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Showing posts with label Gold (Definitive Collection 2CD Remasters Series). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gold (Definitive Collection 2CD Remasters Series). Show all posts

Sunday 7 March 2021

"Gold" by MARTHA REEVES & THE VANDELLAS – Single and Album Tracks from 1962 to 1978 on Gordy and MCA Records Including Solo Titles and Previously Unreleased Stereo Versions (April 2006 UK Universal/Hip-O/Motown 2CD Definitive Edition Anthology – Ellen Fitton Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...




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"...Like A Heat Wave..."

Often stickered as a 'Definitive Edition', I've reviewed about six of Universal's "Gold" 2CD sets - The Crusaders, Steppenwolf, Marvin Gaye, Cream, Lionel Richie & The Commodores, Traffic, Kool & The Gang and so on. And have found that the right ones have stunning Remastered Audio. This Hip-O Select double for Motown's Martha Reeves & The Vandellas is one of those. 

"Gold" is Mastered by ELLEN FITTON, the lady who did all fourteen of 'The Complete Motown Singles' Hardback Book Sets across eight years (2005 to 2013) - an award winning series that unleashed 1847 US Singles over 75 CD Volumes in packaging so lavish it literally made your eyes water. 

So our Ellen knows her way around a Mono or Stereo master tape box or two. And that's the kind of quality you're getting here. First up is the Martha & The Vandellas girl-group years and then the solo Martha Reeves stuff - 22 US R&B chart hits in (each is here), a smattering of hard-to-find B-sides on digital, CD compilation Rarities and even Three Previously Unreleased Stereo Mixes, including one for the huge hit "...Heat Wave". You could argue that given the playing-time room on either CD that more rare B-sides and LP cuts could and should have been included, but it is impressive nonetheless. 

So ignore the boring generic title/packaging and feel the sonic boom. And the fact that "Gold" is new for less than seven squid (or about four if you look around on the secondhand market) is only a bonus. To the details and the original Heat Wave gals...

UK released 3 April 2006 - "Gold" by MARTHA REEVES & THE VANDELLAS on Universal/Hip-O/Motown 0602498840993 (Barcode 602498840993) is a 2CD 42-Track Definitive Edition Anthology of Remasters that plays out as follows: 

CD1 (56:29 minutes): 
1. I'll Have To Let Him Go (September 1962, Gordy 7011, A-side)
2. Come And Get These Memories (February 1963, Gordy 7014, A-side)
3. (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED Extended Stereo Mix)
4. A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday) (July 1963, Gordy 7022, B-side of "Heat Wave")
5. Quicksand (November 1963, Gordy 7025, A-side)
6. Darling, I Hum Our Song (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED Stereo Mix)
7. Live Wire (January 1964, Gordy 7027, A-side)
8. In My Lonely Room (March 1964, Gordy 7031, A-side)
9. Dancing In The Street (July 1964, Gordy 7033, A-side)
10. There He Is (At My Door) (July 1964, Gordy 7033, B-side)
11. Wild One (November 1964, Gordy 7036, A-side)
12. Nowhere To Run (February 1965, Gordy 7039, A-side)
13. Motoring (February 1965, Gordy 7039, B-side)
14. You've Been In Love Too Long (July 1965, Gordy 7045, A-side)
15. Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things) (July 1965, Gordy 7045, B-side)
16. My Baby Loves Me (Stereo Version from the January 2003 CD compilation "The Love Songs Of Motown")
17. What Am I Going To Do Without Your Love (May 1966, Gordy 7053, A-side)
18. I'm Ready For Love (Alternate Stereo Version that was included on the US LP "Watchout!" on Gordy G920 in December 1966)
19. Third Finger, Left Hand (October 1966, Gordy 7058, Non-LP B-side of "Jimmy Mack" – see also Track 1 on CD2)
20. It's Easy To Fall In Love (With A Guy Like You) (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED Stereo Mix)

CD1: All Tracks credited to MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS 

