Tag: Berry Gordy

Temptations – “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown

tempt beauty

Temptations – “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep,” Pop #3, R&B #1

By Joel Francis

After teaming to give the Tempts a No. 1 R&B hit with “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” Norman Whitfield and Eddie Holland paired again to deliver “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep,” which fared even better. The song was the Temptations’ third hit of 1966 and fifth consecutive R&B No. 1, dating back to 1965’s “My Girl.”

After a sharp blast of horns and drum roll from “Pistol” Allen, the song drops to a tinkle of glockenspiel that would make Bruce Springsteen proud and slowly builds, with a crescendo at the chorus. There’s a whisper of guitar and the rumble of James Jamerson’s bass, but Paul Riser’s arrangement is essentially David Ruffin and the Tempts’ voices, horns – complete with trumpet solo! – and that magnificent snare. It was more than enough.

Contrast the prominence the other Temptations are given with their backing performance in this song to the anonymity Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard of the Supremes were often given. As part of the Holland-Dozier-Holland team, Eddie Holland certainly knew how to write and arrange interesting counter-vocals. It makes one wonder how much influence label owner Berry Gordy exerted to push Diana Ross to the front and minimize the contributions of her bandmates.

Although the title seems enlightened, few women would regard a lyric like “A pretty face you may not possess/ But what I like about it is your tenderness” as a compliment.

Whitfield actually recorded the song’s backing track two years before he added the Temptations’ vocals. In the interceding time he shopped it to several Motown artists, including David Ruffin’s brother, Jimmy, and the Miracles, who included their version on the “Away We Go-Go” album. (Never one to miss a trend, Gordy also released “The Supremes A Go-Go” album in that same summer of 1966.) The Ruffin and Miracles versions are the only substantial covers of the song on record to date.

Chris Clark – “Love’s Gone Bad”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown

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Chris Clark – “Love’s Gone Bad,” Pop #105, R&B #41

By Joel Francis

Producers had been looking for a “white singer with a black sound” long before Sam Phillips signed Elvis Presley. But Berry Gordy’s quest definitely added a layer of irony to the process.

Not that Gordy fared any better than the majority of his contemporaries. We can be fairly certain that the assets that drew Gordy to Chris Clark were not vocal.

Nonetheless, Gordy positioned Clark to be Motown – and America’s – answer to Dusty Springfield. He propped her up with songs by Holland-Dozier-Holland and even wrote and produced several numbers himself. Gordy’s favoritism didn’t go over so well at Hitsville. Other artists resented that Gordy spent so much time trying to make a star out of someone who refused to wear shoes, didn’t dress sharply and ate too much.

The public didn’t find much to like, either. Clark’s releases refused to dent the charts. “Love’s Gone Bad,” a HDH composition, was her greatest success, and somehow was enough to earn her the right to cut a full album the next year. 1967’s “Soul Sounds” dropped without a trace. So few copies were pressed that 40 years later it is a rare Motown collectible.

Despite all this, Clark managed to hang around Motown for quite a while. She co-wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay to “Lady Sings the Blues,” Motown’s 1972 foray into film. That film, of course, starred Gordy’s ultimate protégée, Diana Ross.

Jr. Walker and the All Stars – “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown

sweet

Jr. Walker and the All Stars – “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You),” Pop #18, R&B #3

By Joel Francis

Because he owned both the label and its publishing, it’s no surprise that Berry Gordy frequently had other label artists cut versions of earlier Motown hits. While there are several notable exceptions, for the most part these covers are either curiosities or album filler.

Jr. Walker, however, broke out of the mold with his reading of Marvin Gaye’s 1964, Top 5 hit “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).” After an extended saxophone intro, Walker puts down his horn. He has clearly overcome the microphone shyness that plagued him during the recording of his breakthrough hit “Shotgun.” Walking in Gaye’s shoes is no small feat, but Walker’s voice credibly handles the soulful, demanding melody.

While Gaye’s version was slick, joyous anthem, Walker’s is a little seedier – and all the better for it. Producer Harvey Fuqua, who signed Walker and changed his band name from the “Rhythm Rockers” to the “All Stars” in 1961, gave the song a faux-live feel that makes it sound like it was captured in a Southern roadhouse. The purposefully ragged backing vocals are more like enthusiastic audience intrusions. Close your eyes and you can smell alcohol and cigarette smoke while listening.

