Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Motown years in full, 2 Jul 2007
Mable John's recording career began at Motown. But although she was there for six years, when she moved to Stax in 1966, the label with which she is most associated, she had released only four singles on Tamla. Three of these were released before 1962 and the most recent in 1963, itself a remake of her first single, Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That. When she left she had been silent to the record-buying public for three years, while cash registers were ringing with the record sales of Mary Wells and the Miracles, Marvin and Martha.
Behind the scenes, though, from the start, she had been busily recording with her mentor Berry Gordy, Andre Williams, Mickey Stevenson, Holland and Dozier, Clarence Paul and even a teenage Stevie Wonder, and as well as Berry Gordy's piano playing augmenting the Funk Brothers, she had the Supremes or the Temptations helping out on backing vocals for some tracks.
This album is subtitled 'The Complete Collection' and rounds up all released and unreleased completed masters to so far show up in the vaults (with Motown you never know what may be uncovered), 19 tracks in all including both variants of the single No Love.
Of the unreleased tracks only a couple are dated, and these are from late 1962. However in the booklet notes, Mable John says, "Most of the material was recorded at United Sound. When we moved to the now-famous house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, a few songs were cut there." As we can deduce that five of the tracks must have been made at the Hitsville Studios, in the basement at 2648, it seems likely that many of the others date from 1960-1961, rather than the dry period of no releases after 1963, and represent another casualty of Motown's embarrassment of riches.
Of most interest of these are an upbeat duet with Singin' Sammy Ward; the first version of Able Mable, an autobiographical song written by Mable and her mother Lillie, which was later to be a single on Stax; her version of You Never Miss A Good Thing, a Smokey/Berry song that Eugene Remus had out in 1960 and that became a Miracles B-side in 1962; and an unreleased early Dozier-Holland song, Meet Me Half Way, which had also been recorded in 1962 by Kim Weston. This closes the album and an important chapter in her career, now finally available for our evaluation.
|
|
|
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a treasure of early motown masterpieces, 25 April 2005
The album sleeve describes thia as a "golmine" and it is nothing short of that. This amazing vocalist who kick started the Motown sound before anybody else is still singing at 73 and who can blame her when she has such a catalogue of meterial to draw upon. If you have not heard Mable John this economic collection is a piece of history for your collection so buy it now
|
|
|
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If The World Had Been Different............, 2 Nov 2008
If the world had been different in the early '60s, then Mable John would be the household name that Diana Ross is. The truth is that back then, the mainstream record buying public were not ready for undiluted R&B.
This is the Motown sound before it was sweetened and lightened, before the infectious all register back beat was added. This is real Detroit R&B.
Poor Mable never even made the national R&B chart at Motown. It was the dream of Motown owner Berry Gordy, to promote and manage one female superstar. In the beginning he thought that it would be Mable, then when Mary Wells had hit after hit, beginning in 1962, he thought it was her. After she left the label, it became The Supremes, especially Diana Ross. Lets face it, he did not do too badly with her.
Mable is the sister of '50s R&B star Little Willie John, which speaks volumes about her pedegree and her style.
It became increasingly obvious as the years went by, that Mable and Motown just did not fit together. She left the label amicably and moved to Stax, where sadly, she did not do much better.
Mable was Motown's very first first lady. Don't expect the sort of music you associate with the label, but it is wonderful music, and it is fascinating to wonder about how different things could have been.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
~ Barbara Randolph
~ Valerie Simpson
~ Florence Ballard
~ Barrett Strong
~ Brenda Holloway
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Make sure you always get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk 
Amazon Home