“Philadelphia was the first major city north of the
Mason-Dixon Line, and the first place that many African-Americans settled in. They
brought their experience from the deep south, and it combined with the Anglo-Saxon,
classical tradition from Europe that was already in the city. So that is how
you come to get that sound, of these lush string accompaniments playing
alongside an incredible rhythmic groove, which is the soul of the music.”—Singer-songwriter
John Oates, quoted in Peter Aspden, “The Making of Philly Soul,” The Financial
Times, Oct. 14-15, 2017
Peter Aspden’s interview with John Oates and musical
partner Daryl Hall allows those two genre-benders to speak, articulately and
passionately, about the whole arc of their careers, including, as here, their
formative influences. But I wish the article could have explored in greater
depth the producers and musicians who made such an indelible contribution to
the music of the 1970s.
So, I’ll take up the task, in a list that is
probably woefully incomplete: Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, Thom Bell, the
Spinners, the Stylistics, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, the O’Jays, Lou
Rawls, Jerry Butler, Phyllis Hyman, Patti Labelle, and Billy Paul (whose “Me
and Mrs. Jones” was covered by Hall and Oates in a barn-burner of a live performance in 2003).
(John Oates is pictured right with Daryl Hall, in
this photo taken and pasted on Flicker by Gary Harris, Oct. 1, 2008.)
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