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Post by Cadeho on Jul 22, 2002 16:57:38 GMT -5
I know it's hard to tune out the Tempts when listening to their songs... but they're only part of the equation that made those songs sound so great. It's sad that the Funk Brothers didn't get much recognition for all the work they did when Hitsville was living up to its name. The sound they created is legendary, magical, and hasn't been duplicated.
A lot of times I'll play a Temptation or any other Motown artist song over and over again just to learn each instrument's part. I'm not a musical person... I only had like 6 months of piano ten years ago and I can't remember much, but I can play some things on my lil keyboard.
Recently I tried listening to "My Girl" to see if I could try to learn the bass by trying to find the notes on the keyboard. That was hard for me and I got side-tracked by other parts of the song that I did well in figuring out. The strings completely lose me though. James Jamerson just mesmerizes me with his bass in that song. If I could learn another instrument it'd be that all because of him. That really is a masterpiece.
Other Tempts songs I find myself listening to for the Funk Brothers' individual parts include "I Want a Love I Can See," "You've Got to Earn It" and "Cloud Nine. They did a spectacular job on "...A lot O' Soul" particularly with "...Losing You."
Outside of the Tempts, I think their best example of the Motown Sound was on the Velvelettes' "A Bird in the Hand..." A kind of obscure song and group but that song has the pure bare FUNK (no strings) of the Funk Brothers and all of the ingredients of that sound. It opens up with a powerful bass and they just get to jammin'. Martha & The Vandellas' "Nowhere to Run," The Isley Brothers' "This Old Heart..." and Stevie Wonder's "Uptight..." are other examples where the Funk Brothers shine in my opinion.
Any of you just listen to the music? Have any songs for reccommended listening or favorites?
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Post by janebse on Jul 22, 2002 18:07:39 GMT -5
With only the barest musical training, I too can see the superiority of the Funk Brothers. At first I thought Otis was joking when he referred to the "Funk Brothers Band."
When I've heard other bands with a Tempt or a group of Tempts, they're just not as good. I thought one reason why Eddie Kendricks sounded rather weak on the 1972 CD was because of the band. Now this may sound silly and uninformed but somehow I visualize a strong band as carrying the singer or perhaps pushing him in the right direction. I do not know the technical terms for what I hear.
I've heard people say that the Tuscaloosa Brass which travels with the Tempts today is very good. Some have compared them favorably with the Funk Brothers.
From what I've read people in the business really do value the work of the Funk Brothers.
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Post by AKA THE FUF on Jul 22, 2002 23:34:30 GMT -5
Cadeho, you are right on about the Funk Brothers. They were the badest band in the land. You must hear the music and listen to the lyrics to enjoy the whole song. Motown had greatness right in Hitsville. They played on The Four Tops records as well. The music speaks for itself.
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Post by janebse on Jul 23, 2002 9:21:26 GMT -5
I thought the Funk Brothers played on all the Motown recordings.
When Cornelius Grant was with the Tempts on the Temptations Live, recorded at the Upper Deck in October 1966, was the band the Funk Brothers?
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Post by curet30 on Jul 23, 2002 11:53:41 GMT -5
Hi Cadeho, I love strings so I recommend 'ALL I NEED'. There are two guitars playing on that song. One is a lead and the other plays rhythm on the 2 and 4. You can hear them clearly on the last verse. I believe you can also hear percussion on that last verse and then the strings swirl up. 'YOU'RE MY EVERYTHING' is a great song too. It follows that same musical pattern as 'ALL I NEED' with the two guitars and strings. Seems like the early songs Paul Williams sang had a latin feel to them; 'I WANT A LOVE I CAN SEE', 'WITCHCRAFT' and 'TEARSTAINED LETTER'. Curet30 - mypages.netopia.com/channels |
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Post by Cadeho on Jul 23, 2002 12:41:34 GMT -5
janebse, as far as I know Cornelius was a road guitarist and Motown has road musicians that weren't all necessarily Funk Brother members. I would think they wouldn't put the Funk Brothers on the road because they would have still been needed for recording in the stereo for those artists not on tour. I have no idea if I'm right or not or what kind of breaks they got. Also they did not record on all of Motown's songs. The music for some songs were recorded in LA like those from "..Mellow Mood" and the albums with the Supremes which feature other muscians. Most of the Jackson 5's songs were recorded in LA. "Darling Dear" is the only J5 song I'm aware of that was recorded using the Funk Brothers and you can tell the difference.
curet, "Your're My Everything" is one of those songs that has a mesmerizing and charming guitar mainly in the left ear. I always love whatever the bass is doing.
