In 1963, songwriter/record producer John Madara visited a club in West Philadelphia. There was a group playing there called The Lavenders. The piano player was a young black man by the name of Leon Huff. John was so impressed with Leon, that he invited him to play on some of his and partner, Dave White's, productions. As Leon honed his skills, he began writing and producing songs through John and Dave's production company, Madara & White Productions. 　　 　　John and Dave's offices were in the Shubert Building in Philadelphia. The Shubert Building, like the Brill Building in New York, housed some of the most successful songwriters and artists in the business -- Linda Creed, Thom Bell and an unknown at the time by the name of Kenny Gamble, who worked with record producer, Jerry Ross. 　　 　　As fate would have it, Leon and Kenny met at the Shubert Building and began working together, writing and producing songs for Madara & White Productions and later for John Madara Enterprises. Eventually they would team together as Gamble & Huff and would write and produce some of the most iconic songs in the history of soul music, including "Expressway To Your Heart," "If You Don't Know Me By Now," "Love Train" and "Me and Mrs. Jones," to name just a few. 　　 　　In 1971, Gamble & Huff formed Philadelphia International Records as a rival to Berry Gordy and Motown. Their sound became know as The Sound of Philadelphia. 　　 　　This CD contains 10 songs written, 9 songs co-written, 3 songs produced and 15 songs co-produced by Leon Huff, 6 songs co-written and/or co-produced by Kenny Gamble and 4 songs co-written, 2 songs produced and 13 songs produced and/or co-produced by John Madara, before they became Gamble & Huff.