The Styrous® Viewfinder: The Temptations

Showing posts with label The Temptations. Show all posts

July 13, 2024

45 RPMs 82: The Supremes – Come See About Me

The Supremes ~ Come See About Me

45 RPM record

On Monday, July 13, 1964, Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson (The Supremes), walked into the studios of Motown records and recorded one of their biggest hits, Come See About Me, written by the Motown main production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland.

The Supremes and Motown were the first to record the song but not to release it; it was recorded after them but released earlier by Wand Record and Nella Dodds. Her version started selling, climbing to No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100, but Motown rushed to released the Supremes' version as a single, which killed the sales of Dodds's version. The Supreme's version fades in whereas the Dodds' version starts normally and is not as fast.

In the gay bars of the pre-disco period, I loved to dance to See About Me with it's infectious beat but it was only decades later that I realized it's actually a sad song about a woman whose lost her lover.

Before they became famous, the girls were in a group called The Primettes with none other than the Temptations and they appeared on the Ed Sullivan show on November 19, 1967 (YouTube link below).

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - Come See About Me - 2:39

Side 2:

B - Always In My Heart - 2:26

Companies, etc.

    Copyright © – Motown Record Corporation
    Published By – Jobete
    Mastered At – Nashville Matrix
    Pressed By – American Record Pressing Co.

Credits:

Producer [Produced By] – Holland & Dozier
Written-By – Holland, Dozier, Holland*

Personelle:

    •    Lead vocals by Diana Ross
    •    Background vocals by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson
    •    All instruments by the Funk Brothers[10]
    ◦    Earl Van Dyke – piano
    ◦    Joe Messina – guitar
    ◦    James Jamerson – bass
    ◦    Uriel Jones – drums
    ◦    Jack Ashford – vibraphone
    ◦    Hank Cosby – tenor saxophone
    ◦    Andrew "Mike" Terry – baritone saxophone
    •    Footstomps by Mike Valvano

Notes:

Label / pressing plant variant: No bottom scroll text on labels.

© 1964
Jobete BMI

© 1964 Motown Record Corporation

Side A: Taken from Album "Where Did Our Love Go" MT 621

Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Rights Society: BMI
    Pressing Plant ID (Stamped in runouts): ARP
    Matrix / Runout (Label Side A): DM HVV-097205
    Matrix / Runout (Label Side B): DM HVV-099202
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, Side A, Variant 1): RK4M-2604-1-S HVV - 097205 ARP Nashhville Matirx 10
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, Side B, Variant 1): RK4M -2686-1 G Nashville Matrix DMHVV-0922 D2 ARP
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, Side A, Variant 2): RK4M-2604-1-G HVV - 097205 Nashhville Matirx 10 ARP
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, Side B, Variant 2): RK4M -2686-1 G ARP Nashville Matrix DMHVV-0922 D2

The Supremes – Come See About Me
Label:    Motown – M-1068
Format:    Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single, American Record Pressing
Country: US
Released: Oct 27, 1964
Genre:    Funk / Soul
Style:    Soul, Vocal

Viewfinder links:

Nella Dodds
Holland–Dozier–Holland

Ed Sullivan

The Supremes

Temptations

Net links:

YouTube links:

Nella Dodds ~ Come See About Me

The Supremes ~ Come See About Me

The Temptations & The Supremes "Hits Medley" on The Ed Sullivan Show

Styrous® ~ Monday, September 7, 2020

45 RPMs Archive
MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
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December 17, 2023

20,000 vinyl LPs 345: Eddie Kendricks ~ For You

Eddie Kendricks ~ For You

vinyl LP front cover

cover photo by Jim Britt

photo of album cover by Styrous®

This month, on December 17, is the birthday of Edward James Kendrick, better known as Eddie Kendricks, he was an American tenor singer and songwriter; he co-founded the Motown singing group the Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971.

For You was released in December of 1974, I'd like to think it was especially for his birthday, but maybe not. Kendricks was born in Union Springs, Alabama in 1939.

The Temptations began singing background for Mary Wells but became the most successful male vocal group of the 1960s. Although technically Kendricks was first tenor in the group's harmony, he often sang in the falsetto register. Among the Temptations songs Kendricks sang lead on were Dream Come True (1962), the group's first charting single; The Way You Do the Things You Do (1964), the group's first US Top 20 hit; I'll Be in Trouble (1964); The Girl's Alright With Me (1964), a popular B-side that Kendricks co-wrote; Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue) (1964); Get Ready (1966); Please Return Your Love to Me (1968); and Just My Imagination (1971).

With the Temptations, Kendricks was responsible for creating most of the group's vocal arrangements, and also served as wardrobe manager. He remained in the group through the rest of the decade, but a number of issues began to push him away from it in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was uncomfortable with singing the psychedelic style that Whitfield was now crafting for the group as opposed to the romantic ballads they had sung under the direction of Smokey Robinson; his friend Paul Williams was often too ill to perform with the group; and Kendricks often found himself at odds with bandmates Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin. As he grew away from the group, Kendricks began to rekindle his friendship with ex-Temptation David Ruffin, who convinced him to leave. He also stated that his relationship with Berry Gordy was less than cordial. "Berry Gordy is a man I don't know, I only met him about three times," he said, but "I know he didn't particularly care for me." Kendricks stated that he did not agree with many decisions that were made.

I wasn't knocked out by the ballads on the album but If You Think (You Can) was my favorite one. In the funk category, One Tear and If You Think (You Can) knock my socks off.

