The latest additions to Elemental Music’s Motown Sound Collection come from three of the Motor City label’s heavy hitters. There’s a mono edition of A Bit of Liverpool by The Supremes, Third Album by the Jackson 5 on red vinyl, and Sky’s the Limit by The Temptations. All three are available October 18.
No scientific testing has been done in connection with this roundup, but it sure seems like A Bit of Liverpool is the least esteemed record from The Supremes’ ’60s catalog. It’s an observation that applies to general listeners but also music writers, as not much print space has been devoted to the set’s thematic contents.
Hitting stores in 1964 as the British Invasion was in full swing, The Supremes’ third full-length record has often been described as a cash-in, though it’s unlikely many people were bothered about this at the time of the record’s release. Per the title, The Beatles get the most attention, but this focus reaches beyond just the hits.
There are versions of “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” all pretty good as straight covers go, but there’s also a likeable take of “You Can’t Do That” and an even better “A World Without Love,” a chart topper by Peter and Gordon that was written by Lennon-McCartney, don’tcha know. Getting even deeper into the weeds is “You Really Got a Hold on Me,” a well-loved nugget by the Miracles that was an album cut on With the Beatles (and The Beatles’ Second Album in the USA).
To be fair, Gerry and the Pacemakers were also Liverpudlians; their “How Do You Do It” opens A Bit of Liverpool. The Dave Clark Five are represented with “Bits and Pieces” and a terrific reading of “Because” (a version of The Contours’ “Do You Love Me?” serves the same function as the Miracles cover). That leaves “House of the Rising Sun,” which hangs in there thematically but ultimately lacks the grit and/or pathos the song requires to really hit home. Still, lacking in any grievous missteps, A Bit of Liverpool holds up much better than its lack of reputation suggests.
By the release of Third Album, the Jackson 5 was running like a well-oiled pop-soul machine that was revving up to tackle a new decade. There’s a fair amount of cover material on the set, most of it sequenced on side one, but none of it connects like padding, even as the success rate of the individual tracks fluctuates a bit.
The best of the bunch is “Oh How Happy,” an infectiously upbeat number, written by Edwin Starr and originally recorded by the Shades of Blue, that features a lead vocal by Jermaine Jackson. The fuzz guitar infused “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love),” originally a modest hit by the Delfonics, is another highlight, this time with Michael in the lead.
Jermaine’s lead vocal on “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is impressive, but even more so is the boldness of the arrangement and the band’s sheer dedication to putting it all over the top. By this version’s end the grand sweep is hard to resist, even for those ambivalent over the original. An engaging take of the Miracles’ “The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage” rounds out Third Album’s cover selections.
The rest of the LP’s songs originate from inside the Motown enterprise and make their debut here, with “I’ll Be There” the biggest hit, though the joyously energetic “Mama’s Pearl,” also a chart success, is preferable. But the psychedelic soul-tinged album track “Can I See You in the Morning” is even better. “I’m Going back to Indiana” is rather Vegas in execution, at least until the burning guitar solo arrives. “How Funky Is Your Chicken” is a groover, “Reach In” maintains the momentum, and “Darling Dear” delivers a strong closer to a record that’s worthwhile if a little short of classic.
Maybe it’s just that it’s the final Temptations record with Eddie Kendricks in the lineup, but Sky’s the Limit does hit the ear like a classic, and not just because it includes the sublime “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me).” That beauty surely adds value, but the LP’s strongest suit is how the group and reliable producer Norman Whitfield kept the psychedelic soul from faltering into the formulaic.
Real heads know about “Smiling Faces Sometimes,” which stretches out to over 12 minutes as it closes side one. A hit in a much shorter version by The Undisputed Truth released the same year (and also produced by Whitfield), the Temptations’ take is strange and gripping, never running low on creative inspiration as it unwinds.
A true standout in the group’s psych-soul era, it’s teed up by three cuts that retain the essence of their earlier sound; along with “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me),” there is opener “Gonna Keep on Tryin’ (Till I Win Your Love),” and “I’m the Exception to the Rule,” tracks that thrive on Whitfield’s production, which is simultaneously full-bodied and restrained.
The gospelized “Man” and the gemlike “Throw a Farewell Kiss” are further examples of how Whitfield refused to overwhelm the arrangements (and in turn, the voices). Swinging back toward the psychedelic, “Ungena Za Ulimwengu (Unite the World)” is structurally ambitious enough that it floundered as a single. Closing the record as it rolls to nearly ten minutes, “Love Can Be Anything (Can’t Nothing Be Love But Love)” shows that Whitfield also excels at deeply layered arrangements without clutter.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
The Supremes, A Bit of Liverpool
B+
Jackson 5, Third Album
B+
The Temptations, Sky’s the Limit
A
