A MCRFB MOTOWN NOTE: You can view these photographs plus 16 others taken by Ken Steinhoff, who also as well, wrote a short story when Smokey Robinson & The Miracles performed at the Ohio University, in February 1968 — GO HERE
The Temptations’ With A Lot O’ Soul is the fifth studio album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1967. Featuring four hit singles, With a Lot o’ Soul is the most successful Temptations album from their “classic 5” era, during which David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams constituted the Temptations’ lineup.
The four singles from the album, all Top 20 pop/ Top 10 R&B hits, were “(I Know) I’m Losing You“, “All I Need“, “You’re My Everything“, and “(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It’s You That I Need“. Three of these four songs also reached the Billboard Pop Top 10 as well. Norman Whitfield produced most of the tracks here, supporting the Temptations’ vocals with a hard-edged soul sound with elements of the music of James Brown.
“(I Know) I’m Losing You“, already a nine-month-old hit by the time With a Lot o’ Soul was released, opens the album. The rest of the album expands upon the template established by Norman Whitfield with “I’m Losing You”. Whitfield and the other With a Lot o’ Soul producers, including Ivy Jo Hunter, Smokey Robinson, and, on “All I Need” (in which Ruffin portrays a man who admits to his lover he has been unfaithful and begs her forgiveness), Whitfield’s protégé Frank Wilson, supply the group a more modern sound than was present on previous or contemporary Motown releases. Most of the tracks on side A of the album feature brass-heavy, dramatic backing tracks with more prominent uses of electric guitar lines (Whitfield’s “(I Know) I’m Losing You” and Ivy Jo Hunter’s “Sorry is a Sorry Word” (from side B) and shifts in dynamics Whitfield’s “Ain’t No Sun Since You’ve Been Gone“, the single “(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It’s You That I Need“, and the Eddie Kendricks-led “Save My Love For A Rainy Day“.
(Source: WiKipedia and AllMusic)
A MCRFB Note: For the complete track listing on this album GO HERE.
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The Supremes A’ Go-Go is the ninth studio album released by Motown singing group The Supremes in 1966. It was the first album by an all-female group to reach number-one on the Billboard 200 album charts in the United States. Remaining on the Billboard album chart for 60 weeks, according to Motown data, it sold worldwide 3,500,000 copies, and in the USA, it sold approximately, 1,000,000 copies.
Included are two of the Supremes’ Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles; the number-nine hit “Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart“, and the number-one hit “You Can’t Hurry Love“. Also present on the album are covers of songs by The Elgins’ “Put Yourself in My Place“, the Four Tops’ “Baby I Need Your Loving“, “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)“, “Shake Me, Wake Me (When It’s Over)“, The Temptations “Get Ready“, Martha and the Vandellas’ “Come and Get These Memories“. Barrett Strong (“Money (That’s What I Want)“, The Isley Brothers’ (“This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)“, Nancy Sinatra “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’“, and The McCoys’ “Hang On Sloopy“.
Additional songs recorded for the album, but not included were: Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual“, The Miracles “Mickey’s Monkey“, Stevie Wonder “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)“, Marvin Gaye “Can I Get a Witness“, Martha and the Vandellas’ “In My Lonely Room“, and The Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction“.
A ‘fantasy duet’ of “Shake Me, Wake Me (When It’s Over)” between the Supremes and the Four Tops was added to the LP’s expanded 2 CD edition. (Source: WiKipedia; AllMusic)
A MCRFB Note: For the complete track listing on this album GO HERE.
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Get Ready is the RIAA Platinum-certified second studio album by Detroit’s Motown blues rock band Rare Earth. It was released on September 30, 1969 by Motown Records. The group, having signed to the newest Motown subsidiary, label, ‘Rare Earth‘, their debut album spawned one hit single, an edited version of “Get Ready“, which peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970. The album peaked at #12 on the Billboard album chart in 1970. (Source: Wikipedia; AllMusic)
A MCRFB Note: For the complete track listing on this album GO HERE.
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Trouble Man is a soundtrack and twelfth studio album by Motown soul singer Marvin Gaye, released on December 8, 1972, on Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. As the soundtrack to the 1972 Blaxploitation film of the same name, the Trouble Man soundtrack was a more contemporary move for Gaye, following his landmark politically charged album What’s Going On. This was the first album to be written and produced solely by Gaye. The only other album recorded under Gaye’s full creative control was In Our Lifetime, released in 1981.
Signing the contract in early 1972, Gaye sought to take advantage of his opportunities. Bolstered by the successes of film soundtracks such as Shaft and Superfly, Motown offered the musician a chance to compose his own film soundtrack after winning rights to produce the crime thriller,Trouble Man.
Following the closing of Detroit’s Hitsville USA studios in 1972, Motown had primarily moved its location to Los Angeles, where Gaye also relocated where he recorded the Trouble Man album. Gaye invited several musicians, including some from the Funk Brothers and musicians from Hamilton Bohannon‘s band.
Gaye would compose five different versions of the title track, including an alternate vocal version, which was used primarily for the film’s intro. The alternate version featured Gaye double-tracking two lead vocal parts into one, bringing his falsetto vocals with his tenor on top of the falsetto. The single version, which was also featured on the soundtrack, would feature a single lead vocal take. The other three versions were put on the album as instrumentals with Gaye providing synthesizer keyboards while saxophone solos (and occasionally guitar) accompany him.
The only other songs in which Gaye vocalized harmonies or performed lead vocals included “Poor Abbey Walsh”, “Cleo’s Apartment”, “Life is a Gamble”, “Don’t Mess with Mister T” and “There Goes Mister T”. (Source: WiKipedia and AllMusic)
A MCRFB Note: For the complete track listing on this album GO HERE.
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United is a studio album by Motown artists musicians Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, released August 29, 1967 on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol produced all of the tracks on the album, with the exception of “You Got What It Takes“ (produced by Motown CEO Berry Gordy, Jr.) and “Oh How I’d Miss You” (produced by Hal Davis). Fuqua and Bristol produced “Hold Me Oh My Darling” and “Two Can Have a Party” as Tammi Terrell solo tracks in 1965 and 1966, and had Gaye overdub his vocals to them in order to create duet versions of the songs.
United yielded four Top 100 Billboard chart hits, including the two Top 10 singles “Your Precious Love,” “If I Could Build My Whole World Around You,” the Top 20 single, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “If This World Were Mine“. United peaked at #69 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart and #7 on the U.S. Billboard R&B albums chart upon its release. The album was the first of three collaborative albums by Gaye and Terrell. (Source: WiKipedia and AllMusic)
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A MCRFB Note: For the complete track listing on this album GO HERE.
