What's in the Grooves Still Counts
ANTICIPATING MORE MOTOWN VINYL
Can West Grand contribute?
As in the United States and other countries, the appeal of vinyl in the U.K. continues to grow. Last year, LP sales increased there by almost ten percent compared to 2023, reaching 6.7 million units. That was a three-decade high, according to the local record companies’ trade association – which is still known as the British Phonographic Industry. (Grandad, what’s a phonograph?)
This year, U.K. vinyl sales should be buttressed by the arrival of a new catalogue label, officially licensed by Motown’s owner, Universal Music.
Reconsidering Brenda Holloway…
That’s right: West Grand is the name of the venture – what better? – and its initial, first-quarter releases include singles by Brenda Holloway and Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, and a long-player which refreshes a brand first used in Britain more than 20 years ago: A Cellarful Of Motown! (Technically, it was billed then as a cellarful OF MOTOWN! and the series ran to five volumes on compact disc between 2002 and 2020.)
West Grand has been set up by two U.K. music business veterans, Neil Rushton and Glenn Gunton, with the encouragement and involvement of Paul Nixon, who formulated the original Cellarful concept more than 20 years ago. “Glenn and myself are huge fans of Paul’s celebrated Cellarful CD compilations,” Rushton told me this week, “which unearthed so many previously unknown recordings buried deep in the Motown vaults.
“We have taken the opportunity to release the very first vinyl version in the series, and concentrated on tracks we love which were unissued when recorded, but came to be worshipped by the ‘rare soul’ movement after they were discovered.”
BUSTING BOOTLEGS WITH A ‘CELLARFUL’
West Grand’s initial, 16-track A Cellarful Of Motown! album release (on 140g black vinyl) includes three recordings which were part of Nixon’s first such compilation in 2002, namely, Barbara McNair’s “Baby A Go-Go,” J.J. Barnes’ “(Tell Me) Ain’t It The Truth” and Gladys Knight & the Pips’ “If You Ever Get Your Hands On Love.” In addition, the new LP has material by Brenda Holloway, Marvin Gaye, the Originals, the Contours, Carolyn Crawford, Chris Clark and the Spinners, among others.
Several of these sides were first made available – legally – on This Is Northern Soul! in 1997, a 24-track compact disc of Motown magic issued by PolyGram’s Débutante label. “One of the reasons I invented a cellarful OF MOTOWN! was as a bootleg-buster,” says Paul Nixon. During the 1980s and ’90s, rare and unknown Motown tracks – particularly with a Northern Soul flavour – were frequently bootlegged, as those leaked out of the Hitsville U.S.A. vaults one way or another. He credits Alex Leslie at PolyGram’s U.K. company at the time with the initiative to get some of the less-obvious Motown repertoire into the market legitimately.
Back to the cellar via West Grand…
Nixon adds, “I couldn’t be happier that West Grand is licensed by Universal Music. I’m not a huge advocate of vinyl – older people still want CDs – but I’m grateful that Neil and Glenn are putting out more Motown.” He’s also hopeful that they might consider licensing Ivy Jo Hunter’s album, which came close to U.K. release in 2021 via Cherry Red Records, only to be sidelined at the last minute.
As it turns out, West Grand’s A Cellarful Of Motown! (subtitled Northern Soul Love Affair) will be available on compact disc, with bonus tracks by the Velvelettes, Frank Wilson, the Marvelettes and the Temptations. Meanwhile, the label’s first 45 features Marvin Gaye duets with Tammi Terrell (“Tears At The End Of A Love Affair”) and Kim Weston (“Just Too Much To Hope For”), while its second single offers Brenda Holloway’s “Think It Over (Before You Break My Heart),” coupled with the band track, credited to Earl Van Dyke & the Soul Brothers. The latter two benefit from new Detroit mixes, too, according to Nixon.
“For the singles,” says Neil Rushton, “we are absolutely delighted to release the Marvin and Tammi version of ‘Tears,’ which up to now has only been available as a download, and previously unreleased takes of the Brenda Holloway/Earl Van Dyke beauty. The plan in the future is to hopefully release more unissued Motown under the guidance of Paul.” West Grand’s distribution is handled by The Orchard/Above Board.
