Showing posts with label Motown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Motown. Show all posts

Beach Boys and Motown issue 1966 "copyright dump" releases

To prevent overseas interests from cashing in, the Beach Boys and the Motown labels have once again issued rare recordings as a way to safeguard their copyrights.

In Europe, works go out of copyright 50 years after their original release. One way to secure the copyright, is for artists and record labels to reissue them. In the past, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys and Motown have all done this by releasing download releases, expensive limited edition box sets, or conventional reissues.

The Beatles seem to have abandoned the practice after issuing an official bootlegs release via iTunes back in 2013. Bob Dylan has generally gone the route of expensive box sets. This year, his huge collection of 1966 live recordings did the job. The Beach Boys and Motown have gone the download route, although the Beach Boys conventional release of Pet Sounds and Party! outtakes this year was likely also timed to protect copyright.

But the band has also just released a digital release aimed at protecting the rights of some professionally recorded live concerts. You can order the Beach Boys' Graduation Day: Live at the University of Michigan here.

Meanwhile, Motown has gathered a collection of 80(!) outtakes as Motown: Unreleased 1966. You can order it here.

Here are the track listings:


Show 1
  1. Help Me Rhonda
  2. I Get Around
  3. Medley: Fun, Fun Fun/Shut Down/Little Deuce Coupe/Surfin' USA
  4. Surfer Girl
  5. Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow
  6. You're So Good To Me
  7. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
  8. California Girls
  9. Sloop John B
  10. Wouldn't It Be Nice
  11. God Only Knows
  12. Good Vibrations
  13. Graduation Day
  14. Barbara Ann
Show 2
  1. Help Me Rhonda
  2. I Get Around
  3. Medley: Fun, Fun Fun/Shut Down/Little Deuce Coupe/Surfin' USA
  4. Surfer Girl
  5. Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow
  6. You're So Good To Me
  7. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
  8. California Girls
  9. Sloop John B
  10. Wouldn't It Be Nice
  11. God Only Knows
  12. Good Vibrations
  13. Graduation Day
  14. Barbara Ann
  15. Johnny B. Goode
Bonus Tracks
  1. KOMA Radio Spot
  2. Row Row Row Your Boat

