MOTOWN MONDAYS! A 1964 MARY WELLS MOTOWN RECORDS AD

**A CLASSIC *BILLBOARD* MOTOWN /TAMLA RECORDS AD PAGE RIP** February 8, 1964

— MARY WELLS —

MOTOWN RECORDS 1962-1963

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“What’s Easy for Two Is Hard for One” (also known as “What’s Easy for Two Is So Hard for One“) is a song written and produced by Smokey Robinson and released as a single by singer Mary Wells for the Motown label.

Wells’s teaming with Robinson led to a succession of hit singles over the following two years. Their first collaboration, 1962’s “The One Who Really Loves You”, was Wells’s first hit, peaking at number 2 on the R&B chart and number 8 on the Hot 100. The song featured a calypso-styled soul production that defined Wells’s early hits. Motown released the similar-sounding “You Beat Me To The Punch” a few months later. The song became her first R&B number 1 single and peaked at number 9 on the pop chart.

The success of “You Beat Me to the Punch” helped to make Wells the first Motown star to be nominated for a Grammy Award when the song was nominated for Best Rock & Roll Recording in 1963.

**Motor Town Revue newspaper ad, featuring Mary Wells** November 10, 1963 *(click image 2x for largest view)*

In late 1962, “Two Lovers” became Wells’s third consecutive single to hit the Top 10 of Billboard‘s Hot 100, peaking at number 7 and becoming her second number 1 hit on the R&B chart. This helped to make Wells the first female solo artist to have three consecutive Top 10 singles on the pop chart. The track sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

Wells’s second album, also titled ‘The One Who Really Loves You’, was released in 1962 and peaked at number 8 on the pop albums chart, making the teenage singer a breakthrough star and giving her clout at Motown. Wells’s success at the label was recognized when she became a headliner during the first string of Motortown Revue concerts, starting in the fall of 1962. The singer showcased a rawer stage presence that contrasted with her softer R&B recordings.

Wells’s success continued in 1963 when she hit the Top 20 with the doo-wop ballad “Laughing Boy” and scored three additional Top 40 singles, “Your Old Standby”, “You Lost the Sweetest Boy”, and its A-side, “What’s Easy for Two Is So Hard for One”. “You Lost the Sweetest Boy” was one of the first hit singles composed by the successful Motown songwriting and producing trio of Holland–Dozier–Holland, though Robinson remained Wells’s primary producer.

Also in 1963, Wells recorded a session of successful B-sides that arguably became as well known as her hits, including “Operator”, “What Love Has Joined Together”, “Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right” and “Old Love (Let’s Try It Again)”. Wells and Robinson also recorded a duet titled “I Want You ‘Round”, which would be re-recorded by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston.

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Source: Mary Wells; Wikipedia

Above featured Billboard Motown ad digitally restored by Motor City Radio Flashbacks

MOTOWN MONDAYS! SPOTLIGHTS THE FUNK BROTHERS

THE FUNK BROTHERS

—BERRY GORDY’S LEGENDARY HOUSE BAND —

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The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972.

Its members are considered among the most successful groups of studio musicians in music history. Among their hits are “My Girl“, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine“, “Baby Love“, “I Was Made to Love Her“, “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone“, “The Tears Of A Clown“, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough“, and “Heat Wave“. Some combination of the members played on each of Motown’s 100-plus U.S. R&B number one singles and 50-plus U.S. Pop number ones released from 1961 and 1972.

There is no undisputed list of the members of the group. Some writers have claimed that virtually every musician who ever played on a Motown track was a “Funk Brother”. There are 13 Funk Brothers identified in Paul Justman’s 2002 documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown, based on Allan Slutsky’s book of the same name. These 13 members were identified by both NARAS for the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and were recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2007, the Funk Brothers were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.

Early members included bandleader Joe Hunter and Earl Van Dyke (piano and organ); Clarence Isabell (double bass); James Jamerson (bass guitar and double bass); Benny “Papa Zita” Benjamin and Richard “Pistol” Allen (drums); Mike Terry (baritone saxophone); Paul Riser (trombone); Robert White, Eddie Willis, and Joe Messina (guitar); Jack Ashford (tambourine, percussion, vibraphone, marimba); Jack Brokensha (vibraphone, marimba); and Eddie “Bongo” Brown (percussion). Hunter left in 1964, replaced on keyboards by Johnny Griffith and as bandleader by Van Dyke. Uriel Jones joined the band as a third drummer. Late-era bassist Bob Babbitt and guitarist Dennis Coffey both joined the ensemble in 1967.

