Customer Reviews

The Motown Anthology

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The Velvelettes show on this magnificent cd that Motown lost out on another potentially world beating group when it let them languish in the shadows not only in the 60s but for the last 35 years.
At last, dedicated fan, John Lester, the prime mover behind this release, has been able to issue every studio song that the Velvelettes ever recorded, along with the historic live show which saw the Velvelettes beat the Supremes in The Battle Of The Bands contests that Berry Gordy put on regularly to hone the talents of his supergroups, which were soon to conquer the world. The live tracks are a real revelation, which no Motowner can afford to miss.
The previously unreleased tracks are historic and exciting, placing the Velvelettes amongst the top ranking girl groups of Motown. The French tracks are such fun too and Cal's accent is pretty good too - I should know I'm a French teacher!
Go out and buy this cd now - you will not be disappointed and that's a promise!!

This double CD contains the entire studio recordings of the Velvelettes and, as a bonus, it also includes the second show of the Greystone concert when the group was matched against the Supremes (and won) and, also, four French language recordings. Some 75% of these recordings have never seen the light of day in their current form as alternative mixes or vocal performances have been used on the well-known songs - all personally selected by lead singer Cal Street.

Photo shots of the group covering their entire career have been used; some originate from the Motown picture archive and some are from the group's own archive. Liner notes are by Cal Street.

It's a winner!

The Velvelettes had, at one time, been rather underated, but recently got a 'Best Of' collection released (their first on motown, after many years of waiting), which changed all that. Now, here we have a fantastic 2CD set, which covers all their motown work.

"The Velvelettes - The Motown Anthology" follows the brilliant Billy Eckstine, Barbara McNair & Jimmy Ruffin sets, all of which were well recieved. And it's likely that we will be getting future sets from Brenda Holloway & Chris Clark.

The Velvelettes, often classed as motown's fourth girl group (behind The Supremes, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas and The Marvelettes), should have been much bigger. But sadly, motown never really pushed them into the higher realms. Carolyn Gill possesed a rich voice, and one that could have easily matched that of Supremes lead singer, Diana Ross. And here, with all the unreleased recordings, it becomes clear just how amazing these girls really were.

My all time favourites include "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You", Lonely, Lonely Girl Am I", "A Bird In The Hand (Is Worth Two In The Bush)", "Let Love Live (A Little Bit Longer)" and "The Boy From Crosstown", but I can now add all those fabulous unreleased masters now, as many are featured here for the first time. The French recordings will blow you away, as will the live 'Battle Of The Stars' segment.

On the whole, a welcomed and much reccomended release...

...Ain't No Place Like Motown

The revitalization of the fabulous Motown back catalogue continues with this extremely promising series of mid-priced 2CDs, The Motown Anthology, already set to feature Brenda Holloway, Chris Clark, Billy Eckstine and others. Like the excellent series 2 Classic Albums 1 CD, the enterprise seems to have been British in origin, and those responsible deserve our grateful thanks for making these treasures available again, or in many cases, astonishingly, for the first time.

Being a Motown girl group in the sixties was tough if you weren't the Supremes, and even then it helped if you were Diana rather than Flo or Mary, but there were a number of them making singles and having hits - Martha and the Vandellas, the Marvelettes and the Velvelettes being the most notable examples. In 1964, the Velvelettes had taken on the Supremes in a local Battle Of The Stars show, and won. The proof of this is on the second disc, where their previously unreleased performance from the second show is included in stereo as a bonus. However, while both Martha and the Vandellas and the Marvelettes also released a number of albums, the Velvelettes output was restricted to just half a dozen singles (on Motown subsidiaries IPG, VIP and Soul).

This collection shows that this was not because the Velvelettes were kept out of the studios, as it contains 37 different titles recorded between 1963 and 1967, as well as 4 unreleased French language bonus tracks. Two of these songs, covers of Marvelettes and Mary Wells songs, are not otherwise available by the Velvelettes. There is also a second stereo version of These Things Will Keep Me Loving You for comparison, and a 15 second track of Cal wishing us all a Merry Christmas.