Disc 1
  1. The Soulful Shack (Alternate Version) - The Miracles
  2. Ain't Too Proud To Beg (Alternate Version) - The Temptations
  3. Suddenly I Was Alone - Marvin Gaye
  4. The Shadow Of Your Smile - Billy Eckstine
  5. I Got You (In My Soul) - The Mynah Birds
  6. I'll Wait Forever - The Mynah Birds
  7. Road Burner (Son Of Road Runner) - Junior Walker & The All-Stars
  8. For Once In My Life - Billy Eckstine
  9. That'll Be The Day - Marvin Gaye , Kim Weston
  10. Don't Mess With Bill  - Earl Van Dyke
  11. Flower Girl (Alternate Version) - The Miracles
  12. Can't You Hear Me Knocking  - Brenda Holloway
  13. Whenever You Need Me  - Brenda Holloway
  14. Just Too Much To Hope For  - Marvin Gaye , Kim Weston
  15. Stand By Me (Live At The 20 Grand, Detroit/1966)  - Earl Van Dyke
  16. A Taste Of Honey  - The Four Tops
  17. Wives And Lovers (Lead Vocal By Obie Benson / Take 1) - The Four Tops
  18. Wives And Lovers (Lead Vocal By Levi Stubbs / Take 3) - The Four Tops
  19. Wives And Lovers (Lead Vocal By Lawrence Payton / Take 4) - The Four Tops
Disc 2
  1. The Lonely Heart And Lonely Eyes Of Lonely Me - Brenda Holloway
  2. Give A Little Love - Marvin Gaye , Kim Weston
  3. What Good Am I Without You - Brenda Holloway
  4. Pucker Up Buttercup (Alternate Version) - Junior Walker & The All-Stars
  5. Monkey Talk - Earl Van Dyke
  6. A World Without You - Barbara McNair
  7. I Still Get Butterflies - Brenda Holloway
  8. In My Heart I Know It's Right - Gladys Knight & The Pips
  9. I'm Losing You - Gladys Knight & The Pip
  10. All These Things - Gladys Knight, The Spinners
  11. Hello, Young Lovers - The Four Tops
  12. I Wish You Love - The Four Tops
  13. Put On A Happy Face - Barbara McNair
  14. The Second Time Around - Barbara McNair
  15. Smile - Barbara McNair
  16. Day In - Day Out - Barbara McNair
  17. Nothing But A Fool - Gladys Knight and The Pips
  18. You're Gone (But Always In My Heart) - Gladys Knight & The Pips
  19. Never Stop Loving Me - Chris Clark
  20. Don't Compare Me With Her - Gladys Knight & The Pips
  21. You've Got Possibilities - Barbara McNair
  22. Never Trust A Man - Chris Clark
Disc 3
  1. Sweet Talkin' Guy - The Marvelettes
  2. I Feel Your Love Growin' On Me - Brenda Holloway
  3. Without Love You Lose A Good Feelin' - Brenda Holloway
  4. You Got A Little Of Everything - Brenda Holloway
  5. Baby I've Got It - Brenda Holloway
  6. Keep Me - Brenda Holloway
  7. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself (Alternate Version) - The Miracles
  8. I Can't Let You Go - The Spinners
  9. Keep Away - Little Lisa
  10. Tea House In China Town (Alternate Version) - The Spinners
  11. I Found Something (Alternate Version) - Marvin Gaye
  12. Save Me From This Misery (Alternate Version) - The Isley Brothers
  13. I Still Love You - Chris Clark
  14. Got To Have You Back (Alternate Version)  - The Isley Brothers
  15. I Can't Take You Back - Gladys Knight & The Pips
  16. Then - The Temptations
  17. I'm Giving Up - Brenda Holloway
  18. Spellbound - Brenda Holloway
  19. For All We Know (Alternate Version) - The Spinners
Disc 4
  1. Can't Hold The Feeling Back - Brenda Holloway
  2. The Impossible Dream - Billy Eckstine
  3. Dear Miss Lonely Hearts - Marvin Gaye
  4. Need Your Lovin' (Want You Back) - The Underdogs
  5. One Of These Days - The Underdogs
  6. On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever) - The Four Tops
  7. More (Theme From "Mondo Cane") - The Supreme
  8. Somewhere - The Supremes
  9. Michelle - The Supremes
  10. I'm So Helpless (When I'm With You) - Debbie Dean
  11. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - Marvin Gaye
  12. Just A Closer Walk With Thee - Kim Weston
  13. Never Grow Old - Kim Weston
  14. How Great Thou Art - Kim Weston
  15. Just A Closer Walk With Thee - Gladys Knight & The Pips
  16. Where You There - The Supremes
  17. What Do You Choose - The Supremes
  18. Steal Away - Marvin Gaye
  19. Near The Cross - The Miracles
  20. Just A Closer Walk With Thee - Martha & The Vandellas

Motown's "Unreleased 1965" collects 28 unissued tracks

Motown has come out with another annual release of outtakes as a way to preserve European copyright on the materials.

Featuring unissued work by Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, the Four Tops and more, Motown Unreleased 1965 is available via download from Amazon and other providers.

In Europe, music releases become public domain after 50 years if they are not issued or reissued. That means anyone, not the original copyright holders, can issue and profit from them.

Motown has issued an "unreleased" compilation each year since 1963 in order to retain its copyrights on unissued recordings. The Beach Boys have done the same via CDs or downloads. And Bob Dylan has taken the route of issuing outtakes and live recordings via extremely limited CD and vinyl edition. This year, he's issued 10 hours worth of 1965 live recordings as a special, limited add-on to his The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12 set.

The Beatles even got into the act a couple years back with a digital release of 1963 material, but skipped last year. No word, yet, if anything is planned this year for their 1965 recordings, which would include loads of studio outtakes, live concert and broadcast performances.

