Category: Motown

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)

 

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DETROIT MOTOWN MONDAY: RECORD FLASHBACK ’64

 

 

 

 

—THE CONTOURS—

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Released March 4, “Can You Do It” peaked at #16 (charted 9 total weeks R&B overall) on the Billboard R&B chart in 1964. B-side: “I’ll Stand By You”

GORDY 7029 (Source: Billboard Top R&B Singles)

 

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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.

The ‘new’ Supremes second LP, 1970

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

 

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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.

Diana Ross circa 1975

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

 

 

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DETROIT MOTOWN MONDAY: RECORD FLASHBACK ’70

 

 

 

—DIANA ROSS—

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Released May 2, “Reach Out And Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” peaked at #7 (charted 9 total weeks R&B overall) on the Billboard R&B chart in 1970. B-side: “Dark Side Of The World”

MOTOWN 1165 (Source: Billboard Top R&B Singles)

 

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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)

 

 

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DETROIT MOTOWN MONDAY! RECORD FLASHBACK ’66

 

 

 

 

—JR. WALKER & THE ALL STARS—

 

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 Released May 7, “(I’m A) Road Runner” peaked at #4 (charted 14 total weeks R&B overall) on the Billboard R&B chart in 1966. B-side: “Shoot Your Shot”

 

SOUL 35015 (Source: Billboard Top R&B Singles)

 

 

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