PHILLY GROOVE RECORDS & CHRYSALIS RECORDS RELEASE EUROPEAN VERSION OF NAT TURNER REBELLION’S DEBUT ALBUM ‘LAUGH TO KEEP FROM CRYING’
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Today, Philly Groove Records and Chrysalis Records released the long-awaited European release of Laugh To Keep From Crying, the debut album from Philadelphia soul-music group and Philly Groove Records recording artist Nat Turner Rebellion. The group, made up of Joe Jefferson (who sadly passed away in July), Major Harris, Ron Harper, and Bill Spratley, were pioneers of the Philly Soul and protest music movements. For their debut track, “Tribute To A Slave,” NTR channeled the revolutionary spirit of the infamous 1831 uprising, after which the group derived their name.
Originally released in the U.S. on March 27, 2019, Laugh To Keep From Crying has received widespread praise, including new reviews such as MOJO calling the tracks “soul gems” and Uncut Magazine rating the album 9/10. God is in the TV also praised the new release, stating, “There’s no denying that the Nat Turner Rebellion deserve the place they never really achieved in musical history,” with Louder Than War also noting, “there’s a strong argument that if it had come out at the time we would still be celebrating it today.”
The album was sidelined by Philly Groove Records label head Stan Watson in 1969, with the tapes going unheard for decades. In 2012 Reservoir’s Faith Newman, EVP, A&R and Catalog Development discovered several tapes in a Florida storage facility. Even more NTR tapes had ended up in Drexel’s Sigma Sound Studios (where the album was recorded, along with such classics of the era as David Bowie’s soul-influenced Young Americans) archive. The following year, Newman tracked down Jefferson on Facebook, and eventually met with the lone-surviving NTR member, getting his blessing to release the unheard works and vowing to see the project through. As magazine publication Shindig! observes, “What’s astonishing is how some of the grooviest funk and soul born out the late ‘60s and early ‘70s could be forgotten for almost five decades.”
The 14-track European release of Laugh To Keep From Crying features a song not available on the 2019 US version, entitled, “You Are My Sun Sign” (which replaces cut “Going In Circles”). The album comes in both CD and LP format, and is available for purchase from online shop Resident Music, among others.