The Stylistics (album)

The Stylistics is the debut album by American R&B group the Stylistics, released in November 1971 on the Avco record label. It was produced by Thom Bell and recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia. The album has been called "a sweet soul landmark."[4]

The Stylistics
Studio album by
The Stylistics
ReleasedNovember 6, 1971
Recorded1970–1971
StudioSigma Sound Studios
(Philadelphia)
GenreR&B, soul, Philadelphia soul
Length29:24
LabelAvco
ProducerThom Bell
The Stylistics chronology
The Stylistics
(1971)		 Round 2
(1972)
Singles from The Stylistics
  1. "You're a Big Girl Now"
    Released: 1971
  2. "Stop, Look, Listen (to Your Heart)"
    Released: March 4, 1971
  3. "You Are Everything"
    Released: May 13, 1971
  4. "Betcha by Golly, Wow"
    Released: February 17, 1972
  5. "People Make the World Go Round"
    Released: 1972
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
BBC(favorable) [2]
Christgau's Record GuideA–[3]

Group members Airrion Love, Herb Murrell, James Dunn, and James Smith can be heard on "You're a Big Girl Now," recorded and released as a single prior to the beginning of production on the album, but according to lead singer Russell Thompkins Jr., they're absent from the album's other eight songs aside from Love's harmony vocals on "You Are Everything."[5] In John A. Jackson's book A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul (2004), Sigma Sound Studios founder and engineer Joe Tarsia says, "I don't care if it was the Stylistics or Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, or whoever. All the backgrounds on all those songs were sung not by the groups, but by either Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Thom Bell, Carl Helm [or] Bunny Sigler," while Sigler says that "most" of the male background vocals on the Stylistics' hit songs were provided by himself, Gamble, and Helm.[6]

History

The Stylistics reached #23 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on Billboard's R&B albums chart. It features the hit singles "Betcha by Golly, Wow," "You Are Everything," "People Make the World Go Round," "Stop, Look, Listen (to Your Heart)," and "You're a Big Girl Now." All five singles reached the top ten on the R&B chart, beginning a stretch of 12 top-ten hits in a row. "Betcha by Golly, Wow" and "You Are Everything" also reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Stop, Look, Listen (to Your Heart)"2:54
2."Point of No Return"2:45
3."Betcha by Golly, Wow"3:47
4."Country Living"2:57
5."You're a Big Girl Now" (Marty Bryant, Robert Douglas)3:14
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."You Are Everything"2:55
7."People Make the World Go Round"6:26
8."Ebony Eyes"2:21
9."If I Love You"2:05

Personnel
  • Russell Thompkins Jr. – lead and background vocals
  • Linda Creed, Barbara Ingram – additional background vocals
  • Norman Harris, Roland Chambers – guitar
  • Ronnie Baker – bass
  • Earl Young – drums
  • Larry Washington – congas
  • Vince Montana – percussion
  • Lenny Pakula – piano, organ
  • Joe DeAngelis, Stephanie Fauber, Robert Martin – French horn
  • Rocco Bene, Bobby Hartzell – trumpet
  • Jack Faith – alto saxophone, flute
  • George Shaw – flute
  • Vincent Forchetti, Bob Moore, Richard Genevese – trombone
  • Don Renaldo, Tony Sinagoga, Albert Berone, Rudy Malizia, Angelo Pretrella, Romeo Di Stefano, Charles Apollonia, Davis Barnett, Richard Jones, Herschel Wise – strings
  • Mary Gale – harp
  • Fredric Cohen – oboe

Charts
Chart (1971/72) Peak
[7]
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 23
U.S. Billboard Top LPs 23
U.S. Billboard Top Soul LPs 3
Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions
US
[7]		 US
R&B
[7]		 US
A/C
[7]		 UK
[9]
1971 "You're a Big Girl Now" 73 7 — —
"Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" 39 6 — —
"You Are Everything" 9 10 24 —
1972 "Betcha by Golly, Wow" 3 2 7 13
"People Make the World Go Round" 25 6 25 —

References
  1. Wynn, Ron. The Stylistics review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
  2. Easlea, Daryl. "The Stylistics review". BBC Music. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
  3. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 13, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  4. BBC Music Review by Daryl Easlea. The album was featured on Trevor Nelson's Radio 2 show, 1 December 2010
  5. Halliburton, Karen. "The Stylistics Russell Thompkins, Jr. is feeling brand new these days". 50Bold. Retrieved 21 December 2020. On the three albums, we did with Tommy Bell, they didn’t sing on them. Only one of the guys sang on two songs. He sang on You Are Everything and You Make Me Feel Brand New. When we would go on the road people would say, “Ya’ll don’t sound like the record.” The reason why we didn’t sound like the record was that the group members weren’t on the record!
  6. Jackson, John A. (2004). A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 157–158. ISBN 0-19-514972-6.
  7. "US Charts > The Stylistics". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
  8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 299. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. "UK Charts > The Stylistics". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
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