CD2 (66:32 minutes):
1. Jimmy Mack (Stereo Single Version, Mixed by Tom Moulton and First Issued July 2005 on the 4CD Box Set "The Motown Collection")
2. Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone (August 1967, Gordy 7062, A-side)
3. One Way Out (August 1967, Gordy 7062, B-side)
4. Honey Chile (October 1967, Gordy 7067, A-side)
5. Show Me The Way (October 1967, Gordy 7067, B-side)
6. I Promise To Wait My Love (April 1968, Gordy 7070, A-side)
7. Forget Me Not (April 1968, Gordy 7070, B-side)
8. I Can't Dance To That Music You're Playing (July 1969, Gordy 7075, Non-LP A-side)
9. Sweet Darlin' (October 1968, Gordy 7080, Non-LP A-side)
10. (We've Got) Honey Love (April 1969, Gordy 7085, A-side)
11. Taking My Love (And Leaving Me) (August 1969, Gordy 7094, A-side)
12. I Should Be Proud (February 1970, Gordy 7098, A-side)
13. Love, Guess Who (February 1970, Gordy 7098, B-side)
14. I Gotta Let Me Go (November 1970, Gordy 7103, Non-LP A-side)
15. Bless You (September 1971, Gordy 7110, A-side)
16. In And Out Of Life (January 1972, Gordy 7113, A-side)
17. Tear It On Down (May 1972, Gordy 7118, A-side)
18. Willie D (from the December 1974 US LP Soundtrack "Willie Dynamite" on MCA Records MCA-393)
19. Power Of Love (February 1974, MCA 40194, A-side)
20. Wild Night (August 1974, MCA 40274, A-side)
21. Love Blind (May 1975, Arista AS-0124, A-side)
22. Free Again (from the 1978 Henry Cosby US LP "We Meet Again" on Milestone/Fantasy 9549)

CD2: Tracks 1 to 3 credited to MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS
Tracks 4 to 17 credited to MARTHA REEVES & THE VANDELLAS 
Track 18 credited to MARTHA REEVES & THE SWEET THINGS 
Tracks 19 to 22 credited to MARTHA REEVES 

The 20-page booklet has some fab photos and none moreso than the gorgeous hipster 60ts shot on the last page – the three gals looking glad to be alive in full colour. MARK BEGO, co-author of the MR autobiography "Confessions Of A Motown Diva", gives us a potted history of the group and their hit-making machine in the excellent liner notes. Both "Heat Wave" and "Jimmy Mack" hit the coveted No. 1 spot on the US R&B singles charts in 1963 and 1967 respectively, whilst the iconic "Dancing In The Street" and "Nowhere To Run" 45s were huge Top 10 hits too in 1964 and 1965. 

The other colour photos in the booklet are very cool culminating in a solo pose, while the last few pages are given over to detailed track-by-track info including release dates for the 45s and LPs and Pop/R&B US Chart positions. But the big news is the ELLEN FITTON Remasters ("Heat Wave" was by Suha Gur) and they are just fabulous – punchy and alive and rearing to go. 

Although they are all but forgotten now (even on oldies Radio) - "My Baby Loves Me" and "I'm Ready For Love" were huge hits of the day (No. 3 and No. 2 in November 1966 and March 1967). Rehearing them now (and so many of the others) is like revisiting friends from the past you regret losing touch with. Martha and her gals benefitted of course from gifted songwriters like Smokey Robinson, Sylvia May and Ivory Joe Hunter and of course the magic of H-D-H (Holland-Dozier-Holland). 

Northern Soul hero Frank Wilson (whose lone copy of the withdrawn 1966 45 "Do I Love You" reputedly exchanged hands for 25,000 dollars in the last few years) has a cover of his "It's Easy To Fall In Love (With A Guy Like You)" at the end of CD1 – but this time in the shape of a Previously Unissued Stereo variant - a genuine find if ever there was one.

By the time we're into CD2 and nearing the Solo years, we get Richard Morris, Norman Whitfield, Ashford & Simpson and Clarence Paul contributing the tunes. Martha covers Van Morrison's "Wild Night" and J.J. Johnson's "Willie D" whilst offering up a rare song of her own in "Love Blind". Her last brush with the US charts came on MCA Records - the catchy "Power Of Love" given to her Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Joe Simon (it peaked at No. 22). 

"Gold" by MARTHA REEVES & THE VANDELLAS gives you a whole lot of goodies for not a lot of wonga. Sure, in 2021, some fifty to sixty years after the main event, we may not have the stamina to 'dance in the street' anymore - and with Covid-19 - it may actually be illegal. But there is naught stopping a body from dancing towards this joyous little twofer. Come and get these memories - good advice I say...

Thursday 25 February 2021

"Gold" by MARVIN GAYE – Tracks from 1962 on Tamla and Motown through to 1982 on Columbia Records Including Two Previously Unreleased Tracks from 1968 and 1972 – Guests Include The Vandellas, Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell and songwriters Holland-Dozier-Holland with Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong (September 2005 UK Universal/Motown 2CD Anthology of Kevin Reeves Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...




