Martha Vandellas - post Jimmy Mack direction and "country soul"

[sup_fan]

been listening to the MRATV 50th Anniv Singles Collection and like their "country" songs like Honey Chile and the others. Looking at their releases post-Jimmy, i think it would have been better to establish a sound around that country feel. Riding High sort of captures this but they ended up not including some of the recent singles.

I'd have done something like this and maybe called it Country Soul or something

Side 1
Honey Chile
Sweet Darlin'
I Tried
We've Got Honey Love
I'm In Love [[and I know it)
Forget Me Not

Side 2
I Promise To Wait My Love
Without You
i'm Glad You Belong to me
Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone
A Little Bit of Heaven
I Can't Dance To the Music You're Playing

[daviddesper]

Interesting idea. I always liked I Tried and picked up on the country vibe the moment I heard it.

[Sharpmoves]

Yes, I was surprised and delighted by this sound for MR&TV, but then Martha is a country girl at heart. There are more tracks in this vein:

I'm In Love [[the one from Natural Resources)
I Should be Proud [[if that isn't a country girl singing for her man, I don't know what is!)
Hope I Don't Get My Heart Broke [[you can almost hear the rhinestones!)
I Gotta Let You Go
You're The Loser Now
I Hope You Have Better Luck Than I Did
Everybody's Talkin' [[though I have never thought that the fast arrangement worked, but a slow-tempo re-take with Martha in torch mode would have been a killer)
And of course - No More Tearstained Makeup

By this, I mean songs that have a country flavour, which with a little work could have been brought out more fully.