The True Reflection -

The True Reflection was an American soul group from Washington, DC, that released the 1973 Atco album Where I’m Coming From.

Members: Glenn Leonard, Joe Blunt, Bobby Cox, Joey Coleman

Background

The True Reflection formed by 1972 in Washington, D.C., as a soul vocal quartet with Joe Blunt, Glenn Leonard, Joe Coleman, and Bobby Cox.

Joe Blunt was born in Newport News, Virginia, and raised in Washington, D.C. He signed with D.C.’s Cap City Records at 18 as lead singer of the Chancellors, a vocal group that included Leonard.

Glenn Carl Leonard was born on June 11, 1947, in Washington, D.C. Leonard sang from age six and earned performance money by age 13 at parties, concerts, and stage events. Joe Coleman grew up in Washington, D.C., where he sang with Leonard and Blunt on street corners and in local venues. Bobby Cox completed the vocal lineup.

The Chancellors released “Sad Avenue” as a 1968 Cap City single. After the Chancellors ended, Blunt and Leonard formed Instant Groove and then launched True Reflection with Coleman and Cox. The group signed to Atlantic’s Atco label in the early seventies and issued “Beer Cans and Empty Hands” backed with “Silent Treatment” as a September 1972 single. True Reflection entered Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia for the album sessions that became Where I’m Coming From.

Where I’m Coming From

The True Reflection released their debut album, Where I’m Coming From, in 1973 on Atco.

Where I’m Coming From centers harmonies, high falsetto leads, plush string charts, and clipped brass replies, performed by singers Bobby Cox, Glenn Leonard, Joe Blunt, and Joey Coleman. The group performs eight titles by Bob Currington, Joe Blunt, R. Brown, T. Lester, and W. Lester, who share the production credit. Tenor and falsetto lead lines alternate with close-voiced chorus replies, and the charts place strings and horns around mid-tempo and slow-dance material. Norman Harris arranged “Whisper” and “That Was Yesterday,” Ronnie Baker arranged “Society,” “It Really Hurts,” and “That’s Where I’m Coming From,” Leon Mitchell arranged “What You Don’t Know,” and Vincent Montana arranged “Helpless Man” and “Look at All the Lonely People.”

“Whisper” leans on spoken low-volume cues before the lead opens into sustained group response. “That Was Yesterday” glides behind a high lead and soft unison replies. “Society” sways through a firm backbeat, with chorus lines placed above brass punctuation. “What You Don’t Know” tightens the tempo around an urgent falsetto lead. “It Really Hurts” lingers on plaintive high-register phrases and a cushioned refrain. “Helpless Man” drops the pace and stretches the lead across longer cadences. “That’s Where I’m Coming From” snaps into a shorter, firmer vocal statement. “Look at All the Lonely People” broadens the group refrain into repeated people-address lines and extended call-response turns.

A1. “Whisper” (5:00)
A2. “That Was Yesterday” (3:25)
A3. “Society” (4:20)
A4. “What You Don’t Know” (2:30)

B1. “It Really Hurts” (4:00)
B2. “Helpless Man” (5:00)
B3. “That’s Where I’m Coming From” (2:40)
B4. “Look at All the Lonely People” (4:40)

The group recorded and remixed the album at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia with engineers Carl Paruolo, Don Murray, and Jay Mark. Loring Eutemey designed the sleeve, and Mirrill A. Roberts Jr. photographed the quartet beside a rail car marked with the number “7401” on the side panel.

Atco issued “Whisper” as a 1973 single (b/w “It Really Hurts”) and serviced a mono/stereo promo pressing.

Discography: