"SERIOUS? POSE LIKE THIS?" ASKED THE GROUP.

It doesn't happen often, hearing the Contours' "Do You Love Me?" in the wild. Last night I was in the alley having a smoke and I heard it in the distance. I think it was playing at the shit show they call Oktoberfest down by the beach. My town's Oktoberfest has very little to do with Bavaria, brats, kraut, sausages, or lederhosen and everything to do with knucklehead out of towners needing an excuse to get trashed. It's really kind of pathetic, no oompah bands or anything. And they line up like lemmings in a hour long line to pay for the privilege of going into a fenced-in area to get drunk when there's dozens of bars or breweries with cheaper drinks and no admission charge within three blocks. I don't get it, but then no one asked me.

Anyway, about the Contours, most people only know the one song, "Do You Love Me", and that's a pity. Their whole first album is great. It's a Berry Gordy joint, pre-Motown, on the Gordy label. It doesn't really sound like hit machine Motown, it's closer to a cross between the Four Tops and an earlier vocal group like the Olympics. You can find a copy online for less than ten bucks. Make sure you get the '81 reissue that has "You Get Ugly" and "First I Look at the Purse", the latter covered later by the J.Geils Band. "Do You Love Me?" has been covered a bunch: the Dave Clark Five, the Supremes, the Sonics, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Miracles, the Kingsmen, the Heartbreakers and more. (If you're curious go here).

To those of you who have tastes similar to mine, check the video liked below (the LAMF video). Walter Lure (Heartbreakers), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Tommy Stinson (Replacements) and Clem Burke (Blondie) doing a version of "Do You Love Me?" live in 2016. I'm kind of cynical when it comes to punk related "supergroups" doing what is essentially an oldies review but as I looked at each member one by one and then saw Clem Burke and thought "Good for Clem Burke, I like that guy." followed by, "Aw hell, good for all of them. Why be cynical? Save it, pick your battles." Like shitty Oktoberfests.

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Listen:
The Contours - Do You Love Me? mp3 at Internet Archive
The Sonics - Do You Love Me? (streaming) at YouTube
The Heartbreakers - Do You Love Me? (streaming) at YouTube
The Contours - You Get Ugly (streaming) at YouTube
The Contours - First I Look at the Purse (streaming) at YouTube
Video:
The Contours - Do You Love Me? at YouTube
LAMF - Do You Love Me? (live) at YouTube Walter Lure, Wayne Kramer, Tommy Stinson and Clem Burke

MOPED? HONDA 90? SOME WEAK ASS BIKE.

Man, it's been too long. I forgot how good early Motown is. I had been saturated with Motown for years so, while I enjoyed hearing it, I kinda of eased up and didn't actively seek out any more. Worse though, I have all three of these records and I can't tell you the last time I dug them out. I'm an idiot.

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Listen:
Barret Strong - Money mp3 at Internet Archive
The Contours - Do You Love Me mp3 at Internet Archive
Marvin Gaye - Hitch Hike mp3 at Internet Archive

NORMAN WHITFIELD OWES ME THREE HOURS

I kind of knew this would happen. After mentioning the psychedelic soul-era Temptations yesterday, I figured it was time to give them some spins again. First the few below from old posts, then a couple hours in the living room in front of the stereo, digging my own rabbit hole. And then while prepping this post, an unrelated post from a couple years ago about Blaxploitation soundtracks popped up in the Boss Ten (left column on a desktop). Here we go. Shit never ends.

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Listen:
The Temptations - Can't Get Next to You mp3 at Box.net (?)
The Temptations - Cloud Nine mp3 at Box.net (?)
The Temptations - Ball of Confusion mp3 at Snuthing Anything
The Temptations - Psychedelic Shack mp3 at AM Then FM With spoken intro
The Temptations - Papa Was a Rolling Stone (7 minute version) mp3 at Lots of Fish

AND THEN THE SECOND LEFT AFTER THE LIGHT

With music blogs going belly up left and right, take a tip from me: If you find a blog you like, dig through some of their older posts. Many will have a bunch of old posts that you can check out and many of those will still have links to mp3s, mixes and what-not. That goes for this blog too. There are 3615 posts here going back to 2007. Don't get too focused on just the latest posts.

I had to point that out because I was digging through old posts at Probe Is Turning-On the People (online since 2005) and ran into one from 2012 that I hadn't checked out. It's two different versions of Mable John's "Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That?" One from 1960, the other from 1963, both on Tamla (Motown). What makes this interesting is that the later version, according to John, was not produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier as the official credits list, but by Stevie Wonder who was then 13 years old.

Here was another cool turn. I hadn't been to Motown Junkies (online since 2009) in a while so I went there to hopefully get the skinny on the two versions, not sure if they had them covered. To my surprise they had entries for both. The full stories behind both versions and why there were two. Very interesting reading, for geeks anyway. Hey, now I know that Mable John is the sister of Little Willie John ("Fever"). I didn't know any of this stuff this morning.

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Listen:
Mable John - Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That (1960) mp3 at Probe Is Turning On the People
Mable John - Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That (1963) mp3 at Probe Is Turning On the People
Read:
Mable John - Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That (1960) at Motown Junkies
Mable John - Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That (1963) at Motown Junkies

ALL TIME STONE COLD CLASSIC

When is it an apt time for Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On"? Now. Always. For the past five decades it's never lost it's relevance and never sounded dated. The LP really is a masterpiece. Sound wise is is a huge step up from the feel good Motown pop factory, and it was socially concious. Motown owner Berry Gordy didn't like it a bit. Released almost behind his back, when it became a hit Gordy asked for an LP within 30 days. Gaye did in ten.

There are a lot of ingredients in the song, how it was written, why it was right for Gaye, the initial rejection by Gordy, the accidents kept and adopted, the weed and liquor that made the sessions more leisurely. James Jamerson, the bassist, showed up so liquored he was unable to sit on a stool, so he played laying on the floor. That said, the weed vibe is dominant. This is one of those songs, and LPs, that it really is worth learning more about. The talk by DJ/filmmaker Don Letts goes into detail and there's more on the Wiki page.

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Listen:
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On mp3 at Muzik World
Marvin Gaye - Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology) mp3 at Michael Axx
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (vocal isolated) (streaming) at YouTube
Video:
Klipsch x CAS: Don Letts presents "What's Going On" at YouTube
Visit:
What's Goin' On - Album entry at Wikipedia

TO LONGEVITY

What started out as just a quick listen to a couple covers by Stevie Wonder ended up being a Stevie Wonder Appreciation Night listening party for one. For a few hours last night, it was all over the place, there's just so much good stuff spread out over decades. I'm not going to sit here and say that he didn't put out his share of dogs, but dogs to me because they're overly sappy. Not a huge crime, just not my bag. But you really do have to look at his career as a whole to realize that he's an all timer. Shit, he's shared the stage with the Stones and Dick Dale. You'd be hard pressed to find someone else who did that. He had a mess of hits while still in his teens. And when his original contract with Motown was over, he negotiated to get more control and his music became his own. He no longer had the hit machine type Motown sound. His records got better, uniquely Stevie Wonder (see "Superstition").

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Listen:
Stevie Wonder - We Can Work It Out mp3 at Foo Surfer 3 (?)
Stevie Wonder - Light My Fire mp3 at The Frump
Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed and Delivered mp3 at Keilwerth (?)
Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground (live) mp3 at Troubled Souls Unite 1974 Long intro, song starts at about 2:26
Stevie Wonder - Superstition (live) mp3 at Troubled Souls Unite 1974

GREASY, AND STICKY, AND GOOEY, AND SALTY

Well, I wanted the story on this one and I got it. An early 45 by the Supremes, "Buttered Popcorn". The first thing I noticed was that it wasn't the spit shined sound I associated with them. This, being an early cut, was a little more to my liking. None of that string laden shit, and a lead vocal by Florence Ballard, before Berry Gordy decided that Diana Ross's pipes were more marketable. Then I realized that the lyrics could be said to be a little racy. "Greasy, and sticky, and gooey, and salty." Full blown smut. Gordy, who wrote the song, feigned innocence. Yeah, right.

