"Nothing But A House Party: The Birth Of The Philly Sound 1967-71" by VARIOUS ARTISTS - Featuring The Show Stoppers, The Delfonics, George Tindley, Jerry Butler, Honey & The Bees, Executive Suite, Cliff Nobles, The Ambassadors, Lou Jackson, Brenda & The Tabulations, Moses Smith, Sonny Boss, The Intruders, Barbara Mason, Peaches & Herb, Winfield Parker, The Ethics and more (May 2017 UK Ace/Kent Soul 24-Track CD Compilation with Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Don't You Understand What You're Doing To The Man..."

Having thoroughly enjoyed the Thom Bell Ace Records/Kent Soul CD compilation "Didn't I Blow Your Mind? The Sound of Philadelphia Soul 1969-1983" issued 31 May 2024 – I decided to root back further and unearthed this wee peach (from seven years back) dealing with early Philly pointers.

A typically cool release from Kent Soul of the UK in May 2017 and heralded on their rear inlay as 'Classic 60s and 70s soul from the City of Brotherly Love, recorded before the Philadelphia Sound went International' - "Nothing But A House Party: The Birth Of The Philly Sound 1967-71" has the usual Mono and Stereo 24-track MO, a beautifully annotated 20-page booklet festooned with label repros (TONY ROUNCE liner notes), promo photos and period memorabilia and corking Remastered Audio from their longstanding sound-engineer DUNCAN COWELL. 

It's All Over But The Shouting, and as they say, let's get to the detailed nitty-gritty…

UK released 26 May 2017 - "Nothing But A House Party: The Birth Of The Philly Sound 1967-71" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 466 (Barcode 029667083829) is a 24-Track CD Compilation of US 45-Single Remasters that plays out as follows (65:22 minutes):

1. Ain't Nothing But A House Party – THE SHOW STOPPERS (USA 1967 1st issue on Party Time PT-1002, A-side, 2nd issue March 1967 on Showtime STR-101, 3rd US issue October 1967 on Guyden 2131 – also UK March 1968 on Beacon 3-100, January 1971 UK on Beacon BEA 100 and others)

2. You're Been Untrue – THE DELFONICS (April 1967, Cameo C-472, A-side, Thom Bell co-writer and Producer)

3. It's All Over But The Shouting – GEORGE TINDLEY (July 1969, Wand WND 11205, B-side of "Ain't That Peculiar" - a Gulliver cover version, song by Len Barry and Tim Moore)

4. Never Give You Up – JERRY BUTLER (April 1968, Mercury 72798, A-side, written by Gamble & Huff and Butler)

5. Help Me (Get Over My Used To Be Lover) – HONEY AND THE BEES (April 1970, Josie 45-1020, A-side)

6. Christine – EXECUTIVE SUITE (October 1970, Jubilee 45-5705, A-side – Gulliver cover version – song written by Daryl Hall (of Hall & Oates), Len Barry and Tom Sellers)

7. Love Is All Right – CLIFF NOBLES (February 1968, Phil-L.A. Of Soul 313, A-side)

8. Ain't Got The Love Of One Girl (On My Mind) – THE AMBASSADORS (March 1969, Arctic 150, A-side, written by Barbara Mason)

9. Peace To You Brother – LOU JACKSON (January 1971, Spring 110, A-side)

10. My Balloon's Going Up – ARCHIE BELL And THE DRELLS (August 1969, Atlantic 45-2663, A-side – a Gamble & Huff Song and Production)

11. That's The Price You Have To Pay – BRENDA And THE TABULATIONS (March 1969, Dionn 512, A-side – Bobby Martin and Thom Bell Production)

12. Rainmaker – THE MOODS (August 1970, Wand WND 11224, A-side – written by Tim Moore during his stint with the Rock Band Gulliver (that also featured Daryl Hall) but first issued by The Moods who would later evolve into the Disco Inferno famous Trammps)

13. Keep On Striving – MOSES SMITH (July 1970, Cotillion 45-44075, A-side)

14. Piper Must Be Paid – SONNY ROSS (March 1971, Event EV 202, B-side of "Alakazam" – also July 1971 in the UK on Mojo 2093 001, A-side – written by George Tindley (see Track 3) and Gerald Smith)

15. You Better Stop It – BARBARA MASON (June 1969, Arctic 154, B-side of  "Happy Girl" – both sides written by Barbara Mason)

