If any one Motown CD has been awaited in anticipation then it has to be this one from this Canadian blonde bombshell Chris Clark whose mega rare album 'Soul Sounds' is one of the most sought after rare items on the Motown catalogue having been issued back in 1967. Up until this release not a great deal was known about Ms Clark who was one of only two white female singers on Berry Gordy's label during the 1960's (the other being the delightful Debbie Dean) but thanks to the CD's inner sleeve notes compiler Paul Nixon gives you an insight into how Chris Clark auditioned for Berry Gordy and went to Motown during the identified glory years - the rest of the sleeve notes reveal little else so you will have play the audio clips at the bottom of this page to sample some of the delight's within this new 2 CD set released on the 7th March.

I never owned her 'Soul Sounds' LP although I had a couple of singles on VIP in my collection which apart from her rendition of 'Put Yourself In My Place' and 'I Want To Go Back There Again' I very rarely played them favouring her better performance on the Smokey Robinson written single for Motown 45 'From Head To Toe'. Now that this rare LP is here for all to hear it is easy to see why it didn't make such a big impact back in 1967 with the majority of the album being pop slanted filler material that didn't do the label any justice at that time when nearly all of the major acts were on a roll with hit after hit  - there was sadly none for Chris.

It therefore goes without saying that the target audience for this set is the northern soul fraternity and those die hard Motown addicts who wish to complete their collections. All eyes (sorry ears) therefore point to disc 2 which contains the unreleased recordings which one has to say were much stronger than those on her 'Soul Sounds' and 'CC Rides Again' albums although from a commercial point of view these songs were far removed from the pop orientated hits of 66-67. I've already posted some streaming audio at the foot of this page for your attention and some of them are very strong indeed and will make the purchase of this disc essential. Opening with a version of 'Ask Any Girl' (a 'b' side for the Supremes in 1964) the song soon settles into an uptempo northern groove that will please the dancers, but it is track 2 that's making all the waves at the moment with 'Everything Is Good About You' a true piece of Motown history and Funk Brothers brilliance with a tempo not too far from Kim Weston's Looking For The Right Guy and a chorus line that reminds one of Love Unlimited's 'It May Be Winter Outside'.

Chris' attempt at Kim Weston's 'Take Me In Your Arms' has the same feel as the Isley Brothers arrangement and her rendition of Stevie Wonders 'Yester Me, Yester You, Yesterday' had me cringing and moving to the next track after only one chorus. If you love Kim Weston's 'Do Like I Do' then Chris takes her original backing track and delivers a vocal version to equal Kim's. For me the one song that stands out is her rendition of Presley's hit single 'Cryin' In The Chapel' that just oozes class and has backing vocals to kill for - what a lovely cover version of a classic song and it shows just what the Motown organisation could achieve when they turned the heat up.

Other noteable tunes that will appeal to the dancefloor include 'He's Good For Me' 'Bad Seed' and 'Something's Wrong' which is destined to become a monster on the northern soul scene and to her credit Chris is amongst the best on this uptempo beauty. Listen to James Jamerson's bass line on 'Mighty Good Lovin' and you realise what all the fuss is about the legendary Motown bassist - another stormer destined for the all-nighter's. The only way to appreciate its full potential is to listen to the whole album played LOUD and I hope the below links will help you make that decision to have a piece of Motown history in your collection.

Rating 8/10

A selection of rare and unreleased tracks from this new CD.

Everything Is Good About You
Take Me In Your Arms (and rock me a little while)
Mighty Good Lovin'
Bad Seed
Do Like I Do
Crying In The Chapel
In The Neighbourhood
He's Good For Me
Let Me Go
How About You
Day By Day Or Never
Mr Maestro Play a Blues For Martha
Everybody's Right Everybody's Wrong
 

Chris Clark - The Forgotten Motown Diva - Interview

By clicking the link below you can enjoy my interview with Chris Clark in London earlier this week on the 25th October 2005. She will be supporting the Four Tops and The Temptations on their UK tour during October/November. Unlike other interviews on this site this one has been prepared with Broadband users in mind, and is presented here in its full 22 minutes duration. Therefore please be mindful that this file is 17 MB in size (although this will not prove a problem for Broadband users). Those visitors who are still using 56K dial up are advised not to try and access this interview for obvious reasons. My sincere thanks to Dave Clarke for his valuable assistance in setting up this interview at short notice.

Click here to access the interview