Page 6 - Herb Murrell News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Philly soul was known for its funk influences and lush instrumentation, and few groups exemplified this style like The Stylistics. Known for their soulful balladry, The Stylistics formed in 1968 from two Philadelphia groups, The Percussions and The Monarchs, after members from both bands were drafted. The remaining band members included Russell Thompkins Jr., James Smith and Airrion Love of The Monarchs and James Dunn and Herb Murrell of the Percussions. The musicians were young, just graduating high school, and were encouraged by their English teacher to merge together and continue un...

By: Deborah Speer cover of Pollstar 12/21/20 issue Ben Bart might have seemed like another unremarkable music fan as a young man from Knoxville, Tenn., in the 1930s, other than a penchant for traveling between Memphis and Nashville to see the orchestras and bands of the day perform live. The main object of his affection was “race music” – the euphemism of the time for what evolved into R&B and soul music, and the (segregated) domain of Black musicians.  He’d gotten a job at the Gale Agency booking the artists he loved and, by 1945, was read...

By: Deborah Speer cover of Pollstar 12/21/20 issue Ben Bart might have seemed like another unremarkable music fan as a young man from Knoxville, Tenn., in the 1930s, other than a penchant for traveling between Memphis and Nashville to see the orchestras and bands of the day perform live. The main object of his affection was “race music” – the euphemism of the time for what evolved into R&B and soul music, and the (segregated) domain of Black musicians.  He’d gotten a job at the Gale Agency booking the artists he loved and, by 1945, was read...