Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - The Very Best Of

I have this album on vinyl, but it has a few scratches now, so invested in a CD version which I can now player in the car. Great value for money

The Philadelphia international record label; was founded by fledgling songwriters; Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff in the early 1970's,and proved highly successful when signing artists such as: Billy Paul,The Three degrees,The O'jays and Lou Rawls.Now i finally come to - Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes - another huge success for the PIR label during the mid to late '70's.They were a vocal soul group fronted by the eponymous Harold Melvin,with lead vocal duties normally handled superbly by the deep,soulful voice of Teddy Pendergrass.Achieving a string of hit singles both in the USA and UK such as; Satisfaction guaranteed (or take your love back),The love I lost,If you don't know me by now and Don't leave me this way - these were a blend of upbeat,feelgood songs - showcasing the authentic 'Philly sound' which had evolved since the labels formation,and heartfelt and moving ballads.prime example: the socially observed and powerful lyrics of: Wake everybody - it's message of injustice and poverty is as relevant today as it was when written at the time - a truly outstanding song.Elsewhere on the album: opening track; Bad luck is an upbeat start - clocking in at 6 minutes +.Be for real - is mainly a monologue with a message to a lady in his life,to stop acting shallow and false,and be herself - hence the title..another moving inclusion.Teddy Pendergrass is lead vocalist on the vast majority of track inclusions,and is credited as: Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes featuring Teddy Pendergrass on several tracks.e.g. Miss you (part 1) and To be true.Two tracks; Hope that we can be together again soon and You know me so well - feature lead vocals by Sharon Paige,and are duly credited.closing track: Cabaret - is the musical classic composed by Fred Ebb and John Kander - and is quite an incongruos inclusion on a compilation album by such soul group - (music) variety is the spice of life,I guess.On the whole; this 2014 release of: The very best of...HMATB is a very good compilation cd release.featuring sleeve notes by Dean Rudland (no background info available),and the only dissappoitments' are no extended versions of; The love I lost and Wake up everybody - which I have heard occasionally on UK radio stations.Excellent sound quality throughout cd disc - enjoy it!N.B. interesting to note: several song writing credits for: (Gene) McFadden and (John) Whithead.really ain't no stopping us now (sic) 😁😁🎶

easy listening

So quick, superb

I love Teddy PENDERGRASS music & purchased this for that reason. There’s some super hits of Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes and would thoroughly recommend to anyone.

Bought 3 different cds but all 3 cases cracked on delivery otherwise great music

A comprehensive round up of Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes tenure at Philadelphia International between 1972 and early 1977 running from I Miss You to Don't Leave Me This Way in a fabulous collection that keeps on giving. All 11 singles from that period are included in this great value 17 track retrospective, some of which it's difficult to believe weren't UK hits. Of those that were If You Don't Know Me By Now, The Love I Lost and Don't Leave Me This Way will be the ones probably known to casual observers. Rest assured most of the rest of this collection is of equal quality, with just a slight tapering off towards the end of the album with otherwise very pleasant tracks. Teddy Pendergrass features large on many of these tracks from one of the very best 70's vocal groups. Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia house style is very much in evidence throughout which assures the high quality of this ridiculously low priced selection which at just £4 cannot be faulted.

Great vocals by Teddy Pendergrass and 17 tracks to boot!!