Friday, February 24, 2012

The Soul Corner- "Expressway to Your Heart"

I cautiously wade into the pool they call "blue eyed soul". I had vowed to myself not to go there with the Soul Corner, eager to keep it real, as it were. But when this song came on the radio today, I realized it is such an all-time favorite of mine that it'd be unfair to let skin pigment stand in between this 1967 classic and the Soul Corner:

"Expressway to Your Hart" owed a great deal to the biggest and best blue-eyed soul band of the era - The Rascals, as well as the vocal stylings of the Righteous Brothers.

The song has a place in soul history as the first hit for the Philadelphia-based team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, who wrote and produced the track. Gamble and Huff went on to form the Philadelphia International Records label and became major hitmakers in the 1970's for the O'Jays, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and many others, racking up 170 gold and platinum records in their career.

And here's a fine cover of "Expressway to Your Heart" by a white guy named Bruce who knows a thing or two about soul music:

2 comments:

Joe Lipka said...

Soul music belongs to all of us, don't wade cautiously, jump in (but feet first, please)and keep pumpin' out great posts.

On that Springsteen video, isn't that drummer, just great?

Jim Desmond said...

Thanks for reading Joe.