Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes – Reaching For The World (PTG CD)

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Tracklist

01. Reaching For The World 4:24
02. Where There’s A Will – There’s A Way 4:05
03. After You Love Me, Why Do You Leave Me 4:42
04. Sandman 4:25
05. Hostage Part 1 & 2 6:30
06. He Loves You And I Do Too 3:37
07. Big Singing Star 3:33
08. Stay Together 5:00

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes – Reaching For The World

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes – Reaching For The World. In 1976 originally released on ABC Records. Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American vocal group, and one of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. The group’s repertoire ranged from sweeping, extended disco dance tracks to silky, smoldering ballads, all wrapped up in Gamble and Huff’s lushly orchestrated production. Harold Melvin began singing doo wop as a teenager with the Charlemagnes, and put together the very first edition of the Blue Notes in 1954. The original lineup was a quintet featuring Melvin as the lead singer, songwriter, arranger, and choreographer. The Blue Notes cut their first single, “If You Love Me,” for Josie in 1956, and scored R&B chart hits in 1960 with “My Hero” and again in 1965 with “Get Out (And Let Me Cry)”. Numerous personnel shifts kept the group in flux and Melvin kept assembling new versions of the Blue Notes. During the late ’60s, the group toured often with the Cadillacs, whose young drummer Teddy Pendergrass would prove to be Melvin’s greatest discovery.

Pendergrass first joined the Blue Notes’ backing band, but demonstrated so much vocal talent that Melvin soon elevated him to the post of lead singer. This move helped them to a contract with Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International label in 1972.

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes would become one of the most popular groups in R&B over the next few years. They ran off a string of hits and topped the R&B charts with the classic ballad “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” (1972), the string-laden dance track “The Love I Lost” (1973), a duet with Melvin discovery Sharon Paige called “Hope That We Can Be Together Soon” (1975), and “Wake Up Everybody” (also 1975). By that time, tension was building within the group. The heavily spotlighted Pendergrass left the Blue Notes in 1976 for a solo career, which signaled the end of Melvin’s relationship with Philadelphia International. After Teddy had departed, the group left the Philadelphia International fold for the ABC imprint. Melvin replaced Pendergrass with David Ebo while Cummings and Wilson also left the Blue Notes. In 1977 ABC recorded the album “Reaching for the world” with Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. Both single and album were quite successful, the album reached the 7th position in the R&B charts and 74 in the Billboard Pop charts. The album was never re-issued on CD before so fans of Harold Melvin can finally make their CD collection complete.

Unfortunately in the last couple of years three members of the Blue Notes passed away. First Teddy Pendergrass died on January 13, 2010 at the age of fifty-nine from complications of colon cancer. Six months later, original member Roosevelt Brodie, who was the second tenor for the original Blue Notes, died July 13, 2010 at the age of seventy-five due to complications of diabetes. And just five months later in that year, Bernard Wilson died on December 26, 2010 at the age of sixty-four from complications of a stroke and a heart attack. Pendergrass’ predecessor, John Atkins, and successor David Ebo, are also deceased (1998 and 1993 respectively.

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