STAX: Soulsville U.S.A. DOCUMENTARY ON HBO & STREAMING ON MAX

A four part docuseries begins Monday, May 20th on HBO and will also be streaming on MAX




https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19891206/

In the late 60s and early 70s Motown signed several well established acts but then sort of took their eye off the ball resulting in frustration. True that a lot was happening at once with the move to LA and entering the film industry with "Lady Sings The Blues". Nevertheless there were some fantastic tracks from artists such as Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Bobby Darin and to a lesser extent Sammy Davis Jr and Lesley Gore.

Thankfully, in the case of Bobby Darin, material that had long been vaulted has been made available over the years - mainly thanks to Joe Marchesse & co [[e.g. Andy Skurrow) who've made it possible for these tracks to see release on CD. The Real Gone CDs have wonderful liner notes as well and are well worth looking up. In particular, "Another Song On My Mind" includes a great resume of Darin's Motown career - much of this can still be seen on the Real Gone website -

https://theseconddisc.com/2011/02/16...-motown-years/

You can see the full CD artwork here -

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cookep...57668721459480

And here are the covers for Darin's Motown albums / CDs

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cookep...in/dateposted/

Please advise of any errors

BOBBY DARIN MOTOWN DISCOGRAPHY

Recorded - 6 February 1971 Live at The Desert Inn [[Renamed “Finally” but still unreleased at the time)

M1183 – 17 April 1971
A Melodie
B Someday We'll Be Together

M1193 – November 1971
A Simple Song Of Freedom
B I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

M1203 – 2 June 1972
A Sail Away
B Hard Headed Woman

M753 ALBUM AUGUST 1972 – Bobby Darin

M1212 – Promo 3 November 1972 [[withdrawn)
A Average People [[mono)
B Average People [[stereo)

M1212 – 3 November 1972 [[probably a bootleg)
A Average People
B Something In Her Love

M1217 – 20 November 1972
A Happy [[Love Theme From "Lady Sings The Blues")
B Something In Her Love

Bobby Darin died 20 December 1973

M813 ALBUM February 1974 – Darin 1936-1973

PR4 [[PROMO EP) - 1974
A1 If I Were A Carpenter
A2 Moritat [[Mack The Knife)
B1 Blue Monday
B2 Happy [[Love Theme From "Lady Sings The Blues")

MW3014 – 1974 [[UK & EU)
A Blue Monday
B Moritat [[Mack The Knife)

M5185 ALBUM July 1981 – Darin 1936–1973 re-issued with 5 tracks having different mixes.

MCD09070MD CD 1987 – Live At The Desert Inn [[first ever issue)

MOTD -5185 CD 1989 – Darin 1936–1973 first issue on CD.

3746351852 CD 1991 – Darin 1936-1973 CD re-issue

NTD-6509-2 CD 2005 – Live At The Desert Inn [[re-issue / remaster / 2 extra tracks “Work Song” and “Beyond The Sea”.

RGM-0440 2xCD 6 May 2016 – Another Song On My Mind [[Real Gone Music)

RGM-0714 CD 13 July 2018 – Go Ahead And Back Up [[Real one Music)

Martha in a bit of a Philly groove on her album "The Rest Of My Life". An expanded version of the album was issued on CD by Funky Town Grooves in 2014 [[whatever happened to them?). Not a Motown release, of course, but there can't be too many people more Motown than Martha.

01 Higher And Higher 3:35
02 [[I Want To Be With You) The Rest Of My Life 4:55
03 Second Chance 3:34
04 This Time I'll Be Sweeter 3:57
05 Love Blind 3:44
06 Thank You 4:51
07 Now That We Found Love 4:28
08 Love Strong Enough To Move Mountains 5:38
09 You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 4:30

Bonus Tracks:
10 [[I Want To Be With You) The Rest Of My Life [[7" Version) 3:27
11 You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' [[7" Version) 3:37
12 Thank You [[7" Version) 5:06
13 Love Strong Enough To Move Mountains [[7" Mix) 3:49
14 Now That We Found Love [[7" Mix) 3:29
15 [[I Want To Be With You) The Rest Of My Life [[Alternate Mix 1) 3:59
16 [[I Want To Be With You) The Rest Of My Life [[Alternate Mix 2) 4:58

It's being reported by several sources that longtime SD member Bobby Eli has passed, although details are incomplete...It's being reported by the National R&B Society, and Carla Benson is also reporting it on her Sweethearts Of Sigma website... I believe he had been ailing for some time.. I had many interactions with Eli through the years... Bobby spent many hours on these pages and will be missed...RIP https://news.snbc13.com/bobby-eli-de...rist-has-died/

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Lowell and Ralph, April 2024

I just wanted to share with the forum what a great time was had at the Motown Museum's Founder's Day yesterday. It was sunny and hot, but it was well worth attending. When I heard Claudette Robinson was going to be at this year's event, I knew I had to be there as I don't believe she visits Detroit very frequently. We were talking with fellow SDF member Nsoule when I turned around and lovely Claudette had just arrived and was standing a few feet away from us. I welcomed her with a hug and relayed how wonderful it was to have her present at the day's event. I said I had a photo that I hoped she could sign and she said she was planning to be there all day and we'd meet up later. The alumni were mostly inside the 2654 building due to the heat. When Claudette gave a short speech on the stage she mentioned many alumni were present, including Miller London, Pat Cosby, Martha Reeves and Sandra Fagin of the Monitors. I was able to reconnect with Claudette to have my photo signed, and a spicy Miss Reeves also signed a photo for me. Maybe it was the heat! Many of Claudette's extended family were at the event, it was certainly a Rogers family reunion. There was a lady who looked a lot like Tamla and I asked her if she was related and she was Claudette's niece. I said I could see the family resemblance! It was nice to see the current Motown Museum exhibit on Claudette and to hang out with the alumni. Here a few photos. Did any other forum members attend?
Darin

Claudette and I

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Miss Martha Reeves dancing away when they played "Dancing In The Street"!

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The Hitsville window highlighting the current exhibit with beautiful photos of Claudette and the Miracles

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Fellow forum member Nsoule and myself in Studio A

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And lastly, my mementos of the day!

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