Downbeats, "Request Of A Fool" c/w "Your Baby's Back," Tamla 54056 (rel. 2/1962)
Here's another piece of Detroit soul history from the early days of Motown Records. 1962 was a great year for Berry Gordy's growing record empire. While the Motown Sound© was yet to emerge, the company's output of that year displays the rapid changes Black music underwent in this Midwest stronghold.
Motown had several hits in 1962--"Do You Love Me" by The Contours, "The One Who Really Loves You" and "You Beat Me to the Punch" by Mary Wells, "Playboy" and "Beechwood 4-5789" by The Marvelettes--and many misses. Today's single was the first Motown recording by a group who would become a beloved second-string item on the company books, The Elgins. By the time they achieved their handful of hits in 1965 and '66, they had some major personnel changes. Saundra Mallet became the lead voice, which revamped their sound and helped them stand out of the crowd of all-male groups in The Motor City.
In 1962, the group that had formed as The 5 Emeralds was in its ninth year of existence. They'd been a Detroit fixture and made a few records--two 1954 singles under their first name, then two singles for Peacock Records as The Downbeats--before they recorded for Motown's Tamla imprint. Group member Johnny Dawson knew Berry Gordy and called in a favor. Gordy produced their 1961 session and wrote the ballad A-side (which we'll hear last, just because); Dawson penned the expressive flip, "Request of a Fool."
It's a song that never includes its title in the lyric--an uncommon device for the time. The rollicking beat and clean instrumentation do this li'l mover a real favor. Lead man Norman McLean sings this plaintive (as Cash Box might have called it, had Gordy sent them review copies) with a soaring, fluid voice that reminds me of Sam Cooke. I don't think McLean set out to imitate this well-known pop-soul icon; many male voices in this period of r&b have a shared background in church singing and were trained in the gospel style. You hear this approach, with melismas galore, a high, piercing tone and an instinct to bring drama to any material, in many an r&b singer.
This B-side is a fine example of the Detroit vocal group sound of 1961. It still sounds fresh and engaging; UK soul snobs consider it uninteresting and "not the Motown sound©" and thus miss the point. Forest/trees; nose/face.
Motown had several hits in 1962--"Do You Love Me" by The Contours, "The One Who Really Loves You" and "You Beat Me to the Punch" by Mary Wells, "Playboy" and "Beechwood 4-5789" by The Marvelettes--and many misses. Today's single was the first Motown recording by a group who would become a beloved second-string item on the company books, The Elgins. By the time they achieved their handful of hits in 1965 and '66, they had some major personnel changes. Saundra Mallet became the lead voice, which revamped their sound and helped them stand out of the crowd of all-male groups in The Motor City.
In 1962, the group that had formed as The 5 Emeralds was in its ninth year of existence. They'd been a Detroit fixture and made a few records--two 1954 singles under their first name, then two singles for Peacock Records as The Downbeats--before they recorded for Motown's Tamla imprint. Group member Johnny Dawson knew Berry Gordy and called in a favor. Gordy produced their 1961 session and wrote the ballad A-side (which we'll hear last, just because); Dawson penned the expressive flip, "Request of a Fool."
It's a song that never includes its title in the lyric--an uncommon device for the time. The rollicking beat and clean instrumentation do this li'l mover a real favor. Lead man Norman McLean sings this plaintive (as Cash Box might have called it, had Gordy sent them review copies) with a soaring, fluid voice that reminds me of Sam Cooke. I don't think McLean set out to imitate this well-known pop-soul icon; many male voices in this period of r&b have a shared background in church singing and were trained in the gospel style. You hear this approach, with melismas galore, a high, piercing tone and an instinct to bring drama to any material, in many an r&b singer.
This B-side is a fine example of the Detroit vocal group sound of 1961. It still sounds fresh and engaging; UK soul snobs consider it uninteresting and "not the Motown sound©" and thus miss the point. Forest/trees; nose/face.
"Your Baby's Back" goes for a mix of old-school Flamingos-Little Anthony & The Imperials balladry and the je ne sais quoi that makes the Motown sound© the Motown sound©. Unexpected chord changes amidst a doo-wop ballad; stinging guitar chords; bar-room piano and vibraphone--all it needs is the quasi-bossa nova beat that the label called its own in the early 1960s.
Its lyric is unusual; its narrator asks a lover who strayed to chalk it up to his past faults--not hers. He doesn't get mad. He suggests she thank her other lover for a good time and come back to his loving, if insecure, arms.
It's another of the lost Motown gems from early on; Gordy doesn't appear to have revived it for other, later artists--a tactic he pushed in order to get more money for the company via songwriting royalties. Clever businessman, Mr. G!
Its lyric is unusual; its narrator asks a lover who strayed to chalk it up to his past faults--not hers. He doesn't get mad. He suggests she thank her other lover for a good time and come back to his loving, if insecure, arms.
It's another of the lost Motown gems from early on; Gordy doesn't appear to have revived it for other, later artists--a tactic he pushed in order to get more money for the company via songwriting royalties. Clever businessman, Mr. G!
The Downbeats recorded a pile of material that sat in the Motown vaults. Like Sam Phillips, Berry Gordy made session after session that he declined to release; educated researchers assayed the tapes for one unknown gem after another, and revealed that, like Phillips, Gordy made some weird choices re what was/wasn't released.
The group had a second single scheduled for a 1964 issue on the V.I.P. imprint; it was cancelled late that year. Then Gordy suggested Saundra Mallet as new lead singer. The first single with the new lineup was issued as by The Downbeats; that was cancelled and the two songs reissued as by The Elgins. "Darling Baby" became a pop hit, while the excellent "Put Yourself in My Place" was usurped by The Supremes. I have both versions of this single, and played them here (on Fascistbook, to be exact) in 2021. Perhaps I'll replay those two sides someday soon. It's been a while!
The group had a second single scheduled for a 1964 issue on the V.I.P. imprint; it was cancelled late that year. Then Gordy suggested Saundra Mallet as new lead singer. The first single with the new lineup was issued as by The Downbeats; that was cancelled and the two songs reissued as by The Elgins. "Darling Baby" became a pop hit, while the excellent "Put Yourself in My Place" was usurped by The Supremes. I have both versions of this single, and played them here (on Fascistbook, to be exact) in 2021. Perhaps I'll replay those two sides someday soon. It's been a while!
Marv Goldberg tells the story of this group in his usual exhaustive fashion here:
Tomorrow: The Miller Sisters, a Black girl group from Long Island, deliver a pair of polished items on a 1963 Roulette Records 45.
Love hearing the early Motown stuff. On the spirited first track the lead vocalist also reminds me a bit of Clyde McPhatter, Jackie Wilson, and of all people, Dinah Washington! That second track has some of the "sometimes-almost-sour" early Motown blue note sound going on. Thanks, Frank!
ReplyDeleteTwo cool songs! For some reason I hear pre- Beatles in the raucous and roll sound of "Request of a Fool." Maybe the Ringo-y drumming and Beatle-esque harmonies? Love the unexpected plinky piano and vibraphone(?) counterpoints in "Your Baby's Back."
ReplyDelete