Leon Huff (born April 8, 1942) – Rich Get Richer (1975)
One of the most powerful, truth-telling message songs ever written about income inequality, co-written and produced by Gamble & Huff for the O'Jays' Survival LP.
As the co-founder of Philadelphia International Records along with Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff brought Philly soul to the world, which in turn was largely responsible for the rise of disco. The two of them have written and produced an amazing 175 gold and platinum records.
Gamble and Huff first met while both were working in the Schubert Building in Philadelphia. Huff was a songwriter, and Gamble was an assistant to record producer Jerry Ross. They started to talk on the elevator, and eventually Gamble invited Huff to play keyboards on a recording session he was producing for Ross.
The two bonded over their shared love of music and became close friends. In a 2008 interview with Wax Poetics, Gamble explained how their songwriting partnership began:
“The first time we sat down and started writing over at Huff’s house in Camden, man, it was so easy. That’s the only way I can explain it. We were popping songs out just like that. [snaps fingers] I was trying to write songs, but he had written songs before he met me and had hits working with people.”
They ended up playing together in a band called the Romeos during the mid-sixties. After the Romeos broke up, Gamble and Huff started Excel and Gamble, and Neptune Records, the two record labels that were the predecessors to Philadelphia International Records (PIR).
Influential WDAS-FM DJ Jimmy Bishop owned Arctic Records and had previously released records by the Romeos. While he was working as a vice president at April/Blackwood Music, the publishing house of CBS, in 1971 he made the introduction between Gamble and Huff and CBS executives that led to the company backing and distributing their new venture PIR.
Clive Davis, who was the president of Columbia/CBS Records at the time, was open to new talent and saw the potential profits to be made by getting behind another Motown. He had already brought the company into the rock era by signing acts like Janis Joplin, Laura Nyro, The Electric Flag, Santana, and The Chambers Brothers. The following year in 1972 he signed Earth, Wind & Fire. After leaving Columbia/CBS, he founded Arista Records in 1974, and later co-founded LaFace Records (with L.A. Reid & Babyface) and Bad Boy Records (with Sean “Puffy” Combs).
For the O’Jays’ 1975 Survival LP, Gamble and Huff co-wrote and produced the masterpiece “Rich Get Richer,” one of the most powerful, truth-telling message songs ever written about income inequality. The brutally honest track called out some of the nation’s richest families by name for being “people who live on the hill (but) don’t have time for the ghetto” and “always tryin’ to get more than their share:”
“People like the Mellons. The Gettys. The DuPonts, The Rockefellers. Howard Hughes. They always win, how in the world can they lose?”
Its lyrics were inspired by the writings of journalist Ferdinand Lundberg, specifically his books America’s 60 Families (1937) and its 750-page sequel, The Rich and the Super-Rich (1968).
Like the rest of the album, “Rich Get Richer” was arranged by Bobby Martin and its backing band was MFSB. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau called it an “astonishing” track and correctly noted that it should have released as a single.
More info:
“The Main Ingredient: Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff wrote, produced, and arranged for a slew of independent labels before starting their own concern, Philadelphia International,” by Ronnie Reese, Wax Poetics, Issue 33, 2008
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