Three Tenors of Soul: All the Way From Philadelphia

Three Tenors of Soul
All the Way From Philadelphia
Shanachie
2007-09-25

Philadelphia is well-known for its smooth soul grooves. The latest contribution to that genre can be found in the voices of the Three Tenors of Soul, three men who made their individual marks back in the ’70s and early ’80s as part of different acts: The Stylistics’ Russell Thompkins Jr., The Delfonics’ William Hart, and Blue Magic’s Ted Mills. If their names don’t ring a bell, think of the silky tunes that they sang on, like “Betcha By Golly Wow”, “La La Means I Love You” and “Sideshow”. The three vocalists take on 10 songs, some old, some new, all done Philly-style. They cover Hall and Oates’ “I Can’t Go for That No Can Do” and then are joined by the duo from the city of Brotherly Love on a previously unrecorded Hall and Oates composition, “All the Way from Philadelphia”. The more contemporary Philly hit man Bilal joins them for the poignant Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes hit, “Where Are All My Friends” and the Three Tenors follow it with a song on the opposite theme made famous by Dionne Warwick, “That’s What Friends are For”. Recommended for those who love the soul sound of Philadelphia.

RATING 6 / 10