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Please Don't Go Away, Arranged By Jimmie Haskell, Leonard Caston, Written by Leonard Caston - 4:57

A2 - One Tear, Arranged By Jimmie Haskell, Leonard Caston, Written by Leonard Caston - 4:00

A3 - Shoeshine Boy, Arranged By Jerry Long, Sanford Shire, Written by Harry Booker, Linda Allen (7) - 3:14

A4 - Deep And Quiet Love, Written by Frank Wilson, Kathy Wakefield - 5:34

Side 2:

B1 - Let Yourself Go, Arranged By Jerry Long, Leonard Caston, Written by Harold Clayton, Leonard Caston, Mbaji, Sigidi - 5:45

B2 - If, Arranged By Jimmie Haskell, Leonard Caston, Written by David Gates - 3:09

B3 - If You Think (You Can), Arranged By Jimmie Haskell, Leonard Caston, Written by Barbara Dickerson, Leonard Caston - 3:59

B4 - Time In A Bottle, Arranged By Jimmie Haskell, Sanford Shire, Written by Jim Croce - 2:59

Companies, etc.

    Recorded At – Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios
    Mixed At – Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios
    Copyright © – Motown Record Corporation
    Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Motown Record Corporation

Credits:

    Art Direction – Katarina Petterson*
    Backing Vocals [Background] – Carolyn Hurley, Carolyn Majors, Carolyn Willis, Frank Wilson, Harry Booker, Karin Patterson, Leonard Caston, Mara Baygulow, Myrna Matthews, Wayne Cooper (2)
    Engineer [Mixing] – Angel Balestier, Frank Wilson
    Engineer [Recording] – Angel Balestier, Art Stewart, Russ Terrana
    Photography By – Jim Britt
    Producer – Frank Wilson, Leonard Caston

Notes:

Recorded and mixed at Motown Recording Studios, Hollywood, California.

℗ © 1974 Motown Record Corporation
Printed in U.S.A.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Side A label): D5RS-7815
    Matrix / Runout (Side B label): D5RS-7816-2

Eddie Kendricks – For You
Label:    Tamla – T6-335S1, Tamla – T6 335S1
Format:    Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold
Country: US
Released: 1974
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Funk

Viewfinder links:

Melvin Franklin

Eddie Kendricks

David Ruffin

The Temptations

Mary Wells

Otis Williams

YouTube links:

If You Think (You Can)

Let Yourself Go

One Tear

Styrous® ~ Sunday, December 17, 1923

20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive
MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
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October 4, 2023

Peter Falk articles/mentions

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mentions:
Sarah Vaughan ~ Murder, Inc.
The Temptations ~ A Song For You

Peter Falk ca 1937

photographer unknown

~
Movie Articles

Movie People

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
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October 6, 2021

Blair Thornton articles/mentions

The Temptations ~ Masterpiece & Norman Whitfield

Blair Thornton - 1974

photographer unknown

Music People

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
~

February 21, 2021

20,000 vinyl LPs 276: The Temptations ~ Masterpiece & Norman Whitfield

The Temptations ~ Masterpiece

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.

Norman Whitfield - 1970

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).

The Temptations ~ Masterpiece
vinyl LP front cover

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!

The Temptations

date & photographer unknown

The Temptations ~ Masterpiece
vinyl LP, side 1

photos by Styrous®

The Temptations ~ Masterpiece
vinyl LP, side 2

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:

Dennis Edwards - vocals (tenor)
Damon Harris - vocals (high tenor/falsetto)
Richard Street - vocals (tenor)
Melvin Franklin - vocals (bass)
Otis Williams - vocals (tenor/baritone)
Norman Whitfield - producer, composer
Paul Riser - arranger
Orson Lewis - engineer
Asari Ghraham - creative assistant to Norman Whitfield
Des Strobel - design
Parvis Sadighian - sculpture (for album cover image)
Jim Britt - liner photo

Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers:
- Earl Van Dyke - piano, organ
- Johnny Griffith - organ
- Robert Ward - guitar
- Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin - guitar
- Joe Messina - guitar
- Paul Warren - guitar
- Robert White - guitar
- Eddie Willis - guitar
- Aaron Smith - drum
- Richard "Pistol" Allen - drums
- Uriel Jones - drums
- Andrew Smith - drums
- Leroy Taylor - bass guitar
- Bob Babbitt - bass guitar
- Eddie Watkins Jr - bass guitar
- Eddie "Bongo" Brown - bongos, congas
- Jack Ashford - tambourine, maracas, sticks
- Jack Brokensha - timpani, vibes, bells, gourd
- Maurice Davis - trumpet
- Ted Lucas - harmonica

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

Notes:

Original release with embossed cover.

℗ 1973 Motown Record Corporation.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 1): G965L-HS-2029-1 / C5RS-7533 / I / 1303105-01A / A6
Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 1): G965L-HS-2030-2 / C5RS-7534 / I / 1303105-01B / B2
Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 2): HS-2029-1 S-2030-2
Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 2): S-2029-B HS-2030-2
Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 3): G965L-HS-2029-1 C5RS-7533 I 1303105-01A A 2
Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 3): G965L-HS-2030-2 C5RS-7534 A1 1303105-01B
Pressing Plant ID: I

The Temptations ‎– Masterpiece
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:

“Just the cover, ma’am”

Eddie "Bongo" Brown

Jerry Butler

Dennis Edwards

Melvin Franklin

Damon Harris

Richard Street

The Temptations

The Undisputed Truth

Viewfinder 'desert island' vinyl LPs

Norman Whitfield