Essential Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Original recording remastered, Import

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes broke out nationally with their huge late 1972 hit, If You Don't Know Me By Now, but that breakout had been a long time coming. Harold Melvin had formed the group as the Charlemagne's in the doo-wop days of the 50's, renaming them the Blue Notes in 1954. At that time Melvin was the lead singer as well as the group leader. They had the usual frustrating run of many small labels and singles that didn't chart. For twenty years all he had to show was a single for the minor Val-ue label, My Hero, that made #78 in 1960.

But sometimes persistence pays off. In the early 70's he signed on Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's new label, Philadelphia International. This time it would not be the same old story. Gamble and Huff were producer-composers on the rise creating a new "Philadelphia Sound" to rival Motown which would in time overtake the Detroit label to become the top R&B label in the country. Everything seemed to come together in late '72 when they struck gold with the O'Jays' Backstabbers, Billy Paul's Me and Mrs. Jones and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' If You Don't Know Me By Now.This was a great time for R&B when the Billboard Hot 100 also included hits like Superfly by Curtis Mayfield, Papa Was a Rolling Stone by the Temptations, Keeper of the Castle by the Four TopsTrouble Man by Marvin Gaye and Superstition by Stevie Wonder.

Harold Melvin had good luck himself. His lead singer, John Atkins had quit earlier in '72 and Harold replaced him with the young drummer in his backup band, Teddy Pendergrass. He created a new dynamic for the group, his strong, commanding voice with slightly rough edges made a great contrast to the smooth sound of the Blue Notes. This was shown off perfectly in their big hit, a top 5 pop million seller and the first of many hits.The next big crossover hit just about exactly a year later was The Love I Lost in a completely different mood, a dance song that many people credit as the first disco hit. The basic sound of disco, the rhythm and especially the strings came right out of the Philadelphia Sound. But the sound already existed almost totally as early as the Summer of 1972 on the Trammps Zing Went the Strings of My Heart. They were a Philly group but recorded on Buddah. Bit it only went to #64 and couldn't really be called a hit.

You get all their important Philly International hits and to the credit of the collection they include the six-minute, album cut versions of their dance songs, not the radio singles. you also get two songs with Sharon Page in the group. She added a nice high voice to the mix, warmer than a traditional falsetto. The album opens with the mellow hit single, Wake Up Everybody, a community-oriented song from their platinum selling album of the same name. The hits began to taper off. The liner notes say the label was giving the better material to the O'Jays, their biggest sellers. Could be. But there were also conflicts between Harold and Teddy. Whose group was it? Teddy was the singer with the rest really backup, but Harold had founded the group. Teddy went out as a solo act and made four platinum and two gold albums, a late 70's superstar.

But here they are together in an "Essential Collection" that really is essential for anyone who loves traditional R&B in its 70's heyday. It's got 15 songs, all beautifuly remastered. You won't go wrong with this one.

Album arrived promptly, in pristine condition and was an enjoyable listen. But, a bit of a different review:
Notwithstanding some of CD's tunes less well known, a bit draggy, there IS a huge difference between good and great remastering.
Pressing was good; there is a very clear and distinct sound quality, and clarity amongst singers and instrumentation. But, sadly, it wasn't great; when music is 'alive,' grabs your attention, and perceived breath and space amongst all performers. We have technology but rarely "go the extra mile," to achieve greatness.

I have always loved the great songs that were performed by the Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes singing group. They still seem to fall into one of those categories of singers who were never really given the great respect that they SHOULD HAVE received for the great work that they did. This was especially true when Teddy Pendergrass was their lead singer, but the rest of the group (including Mr. Melvin himself) were not a bunch of musical performance chumps. NOT BY A LONG SHOT. I'm very deeply appreciative of the people who have taken the time and effort to preserve this group of superb musical efforts that Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes produced over the years.

I was in Philadelphia over the summer on business. At night, I left the radio on for some smooth grooves, and THE SONG "You know how to make me, feel sooo good" came on, oh, I lost my mind! Started singing this song as if it were still the 70's, never missing a lyric, and I have not heard this song in over 30 years. So, thank you Amazon for offering this cd.

This cd is priceless, in my estimation.

All the classics before TP went out on his own. Songbird Sharon Paige adds two favorites.