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| texile |
this bass player i played with a long time ago - he had been a local metal god....i didn't follow the metal scene so i didn't give a shit; a mutual friend hooked us up because i wanted to play some soul and funk.
he was burned out on metal and all things rock - tall skinny texas white boy....his latina wife turned him onto some soul music and he was struck...i remember him getting all exited about trying to learn the bass line to reflections - everyday he would discover a new song - it's like he had just found god.......
i always think of this guy when i hear motown. |
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| Voodoo Scrounge |
Its threads like this that make you realise why you actually come on this board. Like minded people with similar taste in music.
My mum loves all of the motown stuff. She listens to it all day long. I have to say that I love it too and although Im not as educated as to say who sang what and when, Im going to list below my alltime favourite tunes.
Kissing in the back row - Drifters
Saturday at the movies
Sign (or something like that) - Diana Ross
I want you back - Jacksons
This old heart of mine - Isley Brothers
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| Gazza |
I dont think the Drifters were on Motown (apologies if I'm wrong) but those string of singles they put out in the late 50's and early 60's were fantastic. "Spanish harlem" and "up on the roof" were two of my favourites
James Taylor actually does a gorgeous cover of "up on the roof". he also played it at the 9/11 memorial concert at Madison Square Garden and it was one of the most moving performances of the entire night.
[Edited by Gazza] |
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| Honky Tonk Man |
Lets not forget that The Stones covered The Drifters very own Under The Boardwalk. Badly. |
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| FPM C10 |
quote:
Honky Tonk Man wrote:
Lets not forget that The Stones covered The Drifters very own Under The Boardwalk. Badly.
It IS bad, but I've always liked it. |
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| Gazza |
Yes, "so bad its brilliant"
It's the Stones equivalent of Plan 9 From Outer Space |
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| texile |
gazza say,
It's the Stones equivalent of Plan 9 From Outer Space>>
ha! its painfully inadequate.
the drifters were part of that whole brill building thing -with the great carole king - now that's another great story....
saw jt in concert a few years ago - he's beautiful....
love hangover is the last great motown hit -
that song has the sexiest driving groove......
and diana's voice makes me want to be a man so i can ....
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| FPM C10 |
quote:
Gazza wrote:
Yes, "so bad its brilliant"
It's the Stones equivalent of Plan 9 From Outer Space
Heee! Exactly.
There's something genuinely endearing in Mick's vocals, especially where he can't quite hit the right notes - the last traces of any real innocence, I suppose. |
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| stonedinaustralia |
gazza , FPM, HTM - i think you are being a little hard
it's not that bad
you're right tho FPM there is an endearing niavete (sp?) about it
re further great tracks i have a version of the four tops doing "Walk Away Renee" the b-side of "Bernadette" - a lovely tear jerker sung by one the best tear-jerking voices in the business
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| Nasty Habits |
SIA - yes it is. It's that bad. Actually it's worse. But it's not as bad as "My Girl".
The Drifters were on Atlantic. Leiber-Stoller produced Under the Boardwalk. Love those guys too (L-S), but that's another thread.
Bernadette is the jam. As is Standing in the Shadows of Love.
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| stonedinaustralia |
quote:
Nasty Habits wrote:
SIA - yes it is. It's that bad. Actually it's worse. But it's not as bad as "My Girl".
The Drifters were on Atlantic. Leiber-Stoller produced Under the Boardwalk. Love those guys too (L-S), but that's another thread.
Bernadette is the jam. As is Standing in the Shadows of Love.
OK - with your vote i guess that swings it nasty - "Boardwalk" is (at best)bad. No doubt about My Girl - i agree, that's not good almost as not good as Indian Girl
and the Drifters - oh yes - "there goes my baby" is right up there when you start talking about the saddest songs in the history of sad sad songs - i'm almost bursting into tears just sitting here thinking about it
another great motown track is marvin's "aint that peculiar"
if there is a negative to motown it's those efforts to climb aboard the "protest" band wagon - stevie's take on "blowin' in the wind" just doesn't work - (having said that "Love Child" does work - it champions social justice and at the same time provides a groove that will get you moving)
bob's songs are great but one thing you would never really consider them to be are songs for dancing (the raison detre of Motown i would suggest) - and everything stevie sings has a "nice" vibe to it - even at his angriest (e.g. "Living for the City") he doesn't quite sound righteously angry - more "extremely annoyed" or at best "a bit pisssed off" - like our friend max it seems he only knows how to love
[Edited by stonedinaustralia] |
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| Lord Homosex |
yeah "Boardwalk" bad
"My Girl" worse
but "Poison Ivy" the WORST! LOL Jagger at 18 squolking around down there looking for his baritone. |
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| Voodoo Scrounge |
Bernadette is a great tune |
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| Gazza |
"Something About you" by the Four Tops is an incredible track too.
