Showing posts with label Norman Whitfield. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Norman Whitfield. Show all posts
October 6, 2021
June 21, 2021
Record Producers Extraordinaire
~
Behind every great musician/group is a Record Producer who had a vision and the expertise to make the sound of that musician or group unique.
For rock, it was Les Paul, John Hammond, Sam Phillips, Jimmy Iovine, Jeff Lynne, Trevor Horn, Jimmy Miller, Roy Thomas Baker, Sam Phillips, Brian Wilson, Todd Rundgren, Daniel Lanois, Paul A. Rothchild, George Martin for the The Beatles and Jim Steinman for Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler (now THAT'S diversity for you).
In country/western it was Owen Bradley, Paul Cohen, Billy Sherrill, Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter and Don Law.
For easy listening it was Jimmy Webb, Jackie Gleason, Billy Vaughn, Arif Mardin, Mantovani, Mitch Miller and Al De Lory for Glen Campbell and Capitol Records.
For jazz it was David Axelrod, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, Teo Macero, Tom Dowd, Norman Granz, Bob Thiele, Cannonball Adderley and Sonny Lester.
For the Motown/soul sound it was Phil Spector, George Clinton, Jerry Wexler, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Berry Gordy and Norman Whitfield for The Temptations.
For Electronic music it was Dieter Moebius, Vangelis for Chrisma, Edgar Froese for Tangerine Dream, and Conny Plank for Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, Cluster, Guru Guru, Kraan, Neu!, Eurythmics, Ultravox and Kraftwerk.
For punk no one topped Steve Albini. He produced the albums for his bands, Big Black, Rapeman, Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He produced albums for Nirvana, Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant,
as well.
I'm not sure WHERE Brian Eno belongs! He's produced sound ranging from film soundtracks to ambient To experimental for John Cale, Jon Hassell and Laraaji, to new wave for Talking Heads, Ultravox and Devo, and everything in between.
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Music Needs You ~ 7 Distinct Types of Record Producers
Recording Connection ~ What Does a Music Producer Do?
April 30, 2021
20,000 vinyl LPs 288: Bobby Vee ~ Do What You Gotta Do
~
Side 2:
Medley: I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) / It's The Same Old Song - (2:45)
B1a - I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch), written by Brian Holland-Lamont Dozier-Eddie Holland*
B1b - It's The Same Old Song, written by Brian Holland-Lamont Dozier-Eddie Holland*
B2 - I Like It Like That, written by Marvin Tarplin, William Robinson* - 2:35
B3 - Run Like The Devil, written by Irwin Schuster, Paul Leka - 2:35
B4 - Let Nobody Love You (While I'm Gone), written by Jackie Avery, John Farris - 2:45
B5 - That's What Love Is Made Of, written by Robert Rogers, Warren Moore, William Robinson* - 2:48
Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Liberty Records, Inc.
Mastered At – Audio Matrix, Inc.
Pressed By – Abbey Record Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Printed By – Shorewood Packaging
Record Company – Liberty Records, Inc.
Published By – Johnny Rivers Music
Published By – Mirwood Music
Published By – Saima Music Co.
Published By – Jobete Music Co., Inc.
Published By – T. M. Music, Inc.
Published By – Avery-Farris Music
Credits:
Arranged By – Lincoln Mayorga
Art Direction – Woody Woodward
Design – Kittyhawk Graphics
Engineer – Dino Lappas
Liner Notes – James Ashton*
Photography By [Cover] – Peter Whorf
Producer – Dallas Smith
Notes:
Abbey Record Manufacturing Co., Inc. pressing denoted by "AB" etch in runouts.
AudioMatrix stamp in runouts is partial on Side A and extremely faint on Side B.
UNIPAK gatefold jacket.
Writing credits differ between gatefold and labels; gatefold information used.
Label incorrectly lists miscredits "Stevie Hunter" for Stevie Wonder on track A6.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Runout A etch; AudioMatrix stamp): LST-7592-1 AB 9,68 AudioMatrix
Matrix / Runout (Runout B etch; AudioMatrix stamp): LST-7592-2 AB 9,68 AudioMatrix
Rights Society: BMI
Styrous® ~ Friday, April 30, 2021
Bobby Vee ~ Do What You Gotta Do
vinyl LP front cover detail
Design: Kittyhawk Graphics
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
Today is the birthday of cute as a button, 1960's teen idol, Bobby Vee, born on April 30, 1943, in Fargo, North Dakota. His father was a chef, pianist and fiddle player of Norwegian descent and his mother was of Finnish descent.
