Post by Jonel on Mar 5, 2004 10:27:25 GMT -5
Posted on Fri, Mar. 05, 2004
Funk Brothers' 'Best of' is a must-have
From Motown's vaults
R&B
Pop/Rock
• THE FUNK BROTHERS: "20th Century Masters: The Best of the Funk Brothers," A
• THE FOUR TOPS: "50th Anniversary Anthology," A
• DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES: "The 1's," B+
These three collections beg the question: Does the world really need any more compilations of hits by '60s Motown recording artists?
You already have your choice between the "Ultimate," "Essential," "Greatest Hits" and "Millennium" collections by the Four Tops, plus the excellent "Fourever" boxed set. The Supremes have also been given the boxed set treatment and have numerous greatest-hits collections available. The exception among the three is Motown house band the Funk Brothers, as their "Best of" is the first ever to put a spotlight on their specific achievements.
While the Four Tops and Ross-Supremes reissues may not be necessary unless you have nothing by them (shame on you), they are pleasurable retreads, especially the well thought-out Four Tops anthology. However, the must-buy is the Funk Brothers.
Still basking in the acclaim of the award-winning 2002 documentary film "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" -- which told the story of the then-anonymous revolving band of session players who supplied the music for Motown's hits -- the Brothers get some more overdue attention on a mighty satisfying collection of rarities, including a bunch of instrumental versions of Motown classics. Many of these are taken from long out-of-print albums and singles first credited to Funk Brothers keyboardist Earl Van Dyke, who starts off the collection with a wailing Hammond B-3 solo over the backing track to the Temptations "The Way You Do the Things You Do."
Thought the tambourine was a minor instrument? Check out Jack Ashford's astonishing work on "Come See About Me" and come see me if you still feel that way. Funk Brothers themes "All for You" and "Soul Stomp" are joys, and the more sophisticated 1970 recording "The Stingray" is a smoky, syncopated romp. The version of the Temptations' "Runaway Child, Running Wild" is staggering, a different take than the hit version, but bristling with the same energy. Listening to "What's Going On" and "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" without the vocals lets you hear how incredibly tight this band really was.
Capitalizing on the collections of No. 1 hits by the Beatles, Elvis and Michael Jackson, "The 1's" of Diana Ross & the Supremes encompasses Ross' work with the Supremes and as a solo artist. The problem is it doesn't include such essentials as "Nothing But Heartaches" and "My World Is Empty Without You" -- because they didn't top the charts. The result is a CD with such less than stellar No. 1's as Ross' "The Boss" and the Supremes' "Stoned Love."
It's hard to believe that almost 50 years have passed since Four Tops members Levi Stubbs, Obie Benson, Duke Fakir and Lawrence Payton first sang together at a party on Detroit's north side. Their two-CD, 48-song career retrospective doesn't miss a hit from their golden period in the mid-'60s, including the Holland-Dozier-Holland classics "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)," "Bernadette" or "Reach Out I'll Be There." The hits didn't stop there, either. Included on disc two of the anthology are such gems as the Four Tops' powerful collaboration with the Moody Blues from 1971, "A Simple Game," along with other '70s smashes "Keeper of the Castle," and "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I Got)."
-- Martin Bandyke
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Funk Brothers' 'Best of' is a must-have
From Motown's vaults
R&B
Pop/Rock
• THE FUNK BROTHERS: "20th Century Masters: The Best of the Funk Brothers," A
• THE FOUR TOPS: "50th Anniversary Anthology," A
• DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES: "The 1's," B+
These three collections beg the question: Does the world really need any more compilations of hits by '60s Motown recording artists?
You already have your choice between the "Ultimate," "Essential," "Greatest Hits" and "Millennium" collections by the Four Tops, plus the excellent "Fourever" boxed set. The Supremes have also been given the boxed set treatment and have numerous greatest-hits collections available. The exception among the three is Motown house band the Funk Brothers, as their "Best of" is the first ever to put a spotlight on their specific achievements.
While the Four Tops and Ross-Supremes reissues may not be necessary unless you have nothing by them (shame on you), they are pleasurable retreads, especially the well thought-out Four Tops anthology. However, the must-buy is the Funk Brothers.
Still basking in the acclaim of the award-winning 2002 documentary film "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" -- which told the story of the then-anonymous revolving band of session players who supplied the music for Motown's hits -- the Brothers get some more overdue attention on a mighty satisfying collection of rarities, including a bunch of instrumental versions of Motown classics. Many of these are taken from long out-of-print albums and singles first credited to Funk Brothers keyboardist Earl Van Dyke, who starts off the collection with a wailing Hammond B-3 solo over the backing track to the Temptations "The Way You Do the Things You Do."
Thought the tambourine was a minor instrument? Check out Jack Ashford's astonishing work on "Come See About Me" and come see me if you still feel that way. Funk Brothers themes "All for You" and "Soul Stomp" are joys, and the more sophisticated 1970 recording "The Stingray" is a smoky, syncopated romp. The version of the Temptations' "Runaway Child, Running Wild" is staggering, a different take than the hit version, but bristling with the same energy. Listening to "What's Going On" and "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" without the vocals lets you hear how incredibly tight this band really was.
Capitalizing on the collections of No. 1 hits by the Beatles, Elvis and Michael Jackson, "The 1's" of Diana Ross & the Supremes encompasses Ross' work with the Supremes and as a solo artist. The problem is it doesn't include such essentials as "Nothing But Heartaches" and "My World Is Empty Without You" -- because they didn't top the charts. The result is a CD with such less than stellar No. 1's as Ross' "The Boss" and the Supremes' "Stoned Love."
It's hard to believe that almost 50 years have passed since Four Tops members Levi Stubbs, Obie Benson, Duke Fakir and Lawrence Payton first sang together at a party on Detroit's north side. Their two-CD, 48-song career retrospective doesn't miss a hit from their golden period in the mid-'60s, including the Holland-Dozier-Holland classics "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)," "Bernadette" or "Reach Out I'll Be There." The hits didn't stop there, either. Included on disc two of the anthology are such gems as the Four Tops' powerful collaboration with the Moody Blues from 1971, "A Simple Game," along with other '70s smashes "Keeper of the Castle," and "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I Got)."
-- Martin Bandyke
Knight Ridder Newspapers