Childhood albums #2: Spinners, Mighty Love.

"Yes, Thom Bell is the inventor. The Pace Setter. The one the world regards as being different. Because he is an instrument between the physical plane and the spirit plane pulling tunes out of the air like man capturing electricity...Thom has a lot to say to the world and much of it is said through the Spinners. So Talk On Thom Bell--With Your Bad Self."--from liner notes

Mighty Love is a childhood album by way of my dad, who regularly purchased LPs at JCPenney and K Mart, back when department stores had record sections. (Parks Belk, too: I remember bringing home Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes along with a few pairs of underwear, or perhaps a shirt.) Who knows what prompted him to buy it? He and Mom had titles by the Kingston Trio and the New Christy Minstrels, so the Spinners were quite something else.

Now, I think I know what drove him, or what would have driven anyone, to purchase Mighty Love. It’s the same quality that drove me to put their followup, Pick of the Litter, on my Christmas wish list the next year. That quality is warmth, and that warmth is created by the tag team of lead singer Philippe Wynne and producer Thom Bell. Oh, sure, there are four other Spinners, but these two are the money. Wynne knows how to not just caress, but massage, a tune: “Love Don’t Love Nobody” segues into one thrilling chorus (and key change) after another, while on “I’m Coming Home,” he weaves a delectable vocal line around chugging strings and horns. And the signature title tune approaches ecstasy.

The liner notes above may exaggerate Bell’s importance, but not by much. His formula had been well established for several years with such acts as the Delfonics and the Stylistics, but what a delectable formula: layered, close-miked, deceptively simple arrangements, simultaneously lush and filigree-free. To a degree, this is assembly-line music—you get the basic template after a few songs--but so was Motown. The subjects rarely stray from love: finding it, losing it, recovering it. But Bell had the best of the best Philly players at his disposal, a reliable coterie of writers, and Wynne’s voice, so if this is product from a factory, at least it’s great product.

To be sure, Bell’s magic touch was temporary. After Pick, the Spinners began to sound static and packaged. Wynne, ever a restless and cantankerous presence in the group, finally had enough and left, only to record a middling solo album and fade from view. The Spinners carried on and carry on, nostalgia-touring through the glory years, but it’s best to hear the glory years in their original incarnation. Mighty Love is an album of earthly beauty and incredible, graceful peaks, yet it never goes over the top. It’s not just soul music, but soulful music—unflashy yet committed, honest without boasting.