Bobby Vee ~ Do What You Gotta Do
vinyl LP front cover
cover photo by Peter Whorf
Design: Kittyhawk Graphics
photo of album cover by Styrous®
The career of Bobby Vee was born when he had to fill in after the 1959 plane crash that killed rock 'n' roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. (The Big Bopper) Richardson were killed in the crash of a V-tailed 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza airplane on February 3, 1959.
V-tailed 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza airplane
photo by Bill Larkins
His single, Rubber Ball (1961, U.S. number six, Australia number one), made him an international star. The song was covered by Gary Lewis and the Playboys in 1966.
The album is a gatefold format designed by Kittyhawk Graphics, so there is plenty of room for graphics as well as information.
The songs are classic Motown, such as his cover of Beauty Is Only Skin Deep, written by Norman Whitfield and Edward Holland, Jr., and produced by Whitfield. It had been a big hit on the Pop and R&B charts by The Temptations two years earlier. Stubborn Kind of Fellow, written by Marvin Gaye, also fits in this category. It was Gaye's first big reaching the top 10 of the R&B chart and the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1962.
Bobby Vee ~ Do What You Gotta Do
vinyl LP back cover detail
Design: Kittyhawk Graphics
detail photo by Styrous®
Can You Love A Poor Boy, written by Ivy Hunter and Stevie Wonder, is a gentle ballad; Wonder never recorded the song.
The Medley, I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) and It's The Same Old Song, both written by the Holland–Dozier–Holland
team, had the same feeling of the originals with a great female chorus
backup; it was a pretty good cover of the songs.
Run Like the Devil, written by Paul Leka and Irwin Schuster, has the typical 60's sound. Leka also wrote Green Tambourine, recorded by the Lemon Pipers, and the classic, Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye (one of my all-time favorite songs) recorded by him, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer under the name Steam.
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1 - Do What You Gotta Do, written by Jim Webb* - 2:48
A2 - If My World Falls Through, written by Kenny Gist, Jr. - 2:50
A3 - Thank You, written by R. Velline* - 2:30
A4 - Beauty Is Only Skin Deep, written by Eddie Holland*, Norman Whitfield - 2:35
A5 - Stubborn Kind Of Fellow, written by George Gordy, Marvin Gaye, William Stevenson - 2:10
A6 - Can You Love A Poor Boy, written by Ivy Hunter*, Stevie Wonder - 2:55
A2 - If My World Falls Through, written by Kenny Gist, Jr. - 2:50
A3 - Thank You, written by R. Velline* - 2:30
A4 - Beauty Is Only Skin Deep, written by Eddie Holland*, Norman Whitfield - 2:35
A5 - Stubborn Kind Of Fellow, written by George Gordy, Marvin Gaye, William Stevenson - 2:10
A6 - Can You Love A Poor Boy, written by Ivy Hunter*, Stevie Wonder - 2:55
Side 2:
Medley: I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) / It's The Same Old Song - (2:45)
B1a - I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch), written by Brian Holland-Lamont Dozier-Eddie Holland*
B1b - It's The Same Old Song, written by Brian Holland-Lamont Dozier-Eddie Holland*
B2 - I Like It Like That, written by Marvin Tarplin, William Robinson* - 2:35
B3 - Run Like The Devil, written by Irwin Schuster, Paul Leka - 2:35
B4 - Let Nobody Love You (While I'm Gone), written by Jackie Avery, John Farris - 2:45
B5 - That's What Love Is Made Of, written by Robert Rogers, Warren Moore, William Robinson* - 2:48
Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Liberty Records, Inc.
Mastered At – Audio Matrix, Inc.
Pressed By – Abbey Record Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Printed By – Shorewood Packaging
Record Company – Liberty Records, Inc.
Published By – Johnny Rivers Music
Published By – Mirwood Music
Published By – Saima Music Co.
Published By – Jobete Music Co., Inc.
Published By – T. M. Music, Inc.
Published By – Avery-Farris Music
Credits:
Arranged By – Lincoln Mayorga
Art Direction – Woody Woodward
Design – Kittyhawk Graphics
Engineer – Dino Lappas
Liner Notes – James Ashton*
Photography By [Cover] – Peter Whorf
Producer – Dallas Smith
Notes:
Abbey Record Manufacturing Co., Inc. pressing denoted by "AB" etch in runouts.
