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| Live & Love Records | |
|---|---|
| Name | Live & Love Records |
| Founded | 1970s |
| Founder | Lawrence "Larry" Davis; Larry Ginsberg |
| Status | defunct |
| Genre | Soul; Funk; R&B |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Live & Love Records was an independent American record label active in the 1970s and early 1980s, centered in the Philadelphia soul and funk scenes. The label issued singles and albums by regional acts and contributed to the broader R&B revival that paralleled releases on labels such as Philadelphia International Records, Stax Records, and Motown. Live & Love operated amid studio networks that included session musicians from Sigma Sound Studios, arrangers linked to MFSB, and producers known in the Northern soul and boogie movements.
Live & Love emerged during the post-1960s restructuring of the American recording industry, contemporaneous with the rise of Kendun Recorders, United Artists Records, and boutique imprints like TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia). Founded in the mid-1970s in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the label rode the commercial wave established by albums from The O'Jays, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, and Lou Rawls. Live & Love released both 7-inch singles and LPs, targeting jukebox and radio play along routes connecting Newark, New Jersey, Baltimore, Maryland, and New York City. Distribution partnerships and licensing deals linked the label to regional distributors who also serviced outlets used by Atlantic Records and Warner Bros. Records.
The imprint was set up by Lawrence "Larry" Davis and business partner Larry Ginsberg, who coordinated A&R and production responsibilities. They worked with producers and arrangers who had collaborated with artists from Philadelphia International Records and engineers associated with Sigma Sound Studios. Session musicians included players with ties to MFSB and touring bands that supported performers like Teddy Pendergrass and Billy Paul. Administrative roles sometimes overlapped with independent promoters who had connections to radio programmers at stations such as WDAS and WMMR.
Live & Love's roster featured vocal groups, solo soul singers, and funk bands that recorded original compositions and covers of contemporaneous hits by Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and The Temptations. Notable artists who released material on the label included regional acts that also appeared on compilations alongside artists from Curtom Records, Buddah Records, and Volt Records. Singles were pressed for jukebox distribution, and several releases found crossover play on disco-oriented dance floors and college radio charts monitored by publications like Billboard.
The label's output drew on the lush orchestration typical of the Philadelphia soul sound exemplified by arrangers linked to Thom Bell and producers associated with Gamble and Huff. Tracks often featured horn sections, rhythm guitar patterns similar to those used by MFSB, and vocal harmonies modeled after groups like The Stylistics and The Delfonics. Live & Love recordings contributed material later sampled by hip hop producers in the tradition of DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and J Dilla, mirroring sampling trends that connected 1970s funk and soul to Golden age hip hop.
As an independent imprint, Live & Love relied on regional pressing plants and distributors with overlapping networks tied to companies like Chess Records-era vendors and independent distributors servicing the Mid-Atlantic corridor. Licensing practices mirrored those used by small labels negotiating with national chains and regional radio via independent promoters who had histories with Cash Box and Record World. Manufacturing used vinyl pressing services similar to those employed by United Artists Records affiliates; promotional copies circulated among disc jockeys at clubs in Atlantic City and lounges in Philadelphia.
Although never achieving the mainstream chart dominance of Motown or Philadelphia International Records, Live & Love left a legacy in regional collector communities and among crate-diggers searching for rare soul and funk pressings. Several tracks resurfaced on reissue compilations curated by labels that specialized in Northern soul and funk anthologies alongside releases from Kent Records and Ace Records. Collectors and historians trace Live & Love's significance through its connections to session networks that fed major acts such as The O'Jays, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, and solo artists like Billy Paul.
- Selected 7" singles that attained regional airplay and club rotation, often paired with instrumental B-sides used by DJs and producers following the practices of DJ Kool Herc-era selectors. - A small number of LPs featuring studio musicians with ties to MFSB and arrangers whose work paralleled that of Thom Bell and Bobby Martin. - Pressings later sought by collectors alongside releases from BGP Records and reissue campaigns by Soul Jazz Records-style curators.
Category:American record labels Category:Defunct record labels Category:Soul music record labels Category:Companies based in Philadelphia