The Delfonics - La-La Means I Love You: The Definitive Collection download free

Hailing from Philadelphia, and influencing the likes of early Todd Rundgren and The Jackson 5, along with a host of others too lengthy to mention, The Delfonics laid down emotional harmonic music that was first and foremost vocally based, relying on the tonalities of each member to develop and move the songs forward with precision and grace. During the mid to late 60’s, it was possible to see bands like this in small intimate venues, though most often they were part of a larger review, most taking place on South Street and North Broad Street, where they would garner the middle slot, slowing things down and giving the audience a chance to catch their collective breath. For me, this was the best part of the show, as this is where the actual soulful magic happened, harmonies laced within harmonies, and all projected with a sincerity without pretense, as if they were able to reach into the soul of everyone in the house and share their most intimate and private thoughts … always revolving around love.Of course I, as I’m sure many others did, questioned why a group like this would have signed to the tiny Cameo Records label, when there was Phil Spector and his dynamic ‘Wall of Sound’ on the west coast, where merely working with him would have assured them endless praise and adulation. But The Delfonics were homegrown, preferring to base their magic on the solid ground of the doo-wop included layered sounds that came from the streets, attempting to construct their records with that same reverb that came from practicing in an empty room or abandoned building, where their vocals took on a smoothness, yet sense of strength.Without a doubt, the most cohesive work done by The Delfonics [original members William and Wilbert Hart, along with Randy Cain] was when producer Thomas Bell was riding shotgun, who provided their best soulful and sleek material of all time, though left the group in 1971 to produce both The Stylistics and The Spinners, who shattered the world with their blazing number “Rubberband Man.” This is one of those bands for whom the producer was perhaps as integral as any other member, as Bell was nurtured on the Stax and Muscle Shoals sounds, though insisted on removing those harsher edges, tightening up the beat, and displaying a sound that was fresh, airy, and flowed like crystal water, with songs that were still groove laden, yet where the notions of subtlety and nuance reigned supreme. Of course not all of The Delfonics material is created equally well, and to that end, the compilations Didn’t I Blow Your Mind, along with La La La Means I Love You, The Definitive Collection, capture all that you’ll ever need from this nearly forgotten and overlooked trio.*** The Fun Facts: The Delfonics were originally known as the The Four Gents, then The Orphonices, then The Del Phonics, until settling on The Delfonics. ’Phonics’ is the science of sound, though in this case The Delfonics chose to insert the letter F for the Ph. ‘Del’ means ‘Valley’ so we have Valley of Sound. ‘Del’ is also a surname or prefix for a male attribution for the word that follows. Del [symbolized as ∇] is also used as a shorthand form to simplify many long mathematical expressions … or in this case musical expression. Review by Jenell Kesler