That there would be the end of my interest if not that the song is a catchy number, in a Northern Soul sorta way. Came to find out that the early Supremes were a quartet. Laugh all you want about me not knowing that, but the Motown I dig is more the did Talking Book, Innervisions-era Stevie Wonder, What's Goin' On-era Marvin Gaye, and anything the Temptations did with Norman Whitfield, particularly if there was wah-wah involved. I also found that before they were the Supremes they were the Primettes. Well, that's a good name. Could mean prime as in the good shit. Or if you're a math whiz, it's because they like prime numbers. That might explain why they whittled the group down from four to three. Only after being renamed as the Supremes. Oh shit, they are prime and they are supreme. One marvellettes at that.

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Listen:
The Supremes - Buttered Popcorn mp3 at Tumblr
The Supremes - Buttered Popcorn (original version) (streaming) at YouTube
The Supremes - Buttered Popcorn (2nd version) (streaming) at YouTube
The Primettes - Tears of Sorrow (streaming) at YouTube
The Primettes - Pretty Baby (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
Buttered Popcorn at Motown Junkies
Buttered Popcorn at Wikipedia

THE TREEHUGGER SUPER HIT

There was a Motown 60th anniversary special on last night. I don't normally watch that sort of thing because they're usually just corny fluff. What the hell, I let it roll. I gotta say, in the short amount of time I was watching there were moments. John Legend did Marvin Gaye's "Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and it was very faithful to the original, same arrangement, full band with all accoutrements and so on. Then I realized that it was a timely choice being the eve of Earth Day. Okay, so today's Earth Day. A no brainer is in order.

Gaye's original is down there along with an oddball cover I came across by Eddie Vedder with the backing of the Strokes and it's actually a decent take. A few other things down there because what the fuck. "What's Going On" is godhead.

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Listen:
Marvin Gaye - Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology) mp3 at Michael Axx (?)
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On mp3 at Muzik World
Marvin Gaye - Got to Give It Up mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Marvin Gaye - Can I Get A Witness mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Eddie Vedder with the Strokes - Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology) mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Rolling Stones - Can I Get A Witness (streaming) at YouTube

WAH-WAH, ECHO AND THE BEAT.

Dennis Edwards passed away a few days ago. He was the lead singer of the Temptations from 1968 onward (if the Temptations can be said to have had a lead singer). Edwards joined the group right about when Norman Whitfield started producing them moving them into psychedelic soul territory. It was a marked difference from their earlier years. As brilliant as Whitfield's productions were, the singers complained that their voices were getting lost in the mix, which was true to a degree. It wasn't "My Girl" and "Ain't to Proud to Beg" days anymore. But they weren't necessarily being drowned out, they just weren't as prominent. The instrumentation was big and drawn out, more so than their earlier work, and to Whitfield's credit, it made for a much bigger package. To wit, the LP version of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" was a whopping twelve minutes long, with an intro that lasted over three minutes before the vocals came in. By the time Edwards laid down the opening lines, he had done over ten takes and was pissed.

Dennis Edwards

"Papa Was a Rolling Stone" is an interesting case study for how Whitfield worked. On more than one occasion, he would produce a song for one group and if it didn't hit the charts, he'd record the song in an entirely different version with another group. He produced the Temptations' version of "War" and when that didn't stick, he did it again with Edwin Starr and that version was a huge hit. Another Temptations song that failed to hit big was "Smiling Faces Sometimes", which Whitfield fine tuned into a hit for the Undisputed Truth. Lest you think that the Temptations got the short end of every stick, the original version of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" was recorded by, you guessed it, the Undisputed Truth, which went nowhere. Whitfield brought it to the Temps and you know what happened there.

Here's a mixed bag. First up is a pre-Temptations 45 by Edwards, followed by a few of the Whitfield produced Temptations songs with Edwards sharing lead vocals, including three different versions of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone", the "short" version (seven minutes), the LP version, the 45 B-side instrumental version (take that Jamaica!). Finally, the original version by the Undisputed Truth.

