Soul Survivors – When The Whistle Blows Anything Goes With The Soul Survivors

very good review of the band. They never got the credit they deserved even with the support they received locally. Please Please is one of the best from 1967, but most likely not appreciated for the true soulfulness it was.

Great pop-psych (early Philly) soul LP full of upbeat driving back beat energy (think Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels), soul infused harmonies, scorching fuzz guitar, excellent arrangements & all round downright fun.
Creative toe tapping infectious pleasure.

Finding a date for the origins of the genre of Blue Eyed Soul is a tough nut to crack, though in 1967, without a doubt, Philadelphia’s own Soul Survivors where at the top of their game, and at the top of AM radio charts. Even so, the Soul Survivors remain a little known enigma, with people the world over instantly recognizing the opening car horns of “Expressway (To Your Heart)”, though if you were to ask those same people to name but one other song from band, there would be few takers.

Often confused with The Box Tops, The Soul Survivors where all about true Philadelphia soul music, a mixed racial group who made instant inroads into suburban homes across the land based on the strength of their relentless driving backbeat and soul infused delivery, spinng songs filled with explosive harmonies that reached out and grabbed listeners, instantly causing them to turn up the radio dial, and in my case, that was WIBG and WFIL, as few cars offered FM for the fledgling underground of WMMR or WDAS.

Originally playing together as The Dedications, founding member Kenny Jeremiah already had a handful of singles under his belt, though increasingly found that the danceable soul music he loved was being sidestepped in favor of the more hip sound that The Beatles had ushered in, and while certainly not giving up on their soulful roots, the band created a fusion of sorts, combining rock and soul, moving from New York to the City of Brotherly Love, and once hooking up with producers Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble, they appeared to be destined for stardom. Even though Crimson Records (with part owner and DJ Jerry Blavat) rereleasing countless R&B, Soul and Doo Wop numbers, they never achieved the success they had with the single “Expressway (To Your Heart)”.

Despite releasing three album in nearly seven years, and going though extensive personal changes, The Soul Survivors were destined to remain another of America’s greatest one hit wonders, and had the industry treated them with the respect and honesty they deserved, not a single member of that original lineup should have ever needed to work again. That being said, all of their songs were unpretentious, honest and straight forward, drawn from the times, and refusing to rely on the hidden double meanings that so much of the psychedelic pop and garage music that was becoming ever more popular. The music of The Soul Survivors is upbeat downright fun and easy, devoid of any surprises, just toe tapping infectious pleasure.

*** The Fun Facts: The song “Expressway (To Your Heart)” was named after Philadelphia’s infamous Schuylkill Expressway, often called the The SureKill Expressway.

Of all the credits or notoriety a band could receive, The Soul Survivors were dropped into the lyrics of the song “Hey Nineteen” by Steely Dan on the Gaucho album, even mentioning the year ’67 in the same song, the same year The Soul Survivors had their classic hit.

Review by Jenell Kesler