A string session circa 1975 at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia.
Vincent Jackson
Music fans who lived through or who have heard the R&B music of the 1970s and 1980s would recognize songs such as "Love Train" by the O'Jays, "The Rubberband Man" by the Spinners and "If Only You Knew" by Patti LaBelle.
What most people might not realize is that all three of those songs and dozens of other hits were all recorded at the same place, Sigma Sound Studios on North 12th Street in Philadelphia.
The studio was known for creating records that featured large productions with strings and horns. These sleek and sophisticated recordings were collectively known as "The Sound of Philadelphia."
Filmmaker Bill Nicoletti, an Ocean City resident, wanted the musical legacy of the recording studio preserved as its sound was as distinctive as those of Motown in Detroit and Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, but maybe not as well known.
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"People gravitate towards Motown, Stax, New York City and L.A.'s Laurel Canyon (music scenes)," Nicoletti said. "People overlook Philadelphia as a music epicenter."
Nicoletti directed and produced a documentary about Sigma Sound Studios, titled "The Philly Sound... Heard 'Round the World," with his production studio, Going the Distance Films, which is based in Center City Philadelphia.
"The Philly Sound... Heard 'Round the World" received its world premiere earlier this fall at the 33rd Philadelphia Film Festival.
Nicoletti, 60, has received 75 national awards for excellence in film and television production over a 30-year career. He decided to do something about the fact that there was no documentary covering The Sound of Philadelphia. He previously directed the 2019 documentary "Once in a Hundred Years: The Life and Legacy of Marian Anderson."
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Nicoletti grew up with the music of the Spinners, the O'Jays and other acts that adopted the Philadelphia Sound. He established a production company at Sigma Sound in 1990 and grew close to Joe Tarsia, the Sigma Sound recording engineer and studio operator.
"He would tell me great stories," Nicoletti said. "I had complete access to Joe."
As the engineer, Tarsia was one of the architects of The Sound of Philadelphia along with producers and songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and arranger, producer and songwriter Thom Bell, Nicoletti said.
Once Nicoletti interviewed and had footage of the architects of the Philadelphia Sound, he concentrated on obtaining interviews with musical artists who either recorded, hung out at or were familiar with Sigma Sound.
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Nicoletti's documentary includes interviews with Eddie Levert Sr. and Walter Williams Sr. of the O'Jays, the Stylistics, LaBelle, Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates, DJ Jazzy Jeff, jazz bassist Christian McBride and Wilbert Hart, who is the only surviving original member of the Delfonics, a group most famous for the song "La-La (Means I Love You)," a No. 4 pop hit from 1968.
Gamble's nephew convinced Hart to contribute to the documentary, he said.
"It was such an honor for me to do that," said Hart. "The (Philadelphia) Sound was established by the Delfonics and the Intruders."
The Delfonics had a recording session at Sigma Sound on reportedly the day that it opened in August 1968. This year is the 10th anniversary of the studio's closing in 2014.
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"There were plenty of good years in the beginning. ... The DJs loved to play that record," said Hart about "La-La (Means I Love You)." "It was really like hitting the lottery for the Delfonics. It was a great time."
Nicoletti admits he had a hard time gaining traction in the beginning. His first breakthrough was landing singer-songwriter and pianist John Legend, who was born in Springfield, Ohio, but who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, as an executive producer.
"It gave us credibility that I didn't have as an independent filmmaker," Nicoletti said. "It opened a lot of doors for us as far as interviews go."
Nicoletti created an 82-minute documentary from at least 60 hours of footage, he said.
"To take that and tell a story was challenging," Nicoletti said.
Nicoletti looked at various parts of his documentary hundreds of times over the years as he worked on it, but he watched it through the eyes of people he had never met when it premiered at the Philadelphia Film Festival.
"You can enjoy the experience if you are confident in what you are doing," Nicoletti said. "Sitting there and watching it with an audience, it was a very cathartic experience."
The documentary is done and is sitting on a hard drive waiting for Nicoletti or one of his producers to find additional investors to raise money to pay for all the licensing fees for the music and to support a theatrical release.
"We can control our own destiny with a theatrical release," said Nicoletti, who added a streaming release would come after the documentary is in theaters. "We just need help getting it to the goal line."
Contact Vincent Jackson:
609-272-7202
Twitter@ACPressJackson
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