The Velvelettes - He Was Really Sayin' Somthin'

Happy Monday! We're back this week with The Velvelettes. We spun The Velvelettes wonderful 2nd single a few months back. You can hear that number here. Today we spin their third single, the delightful He Was Really Sayin' Somthin'. The single was released on the Motown subsidiary, V.I.P. Records on December 28, 1964. I'm not going to rehash the back story on the band. You can read that in the previous post on the band. Just enjoy.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Song of the Week: The Velvelettes - Needle In A Haystack and Should I Tell Him

Needle In A Haystack

 

Should I Tell Him

Yesterday we gave you Welsh blue-eyed soul singer, Tawny Reed, performing Needle In A Haystack from '65. We return today with the original version of Needle In A Haystack. 

Needle In A Haystack was first recorded by a lightly known Michigan girl group called The Velvelettes on the Motown Records subsidiary, V.I.P. Records, in September of 1964. It was their second single. The Velvelettes had a rotating cast of members, but the heart of the band was Bertha Barbee McNeal, Mildred Gill, Betty Kelly and Carolyn Gill. Carolyn took the reigns as the lead singer. 

We're also including the Flip-Side, the more than solid Should I Tell Him which really allows Carolyn Gill to show off her singing chops. It's a fine double sided gem. 

The band went on to record another local hit the next year, He Was Really Saying Something, which was covered by the Terry Hall controlled band, Bananarama, in the mid-80s.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Under The Covers: Leaving Here by The Birds and Eddie Holland

The Birds

Leaving Here! This is one of those songs that can be done by just about anybody and it will still sound great. It's just one of those songs. Leaving Here was first recorded by Eddie Holland for Motown in December of 1963. Eddie Holland's name may sound familiar, despite the fact that he had only a brief frontman career for Motown. Eddie was the lyricist for one of THEE most potent songwriting teams ever -- Motown's house composers, Holland-Dozier-Holland. Eddie was the lyricist behind the label's biggest hits such as Heatwave, Baby I Need Your Loving, How Sweet It Is, Stop In The Name Of Love, Baby I Need Your Lovin'....Ah, hell, you get the picture. I could go on and on with the songs he wrote and produced of which you know every frickin' word. But back to one of his lesser known songs....

Leaving Here got picked up early by mod kings, The Who. They recorded it two or three times and did a pretty damn good job of it too. But none of the recordings ever made it to vinyl. From The Who the song was picked up by Ron Wood and his bandmates in his first band, The Birds. (nope, not The Byrds, but The Birds). Ron Wood substantially rearranged the song and turned it into a barre chord burner with a nice 1 and 1/2 step down twist for the lead guitar riff. The band released it on Decca on the 30th of April, 1965. While an obscure recording, The Birds version inspired many other covers of the song by artists as diverse as Motorhead, The Morlocks and The Cracked Jaffers. Pearl Jam, it should be noted, clearly covers The Who version. 

Eddie Holland

Enjoy. We'll see you next time On The Flip-Side!

Song of The Week: Chris Clark - Love's Gone Bad

Believe it or not, I'm actually featuring the A-Side of a record today! 

From August of 1966, we have blue eyed soul singer, Chris Clark on the Motown down-label, V.I.P., doing Love's Gone Bad. This Holland-Dozier-Holland composition has a real garage beat to it that just pounds away at the ears. In fact, Detroit garage band, The Underdogs, would record the same song for the same label in January of 1967. Largely the same sound. But Chris Clark's version is superior in our opinion. That's why she gets a feature at On The Flip-Side, and The Underdogs just get a toss away mention. Rumor has it that Chris was a personal favorite of Barry Gordy (wink, wink). 

Enjoy. Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side.

Song of the Week: "Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down", Temptations

The Flip-Side is digging a new analog to digital recording set up this week. And that means more vinyl is being raised from the deepest reaches of the analog cave we live in. Of all the vinyl we've been digging, The Temptations' Greatest Hits Vol. II (1970) is catching our attention the most. This is a collection of songs the Temptations recorded from '67-'69 with a new attitude (funkier), new producer (Bob Whitfield), new members of the Funk Brothers (the Motown house band) and a new lead singer (Dennis Edwards). The result was pretty funking cool!

Today we look at The Temptations' 1968 number, Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down. It features some pretty killer wah-pedal inflected guitar work (I never thought I would say that) and great bass work from what we think is brand new Funk Brother, Bob Babbitt who had the unenviable job of replacing one of the greatest bassists ever, James Jamerson. Dennis Edwards, the new lead singer for The Temps, adds a much grittier, more "pentecost preacher on a bender" feel to the band. And of course falsetto king, Eddie Kendricks is still there getting that classic Temptations sound: "Remember that old sayin', 'all the glitters ain't gold.' Take heed, don't ignore it, and to your money tightly hold."

Click here to listen to The Temptations' Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down.