The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 3: 1963

1963 was the year that Motown started to release just a few records that had The Motown Sound. They were from Martha & The Vandellas. It was their year. 

Quite a lot of the material in this collection still harked back to the doo-wop era and a fair bit of it was easy-listening crooning stuff too. I haven't reviewed everything on here. I have cherry-picked the 45s that I feel were the most important in the development of Motown as we came to know it. 

⭐ Star hits

💠 Hidden gems

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Disc One

Mary Wells - Laughing Boy/Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right

Despite its slightly disconcerting "ha ha ha" backing vocals, Mary Wells gave us a warm, sensual delivery over a nicely syncopated, vaguely Latin shuffling beat. Love those clunky piano breaks too. You can find it in impressive stereo on Mary Wells: The Definitive Collection. 

The same applies to the beautifully-sounding slow, jazzy groove of Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right. This isn't pop - it is proper jazzy soul. Mary sure had a killer of a voice, didn't she? Such a shame that it all went wrong at Motown - she left the following year after a contract dispute. 

Kim Weston - It Should Have Been Me/Love Me All The Way 💠

Recorded by Gladys Knight in 1968 and, most notably, by Yvonne Fair in the early seventies, having a huge hit with it in early 1976, It Should Have Been Me is here in its first form. Kim gives it a soulful delivery but nothing, for me, will ever match the sheer drama of Yvonne Fair's sparsely-backed rendition of the song. Love Me All The Way is a big, churchy ballad, typical of much of the soul of the time. 

The Marvelettes - Locking Up My Heart/Forever

An early killer here for The Marvelettes, who were now "veterans" with several hits under their belts. Vocalists Gladys Horton and Wanda Young Rogers trade off lines against each other perfectly. A girl group at its best. The Marvelettes were Motown's big names at this time, something that is often forgotten. Forever is standard romantic ballad fare with that archetypal early sixties feel to it. 

Martha & The Vandellas - Come And Get These Memories/Jealous Lover ⭐

Having said that The Marvelettes were Motown's big girl group, then Martha & The Vandellas were about to go on a run of hits that would eclipse them totally. Come And Get These Memories was one of the first Holland-Dozier-Holland songs to have that definitive "Motown sound" to it, something that would become instantly recognisable. The song definitely had something about it.

Jealous Lover is a sensual, slow and beautiful rhythmic ballad. Martha shows she could do warm and sexy too. There is a great line in the song that goes - "You're not very handsome, but you're so sweet and kind" sings Martha - well, thanks for that, Martha, that's just what all us guys want to know!

The Supremes - My Heart Can't Take It No More/You Bring Back Memories

Way down in the Motown pecking order was The Supremes. My Heart Can't Take It No More is a country and western-style number that even has a bit of steel guitar in the backing. How things were soon to change. The Supremes are almost unrecognisable here. Far more r 'n' b -ish is the uptempo and enjoyable You Bring Back Memories. They were still the "no-hit:" Supremes, however. 

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Disc Two

The Contours - Don't Let Her Be Your Baby/It Must Be Love

After another of The Contours' do You Love Me-style spoke intros, we are launched with the group into a piece of kick-ass fun. It Must Be Love is actually even more frenetic, rocking at a breakneck pace. In many ways, stuff like this was the Motown sound of 1962-63. 

The Miracles - A Love She Can Count On/I Can Take A Hint

Smokey Robinson penned a very bluesy but retro-sounding ballad here. Material like this very much carried with it the sound of the late fifties and early sixties. It puts me in mind of the group's hit from the previous year You've Really Got A Hold On Me. I Can Take A Hint is a fine, uptempo 'b' side, possibly the superior of the two tracks, for me, anyway. It is both musically and lyrically mature, despite is intrinsic poppiness. Check out those harmonies too.

The Temptations -  I Want A Love I Can See/The Further You look The Less You See

The Smokey Robinson-penned I Want A Love I Can See is a shuffling, Latin-ish groove of a ballad. The Further You Look The Less You See has doo-wop influences in its soulfulness. It is the first Norman Whitfield production for The Temptations. What a future they would have together.

Marvin Gaye - Pride and Joy/One Of These Days

A jaunty, bopping, handclappy uptempo number from Marvin Gaye. It was a poppy follow-up to hits Stubborn Kind Of Fellow and Hitch Hike. One Of These Days is an ok soul number, with some punchy brass backing and solid backing vocals too. 

Mary Wells - Your Old Stand By/What Love Has Joined Together

Two more classy slow numbers from Mary here. Like the previous two, they are available in lovely stereo sound on Mary Wells: The Definitive Collection. Both songs are top notch, oozing class in delivery and sound.

