'Tamla Motown Big His and Hard To Find Classics' Volume 1 - Spectrum 544 278-2

These albums first appeared on CD and vinyl during the summer of 1987 when Motown was distributed in the UK by BMG and at the time were seen by collectors and fans as the most positive step ever by a record company to issue rare tracks by Motown artists away from the usual selection of top 10 hits of the sixties. They did not disappoint. The vinyl and the CD’s both sold well despite there not being a single track by The Supremes on Volume 1.

The big excitement at the time was the inclusion of two songs by the Originals who were formerly known as the Voicemasters in the early sixties. ‘Baby I’m For Real’ and ‘The Bells’ are featured here and are simply a joy to listen to. They are nothing like their ‘66’ monster ‘Goodnight Irene’  and this new style led them to their now legendary 1974 LP ‘California Sunset’.

There has been no shortage of cover versions of the song ‘Does Your Mama Know About Me’ but the definitive version must come from the originator Bobby Taylor and the Vancouver's featured here and issued as a UK 45 late in 1968. Veteran Jimmy Ruffin has two of his biggest hit singles for inclusion with ‘I’ve Passed This Way Before’ and the million selling ‘What Becomes of the Broken Hearted’. Jimmy’s brother David left the Temptations in 1968 and issued the lovely ‘My Whole World Ended’ as his first solo single although it wasn’t until 1975 did he score heavily with the Van McCoy produced ‘Walk Away From Love’ included here.

The Detroit Spinners get two bites at the apple with their 1971 hit ‘It’s A Shame’ although hard core collectors may prefer the more uptempo ‘I’ll Always Love You’ which originally came out as a ‘b’ side, but re-issued as an ‘A’ a couple of years later. This is still a northern soul favourite.

Former Ric-Tic man Edwin Starr also gets two songs for inclusion with his million selling ‘War’ and his 1968 outing
’25 Miles’. However the two songs by the much underrated Elgins really do put this CD in a class of its own. ‘Heaven Must have Sent You’ is my all-time definitive Motown tune backed up by a radio listeners poll I conducted in 1995 where I asked all the listeners to my then Sunday Soul Club show to vote for their all-time favourite track. This had more votes than anything else. Thrown in too for good measure is ‘Darling Baby’.

Brenda Holloway is a name that any northern soul fan will rave about and two of her most popular songs can be found in the form of ‘Just Look What You’ve Done’ (a dance favourite) and he rendition of ‘You Made Me So Very Happy’ both of which can be found on her greatest hits CD also available on Spectrum.

Talk about leaving the best for last. Kim Weston’s fabulous dancer ‘Helpless’ is here in all it’s glory and sounds as good today as it ever did. Possibly Holland Dozier and Holland’s finest moment (and Kim Westons too)

One noticeable omission here is Barbara Randolph’s 67 dancer ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’ which was on the 1987 issue yet has been mysteriously left off this time around, presumably due to licensing issues.

Personal rating 10/10
Expect to pay around £6.99 in the UK
Released July 2000 along with Volumes 2 & 3
 

Tamla Motown Big His and Hard To Find Classics Volume 2 - Spectrum 554 273-2

Volume two of this series kicks off with some excellent sixties beauties including two from Brenda Holloway with ‘Every Little Bit Hurts’ and the northern soul track ‘When I’m Gone’. At this point the listener gets quite excited as to what may follow and the cult female group the Velvelettes have three of their monsters to hand with ‘Needle In A Haystack’ and ‘He Was Really Saying Something’  and the all-time ‘Lonely Lonely Girl Am I’ all tried and tested dancefloor winners that will stand proud in anyones Motown collection.

Songwriter Barrett Strong has his early hit ‘Money’ included here as does the late Tammi Terrell with the U.S. 45 only issue of ‘I Can’t Believe You Love Me’. So far so good. The legendary Isley Brothers follow next with ‘Take Me In Your Arms’ which for many is every bit as good as Kim Weston’s version although totally different in style. Possibly the Isley’s greatest moment comes next with the storming dance classic ‘I Guess I’ll Always Love You’ rated by many as one of Motown’s finest songs.

The late Shorty Long (check out his new CD review on this site - July 2000) has his corny tune from 1968 ‘Here Comes The Judge’ included although the ‘b’ side to the UK 45 would have been a better choice, although his other featured track from 1965 is included with ‘Function At The Junction’

During the early part of the seventies the Motown sound changed dramatically as can be seen with a lot of the Norman Whitfield produced artists and the Undisputed Truth issued a superb album in 1973 and ‘Smiling Faces’ gets a place on the tracklisting on this CD.

From here on I’m afraid to say the remainder of the songs on this CD just do not compliment the aforementioned. It is almost like the compiler ran out of ideas and songs from the likes of Rare Earth, Charlene, Tom Clay, Syreeta could, and should have been saved for another day away from those classic Motown tunes we all love and know.

All in all though a good CD if just for the real classics that you can find amongst some of the dross.

Personal rating 6/10
Expect to pay around £6.99 in the UK
Released 7th July 2000.
 

Tamla Motown Big His and Hard To Find Classics Volume 3 - Spectrum 554 280-2

If my comments about volume two left you thinking that this CD contained dross then read on. The record company must have realised their mistakes and issued what can only be described as a masterpiece of Motown music on one CD.

This just about has everything one could hope for - the classics - and the rarities all on one package. Three songs from Kim Weston with ‘Take Me In Your Arms’ and ‘Looking For The Right Guy’ and her ballad ‘Love Me All The Way’ The remaining classic from the Velvelettes comes next with the tambourine led ‘A Bird In The Hand’ another monster tune.

Tammi Terrell comes next with ‘Come On And See Me’ and two from Brenda Holloway including her ballad ‘I’ll Always Love You’ and the snappy but dated ‘I’ll Be Available’ Into the seventies we go for Supremes track ‘He’s My Man’ which still sounds great before popping back to the sixties classics with Edwin Starr and ‘Agent Double-O Soul’ and ‘S.O.S.’

Veteran songwriter Eddie Holland who recorded a few superb early recordings has his finest moments paraded for all to hear with ‘Leaving Here’ and ‘Just Ain’t Enough Love’ and ‘Candy To Me’ These three songs alone are worth the price of this CD.

The two biggies from the Contours will keep the northern soul crowd happy with ‘Just A Little Misunderstanding’ and ‘First I Look At The Purse’ before finishing off with two lovely tracks from the much under promoted group the Elgins with ‘Put Yourself In My Place’ and ‘Stay In My Lonely Arms’

There is little more that one can add to this brilliant package that already isn’t known. Worth every penny. The real strange thing about this series is that whilst this particular issue was the best of them all BMG never followed it on with a volume four. Hence the fact that these became so highly collectable. Grab em quick this time round.

Personal rating 10/10
Expect to pay around £6.99 in the UK
Released 17th July 2000