Stories behind memorable albums of the 1970s as told by the artists

Tag: TSOP

Brian Wilson and The Zombies add a touch of ‘Philly soul’ to the show

When I was a kid in the 1970s, listening to WLS out of Chicago, I used to keep a cassette recorder loaded with a blank tape on my nightstand next to the radio. As I lay there trying to fall asleep, I would listen to the music, and when a song came on that I liked, I’d fumble through the darkness and attempt to hit the “record” button.

That’s how we put a setlist together back in those days. And even though I got fairly adept at hitting the “record” button when one of my favorite songs came on (actually you had to hit “play” and “record” at the same time, which increased the degree of difficulty when doing it in the dark), my reaction time was always a tick or two behind. So my setlist of favorite tunes I played on that cassette recorder was inevitably missing the intros … Read more

Kenny Gamble: Respectfully thanking a legend without saying a word

Kenny Gamble had written a song, but it wasn’t complete. He was stuck without a second verse, and he couldn’t quite get it.

But The O’Jays were in the studio – Sigma Sound Studios at 12th and Race in Philadelphia – and ready to go. It was 1972, and they had already laid down nine other tracks for an album they were recording for Philadelphia International Records, co-founded by Gamble and Leon Huff, as well as the background vocals to the final song and were anxious to see how the rest of it would sound.

Gamble called for a five-minute break, left the recording booth and retired to a small back room at Sigma Sound to work on writing the second verse of the song.

Everything in the studio was set up and ready to go. Now, The O’Jays were just waiting on Gamble to finish the song.

A few … Read more

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