Spinners - Spinners (Expanded Edition) (2015)

• After achieving minor success on Motown Records and VIP in the 1960s R&B landscape and in the early 1970s, The Spinners effectively rebooted themselves when transferring to Atlantic Records in 1972. They would go on to record the first of many records at Sigma Sound Studios, a base where the emergence of ‘Philly Soul’ is consistently linked to. Producer, Thom Bell would redefine the band in their debut record for Atlantic, 1973’s SPINNERS. The album shapes a solid identity for the band.
• ‘How Could I Let You Get Away’ (US #77/SOUL #14) was their most romantic single to date with a wistful string production and harmonies that suggest resigned melancholia. It would be its b-side however, ‘I’ll Be Around’ (US #3/SOUL #1) that would elevate the band’s profile on the charts. Almost playing like a response to the A-side, the resigned melancholia remains but there’s more dignity suggested in the heightened rhythm section and soulful harmonies.
• ‘Could It Be I’m Falling In Love’ (US #4/SOUL #1/UK#11) continues this newfound optimism as well as the band’s staggering commercial success whilst ‘One of a Kind (Love Affair)’ (US #11/SOUL #1) returns to the thematic concerns of ‘How Could I Let You Get Away’. Retaining Philly Sound pioneers MFSB for its instrumentation, the track maintains the feel-good outlook that was fundamental to Philly Soul.
• Final single ‘Ghetto Child’ (US #29/SOUL #4/UK #7) breaks from the romantic theme of the previous singles, returning to the social consciousness that the band embraced in their tenure at Motown Records. Here, the concerns of racial inequality in contemporary America are urgent but retrofitted into the smooth album that made their critical and commercial success soar.
• BBR is thrilled to release SPINNERS in a newly remastered and repackaged edition with eight bonus tracks and a brand new interview with Thom Bell.