Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Starting a Soul label? Your first release should be Hippie Music!

Here is a strange one. I have always associated the Philadelphia International label with soul. Imagine my surprise when I put this on the turntable for a quick spin. Wow! I found a reference that this was actually the first release on Philadelphia International in March 1971! That Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, two influential soul songwriters who wrote some of the best known soul classics of the 60's and 70's, would start their new record label with hippie music is astounding to me. But it is right up my alley.





















Gideon Smith - Arkansas Life

























Gideon Smith- When Two Worlds Can Successfully Collide

1 comment:

wbhist said...

While in terms of catalogue numbers this was the first release, I found (via research I conducted at the archives of Sony Music) that this was actually released in May of 1971 - one month after single #ZS7 3503, "You're The Reason Why" by The Ebonys. (The fact that this release has the olive yellow background, while the Ebonys single had a goldish background, was a key.)