In the meantime, here's what's featured on Motown: Unreleased 1965.
  1. Dance Yeah Dance – Stevie Wonder
  2. While the City Sleeps – The Spinners
  3. ‘Til 12 O’Clock – Stevie Wonder
  4. Goodbye Eilene – Shorty Long
  5. My Precious Dreams – Brenda Holloway
  6. Stuck-Up – Oma Heard
  7. Just Your Love – The Four Tops
  8. What Have I Done to Myself – Brenda Holloway
  9. Didn’t I – The Hit Pack
  10. Can’t Break the Habit (Alternate Version) – Martha and the Vandellas
  11. Funny (How Time Slips Away) – Clarence Paul and Stevie Wonder
  12. About My Baby – Clarence Paul and Stevie Wonder
  13. Stepping Closer to Your Heart – The Monitors
  14. Lucky Lucky Me – Ivy Jo Hunter
  15. Try a Little Tenderness – Smokey Robinson
  16. I Cried for You – Smokey Robinson
  17. I Like Everything About You (Alternate Vocal Version) – The Four Tops
  18. It – Little Lisa
  19. My Daddy Knows Best – Little Lisa
  20. It’s Got to Be Love – The Monitors
  21. Going to a Go-Go (Alternate Version) – Smokey Robinson
  22. For Once in My Life – Connie Haines
  23. Baby You Know You Ain’t Right (Alternate Slow Version) – Jr. Walker and the All Stars
  24. Yesterday – Chris Clark
  25. Determination – Ivy Jo Hunter
  26. I Got Heaven Right Here on Earth (Alternate Version) – The Temptations
  27. I Don’t Want You Anymore – Chris Clark
  28. Can’t Figure It Out – The Lewis Sisters

Smokey Robinson rarity "What Love Has Joined Together" gets digital re-release

A collector's item on CD and LP, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' What Love Has Joined Together is now available in download form.

The New Yorker has this appreciation:
The album is an oddity in many ways. For starters, it’s only six songs long, with a running time of twenty-seven minutes. It opens with the title song, a reworked and extended version of a Miracles song originally recorded in 1962 and covered by acts such as Mary Wells and the Temptations. Whether that counts as an original is debatable, but it’s the only song on the record that even comes close. The other songs are standards by Stevie Wonder (“My Cherie Amour”), Bacharach and David (“This Guy’s in Love with You,” originally recorded by Herb Alpert), and Lennon and McCartney (“And I Love Her”), along with two Motown chestnuts—Marvin Gaye’s “If This World Were Mine,” which he recorded as a duet with Tammi Terrell, and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” a Brenda Holloway hit co-written by Berry Gordy that was later a huge hit for Blood, Sweat, and Tears. The songs, all similarly themed, all handled at roughly the same tempo, flow together; Robinson’s vocals, high and sweet, float over meticulous harmonies and lavish string and horn arrangements.
I'm a big fan of Smokey and Motown, but I guess not enough of one to have heard this LP.
Now I want to.





Motown Supremes and Temptations reissues on tap

From the press release:

Set for release September 13 (digital) and October 25 (CD):

Diana Ross & the Supremes - 50th Anniversary: The Complete Singles 1961-1969, a 3-disc set featuring every A- and B- side from their beginning, when they were known around Motown as the “no-hit Supremes,” through their record-breaking triumphs, their 12 No. 1 hits, ending with their extraordinary decade-ending smash “Someday We’ll Be Together.”

The Temptations - 50th Anniversary: The Complete Singles 1961-1971, a 3-disc tribute to the original classic Temptations lineup, featuring every A- and B- side from their beginning, through their respective triumphs, including “My Girl,” “I Can’t Get Next To You” and “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” closing with the departures of original members Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams.
*

Releasing in November:

More Hits By The Supremes: Expanded Edition, a limited edition 2-CD set featuring the original hit album, first issued in 1965, newly remastered in both original mono and stereo, plus two more albums’ worth of unreleased and rare tracks from the “girls” in their prime. It’s another in a continuing series of expanded versions of the group’s original classic albums available on Motown/Hip-oSelect.com

Complementing the above CD releases will be The Best of The Temptations on The Ed Sullivan Show (1 DVD) and The Best of The Supremes on The Ed Sullivan Show (1 DVD), as well as Motown Gold From The Ed Sullivan Show (2-DVD), all being released on September 13, which feature beloved appearances on the original Sunday night program by both groups. All three DVD collections are packed with classic Motown performances culled from the groundbreaking Ed Sullivan Show, taped live between 1964 and 1971, and all footage has been fully restored with the addition of never before released footage.