Others have covered this number since Gaye and Walker, of course, but a moratorium should have been placed after this interpretation. Finally, it should be noted that the year after he recorded “How Sweet It Is,” Walker memorably stole “Come See About Me” from the Supremes – no small feat – with his 1967 cover.

The Temptations – “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown

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The Temptations – “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” Pop #13, R&B #1

By Joel Francis

If you’re not hooked in the first five seconds of this song, you haven’t been paying attention. All the elements attack immediately: the drum roll coupled with the insistent clanging cymbal, the knuckle-roll piano riff and, of course, David Ruffin’s raspy vocal. The stinging staccato guitar that shows up later in the initial verse is a direct homage to James Brown. Throw in the glorious backing vocals from the rest of the Temptations and a stellar horn line and you’ve got not only an incredible song, but a definitive snapshot of Motown in full glory.

“Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” would be no less a masterpiece if the story stopped there, but remarkably the song almost didn’t get made.

After a few of Smokey Robinson’s productions for the Temps failed to take hold on the charts, hotshot Norman Whitfield wanted the chance to sit behind the boards with the group. Whitfield was a long shot to topple Robinson’s incumbency, but Whitfield thought he had a number that could give him control. Enlisting songwriting help from Edward Holland, Jr. of the Holland-Dozier-Holland team, Whitfield had the Funk Brothers lay down the backing track to one of Motown’s funkiest numbers to date. The Temptations then added their vocals and Whitfield submitted the single to be auditioned at the Motown Quality Control meeting.

Quality Control meetings were the result of Berry Gordy’s days on the Detroit assembly line. Each week, the label’s top creative minds would meet, listen to music and decide what should be released. Surprisingly, “Ain’t To Proud To Beg” didn’t make the cut. It didn’t make the cut the second week, either. Politics could have been at play – Robinson and Gordy were so close that Robinson named his son Berry – but Gordy asserted that the number simply needed more work.

So Whitfield went back into the studio and moved the melody for the vocal line just out of Ruffin’s range. The straining singer’s vocals added the needed muscle and desperation to the song, and the number was once again submitted to Quality Control.

This time, however, the song had unexpected competition in the form of “Get Ready,” a Temptations number Robinson had written and produced for the band. Since Robinson was the Temps’ established producer “Get Ready” went out while “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” stayed on the shelf. Whitfield was so upset that Gordy promised him “Beg” would be the next single if “Get Ready” failed to reach the pop Top 20.

Gordy kept his word and the song was finally released in May, 1966, eventually reaching No. 1 on the R&B charts. When Whitfield found success with the Temptations following two singles he was instated as the group’s main producer, a role he guarded fiercely until 1974.

Around the same time Whitfield was leaving Motown and the Temptations to form his own record label, the Rolling Stones found No. 17 pop hit with their cover. Through the years, the number has also yielded interpretations by Ben Harper, the Count Basie Orchestra and, even more strangely, Rick Astley, who also made it a Top 20 hit (albeit on the Adult Contemporary charts) in 1988.

The Monitors – “Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown

monitors

The Monitors – “Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam),” Pop #100, R&B #21

The Monitors’ can thank the Valadiers, Motown’s first all-white group, for their only hit. Written in the early ’60s, the song took on new meaning just a few years later when the Vietnam war and military draft started building momentum.

Producer “Mickey” Stevenson does a great job dressing up this homage to a draft notice as a ’50s love ballad. Singer Richard Street playfully teases the phrase “I need you,” adding new meaning to the words, while the playful backing vocals recall “Gomer Pyle”‘s Sergeant Carter. Although the song is humorous now, it was probably a lot less funny at the time.