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Listen:
Dennis Edwards - I Didn't Have Too But I Did (streaming) at YouTube
The Temptations - Can't Get Next to You mp3 at Box.net (?)
The Temptations - Cloud Nine mp3 at Box.net (?)
The Temptations - Ball of Confusion mp3 at Snuthing Anything
The Temptations - Psychedelic Shack mp3 at AM Then FM With spoken intro
The Temptations - Papa Was a Rolling Stone (7 minute version) mp3 at Data Vibe (?)
The Temptations - Papa Was a Rolling Stone (12 minute version) (streaming) YouTube
The Temptations - Papa Was a Rolling Stone (instrumental version) (streaming) at YouTube
The Undisputed Truth - Papa Was a Rolling Stone (original) (streaming) at YouTube

ODDBALLS FROM THESE LADIES

If you only have a passing interest in the Supremes, you probably only have a greatest hits album, or maybe one of their early albums with a bunch of hits. The ladies had their share of oddballs and deeper cuts. Here's four. "Sunset" slays me.

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Listen:

The Supremes - Sunset mp3 at Still In Rock
The Supremes - Come Together (streaming) at YouTube
The Supremes - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious mp3 at Covering The Mouse
The Supremes and the Temptations - The Weight mp3 at Cover Me

THAT WAS A GOOD EPISODE

Not messing around tonight. I was going to post the first song picked at random that was what I considered a really good record. The Slit's cover of "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" fit the bill. I've heard all four of the versions below many times, and the Slits is far and away my favorite, though technically it's probably, no, certainly the worst. But I identify with it, like many of you who know it, because if you are of a certain age, the Slit's version came out during a crucial period in your life. And if you can't identify a good song with an episode, what good is it?

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Listen:

The Slits - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at William Burkey (?)
Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at Chilthorne (?)
Gladys Knight and the Pips - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at Zatoon (?)
Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Heard It Through the Grapevine (streaming) at YouTube

YOU HAVE TO ASK?

Ever have one of those trips online, where you stumble onto a site that's so deep in good shit that it's overwhelming? You just have to shut down at some point, bookmark it and then go back to nibble at it over time. Have a handful of those links and you'll have a deep well at your disposal. Obscure good shit on demand. If you're a person of certain age, you know. In the pre-internet days, that's what fiend dreams were made of.

These two sites are exactly what I'm talking about. The first is Boogaloo Time, a rather straightforward photo-with-music blog specializing in sixties music. It's not just boogaloo, it's all the sounds of the decade, primarily those that swang. Click around in the old posts. That's where I ran into the songs below. Believe me, you don't see Earl Van Dyke on many blogs. Bookmark it.

The other site is Motown Junkies. Mind blown. The endeavor there is to catalog and review every Motown 45. Including subsidiary labels. That, obviously, is a huge undertaking, There are reviews with biographical information (including Van Dyke!), and streaming podcasts of Motown radio shows. This rates the coveted "only an idiot wouldn't" bookmark suggestion.

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Listen: 
Earl Van Dyke - Can You Jerk Like Me mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Earl Van Dyke - All For You mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Earl Van Dyke - Nowhere to Run mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Discover Motown - 20 podcasts and counting, streaming at Motown Junkies
Visit:
Boogaloo Time home page
Motown Junkies
Montown Junkies - About page This is a good read.

WHY THE SPECIES IS DYING

This is just a quick test. With just the image of the sleeve above, one fact, and one question, we can determine whether you are a record geek or not. Ready? Let's get started. The fact: It is the sleeve of a Latin record. The question: What is the single most intriguing part of that sleeve? Please put down your pencils. If you noticed that this Latin record is on Motown, and found that intriguing, congratulations. You are a record geek. Good luck. Not with anything in particular, just in general. You'll need it.

