Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff

Induction Year: 2008

Induction Category: Non-Performer

Kenny Gamble (production, songwriting, vocals; born August 11, 1943), Leon Huff (production, songwriting, keyboards; born April 8, 1942)

Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff were the architects of the Philly Soul sound. Working jointly on songwriting and production, they made Philadelphia the capital of soul music in the Seventies. Gamble and Huff generated a profusion of soulful hits that had a colorblind appeal. They worked with the O’Jays, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, the Intruders, the Three Degrees, McFadden & Whitehead, Jerry Butler, Lou Rawls, Dee Dee Sharp, Phyllis Hyman and others. Their biggest hits, topping both the R&B and pop charts, were jazz singer Billy Paul’s “Me and Mrs. Jones”; the O’Jays’ “Love Train”; and the Soul Train theme, “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),” by MFSB Featuring the Three Degrees. All totaled, Gamble and Huff were behind 15 gold singles and 22 gold albums (8 of which went platinum).

The duo launched Philadelphia International Records label in 1971, giving Motown a run for its money – in terms of sales and influence – in the Seventies. Gamble and Huff’s sophisticated sound included glossy orchestrations; guitars that played glistening octaves or rhythmic chords; jazzy vibes and smooth, grooving saxes; and a memorable lead voice atop satiny group harmonies. Many of Gamble and Huff’s best-known songs - such as the O’Jays’ “I Love Music” and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes’ “The Love I Lost” – were driven by smooth, pulsing disco rhythms. Just as often, Gamble and Huff would write a slow jam topped by a beseeching vocal or rap (such as Teddy Pendergrass’ wrenching lead vocal on the Blue Notes’ “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”). Social commentary and harmony-minded themes frequently found their way into Gamble and Huff’s songwriting, particular for the O’Jays (who scored with “Back Stabbers,” “For the Love of Money” and “Love Train”).

“We wanted to take social themes and translate them to commercial recordings,” Kenny Gamble said in 1988. “Philadelphia International was about spreading love.”

The roots of Gamble and Huff date back to Kenny Gamble and the Romeos, a late-Fifties group that included keyboardist Thom Bell, who would become an important arranger at Philadelphia International. Leon Huff, who also played keyboards, joined the Romeos later on. The group performed around Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, and they backed Chubby Checker and others on tour. Gamble also ran a record store, while Huff did session work for and the , among others. Both men had a broad exposure to all aspects of the music business in their formative years.

Gamble and Huff’s first self-penned and self-produced hit was “Expressway to Your Heart,” by the Soul Survivors, a blue-eyed soul band with ties to Philadelphia. The duo also worked with , , Archie Bell and the Drells, and others. Another breakthrough was “Only the Strong Survive,” which revived singer Jerry Butler’s career.

Gamble and Huff founded the Gamble and Neptune labels, where they recorded Bunny Sigler (“Let the Good Times Roll”), the Three Degrees, jazz-soul singer Billy Paul and the Ohio-based O’Jays. In 1971 they struck a deal with Columbia Records’ resulting in major-label distribution for their new label, Philadelphia International Records It turned out to be a phenomenal launching pad for their artists, songs and productions. The label’s first hit was the O’Jays’ “Back Stabbers” (#1 R&B, #3 pop). Close on its heels came Bill Paul’s “Me and Mrs. Jones” (#1 pop, #1 R&B) and “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (#3 pop, #1 R&B).

Gamble and Huff synthesized elements from different eras of soul music - notably, the sweet harmonies of Fifties doo-wop and the gruff, gospel-inflected singing of Sixties soul men. Just as Motown had the Funk Brothers, Stax had Booker T. & the M.G.’s, and had the Wrecking Crew, Gamble and Huff assembled an in-house band dubbed MFSB (“Mother, Father, Sister, Brother”). That name emphasized the family-oriented philosophy of Gamble and Huff. Other important members of Gamble and Huff’s team were arranger/orchestrators Thom Bell and Bobby Martin; artists, producers and songwriters Gene McFadden and John Whitehead; guitarist Roland Chambers, a former member of the Romeos; and engineer Joe Tarsia, who manned the board at Sigma Sound, the studio where many of Gamble and Huff’s greatest sessions occurred.

In 1989, Gamble and Huff won a Grammy for Best R&B song, “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” (for the remake by Simply Red). The duo received the Grammy’s prestigious Trustees Award in 1999. Their sons - Caliph “Poppa Chief” Gamble, Salahdeen Gamble and Leon A. “Pops” Huff II – entered the family business in the Nineties, working with contemporary R&B and hip-hop acts for a revived Philadelphia International Records.

