Wilson Pickett did some recording at Stax Studios in Memphis, where he recorded "In The Midnight Hour," "Don’t Fight It," "634-5789 (Soulsville, USA)," and "Ninety Nine And A Half (Won’t Do)." For his next set of singles, Jerry Wexler from Atlantic Records had him recording at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama (Duane Allman was an occasional sideman), because Jim Stewart from Stax Records decided to ban any outside projects. It was during these sessions that Pickett covered Mack Rice’s "Mustang Sally," which reached #6 on the R&B chart and #23 on the Hot 100 in 1966.

Another great Chicago group, the Chi-Lites started in the late ’50’s, but it wasn’t until the ’70’s that they reached fame and fortune, gathering eleven Top 10 R&B hits from 1970 to 1974. "Oh Girl" was a 1972 followup to "Have You Seen Her," which reached #3 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart. "Oh Girl" went to #1 on both the Hot 100 and R&B chart and reached #9 in Canada for their only Top 10 hit there.

The Stylistics had a bunch of hits in the ’70’s, primarily ballads that featured the falsetto of lead singer Russell Thompkins Jr. and the production of Thom Bell. They had twelve straight records reach the Top Ten on the R&B chart in the early ’70’s, including "Betcha By Golly, Wow." Its original title was "Keep Growing Strong" when Bell and Linda Creed wrote it for Connie Stevens, who recorded it in 1970, but it failed to chart. The Stylistics recorded it in 1971 for their eponymous debut album, and it was released as a single in February 1972. It rose to #3 on the Hot 100, #2 on the R&B chart, and #7 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It earned a Gold record for selling a million records. Billboard‘s year-end chart placed it at #18.

"Me and Mrs. Jones" was written by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert and recorded by Billy Paul for his 1972 album 360 Degrees Of Billy Paul. It ended up being his only #1 single, reaching that peak in 1973 for four weeks, knocking Helen Reddy’s "I Am Woman" out of the top spot, being knocked out of the top spot by Carly Simon’s "You’re So Vain." The song also reached #1 on the R&B and Cash Box charts, #10 on the Adult Contemporary chart, #9 in Australia, #12 in the UK, and #14 in Canada. Okay, so the song was about adultery…

If you watched Soul Train in the ’70’s, you’re bound to recognize this. Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff wrote it as the theme song for the show, and MFSB (the house band at Philadelphia International) played it, with the lovely ladies from The Three Degrees doing the vocal. Don Cornelius, host and producer of Soul Train, forbade Gamble and Huff from making any reference to the show in the title, so Gamble and Huff renamed it "TSOP" ("The Sound of Philadelphia") and released it as a single. It reached #1 on the Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, and Soul/R&B charts in the US as well as #1 in Canada, #3 in Switzerland and #5 in Germany.