Posts Tagged ‘Motown’
Friday, February 26th, 2010
Listen: You Beat Me To The Punch / Mary Wells MaryWellsPunch.mp3
I agree with those who say Mary Wells was the first lady of Motown, well if I turn a blind eye to Brenda Holloway, Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell that is. I guess because she had the biggest pop crossover hit out of the bunch with ‘My Guy’ sort of justifies it. Whatever, she had the voice and the presence. There are some fantastic shots of her on various UK album sleeves, and that blond hair dye job turned brassy orange – I just love it.
No question, she and Smokey Robinson were a perfect match and gave her the biggest successes. Same with The Marvelettes. It’s just something about his productions, maybe it’s the drum sound or use of vibes combined with handclaps. Some magic recipe was definitely at work, I never could put my finger on it though.
Listen: Two Lovers / Mary Wells MaryWellsTwoLovers.mp3
Then there’s the lyrical twist, most prevalent on ‘Two Lovers’. It doesn’t get much more clever than this. What happens at the end of this song again, how does the two lovers thing play out? I forget every time.
It’s a drag about the royalty issue that drove Mary Wells from Motown. Once burned, it’s sometimes hard for certain folks to move beyond it – by all counts, that summed up her attitude toward Berry Gordy. And so the downward spiral began.
Listen: Dear Lover / Mary Wells MaryWellsDearLover.mp3
The fact that ‘Dear Lover’ was substandard compared to any of the Smokey songs, in a way, became the appeal. I do love a struggle to polish up something fairly mediocre in the world of singles and follow-ups. I find it rather interesting, the way all parties involved go through the motions, hoping no one else will notice that it’s actually not very good.
In the case of ‘Dear Lover’, seems producer Carl Davis basically tried copying the Motown sound – unsuccessfully. Is that a description of Northern Soul or what? Exactly the whole point of the genre, making substandard copy attempts glorious in their own way.
Probably the most Northern of any Mary Wells track, it’s absolutely become a favorite.
Tags: Atco, Atlantic, Berry Gordy, Carl Davis, Mary Wells, Motown, Northern Soul, Oriole, Smokey Robinson, The Marvelettes
Posted in Atco, Atlantic, Berry Gordy, Carl Davis, Mary Wells, Motown, Northern Soul, Oriole, Smokey Robinson, The Marvelettes | No Comments »
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
Listen: Stubborn Kind Of Fellow / Marvin Gaye MarvinStubborn.mp3
Neck to neck, it’s a real tossup which guy epitomizes the early 60′s mod / soul sound: Smokey Robinson or Marvin Gaye. Funny enough, it’s as strong a debate as you might expect around The Beatles / The Rolling Stones challenge. At least at some of the pubs in North London, where the Tamla guys seem to be fixtures on a Sunday afternoon. I’d never thought about it actually. My barometer was always tuned to what The Rolling Stones were covering, so I’d lean towards Marvin.
Not sure why ‘Stubborn Kind Of Fellow’ never seems to show up on comp cd’s or anthologies, not any that I have, given it was his debut UK single and all. Besides, is there any other Motown based release that credits The Vandellas on the label?
Listen: Can I Get A Witness / Marvin Gaye MarvinWitness.mp3
This original paced version took some getting used to on first listen way back when. I knew the faster ‘Can I Get A Witness’ from ENGLAND’S NEWEST HIT MAKERS. Don’t shoot me, I was far from the only kid in America that got my soul music from the UK bands instead of pop radio, early on that is. Now that faster Rolling Stones take just feels wrong, but hats off to them for introducing American middle class kids to their own culture.
It’s pretty dramatic the difference between early and later Marvin Gaye. Even more than Stevie Wonder, but way less than say, Underworld. I think they take the cake. Check out that first album.
As with both singles above, these mono vinyl pressings possess a sound absolutely no other format can enhance or replace.
Tags: Martha & The Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, Motown, Oriole, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Tamla, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Underworld
Posted in Martha & The Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, Motown, Oriole, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Tamla, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Underworld | No Comments »
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
Listen: Helpless / Kim Weston KimWestonHelpless.mp3
She made two of the greatest records ever. This and ‘It Takes Two’. Like Mary Wells, Tammi Terrell and Florence Ballard, she was, from time to time, my Motown Goddess. I can replay her performance of this on SHINDIG like it was yesterday. Even though the program was black and white, I remember it in color, I guess because I wanted to.
Tags: Florence Ballard, Kim Weston, Mary Wells, Motown, Shindig, Tamla, Tammi Terrell
Posted in Florence Ballard, Kim Weston, Mary Wells, Motown, Northern Soul, Shindig, Tamla, Tammi Terrell | No Comments »
Monday, September 21st, 2009
Listen: It Takes Two / Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston MarvinTammi.mp3
I don’t believe the general public hears this one enough. Seems to have slipped through the fingers of time. If I ever hear Marvin Gaye’s duets with Tammi Terrell (‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, ‘Ain’t Nothing Lie The Real Thing’) again on stale, tired US Oldies radio, I think I’ll puke. I’m betting Sirius gives this one a spin occasionally though. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Tammi Terrell, but I really love Kim Weston. She had swagger and I had the hots for her as a teenager, saw her on one of those Dick Clark ‘Caravan Of Stars’ tour packages.
‘It Takes Two’ is also an oddly hard single to find, considering it reached #14 Pop in ’67. Hard to find in good condition that is. I didn’t pick it up on release, and only found a fairly clean copy a year or so back. Now one of my jukebox staples, I spent the day just hanging around the house, filing stacks of singles I picked up during the past two weeks busing around the States with Matt & Kim, playing it incessantly, pressing B9 every time I passed my trusty Seeburg.
