WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance
10-23-2019, 01:37 PM
When I first bought this album I hated this LA-recorded version. It just sounded so stilted and pale compared to the Detroit-recorded Four Tops' original. But it's so funny how something you hate so strongly can become you embrace so strongly.
The song has grown on me over the years. It's kinda like that story of the little engine that could. The L.A. rhythm section was never gonna equal what The Funk Brothers did but the more I listen to this the more I hear it as the L.A. guys deciding to just come up with their own groove and work the h*ll out of it! It does rock pretty well at that if you take it on its own merits.
And the thing that used to REALLY bug me, the bass line is actually pretty cool in its own way. I used to think it was just kinda pitiful. James Jamerson, of course, was doing some truly Unholy things with his bass line on the original recording and there was no way in any universe someone else was going to be able to match the interplay between James' bass and Benny's bass drum. But now, I've come to appreciate the bass line on the Supremes' version as well. I like how during the choruses, the bass takes it easy for the first 8 beats- single notes, nothing crazy, just working the rhythm. Then for the last 8 beats [["when it's over, when it's over")whoever is playing does this scruffy, quirky, plucky little back and forth thing, almost like a nod to something James Jamerson would have done. For lack of a better word, it's a "cute" little riff.
The song has grown on me over the years. It's kinda like that story of the little engine that could. The L.A. rhythm section was never gonna equal what The Funk Brothers did but the more I listen to this the more I hear it as the L.A. guys deciding to just come up with their own groove and work the h*ll out of it! It does rock pretty well at that if you take it on its own merits.
And the thing that used to REALLY bug me, the bass line is actually pretty cool in its own way. I used to think it was just kinda pitiful. James Jamerson, of course, was doing some truly Unholy things with his bass line on the original recording and there was no way in any universe someone else was going to be able to match the interplay between James' bass and Benny's bass drum. But now, I've come to appreciate the bass line on the Supremes' version as well. I like how during the choruses, the bass takes it easy for the first 8 beats- single notes, nothing crazy, just working the rhythm. Then for the last 8 beats [["when it's over, when it's over")whoever is playing does this scruffy, quirky, plucky little back and forth thing, almost like a nod to something James Jamerson would have done. For lack of a better word, it's a "cute" little riff.