THE SECOND—AND greatest—Soul Train theme song resulted from a brief collaboration between Don Cornelius and the premier R&B writing-producing team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. This pair began as independent producers in the 1960s, when they created hit singles for Jerry Butler, Wilson Pickett, and Joe Simon, among many. This catapulted the Philadelphia-based duo to the mantle of R&B’s top creative force. In 1971 Gamble and Huff made a deal with CBS Records to found Philadelphia International Records as a vehicle for funneling all their energy into acts on their own label.
Together, and in collaboration with several exceptional staff writers (John Whitehead, Gene McFadden, Bunny Sigler, Cynthia Biggs, Dexter Wansel), PIR was a powerhouse that developed stars (the O’Jays, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass) and enduring songs (“Wake Up Everybody,” “Love Train,” “For the Love of Money,” “Me and Mrs. Jones,” “Love Is the Message,” “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now”) using a lush, intricate, rhythmically intense sound built around gospel-inspired singing and the talents of a remarkable team of session musicians.
Labeled MFSB (Mother Father Sister Brother), these players, anchored by guitarist Norman Harris, bassist Ronnie Baker, and drummer Earl Young, worked primarily out of the City of Brotherly Love’s Sigma Sound. Factoring in the more ballad-oriented songs of producer Thom Bell for the Spinners and the Stylistics, the music coming out of Philadelphia became as essential to the 1970s as the Godfather movies and the Watergate break-in.
When Don ran into Gamble in New York in 1973, both men were on the cusp of big things. Don wanted a new theme, one that was unique to the show and more contemporary than the funky jazz song he’d been using. So he traveled to Philadelphia and sat down with Gamble, Huff, and arranger Bobby Martin. A basic rhythm track was developed with a strutting rhythm, later augmented by a cool horn-and-string arrangement that was smooth enough for dancing, yet had a memorable melody.
Don loved the track and asked that his show’s title be included in the primarily instrumental track. The female vocal group the Three Degrees sang “Soul Train, Soul Train” over four notes. The record branded the show and reflected a sound that would soon be labeled disco. He wanted the song held off any recordings until Soul Train’s next season. But as Gamble and Huff played the track for CBS executives and other PIR staffers, it became clear this Soul Train theme could be more than the opening of a TV show. So Gamble called Cornelius and said he wanted to use the song as a single off an MFSB album.
This is where Don made a strategic mistake. Instead of going along with the idea as a tool to further expose the show, he felt that the release of it as a single would infringe on his copyright and wasn’t in the spirit of the agreement he’d made with PIR. So he asked Gamble and Huff to remove his show’s title from the single version. The reworked song had the Three Degrees singing “People all over the world” as a hook and had a second vocal section that was simply “Let’s get it on / It’s time to get down.” Otherwise it was the same track Cornelius would use on Soul Train.
Released in the spring of 1974, the song, now titled “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),” went to No. 1 on both the pop and R&B charts. Instead of being a commercial for Soul Train that announced the show’s name all over America, it worked to brand Philadelphia’s new musical movement. While there’s no question the original version was great for the show, Don’s decision cost him a marketing opportunity for the ages.
It wasn’t the last time Don wouldn’t fully benefit from one of his great recording ideas.