You can get into the “stereo vs. mono” debate until your ears
disintegrate, but when it comes to Motown soul, there is no debate. Mono is the
only way to experience the unified power of the Funk Brothers’ and the silky
harmonies of The Miracles and The Marvelettes. So the label’s new
limited edition series of vinyl cut from original mono master tapes is
completely welcome. Most of these discs are long out of print on wax in their
definitive mixes, and a couple in the first wave—The Marvelettes’ Sophisticated Soul and The Supremes’ Reflections—have either never been
available in mono (the former) or only available in that format in the UK (the
latter).
This review will focus on three albums in this first wave,
while the other two (Reflections and The Temptations Sing Smokey) will
feature in their own review later this month. First up is 1963’s The Fabulous Miracles, a good
representation of the soft Tamla sound that gave way to a heavier beat a year
or two later. A few of Smokey Robinson’s songs are a bit too typical of his
label’s early sound, and the mere ten tracks make the whole package feel a bit
slight. However, the man’s butterfly voice never stops fluttering with elegance
and tonal perfection, and needless to say, the spellbinding “You’ve Really Got
a Hold on Me” is perfect in both performance and composition. The tougher, Sam
Cooke-style blues of “Won’t You Take Me Back” and “Happy Landing”, the joyous
yet easy-going stroll of the minor hit “A Love She Can Count On”, and the darting
woodwinds of “Whatever Makes You Happy” mix things up nicely too.
The Fabulous Miracles
is good, but The Four Tops’ Reach Out is
a bona-fide classic. The album was a sort of course correction following an
ill-advised attempt to appeal to the over-30 set that was all too common of
Motown in the mid-sixties. After On Top,
which split time between a side of the foursome’s classic soul power and a side
of Muzak, and 4 Tops on Broadway, Reach Out stiffs the oldsters to play
solely to kids. A look at the track list might give you pause since it’s so
dependent on covers of current pop and bubblegum hits by the likes of The
Monkees, The Left Banke, and The Association, but nearly every track is
brilliantly realized. The Tops redecorate “I’m a Believer” and “Last Train to
Clarksville” as classic Motown dance numbers and nearly equal The Left Banke’s
gut wrenching reading of “Walk Away Renee”. They even make hay with Tim
Hardin’s folk ballad “If I Were a Carpenter”, a hit for Bobby Darin in ’66 and an unlikely resident of Hitsville USA.
These excellent covers are bested by what may be the finest
line up of Holland-Dozier-Holland tunes on a Tops LP. “Reach Out I’ll Be
There”, “7 Rooms of Gloom”, “Bernadette”, and “Standing in the Shadows of Love”
compliment the covers well since they take so many of their cues from
contemporary pop with their harpsichords, weird percussion, imaginative lyrics,
and brooding tones. The only thing that fails to make the grade is a version of
“Cherish”. The Association rendered this ode to romantic misery flaccid with
their bland harmonies. Levi Stubbs should have let it rip to exploit the songs’
strong emotional core, but he never breaks a sweat and the Tops’ harmonies are
even stiffer than The Associations’. That little bump still doesn’t prevent Reach Out from being what may be The
Four Tops’ best... and certainly their best since 1965’s Second Album.
Its rarity aside, Sophisticated
Soul is a slightly odd choice for this series’ launch since it finds The
Marvelettes one member shy after the departure of Gladys Horton and a year
removed from their final major hit (“The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game”). This
album’s sole top-twenty single, “My Baby Must Be a Magician”, is a quirky
novelty atypical of the group’s sound. It may not brim with classics, but Sophisticated Soul does boast a raw
sound that belies its polite title. It’s most definitely the funkiest record in
this batch, and stuff like “Here I Am Baby”, the peppy “What’s Easy for Two Is Hard for One”, and the sexy “You’re the One for
Me, Bobby” should get under your skin in the best way.
Sound is superb across these three albums with mighty bass and
highs that are never shrill. Even The
Fabulous Miracles, the earliest platter in this bunch, is clear enough to
sound like it was recorded last week. The vinyl is flat, well centered, and
quiet. All this bodes well for future installments of Motown’s mono vinyl
series.
