Post by kalisa2 on Apr 20, 2006 9:52:09 GMT -5
Once more with soul
Imagine this: The great sounds of Motown and Philadelphia performed by the top talents of the era. Phil Hurtt's dream is becoming a reality.
By Rob Watson
Inquirer Staff Writer
It wasn't hard to tell it was another special moment, as camera flashes lit up the recording studio. It was Bunny Sigler and he was shining, again.
The 65-year-old singer and producer had grabbed Honey, Bobby Eli's guitar, and started laying down licks to a song he helped compose, the O'Jays' "When the World's at Peace."
"Oh, man," said Eli, grinning, "that's some swampy funk." Sigma Sound engineer Gene Leone nodded.
"I didn't even know he could play, but I've heard him sing opera before - he's a bad dude," funkmaster George Clinton would say later.
For connoisseurs of Philly soul, the scene Monday at the Studio, on the third floor of a warehouse in Old City, was like an R&B version of a winning fantasy football team. And pulling it together has been the dream of Phil Hurtt, the award-winning Philly International producer.
Since January, Hurtt's new label, Soul Renaissance Records, has been recording A Soulful Tale of Two Cities, with Philly artists, songwriters, and producers performing songs from Detroit's Motown era, and Detroit artists re-creating The Sound of Philadelphia.
With a June 6 release date for the album, ain't no stopping them now.
"It was really about the people whom I had always considered masters but weren't getting the recognition I thought they deserved," said Hurtt, 64, who has 11 gold and platinum records under his belt, including the Spinners' "I'll Be Around," which he penned with his high school classmate Thom Bell.
"Take Bunny, for example. I had worked with Bunny writing stuff back in the '70s, and even today he can flat-out blow 99.9 percent of the artists off the stage. We have the tracks to back it up," Hurtt said.
That might be an understatement. Not only does Sigler sing a version of the Marvin Gaye-Tammi Terrell classic "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," but Hurtt - who started out singing doo-wop with his older brother in the '50s - takes on the Temptations' "Girl's Alright With Me."
Other artists representing Philly include Jean Carn, singing Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground"; Blue Magic's Ted Mills, doing "Shop Around"; and the Delfonics' William "Poogie" Hart, crooning "Just Ask the Lonely."
All these Detroit standards are being remade in Philly and produced by Hurtt and Eli, backed by members of MFSB, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's Philly International house band during the '70s.
In Detroit, the sessions are being produced by Motown hitmaker Lamont Dozier and Clay McMurray, and backed by the Funk Brothers.
"For the most part, the Motown sound had more of a happiness to it," said Patricia Cosby, widow of the late Motown composer and session man Hank Cosby. "Where with the Philly sound, if you weren't in love, you were going to fall in love before the song was over."
When Hurtt was putting together Soulful Tales, Eli was an obvious pick. He wasn't just an original member of MFSB, and a producer of such R&B chart-toppers as Major Harris' Grammy-winning "Love Won't Let Me Wait." No, Hurtt and Eli go way back, much further than their days at Gamble and Huff's Philly International label.
"I called Bobby Eli first. Bobby and I went to high school together along with Thom Bell," said Hurtt. "I had to play it cool at first. I didn't want the idea to get out because if it did the majors would have stolen it, signed all the big names, and these guys wouldn't have gotten their due."
Playing it cool meant teasing Eli, his fellow Dobbins High alum, with a series of "what-if" meetings - as in, what if we could get so-and-so to record that song?
"One day, a couple of years ago, Phil called me up and said he had a great idea but he didn't want to divulge anything because if he told me he didn't think I would be able to sleep," said Eli. "Once I finally realized what we were talking about I almost fell out. I wondered why no one had thought about this before."
Tapping backers from years of running his own gospel label, Hurtt also wanted to make sure that the label could cover the recording expenses, so that the musicians weren't victimized, as some had been in the past.
