{"id":40830,"date":"2008-04-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/backstabbers\/"},"modified":"2008-04-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-04-09T00:00:00","slug":"backstabbers","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/backstabbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Backstabbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Motown dominated 60s soul, there\u2019s no denying that. Some contend that the greatest of soul music died with the end of that incredible decade of music. Backstabbers<\/i>, released only a year after Marvin Gaye\u2019s What\u2019s Going On<\/i> (1971), begs to differ. By the early 70s, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff were at the center of a dream-team of writers and producers located in America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s first capital: Philadelphia<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. Together, Gamble and Huff were two of the most prolific and active members of Philadelphia International Records — the label that would come to represent the explosion of the Philly Soul phenomenon — and are responsible for having written and\/or produced over 170 gold and platinum records. <\/p>\n

In 1972, the appropriately named Mighty<\/i> O\u2019Jays had already been together for almost 15 years with few notable successes. It was Gamble and Huff\u2019s magnificently conceived Backstabbers<\/i> that would shoot The O\u2019Jays and Philadelphia International Records to the top of both the pop and R&B charts, and the album set the tone for what would become the<\/i> definition of 70s soul music. <\/p>\n

Backstabbers <\/i>is a musical mash-up of jazz, funk and blues featuring phenomenally complex arrangements by fellow Philly Soul pioneers Thom Bell, Ronnie Baker, Norman Harris, Bobby Martin, and Leonard Pakula. Combining Gamble and Huff\u2019s brilliant, sleek production, and the arranger\u2019s lush orchestral arrangements with O\u2019Jays vocalists Eddie Levert, William Powell and Walter Williams makes for a powerful record that packs just as much punch, perhaps more, than any<\/i> soul record that had come before it. <\/p>\n

Lead singer Eddie Levert guides and harnesses the O\u2019Jays\u2019 vocal prowess through ten songs tackling everything from political protest to friendship to adultery. Album opener \u201cWhen The World\u2019s At Peace\u201d is a James Brown-inspired funk anthem addressing a world at war. The record\u2019s title track and first single explores adolescent hypocrisy and sneaky girlfriend stealing: \u201cThey smile in your face, all the time they want to take your place, the backstabbers,\u201d sings Levert over one of the most noticeable and memorable refrains in pop music history. <\/p>\n

The beautiful and heartbreaking \u201cWho Am I\u201d grapples with personal regret while \u201c(They Call Me) Mr. Lucky\u201d is a textbook bubblegum tune about the joys of young love. Standout track \u201cTime To Get Down\u201d is Philly Soul perfection; why it didn\u2019t climb any higher than #33 on the pop charts is baffling. \u201c992 Arguments,\u201d \u201cListen To The Clock On The Wall,\u201d and \u201cShiftless, Shady, Jealous Kind Of People\u201d occupy filler slots on the record and the amateur listener might label them as such, but they\u2019re anything but<\/i> filler tracks. In fact, Backstabbers <\/i>ought to serve as an example of how best to fill in the spots between hit singles. The record closes with \u201cLove Train,\u201d which is not only the most popular O\u2019Jays single, but one of the most popular singles of the seventies. \u201cLove Train\u201d delivers in a perfect pop music format a prominent and reoccurring Christian theme in soul music: worldwide love, peace, and harmony.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Assessing the lyrical elements of Backstabbers — <\/i>and other soul records like it \u2013 which at times can be sort of (or very) cheesy (\u201cBaby, they call me Mr. Lucky, cause I\u2019m so glad I\u2019ve got you\u201d) wouldn\u2019t be of much use and misses the point. The beauty of soul music has more to do with delivery and passion than the quality of lyrics. This album is a stunning showcase of talent and raw emotion. Records like this make giving the music of the 70s a closer look more worthwhile. This record was a monumental success in 1972\u00a0 and listening to it 36 years after its release, although musically and lyrically dated, it\u2019s easy to hear how Backstabbers<\/i> enhanced the soul-music format and consequently revived the genre altogether, providing a welcomed contrast to the other (often wretchedly bad) popular music activities of the 70s. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":29284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7419],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-40830","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-ojays","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40830"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}