On the 2 and 4? I wish I was that advanced in music to fully understand that. I think the Paul Williams lead songs you mentioned were part of Motown's experiments with the Calypso sound. I like when artists experiment with different sounds so that every song doesn't sound the same. Al Green, Keith Sweat, and Freddie Jackson have songs that just ???confuse??? me because I'm expecting a certain song and it's not.
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Post by Cadeho on Jul 25, 2002 7:56:30 GMT -5
Anyone know how they came up with all those songs? Did the song-writers come up with all those parts for the instruments in addition to the lyrics or did the Funk Brothers add what they thought would be good to a song? Someone needs to write a Funk Brothers book daggone it!
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Post by curet30 on Jul 25, 2002 11:25:03 GMT -5
Hi Cadeho,
You said "Anyone know how they came up with all those songs? Did the song-writers come up with all those parts for the instruments in addition to the lyrics or did the Funk Brothers add what they thought would be good to a song?"
I believe the FUNK BROTHERS were jazz-trained musicians; creating and improvising came with the territory. I think Berry hired orchestra musicians for the strings.
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Post by janebse on Jul 25, 2002 16:58:52 GMT -5
Paul Riser did the strings in some early arrangements and some recent arrangements. He might even have done all the strings that appear in Temptation music.
I too like the wide variety of arrangements and am amazed at how someone thinks of all the different sounds.
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Post by janebse on Jul 25, 2002 17:04:46 GMT -5
Eithere AKA or Cadeho said Otis was a "crooner." The minute I read it I thought, "Yes." And then last night I was rereading sections of Otis' update book. And lo and behold, he described a Hollywood Palace episode where the Tempts appeared and Bing Crosby was the host. Crosby was very much interested in "My Girl" and alternated singing lines with David. Otis said Crosby had a reverential attitude toward "My Girl" and that he, Otis, was so awed by the singing that he almost stopped singing and dancing himself and just listened. I'd love to get a copy of that episode. Has anyone ever seen or heard it?
It is really interesting hearing the different singers cover other songs. I don't think anyone (not even Diane) could do "Im gonna make you love me" as well as Eddie. I thought David did "Yesterday" very well. He sang it seriously and did not make it a soul song.
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Post by janebse on Jul 25, 2002 17:10:02 GMT -5
I have a CD which is a British produced compilation of Tempt songs. It's a cheap production which came out in 2001.
When I first played it, I was puzzled by "Just My Imagination." Eddie sounded like a later Eddie singing. The one brief note says that it is re-recorded by the Temptations.
Now I know what the words mean, but I don't believe they mean what they are saying. There's no way the Tempts re-recorded those songs in 2001. David, Paul, Melvin and Eddie are all singing on them.
The Tempts sound like the Tempts, except that song by Eddie. (It might just be a poor rendition.)
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Post by Cadeho on Jul 26, 2002 15:43:23 GMT -5
 I'm so sorry... that was me... sound good don't I? How did that get off my computer? Someone owes me money  . Now I know what the words mean, but I don't believe they mean what they are saying. There's no way the Tempts re-recorded those songs in 2001. David, Paul, Melvin and Eddie are all singing on them. When did David sneak into that song? I thought I made it clear he was out of the group! Actually that is baffling  ... but maybe they used an alternate recording and too with today's technologies... you can resurrect anyone and put them in a track. As for the other songs... I knew it! Just like Elvis and 2Pac, Eddie, Paul, David, and Melvin just took that retirement plan available for legends only where they hide from us.
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Post by janebse on Jul 26, 2002 21:15:12 GMT -5
I was so discouraged listening to Eddie's voice on that British CD rerun. I thought, "Have I been mistaken? Was Eddie tired all the time?"
Anyway, today I tried some other records, the Temptations Live of 1966, A Lot of Soul, Early Temptations and In a Mellow Mood, the latest My Girl compilation. Eddie just soared above the melody. Oooh, so beautiful. So I'm tempted to almost throw that British album away. How could they do that to Eddie?
THe Classic Five were in rare form. If the Beatles can still make 40 million a year playing old records, then the Temptations could too.
And then I listened to the present Tempts, and they sounded very good.
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Post by Ivory Fair on Jul 30, 2002 10:34:51 GMT -5
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