While most of Motown’s backing musicians were African American, and many originally from Detroit, the Funk Brothers included white players as well, such as Messina (who was the featured guitarist on Soupy Sales’s nighttime jazz TV show in the 1950s), Brokensha (originally from Australia), Coffey, and Pittsburgh-born Babbitt.

Historically, the Funk Brothers often moonlighted for other labels, recording in Detroit and elsewhere, in bids to augment their Motown salaries. It became a worst-kept secret that Jackie Wilson’s 1967 hit “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” did not have a Motown influence quite by accident—the Funk Brothers migrated to do the Wilson session, in an interesting reference to Motown’s early history: Berry Gordy, Jr got his first music break by getting Wilson to record some of his songs (most famously “Reet Petite“) in the 1950s.

**Joe Messina, Johnny Griffith, Joe Hunter, Bob Babbitt, Richard “Pistol” Allen** 2002.

Various Funk Brothers also appeared on such non-Motown hits as The San Remo Golden Strings “Hungry For Love“, “Cool Jerk” (the Capitols), “Agent Double-O Soul” (Edwin Starr, before that singer joined Motown itself), “(I Just Wanna) Testify” by the Parliaments, “Band Of Gold” (Freda Payne), “Give Me Just a Little More Time” (The Chairmen of the Board), and blues giant John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom“. After he found out about the Edwin Starr session, Gordy fined members of the Funk Brothers band for moonlighting for another label; Eddie Wingate, owner of the Ric-Tic and Golden World labels, which released Starr’s “Agent Double-O Soul“, subsequently attended that year’s Motown staff Christmas party and personally gave each of the fined session players double the amount of the fine in cash, on the spot. Gordy eventually bought out Wingate’s label and his entire artist roster (in 1966).

Motown historians have noted that the Funk Brothers—some of whom had begun their careers as jazzmen and missed that kind of informality—itched to be able to record on their own, but Gordy limited them formally to cutting sides under the name Earl Van Dyke and the Soul Brothers—and mostly limited them to recording new versions (with the familiar arrangements, however) of the Motown repertoire, with Van Dyke, the featured musician, playing electric organ. Some of the Funk Brothers’ recordings in that vein—”Soul Stomp,” “Six by Six“—became favorites among Northern soul and “beach music” fans.

The Funk Brothers were dismissed in 1972, when Berry Gordy moved the entire Motown label to Los Angeles—a development some of the musicians discovered only from a notice on the studio door.

A few members, including Jamerson, followed to the West Coast, but found the environment uncomfortable. For many of the L.A. recordings, members of The Wrecking Crew—the prominent group of session musicians that included drummer Earl Palmer, bassist Carol Kaye, guitarist Tommy Tedesco, and keyboardist Larry Knechtel—joined the team at Motown.

In February 2004, surviving members of the Funk Brothers were presented the Grammy Legend Award at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in L.A.

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Source: The Funk Brothers; Wikipedia

UPTIGHT (EVERYTHING’S ALRIGHT) * THE FUNK BROTHERS

MOTOWN MONDAYS! GORDY: THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH

THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH

—GORDY RECORDING ARTIST—

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The Undisputed Truth was an American Motown recording act, assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield as a means for being able to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe “Pep” Harris served as main lead singer, with Billie Rae Calvin and Brenda Joyce Evans on additional leads and background vocals.

They were introduced to Motown by singer Bobby Taylor, and, when The Delicates broke up in 1970, two of the members of that group, Billie Calvin and Brenda Evans began providing background vocals for artists around Motown.^[1] They sang backing on the hits “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” for Diana Ross and “Still Water (Love)” for The Four Tops. Joe Harris had been part of a Detroit soul group called The Fabulous Peps.

Formed in 1962, the group were renowned for their energetic stage performances, and they cut a handful of singles for various different labels before their dissolution in 1968. Harris also became a member of The Ohio Untouchables (later The Ohio Players). In 1970, Motown producer Norman Whitfield – partly as a response to criticism from Temptations fans that he was using the group as his personal plaything – put together Joe Harris, Billie Calvin and Brenda Evans to create his own recording act, The Undisputed Truth.

The group’s music and unusual costuming (large Afros and white makeup) typified the then-popular trend of “psychedelic soul” which Whitfield had inaugurated. A number of their singles became minor hits, and many of them were also songs for Whitfield’s main act, The Temptations, among them 1971’s “You Make Your Own Heaven And Hell Right Here On Earth” and “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone“. Their single Top 40 hit in the United States was the ominous “Smiling Faces Sometimes,” originally recorded by The Temptations, which hit #3 on the US Pop Charts in mid-1971.

