Saturday, June 29, 2013

A Rainy Saturday Morning Ramble: Today's Spotify Personal Suggestion to Me


Because I'm an aging Baby Boomer?

I like both Martha Reeves & and Vandellas -- this song in particular (even if it's something of a remake of "Heat Wave")...



...and Joni Mitchell.....



...but in this case, I think a "girl group" recommendation would be in order, particularly a compilation that features the lesser-knowns of the genre.

Such as this song from 1963 that I discovered yesterday.  "My Block" spent 5 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 during the summer of 1963, peaking at #67.  It received no airplay on Buffalo's WKBW, the station I listened to almost exclusively then.   The Four Pennies sound like a blend of the Shirelles and the Chiffons.  The Chifferelles?



Oh, and about the saxophone you hear on "Quicksand".

"The History of Top 40 Saxophone Solos".  Mike Terry was born in 1940 in Hempstead, Texas. He moved to Detroit in 1948 and started playing sax at age thirteen. Soon after graduating from CASS Tech in 1959, he was introduced to Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records, by playing on a session contracted by Kasuka Mafia. He stayed at Motown until late 1966 and played on hundreds of sessions including:
  • the Miracles’ “Shop Around,” 
  • Marvin Gaye’s 
    • “Hitch Hike,” 
    • “How Sweet It Is,” and 
    • “Pride And Joy,” 
  • The Four Tops’s 
    • “I Can’t Help Myself” and 
    • “Something About You,” 
  • The Supremes’ 
    • “Baby Love,” 
    • “Where Did Our Love Go,” 
    • “I Hear A Symphony,” 
  • Martha & The Vandellas’ 
    • “Dancin’ In The Street,” 
    • “Quicksand,” 
  • Jr. Walker’s 
    • “Shotgun,” 
    • “I’m A Road Runner,” and 
  • The Temptations’ 
  • “My Girl.” 
Mike also performed on The Contours’ album which included “Do You Love Me,” Stevie Wonder’s “Castles In The Sand,” and Shorty Long’s “Function At The Junction.”

And one more postscript.  (Not forgotten by me.)

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