Although the Monitors released a handful of singles for Motown between 1964-68, this was their highest-topping effort. Several members of the group held other jobs within the company. Street was a member of Berry Gordy’s Quality Control team, and a stand-in for Temptation Paul Williams, who was struggling with alcoholism at the time. Street ultimately replaced Williams in the Temptations when he was fired in 1971.The rest of the Monitors faded into obscurity before briefly resurfacing with a reunion album in 1990. – by Joel Francis

Isley Brothers – “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You)”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown

isleys

Isley Brothers – “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You),” Pop #12, R&B #6

By Joel Francis

For the most part, Motown’s talent during its heyday was home-grown. Martha Reeves was a Hitsville secretary, Stevie Wonder was a kid pestering the Funk Brothers for lessons, Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson were part of Berry Gordy’s extended family and Diane Ross and her friends stopped by every day after school to pester staff for an audition.

In short, talent came to Motown, not the other way around.

Of course that mindset quickly changed when the Isley Brothers hit the free agent market in 1965. The brothers made their name with 1959’s “Shout!” (recorded for RCA) and 1962’s “Twist and Shout” (recorded for the Wand label and covered by the Beatles). But after bouncing between those two labels and the failure to establish their own imprint, the Isley Brothers were looking for a new home. Berry Gordy was all too happy to welcome them to his fold.

The Isley’s Motown debut, “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You) was their biggest success so far. Holland-Dozier-Holland definitely applied the Motown sound to their number. The drums lead the mix, and the string section sounds more like the Four Tops than the Isley Brothers’ gritty urban soul. The brothers had never sounded so slick before, but the results couldn’t be argued with. The song is infectious, fun and impossible to listen to without breaking into smiles or dance.

Unfortunately, the Isley-Motown marriage didn’t last long. Despite releasing two more albums, the group couldn’t find a follow-up hit and complained of being fed inferior, cast-off tracks. They had a point: “This Old Heart” was originally intended for the Supremes. The brothers left Motown in 1968 and signed with Buddha before finding long-term success with Epic.

The Elgins – “Darling Baby”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown

darling-baby

The Elgins – “Darling Baby,” Pop #72, R&B #4

The Elgins started as a trio in 1962 who called themselves The Downbeats. When they added frontwoman Sandra Edwards (nee Mallet) and another singer, they switched their name to the Elgins. That wouldn’t have been a problem, except copies of “Darling Baby” were already being pressed, so new labels had to be hastily printed. Copies of “Darling Baby” credited to the Downbeats carry a hefty price tag. (Original pressings of the Elgins’ “Darling Baby” run between $25 and $50.)

The group’s name choice is an interesting one. The Temptations went as the Elgins before Berry Gordy made them come up with a new handle. There was also a Los Angeles-based doo-wop group with the same name.

Unfortunately, all of this history is more interesting than the actual song. Penned by the usually spectacular Holland-Dozier-Holland team, “Darling Baby” is as generic as its title. Despite a fine vocal performance by Edwards, the backing vocals are laughably unconvincing, the rhythm plods and the arrangement is stagnant. Edwards pleads her departing lover to “talk it over one more time,” but it’s obvious there isn’t much being said.

Fortunately, the Elgins’ follow-up hit “Heaven Must Have Sent You,” atones for the misstep of “Darling Baby.” – by Joel Francis

The Marvelettes – “Don’t Mess With Bill”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown

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The Marvelettes – “Don’t Mess With Bill,” Pop #7, R&B #3

The three years between this hit and the Marvelettes’ previous chart entry, “Beechwood 4-5789,” saw them slide from Barry Gordy’s go-to girl group to third fiddle behind Martha and the Vandellas and the Supremes. After passing on “Where Did Our Love Go,” which became a hit for the Supremes, they finally found success with this Smokey Robinson number.

Lyrically, this relationship may not be the most stable: Bill has put tears in lead singer Wanda Young’s eyes “a thousand times or more.” But “every time he would apologize/I loved him more than before.” Furthermore, Young isn’t sure Bill will come back; that said, she wants no competition.

