HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTESThe Ultimate Blue Notes
(Epic/Legacy)
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes are best remembered, if at all, for the cynical but devilishly catchy "Wake Up Everybody." The song's refrain "The world won't get no better" and insistent funk pulse made it an answer record of sorts to their labelmates the O'Jays' "Love Train." There was a lot more to the Blue Notes, however; they were some of the 70s' premier chroniclers of adult relationships in an R&B context. The Ultimate doesn't cover their entire career, which stretches back to the mid-50s. Instead it hits the highlights of the group's 70s music for Philadelphia International, when it shared the limelight with such Philly soul stars as the O'Jays and the Spinners and employed the top-flight funk services of the Gamble & Huff production team and house band MFSB. Even more importantly, these are the Teddy Bear years. Lead singer Teddy Pendergrass redefined the role of the R&B Love Man, using his rough-edged voice to croon, plead, cry, shout, scream and stand tall, taking every song deep inside himself and spitting it back out better for the experience. The hits are here, of course, from "Wake Up Everybody" and the romantic churner "The Love I Lost" to the devastating ballad "If You Don't Know Me By Now" and the magnificent proto-disco epic "Bad Luck." While nothing else matches that unparalleled quartet of soul gems, there's still plenty of Teddy to go around; "Yesterday I Had the Blues," "Satisfaction Guaranteed (Or Take Your Love Back)," "Keep On Lovin' You" (which should make REO Speedwagon hide their heads in shame for stealing the title), and the two duets with Sharon Paige strike R&B gold, even if they're not the stone classics like the hits. There's also a version of Thelma Houston's "Don't Leave Me This Way," with the Teddy Bear singing his heart out over a full-throttle MFSB groove. Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes may not be the household name of the other Philly Int'l acts, but they deserve to be remembered just as fondly. Michael Toland [buy it]
