Survival

by The O'Jays

Product Description:

The O'Jays: Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, William Powell (vocals).

Producers: Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff.

Recorded at Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Includes liner notes by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor.

Digitally remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York).

Out of the many R&B vocal groups on the scene throughout the '60s and '70s, few were as committed to social comment as The O' Jays. Serving as mouthpieces for the production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, this vocal trio's string of hits, including "Love Train" and "Back Stabbers," set a style of thinking man's soul that continued on 1975's SURVIVAL.

Gilded by Gamble and Huff's lush arrangements and backed by the crack playing of Philly Soul house band MFSB, SURVIVAL includes populist anthems such as "Give The People What They Want," addresses the travails of everyday life in the funky title track, and class inequities on a soaring "Rich Get Richer." Led by master troubadour Eddie Levert, the O' Jays also keep one foot firmly in the land of romance, whether singing and swinging on "Never Break Us Up," pleading throughout "Let Me Make Love To You," or gently expressing their remorse on the string-laden "Where Did We Go Wrong."