American soul group, formed in Philadelphia in 1954
The Blue Notes formed in Philadelphia in the mid-1950s and spent nearly two decades as a working vocal group before signing to Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International Records in 1972 and becoming one of the defining acts of Philly soul. Their lead singer from 1970 was Teddy Pendergrass, who had joined as a drummer and moved to the front of the group when John Atkins left. It is Pendergrass’s voice on the 1975 recording of “Don’t Leave Me This Way” — a slow, aching six-minute performance rather than a dance record. He quit the group in 1976, the same year the song began its second life elsewhere; Harold Melvin died in 1997.
Who recorded it
Songs Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes recorded first