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"...Come Get To This..."


When it comes to huge artists across many different genres and you just want a 'Best Of' or 'Anthology' that delivers but won't cost you a second mortgage - where do you look? I’d advise that right here is a truly fab place to start. 

The 2CD "Gold" sets from Universal is one of those boring generic series of reissues where they 'make it easy for the public to understand'– a catchall type compilation for the supermarket shelf or Megastore (if there any of those even left). I think Universal have as many as 40 maybe even 50 different artists given the twofer "Gold" treatment (see my reviews for Steppenwolf, The Crusaders, Traffic and The Commodores/Lionel Richie). 

But here's the rub (and the distant lover); despite the rather naff artwork and a title that shows all the creative imagination of a concrete brick - I've found without exception that the "Gold" series does the absolute business on the audio front. You get great remastering names like ERICK LABSON (huge swathes of Chess), ELLEN FITTON (all 14 of the award-winning Motown Singles Book Sets), SETH FOSTER (James Brown) and SUHA GUR (Allman Brothers, Joe Cocker, Elvis Costello, Kansas, Cat Stevens, Rod Stewart and more). 

In the case of our Soul hero Marvin Gaye, Motown tapped a name used by many Audiophile companies and an Audio Engineer who has handled literally hundreds of CD Reissues and Remasters to mucho praise - KEVIN REEVES. This 2CD set sounds glorious. And it’s cheaper than a party political promise come election time. In fact if you look in the right places, you can probably nab this sexy little double digital Anthology for under a fiver. 

"...Mercy Me" is right. So, if you'll forgive the obvious pun, let's get it on and do the details...

UK released 5 September 2005 - "Gold" by MARVIN GAYE on Universal/Motown 0602498632253 (Barcode 602498632253) is a 34-Track 2CD Definitive Collection of Remasters covering 1962 to 1982 that plays out as follows:

CD1 (54:05 minutes):
1. Stubborn Kind Of Fellow [The Vandellas on Backing Vocals]
2. Hitch Hike [The Vandellas on Backing Vocals]
3. Pride And Joy 
4. Can I Get A Witness 
5. You're A Wonderful One 
6. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) 
7. I'll Be Doggone 
8. Ain't That Peculiar 
9. It Takes Two [with KIM WESTON]
10. Ain't No Mountain High Enough [with TAMMI TERRELL]
11. Your Precious Love [with TAMMI TERRELL]
12. If I Could Build My Whole World Around You [with TAMMI TERRELL]
13. Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing [with TAMMI TERRELL]
14. You're All I Need To Get By [with TAMMI TERRELL]
15. You 
16. I Heard It Through The Grapevine 
17. Too Busy Thinking About My Baby 
18. That's The Way Love Is 
19. His Eye Is On The Sparrow [PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 1968 Stereo Mix]

CD2 (76:09 minutes):
1. What's Going On 
2. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
3. Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler) 
4. You're The Man - Pts. I & II (5:45 minutes)
5. Where Are We Going? [PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 1972 recording]
6. Trouble Man 
7. Let's Get It On
8. Come Get To This 
9. Distant Lover (Live) 
10. I Want You 
11. Got To Give It Up (Live, 11:48 minutes)
12. Anger 
13. Ego Tripping Out 
14. Praise 
15. Sexual Healing 

The 16-page booklet features liner notes from Marvin's official biographer DAVID RITZ who gives a potted history of his recording career and well-publicised mental and financial troubles towards to end - right up to he triumphant "Sexual Healing" return in 1982 that put him right back up on top everywhere in the world. There are cool colour photos and the track-by-track annotation offers the LP title, writer credits and US R&B and Pop chart positions if applicable. They use the same smiling photo of MG on the rear inlay beneath the see-through tray. KEVIN REEVES handles the MONO and STEREO Remasters and they are fabulous. 

While the early stuff like "Hitch Hike" and "Pride And Joy" is very much for aficionados of early 60ts Soul – tunes like "Can I Get A Witness" and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" carry with them a joy that made Motown so huge (Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting contributing). Can we even count the number of movies that have used Marvin and Tammi tearing it up on "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and you have forgotten how touching and life-affirming they were on the upbeat "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You". There was also something so expressive in his voice when he hit those "I" high notes in "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" – Smokey Robinson commenting in the liner notes that he could up any song you threw at him into something better. 

