Live Wire! The Singles 1962-1972 Question

[sansradio]

I just scored a used copy of this collection this weekend for 8 U.S. bucks! Although this is one of my finds-of-the-year, I am slightly disappointed. Not only is the booklet missing, but on perusal of the track listing, I've discovered that "A Love Like Yours [[Don't Come Knocking Every Day)" is not included. Can anyone shed light on why it wasn't included? It was "[[Love Is Like a) Heatwave"'s flip side, after all. The catalog # on the box is 37463-6313-2. Thanks in advance.

[reese]

Most of the b-sides that were included made this set if they could not be previously found on an album, tracks like DARLING I HUM OUR SONG , A TEAR FOR THE GIRL, and THIRD FINGER,LEFT HAND.

Yet there were some exceptions included as well, like ONE WAY OUT and SHOW ME THE WAY.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

Congrats on your thrifty purchase, sansradio! Pity your copy doesn't contain the booklet. If I remember correctly, the booklet's excellent liner notes reveal, track by track, who the back-up singers were -- whether it be The Vandellas and/or The Andantes. To my knowledge, it was the first and ONLY time that this information was revealed in such detail. Same applies to the booklet for The Marvelettes "Deliver" from the same 2-disc Motown Master Series CD's.

As far as why Martha & The Vandellas' "A Love Like Yours" wasn't included in "Live Wire's" track lineup, who knows? Questions like this are what have kept us Motown fans perplexed and stupified for years. It was one of Martha's prettiest ballads -- worthy of an A-side release. My only guess is that, if memory serves, Motown had just released Martha & The Vandellas' "Come And Get These Memories" album on CD around the same time as "Live Wire's" CD release". Since "CAGTM" already contains "A Love Like Yours", Motown most likely chose to keep "A Love Like Yours" unique to "CAGTM" in order to guarantee that we Motown fans would have to buy both CD's. Smart, sneaky, and successful strategy on Motown's part. It worked every time. They've had me by the cahunas for years!

[mysterysinger]

The Gordy label would have been more appropriate methinks..
9565

[reese]

The Gordy label would have been more appropriate methinks..
9565

Yes, especially since the Tamla labels were used for the Marvelettes' collection released at the same time. I think the Soul labels were used for Jr. Walker's collection as well.

[RossHolloway]

As a side-note, when Martha was out doing book signings for her autobiography, Confessions of a Motown Diva, I was the last person in line and she signed both her book and the booklet to this set. I don't recall exactly what I asked her but she turned to me and said couldn't those song [[those two solo tracks) have been singles? I chuckled and said anything you sing could be a single.

[reese]

I saw Martha, Roz, and Annette the summer before the LIVE WIRE! set was released. They were singing on a small boat at the local mall. Before the show started, they had someone hand out the booklets to the LIVE WIRE! set, even though it had not been released yet.

[soulster]

The set was done in the early 90s. Perhaps the tapes of some songs hadn't yet been found.

[sansradio]

Thanks to everyone for your responses! Reese and Gary, what you both say makes sense. I just consider "...Knocking..." their most iconic B-side; Martha's still performing it today! I do have a vinyl rip of the song anyway, so no great loss. Mysterysinger, you raise an excellent point about the labelling. Great Martha moment, too, RossHolloway. Reese, I'm green with envy about the booklet story. Oh, and Gary: Earlier this year, I also acquired a used Deliver: The Singles... for 10 bucks...and ALSO missing ITS booklet. Grrr....

[sansradio]

The set was done in the early 90s. Perhaps the tapes of some songs hadn't yet been found.

Well, soulster, as Gary pointed out, the Come and Get These Memories LP was released on CD almost concurrently, so not sure if I buy that theory. Thanks for your input, though!

[woodward]

I just scored a used copy of this collection this weekend for 8 U.S. bucks! Although this is one of my finds-of-the-year, I am slightly disappointed. Not only is the booklet missing, but on perusal of the track listing, I've discovered that "A Love Like Yours [[Don't Come Knocking Every Day)" is not included. Can anyone shed light on why it wasn't included? It was "[[Love Is Like a) Heatwave"'s flip side, after all. The catalog # on the box is 37463-6313-2. Thanks in advance.
SANSRADIO: If you send me a private email message with your name, address, etc., I will be more than happy to make a copy of the booklet that came with the set. I agree about A Love Like Yours - I am crazy about this song. It did not and does not get enough airplay. I have a copy machine at my disposal that does color but only the front cover and back cover are in color.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

Thanks to everyone for your responses! Reese and Gary, what you both say makes sense. I just consider "...Knocking..." their most iconic B-side; Martha's still performing it today! I do have a vinyl rip of the song anyway, so no great loss. Mysterysinger, you raise an excellent point about the labelling. Great Martha moment, too, RossHolloway. Reese, I'm green with envy about the booklet story. Oh, and Gary: Earlier this year, I also acquired a used Deliver: The Singles... for 10 bucks...and ALSO missing ITS booklet. Grrr....

