VA - Satisfaction Guaranteed! Motown Guys 1961-69 [2014]

 

MOTOWN GUYS

VA - Satisfaction Guaranteed! Motown Guys 1961-69 [2014]

It’s been a great couple of years for Motown fans, with a steady stream of quality Kent and Ace compilations featuring unissued masters from the company’s golden era. “Satisfaction Guaranteed!” might well be one of the best, particularly for those who favour the male side of the Motown roster.

The collection features just about all of the label’s most eminent male artists. The Temptations, Four Tops, Miracles, Shorty Long, Marvin Gaye, Jimmy Ruffin and Jr Walker all appear with sides of such quality that you’ll wonder why they were not issued. Add goodies from pioneer Motown acts the Quails, Gino Parks, Marv Johnson, the Contours and Freddie Gorman, sides from later signings the Fantastic Four, Chuck Jackson, Edwin Starr and Bobby Taylor, a killer from the Spinners, gems from underrated one-shots the Hit Pack, Headliners, Serenaders and Bruce Channel and vocal outings from Ivy Jo Hunter, Frank Wilson and Johnny Bristol - fellows who, during their Motown years, were better known for their writing and production skills - and you have a heck of a compilation.

Highlights? Try Jimmy Ruffin’s early take on the Temptations’ ‘It’s You That I Need’ or the Temptations themselves on an early and quite different version of the oft-recorded ‘He Who Picks A Rose’. Frank Wilson’s essay on ‘Together ‘Til The End Of Time’ shows how closely Brenda Holloway stuck to his script, and Jr Walker’s ‘My Girl Annie’ is as vibrant and exciting as any of his released singles, while his former producer Johnny Bristol has what might be one of the very best of all the hitherto unissued Motown cuts with his groovy ‘How To Forget A True Love’.

In “Satisfaction Guaranteed! Motown Guys 1961-69” compilers Keith Hughes and Mick Patrick have delivered one of the finest packages to date in our Motown series. (Ace)

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Track lists

01 Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers Satisfaction is Guaranteed 3:09

02 Marv Johnson Safety Zone 2:41

03 Johnny Bristol Tell Me How to Forget a True L 2:28

04 Hit Pack Show Me You Can Dance 2:12

05 Edwin Starr The Sound of Love 2:28

06 Spinners Hold on to Me (A Little Longer 2:46

07 Miracles Baby You Got the Key 3:40

08 Chuck Jackson Where Did You Go 2:48

09 Frank Wilson Together 'til the End of Time 3:04

10 Ivy Jo Hunter Just Your Love 2:13

11 Fantastic Four I Wanna Say I Love You 3:09

12 Jimmy Ruffin (Lonliness Made Me Realize) It 3:10

13 Freddie Gorman I'm Gonna Make it to the Top 2:36

14 Bruce Channel I Wanted to Cry 2:18

15 Marvin Gaye Mojo Hannah (Studio Version) 2:32

16 Shorty Long Headin' North 2:47

17 Headliners Only on the Weekend 2:37

18 Temptations He Who Picks a Rose (Version 1 2:39

19 Gino Parks Taking Candy From a Baby 3:04

20 Junior Walker & the All Stars My Girl Annie 2:55

21 Serenaders Say, Say, Baby 2:16

22 Contours Claudia (Alternate Version) 2:38

23 Quails This Ole Heart 2:45

24 Four Tops The Night We Called it a Day 3:42

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