MOTOWN "Lost & Found" series

[J Epstein]

I found two of the four "Lost & Found" titles in a used-disc emporium, and I thought maybe I'd bring them to the gang's attention.

I turned up the Marvin Gaye and Smokey & The Miracles discs, and I am VERY pleased. Unlike some rarities compilations, these are not scrapings from the bottom of a barrel. I think the high quality of the music is due to the unique situation of Motown records duriung their heyday - the liner notes to both discs make mention of this unusual situation, whereby records of great quality were being popped out like widgets on an assembly line, and then they had to get through a VERY narrow QC funnel to see release. Tons of stuff was sent back for reworking, or shelved, or assigned to different artists, and so there is a fairly significant amount of great unreleased material which these sets are now exposing. (Not for the first time, in some cases, though.)

Today Smokey and Gaye have no worries about their place on the charts or in history, and their releases do not need to be considered in the context of what will sell Right Now or what else is being released This Week. Without those considerations weighing down these tunes, it is now clear that there were some top rank gems made back in the day and left to languish for decades. Either disc contains enough great soul tunes that, if you were to pick ten at random and go back in the time machine and release them on a Motown LP in 1967, it'd be a $500 collector's item today.

Sound is authentic Motown mono - Motown singles were never audiophile gems but Hitsville defined the idea of a strongly identifiable house sound and these discs deliver that sound quite well. I have read about the small, full-to-bursting Motown room that these masters were recorded in and you can almost tell that the room was crowded - some Motown records sound like there is 10# of stuff in a 5# bag, I think the crowded room might be the reason ;)

I will definitely be seeking out the Temptations volume. I am not as much a Four Tops fan but that is the 4th title in case anyone cares.

"It's What's in The Grooves That Count"

-j

null http://home.earthlink.net/~ellenoler/images/gordyrect.GIF

[JohnnyK]

I read that during the 1960's, Motown used AR3a speakers as their mixing monitors. They used to run them so loud that they had boxes of replacement tweeters and midrange drivers on hand. I know that I have replaced the tweeters and midrange drivers on my Ar3a's numerous times. They cannot deal with loud volumes very well. On the other hand, the woofers are almost indestructable.

[Grant]

I have the Temptations disc and it is worth every penny! The Temps are my first favorite Motown act. The Supremes are the second, and the Jacksoin Five are the third.

I read that Motown used Altec Lansing monitors that were very inaccurate, and the producers liked to play them so loud that the engineers had to leave the room. H-D-H and Micky Stevenson were the worst.

The stereo mixes were done, literally, in the house next door, with cables connecting the two studios.

The stereo mixes were always an afterthought. Whatever one may think of the mono mixes, they were the ones that got approved for single released. Some people think that just because everything is stereo now that there is no reason for the mono BUT most Motown singles were MIXED differently than the stereo, which warrants their validity. One should NOT even try to remix those singles to stereo. I've heard a few results of this and it DOES NOT WORK. And I don't believe that you should try to make ANYTHING sound modern. 60's music should be left with the 60s esthetic. Period. And if the tape has hiss, so be it.

End of rant.

[pigmode]

Why are these refered to as the "Lost & Found" and Grant, which Temptations are you talking about?

[J Epstein]

Re "Lost & Found" - they are all masters that were not released at the time they were recorded, then they sat in the vault for decades.

-j

[J Epstein]

The Tempts title is "You've Got To Earn It."

Marvin Gaye: "Love Starved Heart"

Smokey: "Along Came Love"

4 Tops: "Breaking Through"

[Grant]

Lots of unreleased Marvin Gaye has already been issued in various packages. To a lesser extent, this is also true for the Supremes and the Four Tops.

There are still many charting Motown singles that have yet to show up in their true 45 RPM mono mixed form on CD and have not been released since the 60s. It's time for Motown to do a third box set to fill in the holes. This is true for the 70s as well. I wish they had had the foresight to release all the charting mono singles like Atlantic and Stax did years ago.

[J Epstein]

I just got "You've Got To Earn It" (Temptations volume in the Lost & Found series) and in some ways it's the best of the three I have, there is some excellent, new-to-my-ears material on this disc.

Then, there's a different, and to my ears weaker, mix of "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" with a string section overdub that illustrates that the Motown Powers That Be knew how to pick a single. The well-known mix is far more intense.

It's an interesting experience, hearing vintage Golden Era Motown tracks with fresh ears. I'm really enjoying it!

-j

[CM Wolff]

I want to chime in and say the Lost & Found series is great, and the Marvin title is especially strong - there is some pretty indispensable stuff on there that I am surprised didn't make his box set, the Master.

I also want to second Grant's notion that Motown still has some stuff to get out there. Also, besides the holes he mentions, I actually wish they would take another shot at the first Hitsville box. There is so much essential, core material that is missing that the box really does not serve its purpose. Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, and Stevie Wonder are totally, 100% underrepresented. I mean, a Motown box without "Ain't That Peculiar" or "Stop! In the Name of Love" is fatally comprimised in my book. Although Harry Weinger edited the liner notes, I don't think he compiled the box; based on his sellar jobs on the Supremes, Four Tops, and Stevie Wonder boxes, not to mention the Marvin Gaye Deluxe Editions, I have to believe he would come up with something improved.

Maybe an answer would be a more deluxe mega-disc series ala the Stax boxes, although I can't see them going in that direction. Who knows.

One final Motown note - I am looking forward to the complete Marvin/Tammi set that comes out in a week or two - if anyone has any advance news about it, please post....