Clearly devised in the Jackson Five mould, The Sylvers left it a little too late to jump on the bandwagon as the bubble gum pop vein was getting old by 72, the year of their bouncy Jackson-esque debut album. 1972 was the last year of that sounds mainstream popularity, it would be the year before the Jacksons great up and embraced dance oriented funk in 73's Get it Together as a whole generation grew up. 1969 and 1970 was by far the peak of bubblegum from 1910 Fruitgum Factory to Archie's Sugar Sugar to Tommy 'dizzy' Roe to the Jacksons and the Osmonds even stitching to the teen aimed candy coated rock n roll of Glam rock acts like the Sweet and T Rex. But Soft Rock/Yacht Rock/ FM/ AC/ whatever youwantocallit would take over in 73 with artists like Elton John, but the Sylvers were not hanging on to that bubblegum sound for too long, this gem and single from that album reveals where they were going; a harder more progressive soul. Though they ultimately went down the Disco RnB route here on this gem there is proof of something darker and more engaging.
This song belongs more to the rarely acknowledged genre of cinematic soul, a label of grand dramatic string arranged soul numbers from artists such as Isaac Hayes, The Unifics, the Undisputed Truth and Curtis Mayfield. They each had records that carried a widescreen sound; complete with dark, foreboding brass parts mingling with shrieking strings weaving a movie score feel.
It starts with a maudlin piano that reminds me of the interesting modal piano lines of Earth Wind and Fire such as 1979's Fantasy, but here Leon Sylvers was ahead of the curve. A Philly styled touch is felt as a Electric sitar twangs in unison and a drumbeat kicks us in to a sweeping and grand verse sung by Leon in his caressing, wise baritone. This brooding arrangement hangs with the feel of a funeral march horns sound over the stormy arrangement before a flowery pop chorus vocal by Edmund Sylvers; its such a huge sounding track full of fatalism, all its missing is a gong smash. The sound has such a steady feel, a light touch and yet latent power, its extraordinary; just listen to that impulsive yelp at 1.42 is one of the best things I'll ever hear and shows how much hunger this group had. From the delicate descending piano run to the little harp flourishes that dip in and out to the fluttering electric guitar fills to those smoky horns seething underneath. This brooding suite captures the dark desires of teen hood so well and reveals the first glimpse of Leon Sylvers III who would go onto become a highly in demand Producer and arranger.
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