Gunton and Rushton have strong credentials of their own. The former, who’s a graphic designer in the music industry, created the well-regarded Joe Boy and Outta Sight labels, while the latter set up Inferno Records, one of the first U.K. imprints to offer Northern Soul material, including Gloria Jones’ “Tainted Love.” Rushton is also recognised for bringing the Detroit techno genre of dance music to attention in Europe. Among his writing work is the 2009 book, Northern Soul Stories: Angst and Acetates, and he edited and co-published the Hype & Sou! memoir by the late Al Abrams, Motown’s first publicist.
MORE MOTOWN GUYS
West Grand is a welcome newcomer to the ranks of those who mine the Motown legacy, even though the number of such albums has declined in recent years. Universal Music has made rare and previously-unissued recordings available in digital form, but physical releases? Of late, few and far between. The firm’s CD series of Supremes reissues (often with bonus tracks) was widely praised, but the last – an expanded edition of Funny Girl – came out in 2020.
Britain’s Ace Records has also been a stalwart of licensing and releasing vintage Hitsville repertoire, although there’s some concern that this may not continue in the long-term. One positive piece of news is an imminent addition to Ace’s More Motown Guys CD compilation line on its Kent imprint.
Hit & Run! More Motown Guys will include hitherto unissued sides by Marv Johnson, Freddie Gorman, Sammy Ward, Lamont Dozier and Ivy Jo Hunter, and tracks not before available on compact disc by Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Jimmy Ruffin and Shorty Long, among others.
Kent has another ace Motown card to play…
The 25-track collection also offers recordings by two Motown-signed acts about whom little or nothing is known: Michael Thomas (“The Rose Of My Life,” written and produced by Mickey Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter) and Johnny Earl (“Stop And Think About Love,” written by Stevenson, James Dean and William Weatherspoon). Both tracks are of 1966 vintage, as is that by barely-known Skip Cunningham, “Without You Babe,” penned and produced by Hunter.
The Kent album also has a melancholy aspect: it’s the last such project by the late Keith Hughes, admired and respected in the Motown community for compiling and annotating, with colleagues Mick Patrick and Tony Rounce, more than 20 albums for Ace. Moreover, Hughes, who died last July, co-created the essential Don’t Forget The Motor City database, and co-produced most of The Complete Motown Singles anthologies with Universal Music Group’s Harry Weinger.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Elemental Music continues with its commitment to reissue classic Motown albums on vinyl, and the Motown Museum in Detroit makes its debut in the record business, so to speak, with a special 60th anniversary pressing of the Temptations’ “My Girl.” The museum is introducing its “legacy vinyl project,” and offering the 45 in a so-called blue swirl pressing, limited to 1,500 copies, as well as two “gold concentrate” pressings, each limited to 1,000 copies, with museum admission and platinum membership benefits. The anniversary being celebrated is that of the original “My Girl” release on the Gordy label on December 21, 1964. The re-press is expected to ship this month.
The Temptations are getting into the spirit, too. Last week, the group sang “My Girl” on board a cruise ship in Los Angeles, to mark the 60th anniversary of operator Princess Cruises. The quintet will also perform on a Princess anniversary voyage, embarking from Los Angeles in December.
For its part in the vinyl rebirth, Elemental Music this month puts out Smokey Robinson’s Pure Smokey, Gladys Knight & the Pips’ Nitty Gritty, and Diana Ross & the Supremes’ Reflections. Next month, it releases Diana Ross & the Supremes’ Let The Sunshine In, the Four Tops’ Changing Times, and the Temptations’ Puzzle People; in March, there’s another Temps title, Psychedelic Shack. The company divides its output between the United States and Spain, under license from Universal Music Enterprises and UMG’s local subsidiary. This year’s Record Store Day on April 12 should offer further opportunities for labels like Elemental and West Grand to promote their Motown releases on both sides of the Atlantic.
Is your phonograph ready?
Soul Time notes: West Grand’s Glenn Gunton was responsible for an earlier, intriguing compilation, Soul On Fire: The Detroit Soul Story 1957-1977. The 96-track, 3CD set was issued in 2017 on Cherry Red’s Soul Time label, and the backstory is here. Sourced substantially from entrepreneur Robert West’s various labels, the package was conceived and compiled by Gunton with a close friend of mine, the late Bob Fisher. It included pre-Motown sides by Marv Johnson, Brian (Eddie, really) Holland and the Primettes, plus other material by the likes of Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd, Bettye LaVette and Barbara Mercer.