Although they could never recreate the success of “Smiling Faces” they continued to make chart appearances throughout the early 1970s. They found some success with songs like “What It Is” (1972) and “Law of the Land” (1973) becoming modest hits on the US R&B Charts.

Founding member Billie Calvin died on June 23, 2007, at the age of 58, in Mureitta, California, USA, of heart disease. Tyrone “Lil Ty” Barkley died on February 14, 2017, at the age of 70, in Arizona.

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—PAPA WAS A ROLLIN’ STONE—

“Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone” is a song performed by Motown recording act The Undisputed Truth. It was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1971, and released as a single in May 1972. It peaked at number 63 on the Pop Charts and number 24 on the R&B Charts. The song was included on the Undisputed Truth’s album Law of the Land (1973).

In 1972, Whitfield took “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” and remade it as a 12-minute track for the Temptations, included on their 1972 album All Directions. The shorter 7″ single release of this Temptations version was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and won three Grammy Awards in 1973.

While the original Undisputed Truth version of the song has been largely forgotten, the Temptations’ versions of the song have been enduring and influential soul classics.

The full-length album version was ranked number 169 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, one of the group’s three songs on the list. In retrospect, the Temptations’ Otis Williams considers “Papa” to be the last real classic the group recorded (it would be the Temptations’ last number one hit and would win them their second and final Grammy Award in a competitive category).

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Source: The Undisputed Truth; Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone; Wikipedia

MOTOWN MONDAYS! SPOTLIGHTS ON EARL VAN DYKE

—EARL VAN DYKE—

MOTOWN FUNK BROTHER

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Earl Van Dyke (July 8, 1930 – September 18, 1992) was an American soul musician, most notable as the main keyboardist for Motown Records’ in-house Funk Brothers band during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Van Dyke, who was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, was preceded as keyboardist and bandleader of the Funk Brothers by Joe Hunter. In the early 1960s, he also recorded as a jazz organist with saxophonists Fred Jackson and Ike Quebec for the Blue Note label.

Besides his work as the session keyboardist on Motown hits such as “Bernadette” by The Four Tops, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye, and “Runaway Child, Running Wild” by The Temptations, Van Dyke performed with a small band as an opening act for several Motown artists, and released instrumental singles and albums himself. Several of Van Dyke’s recordings feature him playing keys over the original instrumental tracks for Motown hits; others are complete covers of Motown songs.

His 1967 hit “6 by 6” is a much-loved stomper on the Northern Soul music scene. He was nicknamed “Big Funk”, and “Chunk o Funk”.

Van Dyke played the Steinway grand piano, the Hammond B-3 organ, the Wurlitzer electric piano, the Fender Rhodes, and the celeste and harpsichord. He played a toy piano for the introduction of the Temptations’ hit, “It’s Growing”. His musical influences included Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones, and Barry Harris.

Van Dyke died of prostate cancer in Detroit, Michigan, at the age of 62.

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Source: Earl Van Dyke; Wikipedia

MOTOWN: EARL VAN DYKE, 1991 NEWS PRINT FEATURE

— Sunday, March 24, 1991 —

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A MOTOWN MONDAY NEWS PRINT BACK-PAGE

The Detroit Free Press: Earl Van Dyke ‘Full Scale’

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The above featured ‘Motown’ newsprint article was clipped, saved, and imaged from the credited source by Motor City Radio Flashbacks

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MOTOWN MONDAYS! SPOTLIGHTS ON THE CONTOURS

—THE CONTOURS—

1964

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Although the Contours never quite repeated the extraordinary success of “Do You Love Me,” they returned to the charts four times during 1963 and 1964 starting with “Shake Sherry.” They also charted on the R&B Charts with the “B-side” to “Can You Jerk Like Me,” the Smokey Robinson-penned “That Day When She Needed Me.”

In 1964, Billy Hoggs, Joe Billingslea, Hubert Johnson, and Sylvester Potts all left Motown.

Berry Gordy hired Council Gay, Jerry Green and Alvin English to back Billy Gordon, making the Contours a vocal quartet (with Davis remaining the group’s guitarist throughout their stint at Motown). During this period, tracks recorded by both line-ups were being put together for a second album for Motown entitled The Contours: Can You Dance (Gordy 910). However, for unknown reasons, this album was never released by Motown.

Within a year, Sylvester Potts returned to the group (replacing Alvin English), and Billy Gordon departed shortly thereafter. Gordon was replaced by Joe Stubbs, brother of Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs. Stubbs soon quit the act and was replaced by Dennis Edwards. Stubbs would later go on to become lead singer of the 1970s non-Motown R&B group, 100 Proof (Aged in Soul).