"The average of the participants in this project is 62 - they shouldn't have to worry about any of that stuff," he said.
For Sigler, who had been doing occasional club dates, the experience has been more than he expected when he was contacted by Hurtt last year.
"I was supposed to do two songs and wound up doing four, maybe five, and then working on the whole thing," said Sigler. "It's kept me busier than I have been in years, and we are in a groove now that's like back in the day."
The groove is like "back in the day" in Detroit, as well. In those sessions, Freda Payne covered the Stylistics' "Betcha by Golly, Wow"; Bobby Taylor of the Vancouvers did the Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes classic "If You Don't Know Me by Now"; and Dozier sang Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones" and Teddy Pendergrass' "Close the Door."
Dozier said the last thing he wanted to do was change how these songs made people feel when they first took over the airwaves and slow-drag time on the dance floor.
"Billy Paul's song is hard to beat," said Dozier. "I made it my own with a couple of little things, but I wasn't really going to fool with his thing. I ain't crazy."
Another voice that will throw listeners for a loop is one they've probably heard, but not like this. Detroit native George Clinton heard about the Soulful Tales project only three weeks ago. In Philadelphia for an event at Temple University, he stopped in the studio Monday to record "Love Won't Let Me Wait." Then he fell under the same spell as the other performers: He wanted to do more.
So - in between reminiscing, and taking part in extraordinary impromptu doo-wop sessions with Hurtt and Sigler - Clinton covered the Soul Survivors' "Expressway to Your Heart" and "When the World's at Peace."
"It was fun to go back in the day like that, and eventually more [musicians] are going to be down with this," Clinton said. "This is going to be big, man, and even radio is going to have some fun with this thing."
Hearing that there was talk about a tour after the CD release, Clinton said he'd have to make some preparations.
"Maybe we can do some of those doo-wop things so people can see what I used to do way back when," he said. "I'd have to get out my suit and lose this gut, though."
Contact staff writer Rob Watson at 215-854-5608 or rwatson@phillynews.com.
www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/14382206.htm
Imagine this: The great sounds of Motown and Philadelphia performed by the top talents of the era. Phil Hurtt's dream is becoming a reality.
By Rob Watson
Inquirer Staff Writer
It wasn't hard to tell it was another special moment, as camera flashes lit up the recording studio. It was Bunny Sigler and he was shining, again.
The 65-year-old singer and producer had grabbed Honey, Bobby Eli's guitar, and started laying down licks to a song he helped compose, the O'Jays' "When the World's at Peace."
"Oh, man," said Eli, grinning, "that's some swampy funk." Sigma Sound engineer Gene Leone nodded.
"I didn't even know he could play, but I've heard him sing opera before - he's a bad dude," funkmaster George Clinton would say later.
For connoisseurs of Philly soul, the scene Monday at the Studio, on the third floor of a warehouse in Old City, was like an R&B version of a winning fantasy football team. And pulling it together has been the dream of Phil Hurtt, the award-winning Philly International producer.
Since January, Hurtt's new label, Soul Renaissance Records, has been recording A Soulful Tale of Two Cities, with Philly artists, songwriters, and producers performing songs from Detroit's Motown era, and Detroit artists re-creating The Sound of Philadelphia.
With a June 6 release date for the album, ain't no stopping them now.
"It was really about the people whom I had always considered masters but weren't getting the recognition I thought they deserved," said Hurtt, 64, who has 11 gold and platinum records under his belt, including the Spinners' "I'll Be Around," which he penned with his high school classmate Thom Bell.
"Take Bunny, for example. I had worked with Bunny writing stuff back in the '70s, and even today he can flat-out blow 99.9 percent of the artists off the stage. We have the tracks to back it up," Hurtt said.
That might be an understatement. Not only does Sigler sing a version of the Marvin Gaye-Tammi Terrell classic "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," but Hurtt - who started out singing doo-wop with his older brother in the '50s - takes on the Temptations' "Girl's Alright With Me."