The Marvelettes' booklet is missing, too, you say? Well, gosh, sansradio, I guess you just weren't meant to have the booklets from that series! Dare I ask, do you have the booklet intact for Mary Wells' ""Looking Back"?

To be fair, I, too have a tale to tell regarding those same booklets. I had bought all three [[Martha, The Marvelettes, and Mary Wells) when they first came out in the early '90s. Unfortunately, a few years later [[and it's my own damned fault), when I was hittin' the sauce [[Scotch) pretty hard, I got the bright idea of bringing along my 3 anthologies to a friend's house to re-read the booklets while spending the day. I vaguely remember browsing through the booklets while there. When I brought them back home, however, I noticed a few days later that the booklets were all missing. My friend searched high and low for them but they were nowhere to be founf. [[And, no, my friend is honest and into clasical music only. Couldn're care less about keeping my Motown booklets.) God only knows what I did with them. Just two years ago, I finally found new copies on Amazon and eBay -- all with their corresponding booklets intact. It just makes ya wonder -- what is there about those booklets that make them so elusive?!!! If I had my original booklets back, I would gladly give them to you. As for my current booklets, I'm holding on tight with both hands!

[nabob]

A Love Like Yours was one of the few B-sides appearing on the 1986 Compact Command Performances series. The Live Wire collection was the first time for me getting my favorite B-side on CD, Never Leave Your Baby's Side. I remember being sooo disappointed that the mix was sharply different from the 45 rpm mix. The tambourines and percussion are sharper and much more audible. Cary Mansfield produced these packages and didn't realize until afterwards that there was a difference.

A few years later the same mix again appeared on Spectrum's Early Classics series. The original mix has never appeared on CD to my knowledge or in stereo. I hope Andy's ears are open [[LOL). It's hard to comprehend the amount of money invested in buying collections during the 90s and early 00s just trying to score songs that made CD debuts long after these times.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

Nabob, I, too, love Martha's "Never Leave Your Baby's Side". But, like Cary Mansfield, I never noticed a difference between the actual 45 mix and the mix used on "Live Wire". I'm usually quick to pick up on the slightest difference [[which I usually find annoying), but this one slipped right past me.

[Methuselah2]

Sansradio - As a possibility, perhaps it was a space consideration for not including KNOCKING and it might have seemed like a good candidate for omitting due to its availability elsewhere. But omissions like that--and I love that tune, too--are always disappointing. And the actual reasons as to why some omissions are made often remain hidden. But occasionally a question does get answered conclusively and, hopefully, that will happen with this one. Fans really do want to know the whys and how-comes.

[westgrandboulevard]

On my UK Stateside 45 [[and long gone!) copy of "A Love Like Yours [[Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" there was a drop-out in the spoken part, at about 2.17, "I broke your heart, and I made you so blue, instead of hurting back, you said... [[darling)... I love you...".....

I guess it was the same on the flipside of the US 45?

[soulster]

Well, soulster, as Gary pointed out, the Come and Get These Memories LP was released on CD almost concurrently, so not sure if I buy that theory. Thanks for your input, though!
One thing: is the "Come And get These Memories" in stereo or mono? The "Livewire" set is mono.

[nabob]

One thing: is the "Come And get These Memories" in stereo or mono? The "Livewire" set is mono.Come and Get These Memories, Marvelous Marvelettes, and Supremes Sing Country Western & Pop were among a handful of mono albums released in 1994 as part of the Motown Master Series. The album later appeared in 2002 as part of an 8-album stereo series of British twofers produced on Martha & the Vandellas.

[woodward]

Please be advised I have the booklets for all 3 of these sets: Martha & the Vandellas, Marvelettes, and Mary Wells. I will be more than happy to make a copy of any or all of them for anyone who needs one for their collection. Please send me a private email message through the Forum and I will provide them to you.

[sansradio]

Woodward, you're amazing! Look out for my info. Gary, geez! What a story! I don't yet have the Mary set. Be just my luck to get it used with no booklet! Nabob and Methuselah, your expertise is greatly appreciated as well.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

On my UK Stateside 45 [[and long gone!) copy of "A Love Like Yours [[Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" there was a drop-out in the spoken part, at about 2.17, "I broke your heart, and I made you so blue, instead of hurting back, you said... [[darling)... I love you...".....

I guess it was the same on the flipside of the US 45?
Woodward, I don't recall ever noticing a drop-out on the US. single. But then, it's been 50 years since I played the actual 45. To my knowledge, the word "Darling" has always shone through loud and clear on the 45, the album, and the CD versions.

[Motown Eddie]

A Love Like Yours was one of the few B-sides appearing on the 1986 Compact Command Performances series. The Live Wire collection was the first time for me getting my favorite B-side on CD, Never Leave Your Baby's Side. I remember being sooo disappointed that the mix was sharply different from the 45 rpm mix. The tambourines and percussion are sharper and much more audible. Cary Mansfield produced these packages and didn't realize until afterwards that there was a difference.