AudioMatrix stamp in runouts is partial on Side A and extremely faint on Side B.
UNIPAK gatefold jacket.
Writing credits differ between gatefold and labels; gatefold information used.
Label incorrectly lists miscredits "Stevie Hunter" for Stevie Wonder on track A6.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Runout A etch; AudioMatrix stamp): LST-7592-1 AB 9,68 AudioMatrix
Matrix / Runout (Runout B etch; AudioMatrix stamp): LST-7592-2 AB 9,68 AudioMatrix
Rights Society: BMI
Bobby Vee – Do What You Gotta Do
Label: Liberty – LST-7592
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Abbey Press
Country: US
Released: 1968
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Pop Rock
Label: Liberty – LST-7592
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Abbey Press
Country: US
Released: 1968
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Pop Rock
Viewfinder links:
The Lemon Pipers ~ Through With You
Net links:
CBC ~ Bobby Vee, 1960s teen idol, dead at 73 obit
YouTube links:
Bobby Vee ~
Steam - Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
February 21, 2021
20,000 vinyl LPs 276: The Temptations ~ Masterpiece & Norman Whitfield
~
vinyl LP front cover detail
Artwork [Sculpture] by Parvis Sadighian
detail photo by Styrous®
Of all the Motown groups my favorite is The Temptations; not because they were one of the most successful groups in music history but their albums were beautifully produced.
Every great music group has a man who had a vision and the expertise to make the group's sound unique. For The Temptations it was Norman Whitfield.
photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
My very favorite album by The Temptations is the 1973 album, Masterpiece; each and every song is outstanding; my favorite songs from the album are Hurry Tomorrow, Ma, Law of the Land and, of course, Masterpiece (links below).
Artwork [Sculpture] by Parvis Sadighian
photo by Styrous®
Masterpiece was released on February 21, 1973, and the title refers to the album being not the group's intended masterpiece, but that of Norman Whitfield. The album rightfully belongs in my “Just the cover, ma’am!” category (link below), which it will anyway, but the album is just too fantastic to limit this to just the cover. It definitely will go in my "Desert Island" category (link below).
So, let's get the spectacular cover out of the way first. It features an embossed cover with the four members of the group by sculpture artist Parvis Sadighian. Sadighian also did the covers for Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Jerry Butler.
The Temptations ~ Masterpiece
vinyl LP front cover detail
Artwork [Sculpture] by Parvis Sadighian
detail photo by Styrous®
The cover featured a fake marble bas relief of the group’s faces in profile. Underneath, a sign said “Produced by Norman Whitfield”, which also appeared on the back. The implication was that The Temptations were an artwork sculpted by their producer, the more important figure here. While the musicians were credited on the back, the individual Temptations were not. And there was a large soft-focus image of the producer on the flip, with The Temptations emerging from his head.
The Temptations ~ Masterpiece
vinyl LP back cover
Design by Des Strobel & Asari Graham
photo by Jim Britt
photo of album cover by Styrous®
Having already produced songs for the Temptations such as "Smiling Faces Sometimes" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" which emphasized his instrumental tracks over the group's vocals, Whitfield went one step further with Masterpiece.
The title track, Masterpiece, at nearly 14 minutes long, includes only three
minutes of vocals from the group, who all share sections of the lead
vocal. Whitfield entitled it "Masterpiece"
because he felt it was a perfect blending of strings, horns, rhythm
players, voices, studio tricks, and sweetening elements.
However, the word 'masterpiece' does not appear in the song's lyrics,
which do not point to anything obvious from which to draw a title. As
with their Whitfield-produced hit from the previous year, Papa Was a Rollin' Stone,
the Temptations do not make their first appearance until after a long
instrumental section. This added to already building tension between
the group and Whitfield and led some music writers to start referring to
the group as "the Norman Whitfield Choral Singers" and other such
names. Fans complained directly to the Temptations
themselves.
I don't care what the critics or anyone else think or say, I love this
album and consider it the best one they produced. So there!
The Temptations ~ Masterpiece
vinyl LP back cover detail
photo by Jim Britt
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
Masterpiece with echoey brass led by Richard Street opens the album and shares space on side one with Hey Girl (I Like
Your Style), a slow classic-styled ballad.
Side two of the LP opens with Ma, an ode to a hillbilly mother led by Street, Damon Harris, and Melvin Franklin with his resonnate bass. The song was recorded as the title track of the Rare Earth 1973 Whitfield-produced LP.
