Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Wake Up Everybody

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Wake Up Everyday" (YSI link) 320

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Keep On Lovin' You" (YSI link) 320

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "I'm Searching For A Love" (YSI link) 320

Here's the logical follow-up to our Dimitri From Paris edits, a return to the original source material, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes! Yeah! Here's a few tracks from their 1975 Philadelphia International LP, Wake Up Everybody, classic Philly Soul sound, Gamble & Huff produced songs. This is what it's all about: songs about love, happiness, freedom, the good things in life. There's very few things I would rather hear in the whole world, this is LIFE on vinyl.

The LP opens with a bang, the title track and my personal favorite "Wake Up Everybody." This is just seven minutes of slow burning soul, featuring beautiful lyrics calling us all to action to change the world. Perfect soundtrack for these post Bush, Obama days. The band provides a subtle groove underneath, letting Teddy Pendergrass preach on as only he can do for the full seven and a half minutes. "Keep On Lovin' You" keeps the good vibes and beautiful strings and horns music comin'. As I listen to it now, feel like this might be my favorite, such a classic love song, perfect for listening to with your loved one, lying in bed on a lazy Sunday afternoon without a care in the world. Finally, check out Sharon Paige's vocals on "I'm Searching For A Love," giving us the opposite side of the love coin. This one has a sort of Bacharach/David feel to it, probably because of the melancholy lyrics, backed up by some heartbreaking strings.

I'll just leave you with the refrain from "Wake Up Everybody," take them with you and think them over today: "The world won't get no better if we just let it be/The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me."