Listed as a Marmaduke production, the record was arranged by Daryl Hall and Philly guitar whiz Bobby Eli. Working the same ‘Indian rain dance’ sound as ‘Kee-Mo-Sabe’ (of which Barry had also released a vocal version on Scepter), ‘Pass The Pipe’ (“Cupid’s Holding’ is just ‘Pass The Pipe’ with the vocal track stripped off) is somewhat funkier (great drums). The vocals, split between Hall and what sounds like at least two other singers (one of whom sounds like John Oates, anyone know for sure?), are soulful.

Strangely enough this record doesn’t show up in Hall & Oates discographies, though Hall’s earlier recordings with the Temptones (on Arctic) and under his own name (on Bell and Parallax) do.

* I recently found out that another Philly group, Pal and the Prophets released a 45 called 'Peace Pipe' on the Jamie label.

The Persianettes

As I’ve said here many times before, Philadelphia is a Northern Soul goldmine. Second only to Detroit in the quantity of amazing performers, songwriters and producers making equally amazing records, Philly was (and is) heavily represented on the playlists of the UK’s Northern DJs.

The partnership of Leroy Lovett and Frank Bendinelli was responsible for a fair number of those records. What started in 1962 as a songwriting partnership expanded into a production company and several record labels. In the early and mid 60’s Lovett and Bendinelli – as Ben-Lee Productions – were responsible for records by Patty and the Emblems, Kenny Gamble, Cindy Scott (who would also record for Veep and Huff Puff), Timmy and the Empires, the Intruders, the Colt 45’s and the Intruders among others. They also provided a home for the songwriting partnership of Leon Huff and Cindy Scott, who would pen both sides of this month’s Philly Groove.

The Persianettes, actually hailed from across the river in Camden, NJ.  Formed by Helen Hutchinson, Vera Carey and Lucille Dunbar, they originally backed Timmy Carr (later of Timmy and the Empires who recorded the brilliant but unreleased ‘Got No Time’ for Ben-Lee) on 45s for the Olympia and Guyden labels as well as Jamie 45 as ‘The Beatlettes’.

After breaking off on their own, the Persianettes recorded one 45 for Swan (“What Good Is It Pts 1&2”) before laying down their final 45 for Philly’s OR records (who also issued a number of 45s and an LP by Billy Harner).

‘Call On Me’ b/w ‘It Happens Every Day’ is one of my top ten Philly soul 45s. Both sides of the single combine great songs, great performances and outstanding production into two sides of dance floor magic. ‘Call On Me’ features a hard, percussive beat, high backing vocals and a dynamic lead by Dunbar. ‘It Happens Every Day’ has a faster tempo and a great horn chart. It opens up with bass and what sounds like bongo drums, leading into a rumbling beat. The coolest thing about the production/arrangement of this record is that it has a truly original sound, dispensing with the then popular Motown-ish elements of baritone sax and vibes, working toward a dense, more powerful sound.

The 45 also had the distinction of having been released on two other labels beside OR, including Strata and Open (which I believe was a division of OR as many of Billy Harner’s 45s appeared on both labels).

The members of the Persianettes also recorded as backing vocalists for other Ben-Lee acts.

This 45 has been reissued on several comps, especially the outstanding ‘Philly Soul Girls Vol 1’ on the Philly Archives label. Avoid the Persianettes recordings on the Kent ‘Ben-Lee’s Philadelphia Story’ as they appear to have been remastered and are stunningly weak compared to the 45.

The Harthon Northern Soul Sound of the