Do I love you? Indeed I do!

It's always amazed me that Americans have had to go to England for their knowledge of American music -- rockabilly (remember that the Stray Cats had to go to England, the land where Gene Vincent is a god, to become big first) and especially Northern Soul. (My ins to these wonderful, lesser-known soul sounds were Paul Weller, on the cusp of The Jam and The Style Council in the early '80s, and the many Goldmine/Soul Supply compilations.) And that deep knowledge even applies to one of the most familiar fountains of American music.
As a happy accident, all those soul record hounds from England who turned Major Lance and Gloria Jones and J.J. Barnes and Edwin Starr and Martha Starr into icons managed to unearth a ton of rare and/or previously unreleased Motown gems. We knew the label ran deep, but THIS deep? Damn! The revelations for us as ignorant Americans include the young Brenda Holloway ("Trapped in a Love Affair") (!!!), Barbara McNair ("Baby-a-Go-Go") and the fact that The Contours went deeper than "Do You Love Me" ("Baby Hit and Run"). I mean, why didn't these songs come out in the day? These are flat-out scorchers -- would-have-been smash hits -- and people who listen to them for the first time will think they turned on their AM radios in a parallel universe. Anyway, I'm glad this English import was eventually released in our own country.
Actually, for all the riches here, were I able to give it only 4.9 stars instead of 5, that would have done the trick. The only flaws: The liner notes print is so small and condensed that you can't read it, even with 20/15 eyes; and 2) The disc includes Chris Clark's fine version of "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)," but it doesn't include the holy grail of Northern Soul record collecting -- Frank Wilson's version, which has appeared on other Northern Soul compilations. There are only two or three of the original-pressing 45s, which go for $20 large each, and I would've liked to have heard what all the fuss is about ...

if you like Motown............buy it!

there is some really great stuff on this here CD, although not every song is a winner. But Tammi Terrell shines, as does The Temps (check out the Eddie Kendricks vocal on "Definite Change In Me"). All in all, you will like this CD and love some of the songs in particular. I would recommend it if you like Motown Music, R&B, Soul and music from the 60's.

Ureleased Gems

Listening to these songs, you can get an idea of a sort developing of the Motown Sound on an ongoing basis. There are number of songs that would've been released singles on many another record label, particular Brenda Holloway's numberous inclusions. A previous review stated that the Funk Brothers did unusual arrangements to compensate for weak lyrics. That's not likely, because the Funk Brother often had no lyric sheets, and didn't even know who was going to sing over the tracks they recorded (in many cases, several acts recorded their vocals over the same tracks). In fact, the titles they saw were not necessarily the title the songs would have once released.

Still, we all have our opinions and/or our favorites. Despite less than spectacular vocals, "Don't Make Me Live Without Your Love" is without a doubt my favorite song on the set. Wonder what Tammi Terrell's version sounds like? And I can't imagine Diana Ross tackling "Here Are The Pieces Of My Broken Heart," (my 2nd favorite) not after hearing Gladys Knight tear into it here...but I'd love to hear it.

If you like the Motown Sound, if you like innovation, you'll at the very least appreciate this collection.