GAMBLE & HUFF
mandrew
2,720 Posts
i had the chance to see these two at a retrospective showcase last night & just wanted to show some APPRECIATION! they have had an incredibly prolific career, managing to write songs, produce, and oversee a record label successfully for an entire decade. gamble and huff never made my favorite music but their songs were always solid. from billy paul (who was in attendance and got up to chat and sing with his friends) to harold melvin to the o'jays - g & h crafted just some good ol' songs for these artists.last night, they spoke for about an hour and a half about their career, how they met, what makes a good recording artist, and shared some wisdom. here's some of the insight that i can remember:- g & h met in a elevator in philly in an building that they said was equivalent to the brill building in nyc. they were the only two black people working there so they made friends right away. - gamble said his favorite song they wrote was "cowboys and girls" - their first big single- billy paul claimed to have been inspired by the ocean in st thomas to write "me and mrs jones." he said he heard the melody coming in from the waves- gamble clowned him hard - at first, the ojays hated "backstabbers," said it wasn't their style. G told them "you ain't got no style"- gamble (who, as you can tell, did most of the talking) loves when their music gets sampled. he made a request to any rappers or producers in the audience to do it more!- at the end, gamble said he had to thank a few special people who had come out. he looked down and thanked elvis costello, then edwin birdsong. then he pulled out a crib sheet, and, clearly confused said "also hansons... or the handson brothers...?" and looked around the room confused. everyone turned around and spotted two of the brothers from hanson in the back of the room looking a little embarrassed. 
- blurry pic of terry lewis, billy paul, kenny gamble, and leon huff, four seasons hotel, beverly hills, 2008
- blurry pic of terry lewis, billy paul, kenny gamble, and leon huff, four seasons hotel, beverly hills, 2008
Comments
Lucky you. I wish i was there.
They deserve it!
Nothing to do with nothing, but I always dug stereo separation...I always used to like buying Philadelphia Int'l records when I was a kid, 'cause G&H would always have two different things going on in either speaker (like that unison guitar/clavinet riff in the Intruders'"I'll Always Love My Mama," where both instruments get a speaker to themselves). Studio gimmickry aside, I always felt that G&H were slightly underrated, and deserve all the shine they get.
Cameo/Parkway Records? G&H basically updated that label into the soul era, after the twist/dance-craze thing died down.
If anybody knows how I can contact Edwin Birdsong, please IM me off list! Thanks!
I really feel Gamble and Huff helped Micheal w/ his vocals. MJ was reaching for that Teddy Pendergrass type execuction on many of the songs on The Jacksons & Goin Places.
Gamble & Huff's Muslim ideas/influence made its way into many of the Jacksons songs as well.
Man Of War is right there w/ all the other "message" stuff they were know for doing.
The Jacksons were on some Grown -N - Sexy shit while w/ G&H, only to move on to their self produced albums Destiny & Triumph. I guarantee they had to learn from their years w/ G&H in terms of makin records.
"These 2 old black guys who wrote all these soul songs... Smith & Wesson or something??"
3 strikes you're ou-ou-out
(1) There's a karaoke version of "Love Is Like A Baseball Game?"
(2) That guy's voice is close enuff to the lead singer from the Intruders that I was scared for a moment that he had been reduced to singing his old hits on the subway train..."three strikes, you're out" indeed!
Just as long as Gamble, Huff, Bunny Sigler and Thom Bell didn't dub their voices over the rest of the Jacksons, like they did with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes - cool!
Haha....
funny that makes me remember another little piece of insight they shared
they said that FM (stereo) radio came about right around the time they began producing singles so they were some of the first who would specifically tailor their records for stereo separation
Well, that would make sense, since most of the PI records I had back then were singles. They weren't the only ones doing stereo 45's at the time, but they definitely made the most of it.