Reviews: Love Train:The Sound of Philadelphia

by: Various






Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0886973527924
Format: Box set
Label: Sony Legacy
Manufacturer: Sony Legacy
MPN: 735279
Number Of Discs: 4
Publisher: Sony Legacy
Release Date: October 21, 2008
Studio: Sony Legacy


Rating: - Love Train 2008
OMG! After seeing the PBS Show during the Thanksgiving Weekend and immediately ordering that same night I was all excited. Came within 5 days and haven't stop listening to it yet. At least two hours a day now ipod @ home and car.
Brings back all the memories (good & bad) and it's really can only be appreciated by those who lived, breathed it to the max. Of course, it was to cool you down while funk got you up in the height of the nite.

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Rating: - Great Music, Great Price
I'm surprised they didn't price this higher. Nothing I can add that hasn't been said except for, When are they going to do a box set or release The Intruders material that has never been on cd. I'm talking about their first three albums The Intruders Are Together and Cowboys To Girls and When We Get Married. Those plus Energy of Love and Save The Children (both released on a Collectable cd along with greatest hits) plus the singles that were not from an lp would make a nice box set. It's a shame those albums are lingering somewhere. What, I repeat WHAT are they waiting for?

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Rating: - love train; the sound of philadelphia
Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia - Live in ConcertIf your a "Baby Boomer" your gonna love this Gamble and Huff collection of Philadelphia hits. I watched the first installment of the PBS special (dvd release this spring), and was "hooked". Every song on the multi disk set is an "instant trip down memory lane". I highly recommend this collection, and putting in a "pre-order" for the double dvd set.

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Rating: - Buy It!!!
Has so many great songs from my youth...the price is right for so much music.... you would be a fool not to buy it!!!

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Rating: - TSOP it is!
Philadelphia has always been the City of Brotherly Love and it took two musical geniuses like Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff to compose the songs and arrangements that would reach out to all listening audiences letting them know that that phrase was more than just a phrase. In that classic O'Jays' hit of which this boxed set is named, all the nations of the world from England to Russia, China and Africa are connected as the "Love Train" comes "ridin' on through." The phrase "People all over the world" from the same song is later duplicated in MFSB's chart-topper "TSOP: The Sound of Phildelphia." MFSB, standing for Mother Father Sister Brother further emphasizing the Philadelphia spirit of unity, is the studio band that Gamble & Huff assembled to play behind the artists they wrote for and produced and was the sound they had bumpin'! All around they were one tight outfit. Going further with the subject of the need for positive social awareness, it could be heard in songs like the O'Jays' greasy and funky "For The Love of Money", Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' "Wake Up Everybody", "Put Your Hands Together" from the O'Jays again, as well as McFadden & Whitehead's latter-era classic "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now." Yes, indeed: the Love Train was making its impact on American popular music and it was rollin' straight out of no other righteous American city than Philadelphia.

This brand new edition of Gamble and Huff's Philly Soul contributions to R&B music from 1967-1983 is a definitive portrait of their labors of love that started from their first chance meeting inside an elevator. From there to the recording studio and to the music charts, they cranked out one hit after another for various artists signed to their Philadelphia International label. The first half of disc one are the seeds that got the ball rolling with hits from Jerry Butler, the Delfonics, the Stylistics, Joe Simon, Wilson Pickett as well as Dusty Springfield. The second half of disc one and onward is where the Philly sound grew, developed and progressed encompassing the many phases that defined what '70s R&B was all about through funk, smooth soul, quiet storm and ultimately disco. None of these songs are really pure disco although, Philly In'tl played the huge part in contributing to how disco evolved.

All the hits are here and some have extended versions such as "I'll Always Love My Mama" and "I Wanna Know Your Name" from the Intruders, "Livin' For The Weekend" and "I Love Music" from the O'Jays, plus "I Miss You" and "The Love I Lost" from Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes. Those longer cuts are what made Philly In'tl what it was and, as stated before, because of their dancability and or seductiveness if it was a ballad, this lead to disco, the 12" single and to the only majorcomplaint about this set. Because of the lengths of many songs, it leaves little room for other artists to have significant spotlight time. For instance, artists like Lou Rawls, The Jacksons, Dee Dee Sharp, Bunny Sigler and Joe Simon could have had more hits provided as they had their fair share on the label as well. The O'Jays and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes seem to dominate this set, and in a way they were synonomous with Philly In'tl, but the balance could have been a bit better. Then again, the purpose of box sets is to provide as thorough of an overview as possible without turning anything into combine mini-greatest hit collections. If you want to investigate further on an artist, you're welcome to, as their music is readily and separately available. If more songs were provided along with the 71 on here, this could have easily spawned a fifth disc. Two other minor quibbles is that this did not include the collaboration of artists as the Philadelphia International All-Stars' "Let's Clean Up The Ghetto" and the Ebony's "It's Forever" does not have the extended ending, but yet just about everything else does. Hear that one elsewhere in its 7 minute glory.

Other non-Philly label artists include The Spinners (I'll Be Around, The Rubberband Man) and the Manhattans (There's No Me Without You, Kiss and Say Goodbye). Finally, Teddy Pendergrass, Deneice Williams, the Jones Girls, and Patti Labelle round out the set that carries the glossy and glittery quiet storm and dance sounds into the '80s as Philly In'tl leaves behind its glory days.

The songs were as recognizable as their very own sound, and just as Motown and Stax had their own distinct sounds during their heydays, as did Philly In'tl. In fact if any two labels had their heydays during decades it would be Motown and Stax in the '60s and Philly In'tl and Hi for the '70s. With positive messages as well as the down-to-earth heartfelt emotions on life and love in the lyrics, Philadelphia International and their creators Gamble and Huff were the symbols and personifications of Brotherly Love and promotion for unity. Get ready to start and evening full of get-down dancin' and romancin' as you take a ride on the Love Train!

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