I would challenge new listeners to correctly guess which of the tracks on this 2CD were unreleased at the time, as those that stayed shelved are the equal of all but the very best of those that did come out.

25 of the first 39 tracks are previously unreleased, either unheard songs or alternative takes or mixes, such as the version of The Boy From Crosstown which is much brighter than the version released in 2001, and has the additional hallmark clattery percussion of the time.

Other valuable odds and ends have been mopped up from previous compilations such as the fabulous Cellarful Of Motown 2CD and Motown Sings Motown Treasures, the source of Everybody Needs Love, a version that predates the familiar version by Gladys Knight and the Pips. Another undiscovered gem is Since I've Lost You, produced by Norman Whitfield in 1964, predating his version with the Temptations on Puzzle People by five years.

The Velvelettes famously turned down Where Did Our Love Go?, which went on to become a supersonic success for the Supremes, as they felt it didn't suit Cal Gill's voice, so it is particularly fascinating to hear the alternative version of He Was Really Sayin' Something, which uses the same persistent handclaps and ska beat.

The definitive Velvelettes compilation prior to this one was Spectrum's The Best Of, which came out in 2001 in the UK. This collection does not make that one redundant, as nine of its tracks are not replicated here, though they are present in alternative versions, and these include the hit singles He Was Really Sayin' Something, Lonely Lonely Girl Am I and A Bird In The Hand.

These are not included on the Anthology in their original versions, and it is a shame the compilers could not have found additional room for these in their previously available stereo mixes, or that more of the other tracks could not have been presented in stereo (just 3 on CD1 and 5 on CD2, plus the live tracks). In all other respects this release is a shining white knight, righting longstanding wrongs, and produced with the full cooperation of the Velvelettes

The Velvelettes, some reckon, were as good as any Tamla girl group. They could well be right. I just love this CD. There is a lot to listen to. Early tracks are fine and the well known releases will never fade or disappoint.
My only complaint: Why did it take me so long to buy it?

As I found with an Elgins Compilation, the early recordings, on this CD, have a certain quality about them, which I appreciate, as someone who is generally a fan of the later, mid 60s Motown sound. The presence of `Lonely, Lonely Girl Am I', `Let Love Live (A Little Bit Longer)', and two versions of `These Things Will Keep Me Loving You', is another illustration of the comprehensive nature of a wonderful compilation, and fine addition to any Motown Fans CD collection..

"What a disappointing CD" says A Customer.All that work all that music yet somebody criticises the IDEA of it.
All I can say about the Velvelettes is thank God they never bothered with that inferior song Where did our love go.The Supremes were about right for it as it enabled them to cut an album containing a song called Come see about me-a song which was covered by Nella Dodds who inspired the Supremes to put it out as a new single for no other reason than to get rid off this "competition".Which says a lot about their sense of morality-Nella cut a vastly superior version but her career never lasted much further and she went back to the church she began from.
Which has nothing to do with the Velvelettes other than to point out they did their thing and the Supremes did theirs-as well as being much luckier.
They found themselves in the same position as the Supremes had once been-with no Top 50 hits but nevertheless a legend built up around them especially in the U K where at least 2 of their songs were covered in the 80s and where eventually CDs like this one would emerge
Motown's girl groups tended to sound sameish because so many switched around-an early Velvelette as a Vandella for example.Or the songs would be recorded by different girl groups as if they were trying them out!
Needle in a Haystack has the same sound as at least 3 Marvelettes singles
The amount of stuff the label dumped in the vaults seems rather puzzling and offers no logic as most of it is above par

What a disappointing CD. There's already been 2 other CD issued (officially) of the Velvelettes material, and although this may contain all the Motown recordings, it's generally, a very poor release.

The tracks that were issued as singles are of course, superb. Yet, can a 2 CD collection, of mainly unreleased tracks, be justified? I would argue that most of these tracks should have remained in the vaults as they really are so very poor.