David, whose comments are always great to read, makes a good
argument to suggest that:
> Philly Soul, describes the best there ever was.
Wellllllll <g>. While I have the greatest respect for Gamble &
Huff and even some real nostalgia for certain of their artists and
tracks (Boy did I have a crush on Sheila Ferguson! Can you say Three
Degrees? Yum!!), I still have to go with the kind of Stax-Volt,
early Muscle Shoals stuff several of us have mentioned. And Al
Green, whose classic tracks still raise the hair on my arms....
Aesthetically, I prefer the more minimal and gritty-sounding
aesthetic of the southern stuff, it's greater proximity to
a certain fantasy of drop-dead rockin' soulful live shows that is
my ideal in pop music. Somehow, David, your preference for Philly
and Motown strikes me as entirely compatible with your championing of
countrypolitan string aesthetics, etc. <g>. And although I can
appreciate that more "pop" side of things (there's plenty of Motown
and Philly Int. that I like just fine), it just doesn't grab and move
me the way the rougher Southern stuff does.
Add James Brown to that Southern lineup and that about sums it up for
me.... <g>,
--junior
npimh: Otis, "Your Precious Love"
