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Kenneth Gamble
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Kenneth Gamble was born in 1943 in Philadelphia and, together with Leon Huff, born in 1942 in Camden, New Jersey, forms the songwriting and producing duo Gamble and Huff. They are regarded as the creators of Philadelphia soul, the Philly sound of the 1970s. As a boy Gamble recorded himself in recording booths in amusement arcades, helped the DJs of the WDAS morning programme, ran a record shop and sang with The Romeos. At seventeen he was discovered by Jerry Ross. In 1964 he worked for the first time with the keyboardist Huff, on a recording by Candy and The Kisses.
Music and breakthrough
Their first top 5 hit came in 1967 with Expressway to Your Heart by The Soul Survivors. In 1968 they wrote and produced Cowboys to Girls for The Intruders on their own label. They also worked with Wilson Pickett, Dusty Springfield, Archie Bell and the Drells and Jerry Butler. In 1971 they founded Philadelphia International Records, as a rival to Berry Gordy and Motown. CBS Records under Clive Davis supported the label. With the arrangers Thom Bell, Bobby Martin and Norman Harris they made a large part of the most popular soul hits of the 1970s. Almost all the records came from the in-house studio band MFSB, which in 1974 reached number one with TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia). That song is known as the theme tune of Soul Train.
Influence
The Philadelphia sound developed from simple arrangements in the late 1960s into lush strings, driving bass lines and gliding hi-hat rhythms. Those elements became the hallmarks of disco. Gamble and Huff wrote and produced 175 gold and platinum records and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.
Listening
Mentioned in other articles
- Philly soul Genre
In Philadelphia the songwriters and producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff made their own soul from the late 1960s, and in 1971 they founded Philadelphia International Records.