And what can we say about "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" – a Number 1 R&B hit for Gladys Knight & The Pips a whole year earlier in 1968. It was thrown onto the "In The Groove" LP in August 1968 as filler on Side 1, and in fact if you look at the cover art for original issues of Tamla TS 285 in Stereo, you will see that the song isn’t even mentioned in the highlights track list on the front cover. Clearly not much was expected of it. But a Chicago DJ spotted "...Grapevine" and it's rhythmic brilliance and after saturation play and huge reaction from his listening public, Berry Gordy was forced to rush release the single in November 1968 Stateside. And wham – a US R&B No.1 and Pop too. In fact when it was belatedly issued February 1969 in the UK on Tamla Motown – the 45-single did the same – up to No.1 – only Motown’s second number 1 in the UK for the whole of that decade. In the USA they re-named the "In The Groove" LP after the tune now forever associated with our hero. Even now "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" sends chills down my spine. A masterpiece...

I half suspected that the Traditional Gospel tune "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" which had been an American-only Mono single in September 1968 would be a bit of a barnstormer in STEREO – and it is. He goes at the Jesus watches over me epic with gusto even if the brass and backing singers threaten to drown the song with too much reverence. But it’s a find and a clever set up to the God-love that opens CD2.

Everything is everything – gotta find a way to bring some love here today. It is impossible for me not to hear "What’s Going On" and not go to tearful mush. This stunning album has been in my life 50 years and never diminishes. So CD2 hammers you with a trio of Gaye gorgeousness that just can’t be beat – "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” following the title track. Cool too to hear "Ego Tripping out" and "Praise" from those last albums he did for Motown. The 2CD Deluxe Edition of "Let's Get It On" featured an Alternate Mix of the unreleased "Where Are We Going" (a 1972 outtake) – the song being a sort of almost-Pop version of "What's Going On" meets "Let's Get In On". It’s beautifully recorded and genuinely feels like a discovery. And on it goes to the 'good for me' comeback song "Sexual Healing" - a suitable end to this Anthology.   

Disappointments and exclusions: looking at that 54:05 minute playing time for CD1 and it's clear that at least seven or even eight more songs could have been fitting onto the '60s' disc. Gems like the stand-alone "Baby Don't You Do It" single from September 1964 - a huge kick-ass R&B fave of The Who, Small Faces, The Band and so many other Rock acts. It would have elevated proceedings hugely. Or even more of the sublime Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell duets like "Two Can Have A Party". 

True MG fans kind of lose it for his brilliant and largely instrumental "Trouble Man" soundtrack album too, so the sexy-funky "'T' Plays It Cool" would have added another bow to CD2, displaying his real talent and diversity. And do I want nearly 12-minutes of the live "Got To Give It Up" when I could have had "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You" from the underrated divorce-present double-album "Here, My Dear"? But besides these wee niggles; what you do get is wall-to-wall excellence (and in Stereo) rounded off with two unreleased and a booklet presentation that doesn't disgrace itself.

In an ideal world, I’d revamp CD1 and push the page number up in the booklet. But as it stands "Gold" is a very satisfying listen with that great Remastering and a solid block reminder of a talent so huge that we miss him still – nearly thirty-seven years since his passing. Hot like an oven...



Thursday 26 January 2017

"Gold" by TRAFFIC [feat Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Dave Mason] (2005 Universal 2CD Definitive Collection Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...


This Review Along With 500 Others Is Available In My
SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites
CLASSIC 1970s ROCK On CD - Exception Remasters  
Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95
Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 
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"…If You See Something That Looks Like A Star…"

At last count - I numbered way over 50 artists across Universal’s vast catalogue given the 2CD “Gold” treatment (sometimes also known as a “Definitive Edition”). But with the artwork for these digitally remastered two-disc retrospective sets being so uninspiring and uninformative (a track list on the rear with bugger all else by way of detail) – many simply go unnoticed – languishing around in digital warehouses unwashed and unloved. But that isn’t to say there isn’t a deal for a buyer to be had…

Amidst their hidden gems - STEPPENWOLF and THE CRUSADERS are two "Gold" editions that jump to mind (I’ve reviewed and raved about both - amazing content as well as quality remastered sound). Well here comes another – the TRAFFIC instalment.