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Listen:
Riot - God Bless Cochita mp3 at De Discos y Monstruos

A little funkier:

Riot - Put Your Gun Down Brother (streaming) at YouTube

Riot - Just Beyond (streaming) at YouTube 

WORTHY, I KID YOU NOT

You, like everybody else, have probably heard the Supremes' hits, to the point that you probably don't even really listen to them anymore. There so ingrained that they just go in one ear and out the other. I'm on the same boat (yeah, "Come See About Me," whatever...). So when I happened upon a Supremes' cover of "Come Together," I downloaded it with mild curiosity and that's about it. It was on the blog "Robots In Heat" which is one of those bare bones sites with no text other than song titles and artists. I check it out periodically because the head robot always puts up weird unrelated songs that invariably seem randomly picked. But the songs he chooses are always a little left of center, so, again, I bit.

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I was really surprised at this one. At the time it was recorded, a post-Diana Ross, Jean Terrell-led, Supremes were headed in a new direction. This meant away from the mascara caked lashes, evening gowns and bouffants, and onto afros and turtlenecks. The sound is far different from what you would expect from Motown as well. So, of course, that means, as a music geek, it was my duty to go trompsing around online looking for production credits (I was convinced that the producer had to have been Norman Whitfield, producer of all the great psychedelic-soul era Temptation cuts). (Follow me here...)

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As it turns out, the producer was Frank Wilson, who had been recruited in 1963 by Berry Gordy to work out of Motown's newly opened L.A. office. Wilson was well versed in the classic Motown sound, as evidenced by his own 45, "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)," an impossibly rare Northern Soul favorite. (Long story short, 250 were pressed and all were thought to be destroyed when Wilson decided to concentrate on producing. Two vinyl copies are known to exist, with one selling for roughly $37,000 back in May. The full story is here.)

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"Come Together" though, sounds completely different from any Supremes I've ever heard, let alone Motown. The pace is much slower than the Beatles' original, reminiscent of Isaac Hayes' reworking of Burt Bacharach's "Walk On By." It's not just the pace; it's ultra-heavy on the sitar and clavinet (!), and the vocals have enough echo on them that they'd have Sam Phillips adjusting his knobs. Worthy of a download, I promise. (So much for "one quick listen and onto other things.")

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The Supremes - Come Together mp3 at Robots In Heat
Frank Wilson - Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) mp3 at DJNoDJ
Isaac Hayes - Walk On By mp3 at Funky 16 Corners
"Record price for rare Motown disc" at the BBC News
Frank Wilson page at Wikipedia

NORMAN WHITFIELD 1942 - 2008

Norman Whitfield died last week. He wrote (or co-wrote) many of the definitive late 60's/early 70's songs for Motown, so his name should be recognizable to anyone record-geek enough to actually peruse songwriting credits. Among them, "War" (which has to be the most powerful anti-war song to ever chart; #1 in 1971), "Ain't to Proud to Beg", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Ball of Confusion", "Cloud Nine", "I know I'm Losing You" and roughly 300+ other songs (see the massive listing at the Songwriters Hall of Fame).

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As with any good song, the proof is in the pudding: how do the cover versions stack up? For "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" I'm including a link to the Slits decidely sparse version, and for "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" I had to include a link to the Pioneers version, my favorite, over even the Temps original. I tried to find D.O.A.'s cover of War (the only version that comes close to updating the intensity of the Edwin Starr original) to no avail (but turn up Starr's version and see if it doesn't still hit you in the gut). "Paint the White House Black" is a 1993 post-Motown song, co-written by Whitfield, George Clinton and about a half dozen others.

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This is just a sampling. For more Whitfield songs, check out the sites hosting these MP3s. And you should really read his bio/obit at the Guardian, to throw everything into context. (Thanks to Ted for the suggestion. I owe you again Snail!)

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War -Edwin Starr MP3 + Cloud Nine - Temptations + 3 other Whitfield/Strong songs at Bag of Songs
I Heard it Through the Grapevine - the Slits MP3 + 3 other Whitfield/Strong songs at Moistworks
Papa Was a Rolling Stone - the Pioneers MP3 + Temptations original version at Funky 16 Corners

Paint the White House Black - George Clinton MP3 @ Snuhthing/Anything (w/Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Public Enemy & Shabba Ranks)
Norman Whitfield: Death of a Soul Icon obituary/bio at Guardian.co.uk
Norman Whitfield at the Songwriters Hall of Fame