Other artists representing Philly include Jean Carn, singing Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground"; Blue Magic's Ted Mills, doing "Shop Around"; and the Delfonics' William "Poogie" Hart, crooning "Just Ask the Lonely."
All these Detroit standards are being remade in Philly and produced by Hurtt and Eli, backed by members of MFSB, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's Philly International house band during the '70s.
In Detroit, the sessions are being produced by Motown hitmaker Lamont Dozier and Clay McMurray, and backed by the Funk Brothers.
"For the most part, the Motown sound had more of a happiness to it," said Patricia Cosby, widow of the late Motown composer and session man Hank Cosby. "Where with the Philly sound, if you weren't in love, you were going to fall in love before the song was over."
When Hurtt was putting together Soulful Tales, Eli was an obvious pick. He wasn't just an original member of MFSB, and a producer of such R&B chart-toppers as Major Harris' Grammy-winning "Love Won't Let Me Wait." No, Hurtt and Eli go way back, much further than their days at Gamble and Huff's Philly International label.
"I called Bobby Eli first. Bobby and I went to high school together along with Thom Bell," said Hurtt. "I had to play it cool at first. I didn't want the idea to get out because if it did the majors would have stolen it, signed all the big names, and these guys wouldn't have gotten their due."
Playing it cool meant teasing Eli, his fellow Dobbins High alum, with a series of "what-if" meetings - as in, what if we could get so-and-so to record that song?
"One day, a couple of years ago, Phil called me up and said he had a great idea but he didn't want to divulge anything because if he told me he didn't think I would be able to sleep," said Eli. "Once I finally realized what we were talking about I almost fell out. I wondered why no one had thought about this before."
Tapping backers from years of running his own gospel label, Hurtt also wanted to make sure that the label could cover the recording expenses, so that the musicians weren't victimized, as some had been in the past.
"The average of the participants in this project is 62 - they shouldn't have to worry about any of that stuff," he said.
For Sigler, who had been doing occasional club dates, the experience has been more than he expected when he was contacted by Hurtt last year.
"I was supposed to do two songs and wound up doing four, maybe five, and then working on the whole thing," said Sigler. "It's kept me busier than I have been in years, and we are in a groove now that's like back in the day."
The groove is like "back in the day" in Detroit, as well. In those sessions, Freda Payne covered the Stylistics' "Betcha by Golly, Wow"; Bobby Taylor of the Vancouvers did the Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes classic "If You Don't Know Me by Now"; and Dozier sang Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones" and Teddy Pendergrass' "Close the Door."
Dozier said the last thing he wanted to do was change how these songs made people feel when they first took over the airwaves and slow-drag time on the dance floor.
"Billy Paul's song is hard to beat," said Dozier. "I made it my own with a couple of little things, but I wasn't really going to fool with his thing. I ain't crazy."
Another voice that will throw listeners for a loop is one they've probably heard, but not like this. Detroit native George Clinton heard about the Soulful Tales project only three weeks ago. In Philadelphia for an event at Temple University, he stopped in the studio Monday to record "Love Won't Let Me Wait." Then he fell under the same spell as the other performers: He wanted to do more.
So - in between reminiscing, and taking part in extraordinary impromptu doo-wop sessions with Hurtt and Sigler - Clinton covered the Soul Survivors' "Expressway to Your Heart" and "When the World's at Peace."
"It was fun to go back in the day like that, and eventually more [musicians] are going to be down with this," Clinton said. "This is going to be big, man, and even radio is going to have some fun with this thing."
Hearing that there was talk about a tour after the CD release, Clinton said he'd have to make some preparations.
"Maybe we can do some of those doo-wop things so people can see what I used to do way back when," he said. "I'd have to get out my suit and lose this gut, though."
Contact staff writer Rob Watson at 215-854-5608 or rwatson@phillynews.com.
www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/14382206.htm