Dec 15

Kenny Gamble

KENNY GAMBLE
 
 
Kenneth Gamble  (born October 14, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and record production team who have written and produced 15 gold singles and 22 gold albums.  They were pioneers of Philadelphia soul and the in-house creative team for the Philadelphia International Records label.  On March 10, 2008, the team was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the non-performer category.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 

Although primarily based in Chicago, Jerry Butler was signed by Mercury Records in 1967 and connected with the Philadelphia production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.  The result was Butler’s most successful album (and the first full-length album by Gamble and Huff), The Ice Man Cometh.  

 

Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff founded Philadelphia International Records in 1971 and (as Allmusic put it) “ruled the mid-’70s R&B world with the same sound”.  Major artists that were signed to the label include the O’Jays, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Lou Rawls, the Three Degrees, and Billy Paul.  Blue Notes lead singer Teddy Pendergrass later signed a solo deal.  

 

In the late 1960’s, Mikki Farrow was in a group called the Producers with Karl Chambers, Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Roland Chambers, Thom Bell, and Win Wilford.  They released one single on Huff Puff Records (named for Leon Huff, and having a simply adorable label), “Love is Amazing” b/w “Lady, Lady, Lady”.  Mikki provides lead vocals and co-wrote "Love is Amazing" with Kenny Gamble and Thom Bell; while “Lady, Lady, Lady” is a gorgeous instrumental version of a Dee Dee Sharp song, “What Kind of Lady”.  

 

Writing for funky16corners.com, Larry Grogan writes:  “‘Love is Amazing’ is one of those records that has everything going for it, from top-shelf songwriting (Kenny Gamble, [Mikki] Farrow and Thom Bell), fantastic production (Gamble/Huff) and a fantastic lead vocal by Farrow (I suspect that Gamble is the supporting male vocalist).  The record, matching superb melody and hooks with enough rhythmic heat for the dancers, ought to have been a hit, instead of the footnote that it is.” 

 

(July 2014)

 

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This month’s Under Appreciated Rock Band, Crystal Mansion – often called the Crystal Mansion – is unusual in that several veteran musicians are involved; normally, the UARB’s are bands that are just starting out. Bandmembers include two men who have individual Wikipedia articles (both of which mention Crystal Mansion), David White – who had been a founding member of the estimable 1950’s band Danny and the Juniors – and Sal Rota – a bandmember in the Soul Survivors beginning in 1979. This band is best known for their 1967 hit “Expressway to Your Heart”, the first hit song by the Philadelphia soul songwriting and production team of Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble. Both men sang background vocals on Bernadette Peters’ first solo album. There are actually three incarnations of Crystal Mansion, each of which released a self-titled album over a 10-year period.
 
(August 2015)
Last edited: March 22, 2021