A few years later the same mix again appeared on Spectrum's Early Classics series. The original mix has never appeared on CD to my knowledge or in stereo. I hope Andy's ears are open [[LOL). It's hard to comprehend the amount of money invested in buying collections during the 90s and early 00s just trying to score songs that made CD debuts long after these times.

The original mix of 'Never Leave Your Baby's Side' finally showed up on CD with the release of the 50th Anniversary-The Singles Collection-1962/1972 box set. And unlike the Live Wire-The Singles set, this collection has all of the B-sides that Martha & the Vandellas released on Gordy/Motown [[along with the Spanish versions of 'I'm Ready For Love' & 'Jimmy Mack', a whole disc of previously unreleased songs and alternate takes, and a stereo mix of 'Jimmy Mack').

[kenneth]

The original mix of 'Never Leave Your Baby's Side' finally showed up on CD with the release of the 50th Anniversary-The Singles Collection-1962/1972 box set. And unlike the Live Wire-The Singles set, this collection has all of the B-sides that Martha & the Vandellas released on Gordy/Motown [[along with the Spanish versions of 'I'm Ready For Love' & 'Jimmy Mack', a whole disc of previously unreleased songs and alternate takes, and a stereo mix of 'Jimmy Mack').

I resisted buying some of the singles sets because they didn't include bonus disks, like the Vandellas set did. But they are all well worth buying. Hearing the singles in the original Mono [[as indeed "Live Wire" and the others from the early 90s were) with all the B-sides is really a fun way to chart the groups' progress. And I was surprised how many of the B-sides I hadn't heard in a long time, and how good many of them were.

As to why "A Love Like Yours" was left off the earlier set, I have to think it was a huge error by the compilers. That was an extremely popular song. It was even on the original "Vandellas Greatest Hits" LP as I recall because it got so much airplay.

[woodward]

[B]I just remembered the world's leading expert on the various compilations that may have included A Love Like Yours so this is what our great Keith Hughes has to offer:

ike Yours [[Don't Come Knocking Everyday), A [[Brian Holland-Lamont Dozier-Edward Holland Jr) publ. Jobete
Kim Weston; recorded Hitsville, completed 08-Oct-65 ; produced by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier
14-Feb-66; 45 [[M): Gordy G 7050 B
26-Feb-91; CD [[M): Motown MOTD 5486 Greatest Hits And Rare Classics
23-Oct-00; CD: Spectrum 554 513 2 Greatest Hits And Rare Classics [UK]
24-Nov-06; CD [[M): Hip-O Select B0007872-02 The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 6 1966
The Vandellas; recorded Hitsville, completed 02-May-63 ; produced by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier
[unreleased]; LP [[S): Gordy S902 Come And Get These Memories
28-Jun-63; LP [[M): Gordy 902 Come And Get These Memories
10-Jul-63; 45 [[M): Gordy G 7022 B
04-May-66; LP [[M): Gordy G917 Martha And The Vandellas' Greatest Hits
04-May-66; LP [[S): Gordy S917 Martha And The Vandellas' Greatest Hits
1987; CD [[S): BMG Victor R32M 1057 The Motown Girls [Japan]
10-Feb-98; CD [[M): Motown 530 858 2 The Ultimate Collection
May-02; CD [[S): Motown 016 835 2 Come And Get These Memories / Heatwave [UK]
14-Oct-05; CD [[M): Hip-O Select B0005352-02 The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 3 1963
07-Mar-06; CD [[S): Motown B000522602 Gold
07-Dec-09; CD [[S): Motown 00753 22709 A Complete Introduction To Tamla Motown [UK]
29-Apr-13; CD [[M): Hip-O Select B0017845-02 50th Anniversary: The Singles Collection 1962-1972

[sansradio]

Thanks, again, Woodward [[and, by extension, Keith)! This...just for fun:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5drWb_xbpFI

[reese]

Thanks, again, Woodward [[and, by extension, Keith)! This...just for fun:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5drWb_xbpFI

I actually heard Ike and Tina's version first, on their live WHAT YOU HEAR IS WHAT YOU GET album. Great version, by the way. It was years before I heard the studio version on their RIVER DEEP-MOUNTAIN HIGH album.

[mysterysinger]

"Sweet Darlin'" alt vocal...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGGrftjQ-Ak

[Philles/Motown Gary]

Mysterysinger, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas' "Sweet Darlin'" remains one of my all-time favorite Martha/Motown tracks. Thanks for the pleasant reminder!

[144man]

"Sweet Darlin'" was the first Martha & Vandellas US 45 not to be released in the UK as a single.

[motony]

"Sweet Darlin'" got heavy air-play on the Soul Stations in Florida. I love it, one of the best of the later 60's Motown releases.