Ultimately, what Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff were selling, using the medium of well-crafted, danceable and urbane soul music, was a message of “peace in the world, people getting together,” Gamble told writer Chuck Miller in 1998. “That’s what our whole thing was, [what] all our music was about: people uniting, living together in peace and harmony and having fun.”

“Dignity and integrity and, finally, salvation are Gamble and Huff’s great themes,” wrote David Ritz in his liner notes for The Philly Sound box set. “Like and and , they move from the material to the metaphysical.”

TIMELINE

April 8, 1942: Producer, songwriter and label owner Leon Huff is born in Camden, New Jersey.

August 11, 1943: Producer, songwriter and label owner Kenny Gamble is born in Philadelphia.

May 12, 1968: Producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff score a hit on their Gamble label when “Cowboys to Girls,” by the Intruders, tops the R&B chart and peaks at #6 on the pop chart.

July 5, 1969: “One Night Affair,” by the O’Jays, becomes the Ohio soul trio’s first single to chart after their move to Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s Neptune Records label.

February 1971: Columbia Records announces the creation of Philadelphia International Records, a custom label run by producer/songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

May 22, 1971: “You’re the Reason Why,” by the Ebonys (#10 R&B, #51 pop), becomes the first single on Philadelphia International Records to make the charts.

September 24, 1972: “Back Stabbers,” by the O’Jays – written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff – peaks at #3 on the pop chart and tops the R&B chart.

October 14, 1972: “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, with Teddy Pendergrass on lead vocals – enters the R&B chart, which it will top for two weeks.

December 16, 1972: “Me and Mrs. Jones,” by Billy Paul – written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff - tops the pop chart for the first of three weeks.

March 24, 1973: “Love Train,” by the O’Jays – written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff - tops the pop and R&B charts.

April 20, 1974: “TSOP,” by MFSB Featuring the Three Degrees – the theme music for Soul Train, composed and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff - tops Billboard’s pop and R&B charts. It is Gamble and Huff’s third pop chart-topper.

November 15, 1975: “Wake Up Everybody,” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, enters the R&B charts, which it will top for two weeks. This is the fourth #1 R&B hit for the group, which is produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

November 27, 1978: “Close the Door,” by Teddy Pendergrass, enters the charts, where it will reach #1 R&B and #25 pop. It is the biggest hit by Pendergrass on Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International Records.

March 18, 1982: Teddy Pendergrass – solo artist, former lead voice with Harold and the Blue Notes, and a mainstay of Philadelphia International Records – is in a car wreck that severs his spine, paralyzing him from the waist down. He would suffer further injuries in another accident four years later.

August 22, 1987: “Lovin’ You,” by the O’Jays, enters the R&B charts. It will become the group’s ninth #1 R&B single under the aegis of producer/songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

December 5, 1987: “Let Me Love You,” by the O’Jays, enters the R&B chart, where it will peak at #5. It is the group’s 40th hit since 1969 on labels run by their producers, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff: Neptune, Philadelphia International and TSOP.

July 15, 1989: “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” Simply Red’s cover of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes’ early-Seventies hit, reaches #1. It will earn its authors, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, a Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Song.

September 30, 1997: The Philly Sound, 1966-1976: Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff is released on the Columbia/Legacy label. This extensively annotated box set culls 48 songs from producers Gamble and Huff’s phenomeonal output of Philly Soul classics.

February 24, 1999: At the 41st annual Grammy Awards, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff receive the Trustees Award from the Recording Academy.

March 10, 2008: Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 23rd annual induction dinner. Jerry Butler is their presenter.

Watch Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Essential Songs

Love Train, by the O’Jays
If You Don’t Know Me by Now, by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia), by MFSB and the Three Degrees
Back Stabbers, by the O’Jays
When Will I See You Again, by the Three Degrees
The Love I Lost, by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
I Love Music, by the O’Jays
Me and Mrs. Jones, by Billy Paul
Only the Strong Survive, by Jerry Butler
Cowboys to Girls, by the Intruders

Recommended Reading

A House On Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul.
John A. Jackson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

“Gamble and Huff: The Hit Men.”
Chuck Miller. Goldmine (October 23, 1998): 22-36+.

Liner notes for The Philly Sound, 1966-1976: Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff Epic/Legacy Records, 1997.
David Ritz, et al. (Note: This box set includes numerous essays and discographies on Gamble and Huff and the Philly Soul sound.)