Spinners | ||||
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Studio album by The Spinners | ||||
Released | April 1973 | |||
Recorded | 1972-1973 at Sigma Sound Studios (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) |
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Genre | Philly soul, R&B | |||
Length | 40:14 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Producer | Thom Bell | |||
The Spinners chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
BBC | (favorable) |
Robert Christgau | A− |
Spinners is the third studio album recorded by American R&B group The Spinners, produced by Thom Bell and released in April 1973 on the Atlantic label. The album was the group's first for Atlantic after leaving Motown.
Spinners includes their first American top-ten and R&B number-one hit "I'll Be Around", along with the successful songs "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love", "One of a Kind (Love Affair)", "Ghetto Child", and "How Could I Let You Get Away". The album was also the second of fourteen straight studio albums to make the Billboard 200, and their first in the Top-twenty, as it reached #14 on the charts. Additionally, it was their first of three consecutive R&B albums chart-toppers - and the second to hit those charts overall.
Thom Bell created a sound for the group that was "lush" yet gritty. Bell's insistently soulful orchestral arrangements played perfectly to their harmonic strengths. "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love" (later a hit for David Grant and Jaki Graham) is the keynote; sung by Smith, it is beautiful, optimistic and upbeat. Often cited as the birth of the Philadelphia Sound, Spinners yielded five American top 100 hits, and two UK chart successes."