As you can see from the detailed lists below – you get great choices (and lots of them) and best of all (only credited on the inside booklet) - superb ELLEN FITTON mastering. Fitton is a name I’ve sung the praises of before – she mastered all of the extraordinary “Complete Tamla Motown Singles” book collections (75 discs across 14 volumes, 1847 tracks) and has also had a hand in large swaths of Hip-O Select reissues. Her work here is the same. So here are the smiling phases, paper suns and high-heeled boys with low sparks…

Released September 2005 – "Gold" by TRAFFIC on Universal/Island 0602498312070 (Barcode 602498312070) is a 2CD retrospective that breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (79:49 minutes):
1. Paper Sun
2. Dealer
3. Coloured Rain
4. Hole In My Shoe
5. No Face, No Name, No Number
6. Heaven Is In Your Mind
7. Smiling Phases
8. Dear Mr. Fantasy
Tracks 1 to 8 are from their debut album “Mr. Fantasy” – released December 1967 in the UK on Island ILPS 9061 [Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on the British LP] and April 1968 in the USA as “Heaven Is In Your Mind” on United Artists UAS 6651 (Stereo) [Tracks 1 to 8 on the US LP – retitled “Mr. Fantasy on 2nd pressings].

9. You Can All Join In
10. Pearly Queen
11. Feelin’ Alright
12. Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring
13. Forty Thousand Headmen
Tracks 9 to 13 are from their 2nd album “Traffic” – released October 1968 in the UK on Island ILPS 9081 and in the USA on United Artists UAS 6676 (Stereo)

14. Shanghai Noodle Factory
15. Medicated Goo
Tracks 14 and 15 are form their 3rd album “Last Exit” – released May 1969 in the UK on Island ILPS 9097 and in the USA on United Artists UAS 6702 (Stereo)

16. Glad
17. Freedom Rider
18. Empty Pages
19. John Barleycorn
Tracks 16 to 19 are from their 4th album “John Barleycorn Must Die” – released July 1970 in the UK on Island ILPS 9116 and in the USA on United Artists UAS 5504 (Stereo)

Disc (78:44 minutes):
1. Gimme Some Lovin’ (Live) – from the live album “Welcome To The Canteen” - released September 1971 in the UK on Island ILPS 9166 and in the USA on United Artists UAS 5550

2. Low Spark Of The High-Heeled Boys
3. Light Up And Leave Me Alone
4. Rock & Roll Stew
5. Rainmaker
Tracks 2 to 5 are from their 5th studio album “The Low Spark Of The High-Heeled Boys” – released November 1971 in the UK on Island ILPS 9180 and in the USA on Island SW 9306

6. Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory
7. (Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired
Tracks 6 and 7 are from their 6th studio album “Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory” – released January 1973 in the UK on Island ILPS 9224 and in the USA on Island SW 9323

8. Something New
9. Dream Gerrard
10. Walking In The Wind
11. When The Eagle Flies
Tracks 8 to 11 are from their 7th and last studio album “When The Eagle Flies” – released November 1973 in the UK on Island ILPS 9273 and in the USA on Asylum 7E-1020

The 20-page booklet is unexpectedly substantial – cool photos, an essay on the band by SCOTT SCHNIDER and detailed reissue credits at the rear. And that superb remastered sound too…

To this day tracks like “Dear Mr. Fantasy” and Dave Mason’s wonderful “Feelin’ Alright” (covered by Joe Cocker, Grand Funk Railroad, Lulu and Three Dog Night within a few years of its release) still send me. There’s fantastic audio punch on “Medicated Goo” ("freaky Freddie!”) and Island Records literally named their budget label sampler LP after the “You Can All Join In” track on the 2nd LP. The opening instrumental “Glad” on “John Barleycorn Must Die” always sounded to me like Soul Rock or even Fusion before such a phrase was even coined – brilliant stuff.

The stunning eleven and half minutes of “Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys” where Winwood cruises through this almost hypnotic groove still sounds unbelievably modern – I love it (lyrics above). For sure things began to taper off towards the bands last few albums - but I still feel there’s soulfulness in the Winwood/Capaldi slowy “(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired”. The eleven-minute “Dream Gerrard” (a co-write with Vivian Stanshall) has a good groove too - as does “Walking In The Wind” (another Capaldi co-write with Steve Winwood). All this and “Paper Sun”, “Smiling Phases” and the hippy sitar of “Hole In My Shoe”! Will we ever see their like again? I doubt it…

With generous playing times on both discs (a half-decent booklet too), top quality sound and an online price tag that is often below three pounds (three quid for God's sake!) - you’re getting a whole lot of bang for your buck here. Way to go…

INDEX - Entries and Artist Posts in Alphabetical Order