Keep Off, No Trespassing stereo/mono side by side

[luckyluckyme]

Just fabulous.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ9vb3g-3s8

[Sharpmoves]

One of my favourite Motown recordings by any act ever. And it's the mono one I prefer. It's better edited, and is now it appears on the mono version of the Pink album - also one of my absolute favourite albums of any kind. Thank you so much for posting this.

[soulwally]

Love it too I have the mono Tamla single. A friend once lent me a stereo copy of their Greatest Hits album, and I was thrilled to hear the strings!

[TYK1986]

Love this song! I've never seen some of the photo's in this youtube clip. I first heard this song in mono and love it straight away. It sounds full. When I heard the stereo version I thought something was wrong with my headphones and only afterwards realized the background is muted on the stereo version. The mono version is much better. Thanks for sharing this marvelous song by the Marvelettes.

[MotownFan1]

Another great Marvelettes song! I love every song on the pink album. While many albums have filler songs that are okay or not even that great, I think every track on this album is superb.

[Fullfillingnessfirstfinale]

I have compared the two Versions and I think the Mono Version indulded only the Marvelettes, the Stereo ist with The Andantes, could this be right, we Need the ears of an expert.

I would like to know, if Katherine includes on the Stereo version or only Gladys and Wanda ? Maybe somebdy knows that?

[westgrandboulevard]

Have followed your example, and just compared both mono and stereo version - both with headphones, and without.

Just my own opinion [[I wasn't present, and am no expert...!), but I would say none of the Marvelettes is audible on backing vocals on either mono or stereo version. It's The Andantes on both.

Apart from their earlier recordings, I believe The Marvelettes would usually all contribute to backing vocals, including the member whose voice was heard as lead vocal. This provided a fuller sound.

However, while the Marvelettes were capable of singing in harmony, there were limitations, and the effect could be lusty and raucous, maybe a little unbalanced - and without the sweeter blend of soprano and contralto voices at which The Andantes excelled.

It would have been quicker for the producers to have The Marvelettes sing largely in unison on backgrounds, and then have The Andantes add their three-part harmonies as sweetener. I must say the two sets of voices were generally expertly blended.

However, as you know, sometimes only The Andantes are heard as background voices on Marvelettes recordings, and I think this track is one example. :)

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Have followed your example, and just compared both mono and stereo version - both with headphones, and without.

Just my own opinion [[I wasn't present, and am no expert...!), but I would say none of the Marvelettes is audible on backing vocals on either mono or stereo version. It's The Andantes on both.

Apart from their earlier recordings, I believe The Marvelettes would usually all contribute to backing vocals, including the member whose voice was heard as lead vocal. This provided a fuller sound.

However, while the Marvelettes were capable of singing in harmony, there were limitations, and the effect could be lusty and raucous, maybe a little unbalanced - and without the sweeter blend of soprano and contralto voices at which The Andantes excelled.

It would have been quicker for the producers to have The Marvelettes sing largely in unison on backgrounds, and then have The Andantes add their three-part harmonies as sweetener. I must say the two sets of voices were generally expertly blended.

However, as you know, sometimes only The Andantes are heard as background voices on Marvelettes recordings, and I think this track is one example. :)

You nailed it. Although there are songs on The Pink Album featuring both the Marvelettes and Andantes, in this case it's strictly the Andantes. I do think it says much about how the group sound had come along to the point that sometimes it can be difficult to easily tell when the Andantes are on a record.

Are you familiar with the group the Exciters? 3 girls and a guy but they were firmly in the girl group mold. In the liner notes for one of their collections, one of the ladies remarked about how it was standard practice in the 60s to pad out a group's sound by having a professional trio sing over the top of the group's vocals. She said her group would sing the lower register while the professional singers provided the higher, almost operatic sound. Nobody seemed put off by this and in fact, they welcomed it as they felt it made the group sound more professional. I thought that was an interesting insight.

[westgrandboulevard]

Yes, it's those background soprano notes [[Louvain Demps, I guess) on "Keep off..." and "Hands off..." during the chorus, which identify the talents of The Andantes - and also just by recognising their harmonies from many other Motown recordings.

I think 'This Night [[Tonight) Was Made For Love' from the same album also demonstrates how the two sets of female voices could be blended to great effect. And yes, The Exciters were just one of many female group recordings where the vocal range heard was enhanced by session singers.

That offers the best of both worlds - one set of artistic values to make the record as good as it could possibly be - and also a group with identifiable names, faces and personalities who could go out and perform the songs live on stage, or on television . Not always so easy to find people who possess the talent to do all those things.

But yes again, it can indeed be difficult to tell The Marvelettes from The Andantes, especially when The Andantes are all singing in low register [[Louvain and Marlene then matching contralto Jackie Hicks' voice), and in unison, as on 'I'll Keep [[On) Holding On'.

Apart from the mono and stereo versions each having distinguishing features [[that sax on the mono, those strings on the stereo), we should mention that 'Keep Off, No Trespassing' not only features two sets of background voices, but two lead voices, which makes it, as a recording, all the more notable.:)

[daviddesper]

The more I read about the Andantes and their contributions to Motown, the more conflicted I get in the way I feel about it. On the one hand, it showed professionalism and a commitment to excellence to want to get the best product possible on the radio. And boy did it ever work, considering how awesome most Motown records were.

But back in my teenage years, when I was just getting into music, it was sooooooo much fun to be into the Supremes one week, then Martha the next, then the Marvelettes the next. Later in the 60s, when I branched out and discovered some of the second tier acts [[Elgins, Velvelettes, etc.) my admiration for the various artists grew by leaps and bounds. So for that reason there is a certain level of disappointment in finding out that the groups that I thought were so wonderful and could do so much vocally really could NOT, which is why they needed all that extra help.

But never fear.....I love everything about Motown and just today in fact I cranked up Sirius radio an extra few notches when they played Brenda's "Just Look What You've Done", one of my favorite all-time and vastly under-rated Motown songs.

[luke]

Is Wanda on lead?

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Is Wanda on lead? If you watch the video you will see just when Gladys sings and when Wanda takes over. For the record, Gladys sings the verses and Wanda does the choruses.

[soulwally]

Love the record and, you know, never knew there were two leads on it!!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Love the record and, you know, never knew there were two leads on it!!
It took me awhile to catch on to that! That's what's so clever about it. Because Gladys and Wanda split that song, it gave them both equal measure on The Pink Album. Actually, both got 6 songs apiece and "Keep Off" was something of a bonus by having the two switching off on the lead. Now tell me there wasn't a lot of thought and planning that went into this album...

[luke]

I wonder if that equal split would have occurred if Gladys had stayed?

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

I wonder if that equal split would have occurred if Gladys had stayed?

I don't know if Motown knew Gladys was planning on leaving but I feel Motown did this by design. As Wayne Brasler's Goldmine magazine article reflected, it was a way of acknowledging the group had TWO lead singers; especially as by this time Wanda had taken over on singles. I think it was a brilliant move.