I have a 1988 tour rehearsal tape of Springsteen & The E-Street Band playing that with the horn section that he had on the Tunnel of Love tour. Its only a couple of minutes and incomplete but its absolutely brilliant. Would have been an absolute showstopper had he performed it live. |
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| Voodoo Scrounge |
I know its slightly off topic but talking of Bruce Springsteen. Dion from Dion and the Belmonts used to play in the E Street band didnt he?
I love tears of a clown. Stevie wonder wrote the music for that. |
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| Poplar |
Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'" |
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| Gazza |
quote:
Voodoo Scrounge wrote:
I know its slightly off topic but talking of Bruce Springsteen. Dion from Dion and the Belmonts used to play in the E Street band didnt he?
er, no!! He was having hits about a generation before Springsteen even got a record contract. |
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| Voodoo Scrounge |
Yeah he did. Im talking bout way after he split from the Belmonts. He went solo, got drugged up and reformed the band. They split again and he played with the E Street band for a while. It says so on the inlay of my Best of Dion and the Belmonts CD! |
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| Voodoo Scrounge |
I found something here.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/steveislip/dion+e-streetband.html
Its not quite what I was on about. Buts its nearly there |
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| Gazza |
well its a guest appearance at a Springsteen/E Street Band concert , which isnt exactly the same as him "joining the band".
When Bruce broke the band up for a few years in the early 90s a couple of them toured with an "E Street Band Revue" for a while, but I dont think Dion was part of that either.
Dion was NEVER a member of the E-Street Band. Trust me!
Dion did a fantastic album called "Yo Frankie" which came out around 1989. Most of these first generation of rock n rollers seem to eventually get to do an album with lots of famous guest artists who followed in their wake, and this was his. It's a gem of a record.
[Edited by Gazza] |
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| FPM C10 |
quote:
Lord Homosex wrote:
yeah "Boardwalk" bad
"My Girl" worse
but "Poison Ivy" the WORST! LOL Jagger at 18 squolking around down there looking for his baritone.
I love ALL of those songs.
Doesn't mean they aren't BAD, but I love them. They're totally endearing. You can almost hear their faces breaking out as they play!
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| Honky Tonk Man |
The Stones rendition of Under The Boardwalk is at best, tolerable. They really do just sound like any other British Invasion band.
Theres and obvsious reason as to why The Stones left My Girl in the vaults for a couple of years. Bill Wymans backing vocals! |
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| Gazza |
sadly, the Four Tops are now down to two :
"Obie" Benson sang more than 50 years with the Four Tops
By Brian McCollum
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Renaldo "Obie" Benson of the Four Tops
DETROIT — Renaldo "Obie" Benson, who for more than 50 years provided the bass vocal foundation to the Four Tops' lush harmonies, died yesterday at Harper University Hospital in Detroit. He had turned 69 June 14.
Mr. Benson had been battling a sudden onset of medical problems.
Last month, he had a heart attack after the amputation of a leg because of circulation problems. He was subsequently diagnosed with lung cancer and began intense, stage-four chemotherapy last week.
Abdul "Duke" Fakir and Levi Stubbs remain the two surviving members of the Four Tops, founded in 1954 on Detroit's northeast side and heralded as one of the longest-running acts in the history of U.S. popular music. Vocalist Lawrence Payton, Mr. Benson's closest boyhood friend, died in 1997.
Mr. Benson "enjoyed every moment of his life," Fakir said through a publicist yesterday. "He put a smile on everyone's face, including my own."
Mr. Benson, who played a key role in directing the Four Tops' concert choreography, was known as a reliable source of comic relief within the group, which was a veteran ensemble by the time it signed on with Motown Records in 1963.
The quartet's statistics on the Billboard pop charts remain formidable: 24 hits in the top 40, seven in the top 10, and two No. 1s.
Many of the songs Mr. Benson recorded with his group remain radio staples, including "Reach Out I'll Be There," "Standing in the Shadows of Love" and "Bernadette."
Mr. Benson rarely slowed down during his tenure with the Tops, who celebrated their 50th anniversary with a bash at the Detroit Opera House last summer.
As he hit his 60s, he continued to spend more than one-third of each year on the road, performing Four Tops shows across the world.
His last significant performance came April 8, when the group played "Late Show With David Letterman."
As his condition worsened in recent weeks, Mr. Benson was replaced onstage by Payton's son, Roquel Payton.
Mr. Benson is survived by two daughters and an ex-wife.
Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Com
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| Honky Tonk Man |
Thanks for posting that Gazza.
It is indeed unbelievable that this vocal group has been performing for fifty years. Have they been releasing music for that length of time too? I'd be interested as to what they sounded like prior to signing with Motown.
Motown invented a whole sound and The Four Tops were a huge part of that. I presume they're earlier output sounded quite different?
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