The Grammy nominated ‘Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ were an American R&B/Soul vocal group, one of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. The group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the middle of the 1950s and is most noted for several hits between 1972 and 1976, although they performed and recorded until Melvin's death in 1997. 

Fronted by the charismatic Teddy Pendergrass during their peak years, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes helped to define the lush and soulful "Philly Sound" of the '70s scoring several major R&B and pop hits including million-selling singles and albums over the next four years. 

 

Among the Blue Notes' most important and successful recordings are love songs such as 1972's "If You Don't Know Me by Now" which topped the US R&B charts selling over one million copies. It was later named one of the “Songs of the Century”! 

Their breakout single, "I Miss You" (#7 R&B, #58 pop), "The Love I Lost" (#1 R&B, #7 pop, 1973) and socially conscious songs such as "Wake Up Everybody" (#1 R&B, #12 pop) and "Bad Luck" (#4 R&B, #15 pop), both in 1975. "If You Don't Know Me By Now" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA on November 21, 1972. "Bad Luck" holds the record for the longest-running number-one hit on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart: 11 weeks.

A fourth #1 R&B hit for the group was 1975's "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon" and "Wake Up Everybody” which appears on 1975's platinum-selling album and was the number one R&B song for two weeks in a row in 1975. In addition, the group was nominated for Best R&B Performance at the 15th Annual Grammy Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1973.

 

Donnell “Big Daddy” Gillespie has been the lead singer of the group since 1990 when the group was still called Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. Following the passing of Harold Melvin, Donnell and the group continue to keep the music and legacy of Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes alive and well!

 

Some days you just need a little soul to get you back in the groove.