Tags: Dick Clark, Kim Weston, Marvin Gaye, Matt & Kim, Motown, Seeburg, Tamla, Tammi Terrell
Posted in Dick Clark, Kim Weston, Marvin Gaye, Matt & Kim, Motown, Seeburg, Tamla, Tammi Terrell | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
Above: Front Cover, Below Back Cover
Listen: Baby Love / The Supremes SupremesBaby.mp3
How many consecutive hits did they have once their amazing chart run began with ‘When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes’? Somewhere between twenty and thirty, many after Diana Ross split – as though nothing had changed. It’s pretty hard to tire of those many singles, even the few that are overplayed.
Despite being their first US and UK #1, ‘Baby Love’ is always positioned to be the not quite as successful followup to ‘Where Did Our Love Go’. Hmm, my dime’s on ‘Baby Love’ as the favorite.
Beware, this picture sleeve is getting mighty scarce these days.
And by the way, Flo was the hottest. I have a feeling she was a real good night out.
Tags: Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, Motown, The Supremes
Posted in Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, Motown, The Supremes | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
I got a fantastic email today from a reader in France, Bands Michel, who alerted me to a site whereby you can read just about every BILLBOARD from the 50′s, 60′s and onwards. These are mesmerizing. Scrolling through the weekly singles reviews whereby they predict records that will achieve Top 20, Top 60 or simply a ‘Chart’ placing alone is worth the visit. Most of the greats are in that later section, although many a ‘should have been a hit’ record features in the other two as well. Not to mention stunning full page tip sheet adds for singles by The Herd, The Who, Mary Wells, Scott Walker, Ike & Tina Turner, The Small Faces, multi artist adverts for Mercury, Okeh, Motown, Fontana, Deram, Ric Tic, Bang, Sue Records plus hundreds and hundreds more. Do yourself a favor:
BILLBOARD MAGAZINE ARCHIVE
Tags: Bang, Billboard, Deram, Fontana, Ike & Tina Turner, Mary Wells, Mercury, Motown, Okeh, Ric Tic, Scott Walker, Sue Records, The Herd, The Small Faces, The Who
Posted in Bang, Billboard, Deram, Fontana, Ike & Tina Turner, Mary Wells, Mercury, Motown, Okeh, Ric Tic, Scott Walker, Sue Records, The Herd, The Small Faces, The Who | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
Listen: I’m Blue / The IkettesIkettesBlue.mp3
All the behind the scenes drama, politics, tension and sleeze associated with Ike & Tina Turner is an endless source of stimulation for this voyeur. Get hold of every last cd booklet accompanying their reissues, and especially the box sets (the Time/Life one is hugely advised) and study. The countless sessions and musical chairs will never really be figured out, but when this bunch was on – they were truly on. Whether as an after thought, or a genius parallel business model, The Ikettes were the bomb. ‘I’m Blue’ premiered them to vinyl and was probably an unexpected hit. The first of many sizzling, gutteral vocal performances – you could always depend on an Ikettes single.
Listen: Peaches & Cream / The Ikettes IkettesPeaches.mp3
‘Peaches & Cream’ sounded fantastic on AM radio in ’65, and I was well excited to see that summer’s Dick Clark Caravan Of Stars make a Syracuse stop. The Ikettes took the stage in silk fringed orange mini dresses and gyrated though four numbers including this one. Being afforded the benefit of headliner Tom Jones’ full brass back up band transformed it into a crazy wild Soul revue. Not surprisingly, these weren’t The Ikettes at all, at least not the ones on record. Still through Ike’s revolving door it seems everyone was an Ikette for a minute, so who’s complaining. Considering they followed Them on stage after ‘Here Comes The Night’, ‘Call My Name’ and a rousing ‘Gloria’, and upped the stakes is proof of their power.
Listen: I’m So Thankful / The Ikettes IkettesThankful.mp3
Like The Flirtations’ ‘Nothing But A Heartache, ‘I’m So Thankful’ is one of the great Motown records that was never on Motown. You’d swear it was recorded right there on Grand Blvd.
Tags: Atco, Atlantic, Caravan Of Stars, Dick Clark, Ike & Tina Turner, Motown, Polydor, Stateside, The Flirtations, The Ikettes, Them, Tom Jones
Posted in Atco, Atlantic, Dick Clark, Ike & Tina Turner, Motown, Polydor, Stateside, The Flirtations, The Ikettes, Them, Tom Jones | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
Listen: Mighty Mighty Spade & Whitey / The Impressions ImpressionsMighty.mp3
Was it by coincidence the album from which this, and it’s flip side ‘Choice Of Color’, came sported a title THE YOUNG MODS’ FORGOTTEN STORY? What fan of the under appreciated US Blues/RnB/Soul sound, so loved in the UK, would not embrace it whole heartedly? After all, the mods championed Tamla/Motown, James Brown, all things blues, ska and multi racial in the years prior to this 1969 release. Capturing the heroin chic of Harlem, glorified by endless blaxploitation films, ‘Mighty Mighty Spade & Whitey’ was the real theme of racial tensions in every inner city public school. If you lived it, you’d know. Relegated to a B side, it’s a bit of an undiscovered gem.
Impossible now not to respect, even worship, the mere sound of Curtis Mayfield’s fragile falsetto voice, his style was in extreme contrast to the sound of rollicking soul, then dominating the charts. It’s gratifying that he, along with Donny Hathaway, tended to define the mainstream almost overnight.
Tags: Blaxploitation, Curtis Mayfield, Curtom, Donny Hathaway, James Brown, Motown, Tamla, The Impressions
Posted in Blaxploitation, Curtis Mayfield, Curtom, Donny Hathaway, James Brown, Motown, Tamla, The Impressions | No Comments »
