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"...And The
Lord God Looked Down On Motown in Detroit And Verily Thought...I Must Set Up A
British Branch..."
Did you know
that following the departure of his principal hit-writers Holland Dozier and
Holland, Berry Gordy wanted to reinstate the Supremes as a number act after a
year of dullard releases, so he locked all his remaining writers in a hotel
room and told them they weren't coming out until they penned a winner for his
wife. They promptly raided the hotel bar and got completely pissed in
retaliation. But the following morning they threw out the number one hit
"Love Child" anyway. Or that Stevie Wonder's manager sang his newly
released "Higher Ground" single into his ear in 1973 as Stevie lay
dying on a hospital bed having had a freak accident where a huge log crashed
through his windscreen and into his skull - and it brought him back. Or did you
know that the original version of Marvin Gaye's masterpiece "What's Going
On" had a question mark removed from the end of the title - so that you
didn't know whether he was asking a question or making a statement? Neither did
I...
A book like this
is a treasure trove of such juicy trivia, but it wouldn't amount to more than a
long list of staid statistics if the rest of the text weren't imbibed with wit,
affection and a genuine thirst for knowledge and understanding - on every single
entry. Americans know that Brits are soul mad, but this book proves it like no
other. There's stuff in here that even the guys who wrote the music don't know
about!
First, in order
to convey just how deep this work goes, let's get to the details.
Published by
Cherry Red Books in 2009 (a division of Cherry Red Records) – “TAMLA MOTOWN:
The Stories Behind The UK Singles” by TERRY WILSON is a tall paperback with
over 710 pages. The 72 singles from 1959 to mid 1965 issued on London (4),
Fontana (4), Oriole (19) and Stateside (45) are all here - each given an
individual essay on their release and history. Topping the essay over each
single is other relevant info - Timing, Writers, Producers, Recording Date, UK
Release Date, B-side, UK Chart Position, US catalogue number, US release date
and finally the US chart position attained in both Billboard's Pop and R&B
charts.
The two-word
'Tamla Motown' identity was started by Gordy specifically to deal with UK
issues (it was either the single word 'Motown', 'Tamla' or 'Gordy' in the USA).
Its first 7" single release came in March 1965 on TMG 501 - "Stop! In
The Name Of Love" by The Supremes. While it topped the charts in the
States, it made Number 7 in the UK (the title was a remark made by a producer
to his argumentative girlfriend). From this point on page 68, the releases
stretch all the way to page 606 and the February 2006 release of Stevie Wonder's
"From The Bottom Of My Heart" on TMG 1513. Every single one!
This is then
followed by the ARTIST SUMMARY section - which gives you their releases at a
glance - 1 for Jerry Butler and 9 for The Commodores and so forth - very handy.
There's then a section on STATISTICS, FACTS and FEATS; followed by AN
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF TRACKS; followed by a section on MOTOWN EPs and 12"
SINGLES. Then there's a section on the off-shoot labels, Rare Earth, Mo-West
and Gaiee labels...and a COLLECTORS section dealing with label bags, different
texts, matrix numbers etc. and finally a REFERENCES section that in itself goes
on for pages.
Some entries are
long - "Tears Of A Clown" by SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES (an
instrumental first presented to Smokey by Stevie Wonder at a Christmas party),
others are short because they deserve to be "A Little Bit For Sandy"
by PAUL PETERSEN (a child actor originally on The Donna Reed Show) - it was
produced by R DEAN TAYLOR and sank without a trace. The social consciousness period of Norman
Whitfield's 1970s productions (Temptations, Undisputed Truth) I found
fascinating and full of amazing info. In fact I can't imagine the thousands of
hours it must have taken to assemble all this information, cross check every
entry and then present the whole lot in an interesting way. His assessment of
Marvin's "What's Going On" as a song that "says so little, yet
means so much to so many people..." is both insightful and true.
I would say -
however - that a very real down point is the complete lack of visuals. There
should have been 10 or 12 pages of colour pictures, label variations, rare
picture sleeves, early issues - but maybe on the next run.
Also, I went
into 5 West End book stores and none had it for sale let alone knew of its
existence - and Cherry Red books need to address that pronto - because it's
criminal to see a book of this stature go unnoticed - reviewed online by some
Irish nutter in a second-hand record shop in London. I would also prep a
'download' version for the net with better front artwork and a slew of picture
pages from collectors with a far cheaper price to make it more accessible.
Those minor nitpicks aside, both Cherry Red and the author are to be
congratulated for this wonderful tome.
I can tell you
now with all confidence that even as Moses was parting the Red Sea with the
sound of hooves and chariots in his shelllikes, he was secretly thinking, I
can't wait for 2009 and Terry Wilson's detailed book about Tamla Motown in
England...
To say I'm impressed folks is like saying the Sistine Chapel is an ok painting - a fantastic achievement...and well done to Terry Wilson and all involved...
To say I'm impressed folks is like saying the Sistine Chapel is an ok painting - a fantastic achievement...and well done to Terry Wilson and all involved...
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