AMG Review of Essential Teddy Pendergrass

Andy Kellman
All Music Guide

When Legacy put together The Essential Teddy Pendergrass for release in 2007, four years had come and gone since the Philly soul singer's hits had last been anthologized in double-disc form. So, is this really all that necessary? Yes, it is completely necessary. Unlike 2003's Anthology, released through The Right Stuff, The Essential Teddy Pendergrass does not cut off just prior to TP's mid-'80s switch from Philadelphia International to Elektra/Asylum. This means that later R&B number ones "Joy" and "It Should've Been You," along with the 1984 Whitney Houston duet "Hold Me" (number five), are all included -- but this is at the expense of some of TP's lower-charting singles from the earlier years, which are squeezed out. Regardless, due its greater breadth, it is the more attractive set of the two. William C. Rhoden, who was a jazz critic and editor at ~Ebony prior to becoming a well-known sports columnist and author, penned the liner notes.