Category: Motown Snapshot Flashback

A MOTOWN MONDAY 1969 FLASHBACK! EDWIN STARR

“TWENTY FIVE MILES” is a song written by Johnny Bristol, Harvey Fuqua, and Edwin Starr, for Starr’s second album, ‘25 Miles‘, released in 1969. It was Starr’s first success following his move from Ric-Tic Records to Motown (as Motown bought out Ric-Tic and all its artists in 1968). The song, off the album, was a huge hit in the US, making the Top Ten on both the Pop Charts (#6) and R&B Charts (#6). It was also a hit in the UK, reaching the Top 40 and peaking at #36. “Twenty-Five Miles” proved to be Starr’s second biggest US hit — after his signature song (and #1 smash) “War“ he recorded for the Gordy label in 1970. (Source: WiKipedia)

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A MOTOWN SNAPSHOT FLASHBACK: THE 4 TOPS, 1968!

‘YESTERDAY’S DREAMS’ is the seventh overall and sixth studio album recorded by the Four Tops, issued by Motown Records in August 1968. The album was recorded as the main Motown songwriting/producing partnership of Holland–Dozier–Holland were leaving the label, and as a result only contains one song from them, “I’m in a Different World”, which was released as a single. There are several other original Motown songs on the album, including the title track, “Remember When”, “We’ve Got a Strong Love (On Our Side)”, “Can’t Seem to Get You out of My Mind” and a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “A Place In The Sun“. The rest are cover songs produced by Ivy Jo Hunter and Frank Wilson. Hunter and Frank Wilson altered “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Sunny,” and even “Daydream Believer” to sound more natural next to a real Motown song like “Remember When.” If it never hit the chart heights of 1967’s Reach Out, Yesterday’s Dreams still proved more of a solid listen. (Source: WiKipedia and AllMusic)
THE FOUR TOPS 1968

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FLORENCE BALLARD REMEMBERED. FEBRUARY 22, 1976

Florence Ballard * My Heart
Florence Ballard * Yesterday
Florence Ballard * Forever Faithful
Florence Ballard June 30, 1943 – February 22, 1976
 

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MOTOWN SNAPSHOT FLASHBACKS: BILLY ECKSTINE ’65

The Prime of My Life is a 1965 studio album by the American singer Billy Eckstine. It was produced by William “Mickey” Stevenson, and was the first of three albums that Eckstine recorded for Motown Records. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Prime Of My Life (back side) 1965 (click on LP image 2x for largest detailed view)

On your mobile device? Tap on image. Open to second window. “Stretch” the featured images across your device screen to magnify larger print view.

 

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MOTOWN RECORDS MEMORIES: CHUCK JACKSON! ’68

CHUCK JACKSON ARRIVES! — MS-667 — The first of three albums Chuck Jackson recorded with Motown Records during his short three-year stay having signed with the label, 1968 through 1970. The LP was released in 1968. The album included the track, “(You Can’t Let The Boy Overpower) The Man In You,” which was released as a single by Motown Records (M-1118) that same year. (Source: WiKipedia and Discogs)
CHUCK JACKSON circa 1968
A BILLBOARD MOTOWN RECORDS AD PAGE RIP: February 10, 1968

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MOTOWN SNAPSHOT FLASHBACKS: MARVIN GAYE, ’76

I WANT YOU (COMPLETE LP) * TAMLA * 1976

ABOUT THIS ALBUM

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I WANT YOU is the fourteenth studio album by Motown artist and musician Marvin Gaye, released March 16, 1976, on Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place throughout 1975 and 1976 at Motown Recording Studios, also known as Hitsville West, and Gaye’s personal studio Marvin’s Room in Los Angeles, California.

Gaye and album co-producer Leon Ware recorded and mixed the album at Gaye’s newly christened “Marvin’s Room Studio“, located on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, and at Motown Recording Studios. Much like Gaye’s previous studio effort Let’s Get It On, I Want You featured Gaye’s contribution of background vocals and heavy multi-tracking. Gaye’s vocalizing style was in classic doo-wop tradition accompanied by the low tempo of string arrangements and other instrumentation was provided by The Funk Brothers.

“I Want You,” the song (also noted title of the album), was written by songwriters Leon Ware and Arthur “T-Boy” Ross and performed Marvin Gaye. It was released as a single on October 2, 1995 on the Tamla label. The song introduced a change in musical styles for Gaye, who before then had recorded songs with a funk edge. Songs such as this gave him a disco audience thanks to Ware, who produced the song alongside Gaye.

The single topped the Billboard Soul Singles chart, quickly becoming Marvin Gaye’s eleventh number-one hit on that chart, while peaking at number fifteen on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. (Sources: WiKipedia; AllMusic)

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A MCRFB Note: Click on (COMPLETE LP) for track listing on this album.

Marvin Gaye circa 1976

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A MOTOWN SNAPSHOT FLASHBACK: THE TEMPTS, 1968!

THE TEMPTATIONS’ LP, ‘The Temptations Wish It Would Rain‘ was the 7th Motown studio album the group recorded for the Gordy label. The LP was released in April, 1968. It was the final release from the group’s “Classic-5” era, during which David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams constituted the Temptations’ lineup. ‘Wish It Would Rain’ also marks the last Temptations solo album to focus on the classic “Motown Sound“, and the last to feature production from Smokey Robinson. Included on ‘Wish It Would Rain’ are the hit singles “I Wish It Would Rain” and “I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)“, both featuring Ruffin on lead vocals and co-written by Motown writer Roger Penzabene, who committed suicide on New Years Eve 1967 because of the breakup described in these two songs. “I Wish It Would Rain’s” b-side, “I Truly, Truly Believe”, is a rare solo showcase for Franklin, the group’s bass singer.
The third single, “Please Return Your Love to Me“, features Kendricks on lead, and was released in July after Ruffin’s departure. The song’s b-side, “How Could I Forget” (led by Paul Williams), is not included here, because it was newly recorded on June 29 to accompany the a-side. The album’s producers were credited to Norman Whitfield, Smokey Robinson, Henry Cosby, Harvey Fuqua, Deke Richards, and Johnny Bristol. The LP was recorded in 1967 and completed in March 1968. (Sources: WiKipedia; AllMusic)

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