Country, Western and Pop

[longtimefan]

I just discovered that THE SUPREMES SING COUNTRY, WESTERN AND POP is available on iTunes. I assume that this has recently been posted. Of course, this LP was made available as a CD release 20+ years ago.

Therefore, I am wondering about the sound quality of this iTunes digital release. Has it been remastered since the original CD release? Any other information?

Am I the only one to find this release odd with no "publicity?" Have I missed something?

[Lulu]

A lot of Motown releases were uploaded to iTunes after Motown: The Music blew up. I think this was one as many other albums, out of print for years suddenly appeared!

[calvin]

Yes, and Universal is also making these available for downloading [[and streaming) in cd audio quality [[16 bits, 44.1 kHz). For example:

The Supremes Sing Country Western & Pop
http://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/album/the-supremes-sing-country-western-pop-the-supremes/0060253793053?qref=dac_2

Stevie Wonder Live at Talk of The Town
http://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/album/live-at-talk-of-the-town-stevie-wonder/0060253760784

Mary Wells Recorded Live on Stage
http://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/album/recorded-live-on-stage-mary-wells/0060253787962

Thanks Universal, keep 'em coming!


Has it been remastered since the original CD release? Any other information?

I doubt that "The Supremes Sing Country Western & Pop" was remastered. If you click that link above and scroll down, you'll see:
[[C) 1994 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
[[P) 1994 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
1994 was the year the cd was released, so I guess it's the same. [[I have the cd so I didn't buy this download.)

By contrast, for the Mary Wells title they show:
[[C) 1963 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
[[P) 2014 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.

But then for the Stevie Wonder title they have:
[[C) 1970 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
[[P) 1970 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Shouldn't the sound recording copyright [[P) have been updated to the year of the digital mastering?

[RossHolloway]

That's great news. In the past couple of years or so some interesting Motown titles have appeared on iTunes.

[BigAl]

Of all the Supremes' themed albums, CW&P, although truly bizarre, is one of my very favorites. I have the original mono vinyl version which I bought when it was first released. Later I purchased the CD and discovered, to my surprise, that, it, too, is in mono. Surely there must be a stereo version and I'm wondering why that wasn't used for the CD. I haven't entered the download-your-own age so I'm curious as to whether these tracks are mono or stereo. Anyone know?

[milven]

Seems to be mono Al.

[BigAl]

Seems to be mono Al.

How strange...

[milven]

And here is an earlier thread on SDF from a few years ago about the album.
If there was a stereo vinyl LP, why is there trouble getting it on CD?

http://soulfuldetroit.com/showthread.php?2720-The-Supremes-Sing-Country-Western-And-Pop-The-Stereo-album

[justanothermotownfan]

This is an awesome post. So nice to hear that Mary Wells Live on Stage has finally been released! I'll take the digital copy with no problem however I don't understand why no formal announcement is made so the fans can buy these releases before they are removed, i.e. Martha and The Vandellas Live album. And on that note, if requests are being taken, I'd love to see the entire Tamla Motown Festival Tokyo 1968 album on iTunes instead of paying $189 for just Stevie's vocals...

[longtimefan]

This is an awesome post. So nice to hear that Mary Wells Live on Stage has finally been released! I'll take the digital copy with no problem however I don't understand why no formal announcement is made so the fans can buy these releases before they are removed, i.e. Martha and The Vandellas Live album. And on that note, if requests are being taken, I'd love to see the entire Tamla Motown Festival Tokyo 1968 album on iTunes instead of paying $189 for just Stevie's vocals...

I agree -- and I've said it before and I'll say it again. Why is there no Motown webpage, FaceBook account, Twitter, et. al., that announces upcoming and new releases? Companies far smaller that Motown do this as a matter of course. Jeez! It's "Business Plan 101!!!" Don't they call it "advertisement?????"

[calvin]

This is an awesome post. So nice to hear that Mary Wells Live on Stage has finally been released! I'll take the digital copy with no problem however I don't understand why no formal announcement is made so the fans can buy these releases before they are removed, i.e. Martha and The Vandellas Live album. And on that note, if requests are being taken, I'd love to see the entire Tamla Motown Festival Tokyo 1968 album on iTunes instead of paying $189 for just Stevie's vocals...

I also agree that they should have a website where they announce all new and upcoming releases. Or maybe they do and I just don't know where to look?

I don't know about iTunes, but Martha & The Vandellas Live is still available, though unfortunately I haven't seen it as a cd-quality download:
https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Martha_Martha_and_the_Vandellas_Live?id=Bobini5si2 mg5g54ygh3gbjy35m&hl=en_GB

[longtimefan]

"The Marvelettes Live On Stage" is also on iTunes.

Another question: Why would Motown put something like "Martha and The Vandellas Live" on iTunes and then remove it? It sounds like they have no core business plan -- just hit and miss tactics.

[calvin]

"The Marvelettes Live On Stage" is also on iTunes.

That album was released on cd as part of "Forever" Volume 1.


Another question: Why would Motown put something like "Martha and The Vandellas Live" on iTunes and then remove it? It sounds like they have no core business plan -- just hit and miss tactics.

Do you know that Universal removed it? Maybe iTunes did for some reason, since that download is still available from Google Play. Amazon UK removed "Motown Unreleased - Guys Vol 1" after several customers complained about the quality. 7Digital still offers it in the UK.

[calvin]

I think re-releasing these long-out-of-print titles is a good move by Universal. There are people out there trying to hunt down used copies, and of course Universal makes nothing when someone sells on their used copy for $$$. Some of these buyers would be happy to buy a download instead - they'll save money and Universal will make something from that sale. And now that these are being offered as lossless downloads I include myself as one of these buyers.

So Universal - could you please make The Temptations "Solid Rock" available as a download, including as a lossless download on Qobuz? That's the one "Detroit-era" Motown cd I'm missing.

Also GREAT to see some titles like Mary Wells "Recorded Live on Stage" and the Rick James set being made available as lossless downloads! Thanks Universal! I hope more are coming.

If we can't get Hip-O box sets on Jr Walker or The Originals, I'd be very happy to see their albums released this way.

[roger]

It seems that in Holland there were two singles released off this collection ....

"Baby Doll" ..

The Dutch release ... http://www.45cat.com/record/go42600

The song ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TleNfgaFw0

and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds"

The Dutch release ... http://www.45cat.com/record/go42601

The song ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVvoWkgaibg

:)

Roger

[daviddh]

there is also some out tkes from this album....or should I say alternate vocals , recently I found , I think it was called Motown 1963 will check and print info

[Lulu]

I was on iTunes earlier and it was interesting to see that Mary's Serving Up Some Soul from 1968 [[Jubilee) is also now available - missed that boat!