The vocal deliveries may not be threatening, but the slinky organ underpinning the melody and saxophone solo add an element of danger. Any girl that’s tough enough to put up with what Bill hands out can definitely hold her own. – by Joel Francis

Stevie Wonder – “Uptight (Everything Is Alright)”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown

uptight

Stevie Wonder – “Uptight (Everything Is Alright),” Pop #3, R&B #1

By Joel Francis

Nearly two years after success of “Fingertips,” Little Stevie finally found a follow-up hit – just in the nick of time. Motown had just about given up on him. Never mind that Wonder hadn’t been given much to work with: an album of Ray Charles covers, the “Fingertips” knock-off “Workout Stevie” and corny kids songs like “Happy Street” and “Hey Harmonica Man.” His dry spell was compounded by the fact that his voice was starting to change. Motown producers were wary of working with the onetime boy wonder, but Clarence Paul, who had acted as a mentor and father figure to the boy since his 1961 signing, liked his protégé’s newfound tenor.

The only thing uptight about this number is its title. The melody is fun, free and fresh. From the signature horn fanfare to the delight in Wonder’s voice, there are smiles all around. Every week Berry Gordy used to run each prospective single through a quality assurance committee who would vote on which numbers were released. The idea was a holdover from Gordy’s days on the assembly line. It’s hard to picture anyone not voting for this upbeat tune. I like to imagine that a spontaneous dance session broke out when it was played.

Once the song broke, everything was alright in Wonder’s world. Success may have been an early struggle, but it flowed effortlessly after this. With three exceptions, Wonder had at least one Top 10 hit per year from 1965 to 1985.

Rock Hall Celebrates 50 Years of Motown

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown, Music history

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Above: Part of the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibit celebrating 50 years of Motown Records. The exhibit is open all year. (Photo courtesy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.)

By Joel Francis

It may seem hard to believe, but “the sound of young America” is 50 years old.

To celebrate a half-century of Motown records, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland is hosting a new exhibit, “Motown: The Sound of Young America Turns 50,” all year in the Ahmet M. Ertegun Main Exhibit Hall.

“It’s an obvious anniversary, one we should do something about,” said Howard Kramer, director of curatorial affairs for the museum. “Lots of labels have anniversaries, but Motown still rings wide and true.”

One of the largest items on display is the upright bass Funk Brother James Jamerson played on all his Motown sessions until 1963. It’s the instrument heard on “My Guy” and “Heat Wave.”

“A lot of people maintain the key to Motown was the rhythm section: The snap of the drums, the gorgeously intricate bass line and then the percussion laid over the top,” Kramer said. “Jamerson was the primary bass player. He carried the weight of those recordings.”

Of particular interest to Kramer are four posters promoting Motown concerts. Two of the posters advertise Motown Revue shows, which featured several of the labels artists on the same bill.

“For the 1963 revue, Stevie Wonder was the headliner.Usually the person with the biggest hit at the time was the headliner, and in this case he was riding ‘Fingertips, Part 2,'” Kramer said. “It’s interesting to see both who’s on top and the volume of artists (on the bill). It’s also interesting to note that for the 1968 Motown Revue shows at the Fox Theater in Detroit, they played 9 or 10 days in a theater that seats 5,000.”

Together, the posters span five years and a range of venues from a high school gym to a civic sports arena.

“These posters give you an idea of the breadth of places Motown performers were playing,” Kramer said. “They’d play arenas, high schools, theaters and also posh nightclubs like the Copacabana in New York,” Kramer said. “They played every possible circuit.”

Other items in the exhibit include the dress Supreme Mary Wilson wore for the group’s first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show after the departure of Diana Ross, the outfit and glasses Stevie Wonder wore for his halftime performance at the 1999 Super Bowl and a stage costume worn by Miracle Bobby Rogers in the 1970s.

“Rogers’ suit is an example of the over-the-top clothing vocal groups wore at the time,” Kramer said. “There’s no reason for this to have been made except for a performer. This is not street wear.”

Thanks to a loan from the Universal Music Group, which owns the Motown label, many of the artifacts have never been displayed before.

“A lot of Motown stuff didn’t make it past the original era,” Kramer said. “The only item we’ve shown before is Rick James’ bass.”

For many of the Motown session musicians, playing for Hitsville was just another gig. But 50 years later, the notes they laid down still resonate.

After 50 years and several generations Motown is still a staple of radio, music, movies, television, commercials,” Kramer said. “That’s part of (label founder Berry) Gordy’s vision to make the music palatable to all ages.”

To learn more about museum hours and ticket information, visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Website.

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