16. Goin' Home To An Empty House – SUNSHINE (1972, Phil-L.A. Of Soul 359, A-side – song written in 1969 by Northern Soul fave Herb Ward but only released in 1972 under another name (Sunshine) without his permission, Produced by Thom Bell)

17. Every Day Is A Holiday – THE INTRUDERS (December 1969, Gamble G 240, B-side of "Old Love" – both sides written by Gamble & Huff and Produced by Thom Bell)

18. (You) Got What I Need – FREDDIE SCOTT (July 1968, Shout S-233, A-side – a Gamble & Huff song also Produced)

19. Girl You're Too Young – LEN BARRY (2005, That Philly Sound TPS-R101, A-side – written and recorded 1968 – writers Archie Bell, Thom Bell and Kenny Gamble – Len Barry is ex The Dovells - "Girl You're Too Young" was recorded by Archie Bell & The Drells, their May 1969 issued US 45-single on Atlantic 45-2644 made No.13 on US Billboard R&B charts)

20. Your Fool Still Loves You – OSCAR WEATHERS (February 1970, Top And Bottom 402, A-side – Written and Produced by Van McCoy)

21. What You Gave Up – THE CONTINENTAL 4 (May 1971, Jay Walking JW-011, B-side of "Day By Day (Every Minute Of The Hour)" – Written by Norman Harris and Albert Felder and Produced by Bobby Martin) 

22. Let's Make A Promise – PEACHES  & HERB (October 1968, Date 2-1623, A-side, also issued November 1968 in the UK on Direction 58-3829, A-side – Written by Thom Bell, Mikki Farrow and Kenny Gamble – Arranged and Produced Gamble & Huff and Tommy Martin)

23. I'm On My Way – WINFIELD PARKER – PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED Take of Spring 116 recorded in 1971 - Arranged by Bobby Martin)

24. Standing In The Darkness – THE ETHICS (March 1970, Vent V-1008, A-side - Written by Norman Harris, Arranged by Thom Bell and Norman Harris)

NOTES: 

All Tracks are MONO except STEREO on Tracks 5, 8, 14, 17, 18, and 24

The floorfiller-song this CD compilation derives its name from - "Ain't Nothing But A House Party" - came out three times in one year in the USA (and on three 1967 different labels) and saw almost as many British reissues follow suit too. The Show Stoppers were brothers Alex and Laddie Burke (siblings of Solomon Burke over on the equally mighty Atlantic Records) – the foursome completed by another set of brothers Earl and Timmy Smith. Penned in part by future Jazz-Funk hero Joe Thomas - "Ain't Nothing But A House Party" seemed ready made for British Northern Soul and Mod Clubs – thereby reaching No. 11 on reissue in 1971 on Beacon Records when NS was exploding all over Blighty. Prior to their breakthrough "La-La-Means I Love You" hit in 1968 (an R&B No.2) and in the dying bankruptcy throws of Cameo Parkway – The Delfonics pushed out the Thom Bell and William Hurt gem "You've Been Untrue" – the same duo who penned the infectious "La-La…". Stylistically close to the (well) Stylistics – the criminally unsuccessful "You've Been Untrue" is the Sound of Philly Soul fans tingle to and it sounds just juicy here. 

In the superb TONY ROUNCE liner notes, he clumps the George Tindley and Sonny Ross entries together (Tracks 3 and 14) – Tindley singing his own 45 of course whilst producing the latter. Philly singer Tindley went all the way back to the 1953 Vocal Group The Dreams and Kenny Esquire & The Starlites. Written by Len Barry and Tim Moore (later with US Rock group Gulliver which also housed an uppercoming Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates) – the Soulful B-side "It's All Over But The Shouting" is a corker while "Piper Must Be Paid" is another flip that in another world could have been an A-side. Class (and that is the right word) oozes out of every note in the Jerry Butler caress that is "Never Give You Up" – a co-write by the silken-voiced Butler with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff – the main men for Philadelphia International Records and a whole other 20-CD Box Set of hits. 

