THE TAMS w/LITTLE FLOYD, "MY BABY LOVES ME" C/W "FIND ANOTHER LOVE," GENERAL AMERICAN 714 (REL. 10/1964)

New podcast today. It's a rather kooky episode.

If a performer or group worked long enough before they got a major hit, their older recordings came back to haunt them. Sometimes, this cash-grab resulted in worthy sides that had been passed over when they were first made getting a belated but welcome release.

The quality of these cast-offs didn’t matter to those who sought to get in on the action. The name of the performer or group was enough: that would lure ‘em in and get ‘em to lay a dollar on the store counter. Once they got home, the buyer would realize this wasn’t that catchy tune they heard on the radio. They might like the record, but they’d been had by a system that played on their lack of perception.

Black vocal group The Tams made several fine singles before their 1964 ABC-Paramount release “What Kind of Fool” was a major pop hit. Once it was on its way up the ladder of success, three labels rushed out old material, including Philadelphia imprint General American. What they delivered were a pair of excellent items—one side from a failed single on Arlen Records and another which had been issued earlier that year on Daisy, a label owned by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

The Tams had no reason for shame with these two sides. The single barely got into the “bubbling under” section of the Billboard Hot 100 and seldom turns up today—unlike many of the group’s ABC-Paramount sides, which are everywhere.

“My Baby Loves Me” features the group’s original lead singer, Little Floyd Ashton, who left The Tams just as they became mainstream hitmakers. (He’s pictured on the back of the group’s debut LP for ABC-Paramount, just to add to the confusion.) With bluesy strings and a sound reminiscent of Smokey Robinson’s Motown sides with The Miracles, this recorded-in-Atlanta item is over in 98 seconds—just as the listener is settled in. Argh! What’s there sounds great, but c’mon: another minute wouldn’t have hurt anyone.

>>> Hear it HERE! <<<

Cash Box approved of this single, and seemed ignorant of its roots.

“Find Another Love” appears to be the older of the two sides. Penned by Cliff and Ed Thomas, Sun Records alumni who became leading pop-soul songwriters in the 1960s, this has an earthier sound. Ray Stevens appears to be the producer of this side, which has a brighter approach. Strings also dance around on this side, which eschews the Motown vibe for the heavier style common in Atlanta r&b.

Again, it’s over in 103 seconds—too soon, but the arrangement seems more focused on this side, so it doesn’t just end. Still…insert same complaint here. Not much we can do about it. Soon, most pop songs would be longer than they needed to be, just for the sake of being long. The sweet spot seemed easy to miss in the 1960s.

>>> Hear it HERE! <<<

We’ll hear from The Tams again—they made some great singles that missed the charts in the mid-‘60s.

Tomorrow: wild, weird doo-wop from the Tempo-Mentals, via a battered but playable 1957 Ebb Records rarity.