Law of the Land, led by Edwards, with Street and Harris backing him, was a fantastic song to dance to; I loved the echoey trumpets. Law was recorded the same year by The Undisputed Truth. The song is a message track in the tradition of Don't Let the Joneses Get You Down from Puzzle People.
Plastic Man, with its lead vocal shared between Edwards, Harris,
Franklin and Street, disparages "plastic people" who operate in
backhanded ways. It was another great song to dance to.
The eight-minute album closer, Hurry Tomorrow, my favorite cut from the album,
is a solo spot for Harris with his beautiful falsetto and Franklin's rich bass backing him as a counterpoint; it explores a hallucinogenic drug trip with sensational sonic effects! I remember being TOTALLY wiped out and listening to this song; it is only eight minutes long but it seemed to go on FOREVER!
date & photographer unknown
photos by Styrous®
Track list:
Side one:
- "Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)" – 4:36 (lead singer: Richard Street)
- "Masterpiece" – 13:49 (lead singers: Dennis Edwards, Otis Williams, Richard Street, Damon Harris, Melvin Franklin)
Side two:
- "Ma" – 4:46 (lead singers: Richard Street, Damon Harris, Melvin Franklin)
- "Law of the Land" – 5:08 (lead singers: Dennis Edwards, Damon Harris, Richard Street)
- "Plastic Man" – 5:53 (lead singers: Dennis Edwards, Damon Harris, Melvin Franklin, Richard Street)
- "Hurry Tomorrow" – 8:06 (lead singer: Damon Harris)
Personnel:
|
|
Companies, etc.
Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
Credits:
Arranged By – Paul Riser
Artwork [Sculpture] – Parvis Sadighian
Bass – Bob Babbitt, Eddie Watkins*, Leroy Taylor
Bells, Percussion [Gourd], Timpani, Vibraphone – Jack Brokensha
Bongos, Congas – Eddie "Bongo" Brown
Design – Des Strobel*
Design [Creative Assistant] – Asari Graham
Drums – Aaron Smith (2), Andrew Smith (4), Richard "Pistol" Allen*, Uriel Jones
Engineer, Mastered By – Orson Lewis
Guitar – Eddie Willis, Joe Messina, Melvin "Wah Wah" Ragin*, Paul Warren, Robert Ward, Robert White
Harmonica – Ted Lucas
Mastered By, Producer, Written-By – Norman Whitfield
Organ – Johnny Griffith
Organ, Piano – Earl Van Dyke
Photography By [Liner Photo] – Jim Britt
Tambourine, Maracas – Jack Ashford
Trumpet – Maurice Davis
Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
Credits:
Arranged By – Paul Riser
Artwork [Sculpture] – Parvis Sadighian
Bass – Bob Babbitt, Eddie Watkins*, Leroy Taylor
Bells, Percussion [Gourd], Timpani, Vibraphone – Jack Brokensha
Bongos, Congas – Eddie "Bongo" Brown
Design – Des Strobel*
Design [Creative Assistant] – Asari Graham
Drums – Aaron Smith (2), Andrew Smith (4), Richard "Pistol" Allen*, Uriel Jones
Engineer, Mastered By – Orson Lewis
Guitar – Eddie Willis, Joe Messina, Melvin "Wah Wah" Ragin*, Paul Warren, Robert Ward, Robert White
Harmonica – Ted Lucas
Mastered By, Producer, Written-By – Norman Whitfield
Organ – Johnny Griffith
Organ, Piano – Earl Van Dyke
Photography By [Liner Photo] – Jim Britt
Tambourine, Maracas – Jack Ashford
Trumpet – Maurice Davis
Notes:
Original release with embossed cover.
℗ 1973 Motown Record Corporation.
℗ 1973 Motown Record Corporation.
Label: Gordy – G965L, Gordy – G 965L
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 21 Feb 1973
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Funk
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Culture Sonar ~ The Temptation’s Masterpiece – An Appreciation
Let's Sing It ~ Masterpiece album lyrics
Music Fest News ~ The Temptations’ Masterpieces
udiscovermusic ~ Masterpiece: Norman Whitfield And The Temptations YouTube links:
Rare Earth ~ Ma (17 mins., 10 secs.)
The Temptations ~
Masterpiece (13:34)
Masterpiece full album (42:28)
Papa Was a Rolling Stone (11:50)
Styrous® ~ Sunday, February 21, 2021
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