MFSB is the debut album to be released by Philadelphia International Records

Philadelphia International Records

Philadelphia International Records is a record label founded by writer-producers, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff in 1971. It was famous for showcasing the sub-genre of Philadelphia soul music and released a string of worldwide hits during the decade.-History:...

 houseband MFSB

MFSB

MFSB was a pool of more than thirty studio musicians based at Philadelphia’s famed Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bell, and backed up such groups as Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O’Jays, the Stylistics, the...

.

Reception

It also included covers

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of "Family Affair" by Sly & The Family Stone

Sly & the Family Stone

Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...

 and "Freddie's Dead" by Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...

.

The 2002 reissue on Epic/Legacy Records adds a live version of "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)

TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)

"TSOP " is a 1974 hit recording by MFSB featuring vocals by The Three Degrees. A classic example of the Philadelphia soul genre, it was written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff as the theme for the American musical television program Soul Train, which specialized in African American musical...

". The one hit from the album was "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)", the band's signature song. The second track, "Something for Nothing" was sampled in Jay-Z

Jay-Z

Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...

's 2003 single "What More Can I Say

What More Can I Say

"What More Can I Say" is a song from rap artist Jay-Z's studio album The Black Album. It was released as a street single simultaneously as the official single "Change Clothes". It premiered on Hot 97 on October 22, 2003 and was the first track from The Black Album to be heard by the public...

".

Track listing

1. "Freddie's Dead
   Freddie's Dead
   "Freddie's Dead" is a song by Curtis Mayfield. It was the first single from his 1972 soundtrack album for the film Super Fly. The single was released before the Super Fly album, and in fact before the film itself was in theaters. The song peaked at #4 on the U.S...
   
   " (Curtis Mayfield
   Curtis Mayfield
   Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
   
   ) - 7:12
2. "Family Affair" (Sylvester Stewart) - 4:21
3. "Something for Nothing" (Kenneth Gamble, Roland Chambers, Thom Bell
   Thom Bell
   Thomas Randolph "Thom" Bell is an American songwriter and producer, best known as one of the creators of the Philadelphia style of soul music in the 1970s. He moved to Philadelphia as a child.-Biography:...
   
   ) - 2:59
4. "Back Stabbers" (Gene McFadden
   Gene McFadden
   Gene McFadden was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as one of the key members of the Philadelphia International record label, and was one-half of the successful team of McFadden & Whitehead with John Whitehead.-Biography:McFadden met John Whitehead as a teenager...
   
   , John Whitehead
   John Whitehead (singer)
   John Whitehead was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as one of the key members of the Philadelphia International record label, and was one-half of the successful team of McFadden & Whitehead with Gene McFadden.McFadden and Whitehead wrote many hits for...
   
   , Leon Huff) - 6:30
5. "Lady In Low" (Leon Huff) - 3:43
6. "Poinciana" (Buddy Bernier, Nat Simon) - 5:50
7. "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)
   TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)
   "TSOP " is a 1974 hit recording by MFSB featuring vocals by The Three Degrees. A classic example of the Philadelphia soul genre, it was written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff as the theme for the American musical television program Soul Train, which specialized in African American musical...
   
   " (Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff
   Gamble and Huff
   Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff are an American songwriting and record production team who have written and produced over 170 gold and platinum records. They were pioneers of Philadelphia soul and the in-house creative team for the Philadelphia International record label...
   
   ) - 3:54

Personnel

• Bobby Eli
  Bobby Eli
  Bobby Eli is a Grammy Award winning musician, arranger, composer and record producer from Philadelphia, USA. He is a founding member and lead guitarist of Philadelphia studio group MFSB.-Biography:...
  
  , Norman Harris
  Norman Harris
  Norman Harris was an American guitarist, producer, arranger and songwriter associated with Philly soul. He was a founding member of MFSB and one-third of the production trio of Baker-Harris-Young...
  
  , Reggie Lucas
  Reggie Lucas
  Reginald "Reggie" Lucas is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Lucas is most famous for his production work with percussionist Mtume and for producing the majority of Madonna's 1983 self-titled debut album.-Biography:...
  
  , Roland Chambers, T.J. Tindall - guitar
• Anthony Jackson, Ron Baker
  Ronnie Baker
  Ronnie Baker was a famous record producer, bassist, arranger and songwriter. He participated on many Gamble and Huff recordings and was one-third of the production team of Baker-Harris-Young. He was one of The Trammps, who had a #5 UK/#35 US hit with Hold Back The Night....
  
   - bass
• Leon Huff, Lenny Pakula, Eddie Green, Harold "Ivory" Williams - keyboards
• Earl Young
  Earl Young (drummer)
  Earl Young is a Philadelphia-based drummer who rose to prominence in the early 1970s as part of the Philly Soul sound. Young is best known as the founder and leader of The Trammps who had a hit record with "Disco Inferno". Young, along with Ronnie Baker and Norman Harris, was the owner of the...
  
  , Karl Chambers, Norman Farrington - drums
• Larry Washington - percussion
• Vincent Montana, Jr. - vibraphone
• Zach Zachary, Tony Williams - saxophone
• Don Renaldo and his Strings and Horns

Charts

Year	Album	Chart positions
		US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
1973	MFSB MFSB (album) MFSB is the debut album to be released by Philadelphia International Records houseband MFSB.-Reception:It also included covers of "Family Affair" by Sly & The Family Stone and "Freddie's Dead" by Curtis Mayfield....	131	20