The Continental IV - Dream World (1972) [Reissue 1994]

Ten singles cut by the smooth Pennsylvania-based soul group for Jay Walking Records, produced by Bobby Martin. The best known song here is "Day By Day (Every Minute of the Hour)," which was a Top 20 R&B hit during the summer of 1971, and "I Don't Have You," which had earlier scraped the Top 50 in R&B. The sounds here are surprisingly sophisticated, not just in the singing but the backing arrangements, which include a beautiful extended sax and volume pedal guitar section on "Nite Moods." Freddie Kelly's falsetto lead and Anthony Burke's rich baritone form an exquisite pairing in the opening bars "I Don't Have You Baby," and it's difficult to understand overall how a group like this could not have scored more hits, except perhaps that they had the bad fortune to be cutting music in Philadelphia just when the city was filled with talented R&B groups, all making records at exactly the same time.