Eddie Holland - Baby Shake/Brenda

Eddie gives us some rock 'n' roll on Baby Shake, urging his girl shake her ass. He is following the lead of The Isley Brothers, who did a lot of rock 'n' roll-style stuff in this period. Brenda is a slow, Smokey Robinson-style ballad. 

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Disc Three

Little Stevie Wonder - Fingertips (parts 1 & 2)

You know, I have never been a fan of this, the first big hit for Stevie Wonder. It just doesn't get anywhere for me, despite its obvious liveliness. To make it worse, it is spread over two sides! Just pointless indulgence, for me. Sorry. The song, a live recording, was only Motown's second number one, after The Marvelettes' Please Mr. Postman, some eighteen months earlier. Maybe I'm missing something, because lots of people obviously loved it!

The Contours - Pa, I Need A Car/You Get Ugly

Pa, I Need A Car has The Contours getting all Beach Boys in is sentiments but its delivery is far more gutsy and bluesy. I like it. Great saxophone and a great beat in it. You Get Ugly is a drum-powered, fast-paced piece of goofy fun. 

The Supremes - A Breath Taking Guy/(The Man With The) Rock 'n' Roll Banjo Band

A sort of gently swaying bossa nova from The Supremes that is just so unlike the material they would soon be releasing. The girls' harmonies and different parts on the chorus is impressive, however. (The Man With The) Rock 'n' Roll Banjo Band is a joyous, country romp of a song that is just sort of fun. The Supremes as we would know them it wasn't, though. 

Mable John - Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That/Say You'll Never Let Me Go 💠

Two strong pieces of powerful, gospelly soul from an artist who was by now already a bit of a Motown veteran. I like all the stuff I have heard from Mable John. Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That just sort of drips with soul. Say You'll Never Let Me Go is similarly impressive. Mable was a most underrated singer. 

The Temptations - Farewell My Love/May I Have This Dance

Another Temptations single in the harmonious doo-wop style. Both tracks are similar, with lots of deep bass vocal interjections. You will know what I mean you hear them. Motown were sill in the process of trying to find a defined niche sound for The Temptations. Despite the impressive deep and high harmonies, they were still not quite there yet. 

The Marvelettes - My Daddy Knows Best/Tie A String Around Your Finger

My Daddy Knows Best is a chugging piece of advice from good ol' daddy to his daughter that she then transfers to her girlfriends too. Tie A String Around Your Finger is the better of the two, having a warmer backing, a slower, more sensual groove and a similarly more attractive vocal. Despite its slow pace, it's a goodie. I love the saxophone and percussion too. Both songs are available in stereo on Forever: The Complete Marvelettes Volume 1.

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Disc Four

Martha & The Vandellas - Heat Wave/A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Every Day) ⭐

24-carat Motown gold here. Martha and the girls moved to top spot at Motown with this wonderful, uptempo stomper that has ridden the decades and remains popular. It rocks, it thumps, the voices wail, the sax blares. Perfect. The Jam covered it on their 1979 Setting Sons. Paul Weller was a big Motown fan, having also had The Jam cover The Supremes' Back In My Arms Again. The Who had also done a version in 1964-65.

The 'b' side was a killer too. A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Every Day) is a gospelly beauty of a soulful ballad. Kim Weston also recorded it as the 'b' side to her Helpless single in 1966. Good as Kim's rendition is, Martha's version is sort of definitive, though. 

The Miracles - Mickey's Monkey/Whatever Makes You Happy ⭐

Smokey and his buddies deliver a superbly fun rocker here. Quite what Mickey did to entertain the crowds in unclear - some sort of anthropoid dance, I guess. Whatever, it is a totally irresistible number. Whatever Makes You Happy is a quality mid-pace number.

The Velvelettes - There He Goes/That's The Reason Why

There He Goes was the song The Velvelettes sang as their Motown audition (on a snowy afternoon, apparently). It is a harmonious ballad that shows their voices off perfectly, although it lacks the oopmh of their other recordings. That's The Reason Why is livelier, but still had a bit of a retro sound to it. 

Mary Wells - You Lost The Sweetest Boy/What's Easy For Two Is So Hard For One 💠

You Lost The Sweetest Boy is a delightfully upbeat little gem of a song from Mary. It positively bounces along with typical drum and saxophone-driven power from the very outset. Love it. What's Easy For Two Is So Hard For One is great too, and none of the many covers of it - The Temptations, The Marvelettes, Connie Haynes and Barbara Randolph - can match Mary's definitive, sassy version. What a truly great singer she was. Check out that saxophone solo too. 