The group produced three R&B hits on the Gordy label in 1964. “Can You Do It” (#16 R&B); “Can You Jerk Like Me” (#15 R&B); “That Day When She Needed Me” (b-side of “Can You Jerk Like Me,” No. 37 R&B).

In 1964, The Contours comprised of Billy Gordon, Huey Davis, Council Gay, Jerry Green and Alvin English.

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Source: The Contours; Wikipedia

**A MOTOWN/CASHBOX** ad. Highlighting The Contours’, “Can You Do It” (March 1964)

MOTOWN MONDAYS: SPOTLIGHTS THE ’70S SUPREMES!

**Mary Wilson**, **Jean Terrell**, **Cindy Birdsong**

—THE SUPREMES—

STONED LOVE

“Stoned Love” is a 1970 hit single recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. It was the last Billboard Pop Top Ten hit for the group, peaking at number seven, and their last Billboard number-one R&B hit as well, although the trio continued to score top ten hits in the UK into 1972. This single and “Up the Ladder to the Roof” are the only top-ten Supremes singles to feature Jean Terrell on lead vocals instead of Diana Ross, who left the group in January 1970 to pursue a solo career. In the UK, it was the post-Ross Supremes’ biggest hit, reaching number 3 in the singles chart. The single spent six weeks in the UK top ten and five weeks in the US top ten.

After a few lines of the song were revised by the producer, “Stoned Love” was recorded during the spring of 1970. The instrumental track was recorded with The Funk Brothers and at least 30 other session musicians in Detroit at Motown Studio B (the former Golden World studio), while Jean Terrell, Mary Wilson, and Cindy Birdsong recorded their vocals in New York. The song was originally written and recorded as “Stone Love”, but during the process of mixing and releasing, it was mislabeled as “Stoned Love”.

A plea for love and peace similar to those recorded by Sly & the Family Stone in the late 1960s, the lyrics of “Stoned Love” were a plea for the people of the world to end conflict and animosity between each other, specifically the Vietnam War.

The Terrell-led Supremes—now rebranded as “the Supremes;” known unofficially at first as “the New Supremes”, and in later years informally called “The ’70s Supremes”— scored hits including “Up the Ladder to the Roof” (US number 10, UK number 6), “Stoned Love” (US number 7, UK number 3) and “Nathan Jones” (US number 16, UK number 5), all of which were produced by Frank Wilson. These three singles were also R&B Top Ten hits, with “Stoned Love” becoming their last No.1 R&B hit in December 1970.

The Motown songwriting and production team, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, produced another Top 20 hit for the group It was a Supremes/Four Tops duet version of Ike & Tina Turner’s “River Deep – Mountain High”.

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Source: Stoned Love; Supremes; Wikipedia

A MCRFB NOTE: For a more in-depth story of the Supremes’ ‘Stone Love‘ release, check out this excellent blog from October 17, 2017, as was penned by noted Motown author and historian Adam White

Stoned Love * acapella

MOTOWN MONDAYS: SPOTLIGHT ON MS. DIANA ROSS

**A MOTOWN RECORDS BILLBOARD AD** May 23, 1970

—DIANA ROSS—

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Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Ross rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group The Supremes, who during the 1960s became Motown’s most successful act, and are the best-charting female group in US history, as well as one of the world’s best-selling girl groups of all time.

The group released a record-setting twelve number-one hit singles on the US Billboard Hot 100: “Where Did Our Love Go”, “Baby Love”, “Come See About Me”, “Stop! In the Name of Love”, “Back in My Arms Again”, “I Hear a Symphony”, “You Can’t Hurry Love”, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, “Love is Here and Now You’re Gone”, “The Happening”, “Love Child”, and “Someday We’ll Be Together”.

Following her departure from the Supremes in 1970, Ross released her eponymous debut solo album that same year, featuring the No. 1 Pop hit “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”.

In May 1970, Ross released her eponymous solo debut, which included her signature songs, “Reach Out And Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, the latter becoming Ross’ first number-one solo single. Follow-up albums, Everything Is Everything and Surrender came out shortly afterwards. In 1971, the ballad “I’m Still Waiting” became her first number-one single in the UK

She later released the album Touch Me in the Morning in 1973; its title track was her second solo No. 1 hit.

She continued a successful solo career through the 1970s, which included hits albums like Mahogany and Diana Ross and their No. 1 hit singles, “Theme from Mahogany” and “Love Hangover”, respectively.

“Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” is the debut solo single of singer Diana Ross, released in April 1970.

