More Motown Girls — Adam White

THE GUYS AT ACE SERVE UP ANOTHER FINE SET

In some ways, it’s the material involving Berry Gordy personally which is the most intriguing part of Good Good Feeling! – the latest release in Ace Records’ Motown Girls series. This is the fourth such CD compilation, due out next Friday (27) in the U.K., and the subject of this week’s West Grand Blog.

Six of the album’s 25 tracks were written (or in one case, co-written) by Gordy, ranging from 1960’s “All I Could Do Was Cry” to 1966’s “Never Trust A Man,” and he also produced four of them. Obviously, his first positive results in music were as a songwriter, but as Motown grew, he had less and less time for creative tasks. For these, the boss evidently found the time.

“All I Could Do Was Cry” is usually associated with Etta James, whose version for Chess Records was a major R&B hit six decades ago; it was authored by Gordy with his sister, Gwen, and Billy Davis. The song’s interpretation on Good Good Feeling! is a stunning, five-minutes-plus by Yvonne Fair, produced by Ivy Jo Hunter. With a track cut in February 1968, this remake was originally meant for Gladys Knight & the Pips, but then assigned to Fair 18 months later. She delivers with her customary gusto – also, who’s that pumping pianist? – and the outcome is impressive.

Another familiar copyright is Gordy’s “My Daddy Knows Best,” first cut by the Marvelettes, but this time represented by Little Lisa. In part, it sounds like a different song, but the teenage daughter of a Lewis Sister (Kay) acquits herself well. So does the obscure Anita Knorl on 1962’s “Don’t Be Too Long,” a melodic composition which Gordy remade with Chris Clark three years later.

Much-adored Brenda Holloway is present with two tracks, one being her ’66 update of Gordy’s “Keep Me.” The song lends itself to Holloway’s passionate balladeering, while its melody – in this reading, at least – is more than reminiscent of the Teddy Bears’ “To Know Him, Is To Love Him.” Meanwhile, Chris Clark’s vocals on “Never Trust A Man” suggest that it must have been a contender for her masterful Soul Sounds album, rather than something for the vault.

The last of the Gordy tracks is “It’s Hard To Walk Away” by Martha & the Vandellas. He produced this midtempo outing in December 1962, just weeks before the group cut their breakthrough hit, “Come And Get These Memories,” with Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. Martha was young (21) with a voice still acquiring distinction and confidence; the result here is rather endearing.

The Motown Girls series has been the work of Ace Records’ stalwarts, Mick Patrick and Keith Hughes, and the latter’s liners are as essential as the music. (About “It’s Hard To Walk Away,” for example, we learn that it was one of the last Motown sessions for musician Joe Hunter – he plays the track’s organ solo – and that the next killer on keyboards, Earl Van Dyke, demanded, and got, a brand new Hammond organ.)

“As with the previous three albums,” says Hughes, “I make the first cut – maybe 30 or 40 tracks – then Mick shuffles them down. We always apply for more than we want, as tracks can be turned down by the licensors at different times for different reasons.” (Universal Music is the licensor, the absence of historic contractual paperwork among those reasons.)

“Keith and I share the compilation duties,” confirms Mick Patrick, “but Keith alone writes the notes and track annotations, and I commission and supervise the package design.” Hughes credits Patrick with the original Motown Girls concept – the first album came out in 2013 – but the latter’s work for Ace actually dates back to 1984. He has held several roles at the London-based company, including production manager. “These days,” he adds, “I’m a freelance A&R consultant, specialising in producers and songwriters, foreign-language recordings, and female artists of all genres.” (Patrick’s highly-regarded Where The Girls Are series for Ace has run to ten volumes so far.)

Hughes’ singular achievement among Motown disciples is, of course, the development of the Don’t Forget The Motor City online database, in partnership with Ritchie Hardin – as detailed here – and with the indispensable help of Universal Music VP Harry Weinger. With regard to Ace Records, Hughes adds, “Harry’s been of immense help to us. He was the person who authorised Ace to do The Satintones Sing! [in 2010], and I think that was the first time Universal licensed out unissued Motown recordings to a third party.”

Good Good Feeling! typifies the high calibre of Ace’s Motown output. Half the contents come from 1965-66, including “This Love I’ve Got” by Martha & the Vandellas, “In The Neighborhood” by Connie Haines, and the title track by Brenda Holloway, all previously unissued.

***Chris Clark in Manchester Square, London***

“In The Neighborhood,” penned by Mickey Stevenson and William Weatherspoon, was first meant for Ivy Jo Hunter, before being re-assigned to Haines. Two other Good Good Feeling! tracks, “This Love I’ve Got” and “A Love So Deep Inside,” were likewise earmarked for Hunter before being given to Martha & the Vandellas and the Velvelettes, respectively. His own unissued album, Ivy Jo Is In This Bag, has long been an object of interest among Motown aficionados. Recently, there have been fresh rumours that a U.K. independent label is aiming to release it.

The entire contents of Good Good Feeling! are listed here on Ace’s website, complete with brief excerpts. Before this album, many of the tracks were only available from Universal Music as digital downloads, with six never released at all. “We’re getting near the bottom of the pile now for Motown Girls,” admits Keith Hughes, “but there are some fine sides here, notably Barbara McNair’s ‘Watching A Plane In The Sky,’ an incomplete track that needed a lot of work.” The song was written by Tom Baird, and recorded in California in 1968 with producer Frank Wilson. “The title track’s a little masterpiece, too,” adds Hughes. “Goodness knows how that’s escaped the compilers ‘til now.”

Other acts represented are Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Lewis Sisters, Debbie Dean, Kim Weston, Ann Bogan, LaBrenda Ben, Oma Heard, Hattie Littles and Blinky. My personal favourite? Knight’s soulful “Show Me The Way,” with the Pips’ perfect harmonising and an undulating bass line – by James Jamerson, presumably – which alone deserves the attention of listeners.

As with the previous volumes, Good Good Feeling! has a fine selection of artist images, too. “Eric Charge’s immense collection of Motown pix has enabled us regularly to present (fairly) unknown photos of the stars,” Hughes comments. One such seldom-seen snap here features Chris Clark, outside EMI Records’ London headquarters in late 1967.

“We’re now going to rest the ‘Girls’ for a while,” says Hughes, “and attempt a Motown Instrumentals collection next. There’s never been a various-artists instrumentals compilation ’til now, as far as I know, so it’s a bit of a challenge!”

To paraphrase Berry Gordy, challenges breed champions.