Little Stevie Wonder - Work Out, Stevie Work Out/Monkey Talk

Work Out, Stevie Work Out is an absolutely frantic jam of a workout from the little precocious one. Just get a load of that harmonica. By God that little guy could play. Monkey Talk is a robust bluesy work out too. I love the down 'n' dirty sound on both of these. This was also the penultimate single on which he was called "Little" Stevie.

Marvin Gaye - Can I Get A Witness/I'm Crazy About My Baby ⭐

One of Marvin Gaye's finest early hits - he totally gives it everything on this revved up slice of brass gospel. It used the old gospel phrase "can I get a witness?". The Rolling Stones loved it and put it on their debut album the next year. They also put an organ-driven instrumental on the same album called Now I've Got A Witness. I love the songs where Marvin rocks it up, much more than his crooners from the same period. 

I'm Crazy About My Baby is equally uptempo and pleasing to me - Marvin had clearly forgotten about being "The Motown Sinatra" on these two superb stompers. I love both of these.

The Marvelettes - As Long As I Know He's Mine/He Won't Be True (Little Girl Blue)

As Long As I Know He's Mine is very like the material released by the Phi Spector-produced girl groups. It is classic girl group fare - I love him despite the fact he doesn't have a dime. Motown was definitely trying to steal a bit of Spector's thunder here, I feel. He Won't Be True (Little Girl Blue) has the girls warning lead singer Gladys Horton about her feckless man. 

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Disc Five

Kim Weston - Just Loving You/Another Train Coming

Just Loving You is Kim Weston's favourite Motown recording, she has said. It is beautifully delivered, although I have a bit of a problem with her higher notes, preferring her to keep it deep. Personally, I am more a fan of the warmer tones of the faster Another Train Coming.

Carolyn Crawford - Forget About Me/Devil In Her Heart

Carolyn was only fourteen when she recorded these. Yes, you read that right. That considered, these are remarkable performances. 

The Supremes - When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes/Standing At The Crossroads Of Love 💠

Although When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes is really catchy and should possibly have been a bigger hit, it is also a bit of a strangely-backed song - full of big brassy breaks and a circus-style percussion sound. I can't be denied that it is impossibly vivacious, however, and it is the first song of theirs that really caught the ears. The notes to this collection say this too - "a memorable moment comes at about 1:49, just when you're expecting a traditional sax solo, one of the Hollands lets out an almighty roar and the rhythm section bounds on relentlessly. Unorthodox, but it makes you want to listen again". So true.

Standing At The Crossroads Of Love is a pleasantly swaying, very early sixties-style number, featuring a very high pitched vocal from Diana. 

The Miracles - I Gotta Dance To Keep From Crying/Such Is Love, Such Is Life

I Gotta Dance To Keep From Crying follows on from the vibrancy of Mickey's Monkey with another tub-thumper, only less goofy this time. It is just as infectious, though. As usual with their 'b' sides, Such Is Love, Such Is Life is a smoochy ballad. Smokey had a whole list of these ballads, already. It was only 1963.

Martha & The Vandellas - Quicksand/Darling I Hum Our Song ⭐

As soon as you hear it, you realise that Quicksand was a virtual re-write of Heat Wave, but, as was often the case with H-D-H re-writes, it was still fresh-sounding enough to attract buyers who loved both songs. This, along with Come And Get These Memories and Heat Wave, was part of the trio of killer songs that put Martha & The Vandellas briefly at the top of the Motown tree. Incidentally, the intro to the song is longer than usual, "going round twice" if you know what I mean. 

Darling, I Hum Our Song was a muscular ballad that was also recorded as a 'b' side by The Four Tops in 1965. A crystal clear stereo version of the song can be found on the CD Martha Reeves & The Vandellas: Gold. As you know, I love those stereo recordings.

Eddie Holland - Leaving Here 💠

Recorded only four days after President Kennedy's assassination, this was the original version of the uptempo groover that Tommy Good would release in 1964. The song advised "fellas to change their ways" regarding their approach to girls. Beneath the boppy beat, there was a message there. The Who also covered it in 1964-65. 

Patrice Holloway - Stevie/(He Is) The Boy Of My Dreams

The younger sister of Brenda, Patrice Holloway recorded her only single here - a brash Frank Wilson song written (maybe) about Stevie Wonder (who knows?). (He Is) The Boy Of My Dreams continues the worship of Stevie. About Wonder or not, it surely helped the image of Stevie Wonder in the public's mind, with girls apparently singing about him like this. That said, a contract dispute meant that the single never got released! As for Patrice, she ended up in the seventies cartoon series Josie & The Pussycats, a show I remember well. 

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