The four gorgeous gals of Honey & The Bees are pictured on Page 7 in silver dresses that amplify more than their pearly whites – lead vocalist Nadine Felder being the Honey in the Beehive (Gwen Oliver and Cassandra Wooten would go on to become a part of The Ritchie Family who had a No.1 Dance Chart hit in 1976 with "The Best Disco In Town"). Their Honey & The Bees contribution here is the oh-so-hip "Help Me (Get Over My Used To Be Lover)" – an infectious bopper from 1970 on Josie Records. Rounce pairs the 1970 entries for Executive Suite and The Moods again because of songwriters – this time with Tom Sellers, Len Barry (ex Dovells) and John Madara. Along with Tim Moore and Daryl Hall, Tom Sellers had been in Gulliver – a Rock Group mostly remembered because of the Hall & Oates connection (before they started their career with Atlantic Records). Rounce calls "Christine" by Executive Suite top-tier Vocal Group Soul (Vincent Unto is the lead Tenor, sharing lines with Hall) even if it failed to make waves past New Jersey and Philadelphia on initial release. The Moods and their "Rainmaker" is a joyful discovery for me – one of the hidden gems here that features ex Volcanos singers who would later morph into The Trammps come the Saturday Night Fever explosion in the late Seventies.

The Cliff Nobles A-side "Love Is All Right" has a reverse-face history – DJs ignoring it for the vocal-less backing track on the flipside which the Phil L.A. of Soul Records label had dubbed "The Horse". Played as a throwaway lead-in to News Reports and Traffic Bulletins and essentially featuring MFSB of Philly Fame in all but name, "The Horse" nonetheless elicited huge public interest and before Phil L.A. of Soul knew it, the B-side went to No.2 on the US Billboard R&B charts. Ace and Kent-Soul have decided to give us the brassy what-your-love-has-done-to-me A-side instead (Cliff Nobles is pictured on Page 9 of the booklet) – the path less travelled and a bopping dancer sweetie it is too. Soul heroine Barbara Mason is the connection between Tracks 8 and 11 – The Ambassadors and Barbara Mason – her "You Better Stop It" a seriously prized US 45 amongst Blighty aficionados. Lou Jackson wants to get rid of shame and hate is his Slow Soul message march song "Peace To You Brother" – got to be a brighter day. We move to Atlantic Records for Archie Bell and The Drells and the strings-and-bop sound of "My Balloon's Going Up" a - joyous Gamble & Huff concoction that made Northern Soul fans tingle and mingle. 

But even that mirth is whomped into pure Soul submission with the gorgeous Brenda & The Tabulations 1969 gem "That's The Price You Have To Pay" – a Gamble & Huff production that has become legendary amongst lovers of the genre. Moses Smith is earnest enough in his "Keep On Striving" but followed shortly after by Barbara Mason, her invitation to arm-folding "You Better Stop It" is so Northern Soul it hurts. Deep-Soul legend Herb Ward does not want to go home where only loneliness and solemnity await – his mellow-drama overload "Goin' Home To An Empty House" put out by his record label without his permission and under the pseudonym Sunshine to hide their dodgy deed. The Intruders dancer "Every Day Is A Holiday" is so late-60ts Philly Sound – Freddie Scott the same – not surprising with Gamble & Huff behind both. Len Barry worries what her parents might think – his girl too young to hold his hand – mama not going to allow it. And on it goes to The Ethics getting all Stereo with their "Standing In This Darkness". 

Ace Records of the UK know their audience and punters know what to expect when they buy one of their CD compilations. But every now and then, you have dip your cloth-cap to their genius at listens like this. 

Great choices, tasty packaging and quality audio into the mushy bargain - bit of a belter frankly...

THOM BELL and some PHILLY SOUND CD Compilations

From Ace Records and Kent Soul of the UK (all reviewed)

1. Thom Bell by Various Artists - "Ready Or Not: Philly Soul Arrangements & Productions 1965-1978" 
UK released 25 June 2020, Ace/Kent Soul CDTOP 488 (Barcode 029667098021)

2. Thom Bell by Various Artists - "Didn't I Blow Your Mind? The Sound of Philadelphia Soul 1969-1983"
UK released 31 May 2024, Ace/Kent Soul CDTOP 522 
(Barcode 029667110624)

3. Various Artists - "Nothing But A House Party: The Birth Of The Philly Sound 1967-1971"
UK released 26 May 2017, Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 466 (Barcode 029667083829)

4. Various Artists - "Psychedelic Soul Produced by Norman Whitfield" 
UK released 27 August 2021, Ace/Kent Soul CDTOP 504 (Barcode 029667103121)

5. Earl Young - "Groove Machine: The Earl Young Drum Sessions"
UK released 24 February 2024, Ace/Kent Soul CDTOP 1629 (Barcode 029667109925)