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HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES
One of Philadelphia's most famous R&B vocal groups, Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes were incredibly popular in the early to mid-1970s but had roots going back to 1954. Although the group was led by singer Harold Melvin for over 40 years, its most famous member was the charismatic Teddy Pendergrass, who didn't actually join until 1970. Many R&B historians insist that The Blue Notes did their most essential work when Pendergrass was being featured prominently from 1973-1975, and while that assertion is hard to argue with, it is also true that the group was together for 14 years before Pendergrass' arrival. Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes were formed in Philly in 1954, when Melvin was only 15. Starting out singing doo wop, they did their first recordings for the small, New York-based Josie Records in 1954 before landing on the R&B charts in 1960 with their Valley Vue single "My Hero." They also charted in 1965, when "Get Out" on the Landa label became a Top 40 R&B hit. But like the O'Jays, The Blue Notes didn't start to enjoy supergroup status until joining forces with the producing/songwriting team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, who signed them to their Philadelphia International label in the early 1970s. The name Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes remained active into the 1990s, but after Melvin died in 1997 at the age of 57, the group continued to perform live as simply The Blue Notes.
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