Review: 3 More Motown Reissues from Elemental Music

As we reach the penultimate month of Elemental Music's year of Motown vinyl reissues we receive three rather different records. The earliest of these is one of Motown's courting-the-old-folks discs, although unlike the label's stodgier efforts in this arena, which tended to force The Four Tops or The Supremes to croon show tunes or corny standards, Marvin Gaye's When I'm Alone I Cry is something else entirely. In fact, Gaye had greater ambitions to be the next Nat King Cole than to be the next Smokey Robinson, so his heart was completely in this album. It's a genuine class act, marrying Gaye's classically fine voice with beautiful big band arrangements. This is a record that actually deserved to win over an older audience of discerning listeners. Moody and gorgeous.

For those who want the more--or should I say, most--traditional Motown sound, there's one of the label's landmarks, the debut record of The Four Tops. Unlike a lot of the debut LPs of a lot of other Motown artists, Four Tops is a genuinely great record packed with outstanding songs. And I'm not just talking about the hits, of which there are three whoppers: "Baby I Need Your Loving", "Without the One You Love", and "Ask the Lonely". Album cuts such as "Sad Souvenirs", "Your Love Is Amazing", "Don't Turn Away", and "Where Did You Go" (well, that one was actually a single B-side) are of the highest quality. Levi Stubbs's voice arrives with such maturity and confidence, Four Tops sounds more like a fifth or sixth album than a first.

The most startling album in this wave is one by a Motown artist that doesn't quite pack the star power of The Tops or Marvin Gaye, although Eddie Kendricks certainly made his mark as one of the lead voices of The Temptations for the group's first decade. After an acrimonious split, he skipped not a beat and put out his first solo album for Tamla, but it's his second that we're focusing on here, and it's a doozy. After hearing it, you may start to think Kendricks belongs in that same class as Gaye and Stevie Wonder: a Motown star who decided to hack out a very personal and forward-thinking path in the seventies. Unlike those label mates, Kendricks did not actually write or produce any material on People...Hold On (not even "Eddie's Love"). Still, the record is so brash, with its funk, premonitory disco vibes, trad African rhythms, and what can only be described as medieval soul, that it feels far removed from the Motown formula. The "not all men!" message of "Girl You Need a Change of Mind" is a bit of a step backward, although the mere acknowledgement and semi-support of feminism packs a weird whiff of progress. The message of hope for racial equality in the hypnotic title track requires no defense.

This trio of reissues continues the high-quality that the previous releases in Elemental's campaign already established. Four Tops sounds warm with weighty bass and fine detail. This the only one of these three record for which I have anything for comparison purposes. Needless to say, this mono remaster slays my fake stereo LP from 1964. When I'm Alone sounds similarly fine and similarly mono.

People...Hold On is the only stereo record in this wave, and it sounds phenomenal with a deep soundstage, powerful bass, and percussive details that sound more like they're happening live in the room than emanating from speakers. All discs are noise-free and flat and otherwise nicely pressed.