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Source: Diana Ross; Wikipedia

Reach Out And Touch (Somebody’s Hand) * acapella

MOTOWN MONDAY! JUNIOR WALKER & THE ALL STARS

—JR. WALKER & THE ALL STARS—

Autry DeWalt Mixon Jr. (June 14, 1931 – November 23, 1995), known professionally as Junior Walker, was an American multi-instrumentalist (primarily saxophonist and vocalist) who recorded for Motown during the 1960s.

The group was spotted by Johnny Bristol, and he recommended them to Harvey Fuqua, in 1961, who had his own record labels. Once the group started recording on the Harvey label, their name was changed to Jr. Walker All Stars. The name was modified again when Fuqua’s labels were taken over by Motown’s Berry Gordy, and Jr. Walker & the All Stars became members of the Motown family, recording for their Soul imprint in 1964.

The members of the band changed after the acquisition of the Harvey label. Tony Washington, the drummer, quit the group, and James Graves joined. Their first and signature hit was “Shotgun”, written and composed by Walker and produced by Berry Gordy, which featured the Funk Brothers’ James Jamerson on bass and Benny Benjamin on drums. “Shotgun” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1965, and was followed by many other hits, such as “(I’m a) Road Runner”, “Shake and Fingerpop” and remakes of two Motown songs “Come See About Me” and “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)”, that had previously been hits for the Supremes and Marvin Gaye respectively. In 1966, Graves left and was replaced by old cohort Billy “Stix” Nicks, and Walker’s hits continued apace with tunes such as “I’m a Road Runner” and “Pucker Up Buttercup”.

**Detroit Free Press** Friday, November 24, 1995

In 1969, the group had another hit enter the top 5, “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)”. A Motown quality control meeting rejected this song for single release, but radio station DJs made the track popular, resulting in Motown releasing it as a single, whereupon it reached No. 4 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart. From that time on, Walker sang more on the records than earlier in their career. He landed several more R&B Top Ten hits over the next few years, with the last coming in 1972. He toured the UK in 1970 with drummer Jerome Teasley (Wilson Pickett), guitarist Phil Wright (brother of Betty “Clean Up Woman”) Wright, keyboardist Sonny Holley (Temptations) and brilliant young Liverpool UK bassist Norm Bellis (Apple).The band played two venues on each of the 14 nights. The finale was at The Valbonne in London’s West End. They were joined on stage by the FOUR TOPS for an impromptu set.

In 1979, Walker went solo, disbanding the All Stars, and was signed to Norman Whitfield’s Whitfield Records label, but he was not as successful on his own as he had been with the All Stars in his Motown period.

Walker died of cancer at the age of 64, in Battle Creek, Michigan, on November 23, 1995.

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(Source: Junior Walker; Wikipedia)

MOTOWN MONDAY: SPOTLIGHT ON JIMMY LEE RUFFIN

—JIMMY RUFFIN—

1936-2014

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Jimmy Lee Ruffin(May 7, 1936 – November 17, 2014) was an American soul singer, and elder brother of David Ruffin of the Temptations. He had several hit records between the 1960s and 1980s, the most successful being the Top 10 hits “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” and “Hold On (To My Love)”.

In 1961, Jimmy became a singer as part of the Motown stable, mostly on sessions but also recording singles for its subsidiary Miracle label, but was then drafted for national service. After leaving the Army in 1964, he returned to Motown, where he was offered the opportunity to join the Temptations to replace Elbridge Bryant. However, after hearing his brother David, they hired him for the job insteadso Jimmy decided to resume his solo career. Ruffin recorded for Motown’s subsidiary Soul label, but with little success.

In 1966, he heard a song about unrequited love written for The Spinners, and persuaded the writers that he should record it himself. His recording of “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted” became a major success. The song reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on the R&B Chart. It also initially reached #8 in the UK singles chart, rising to #4 when it was reissued in the UK in 1974.

“What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” remains Ruffin’s best-known song. It was the lead single from his debut album Jimmy Ruffin Sings Top Ten (released as The Jimmy Ruffin Way in the UK), which was released on the Motown’s Soul subsidiary label in 1967. Follow-up singles in America were successful, with “I’ve Passed This Way Before” and “Gonna Give Her All The Love I’ve Got” in late 1966 and early 1967.

Ruffin’s second album, Ruff ‘n’ Ready, was released in 1969. It contained the song “Don’t You Miss Me a Little Bit Baby”, which made the lower parts of the Billboard Hot 100 (#68) and was a Top 30 hit on the R&B Charts, peaking at #27. As a solo artist, it would prove to be Ruffin’s last significant chart appearance in America for many years, and his very last significant charting record for Motown in the US. The song was also released as the B-side to “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” when it was reissued in 1974.

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(Source: Jimmy Ruffin; Wikipedia)