R.I.P Marv Tarplin [[Miracles/Smokey guitarist)

[MadLad]

R.I.P to a true Motown legend! You will be missed by many

[MIKEW-UK]

Terrible news........Marv's guitar figures were brilliant....indispensable to Smokey....

[paladin]

Colton I got the facebook message. This is a sad day indeed, @ Mike, so true he was a Miracle.

[soulster]

I just want to see something official. We have been fooled before. Facebook announcements mean nothing to me.

[MadLad]

Well considering this info came from Smokeys production manager I believe it to be real. It just hasn't hit the media yet

[bankhousedave]

Horrible news. There was no one else like him. Old story, but worth repeatng, when the Supremes/Primettes came to be auditioned by Smoke, he turned them away [[on grounds of age), but kept their guitarist. Marv went on working with him, even on stage, until very recently.

RIP Marv Tarplin and thanks for everything you brought t the music.

[soulster]

Well considering this info came from Smokeys production manager I believe it to be real. It just hasn't hit the media yet

I'll wait till it hits the media, confirmed. Like I said, we have seen false reports before. Remember when people said Aretha Franklin was on her death bed last year?

[Roberta75]

I'm still holding out that this news isn't true.

Roberta

[marv2]

Another unsung hero has gone home. Marv Tarplin was intergral to the Motown Story in many ways. Great songwriter, guitarist etc,etc. Rest in Peace Marv, and thanks man.


Marv

[MIKEW-UK]

Motown Alumni Association announcement and tribute to Marv

http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1411044813

[soulster]

Now that's something concrete!

[stephanie]

No offense to anyone on this board but there are LINKS that proclaim someone to be have passed away and they are not always true. Im not trying to start a war I just wanted to point out that just because someone puts up a link to a reputable source it is not always true. I guess I feel for those who announce something and there is not always a link. As an example I saw an obituary once for Abe Vigoda in the paper and it was not true, and also a piece on the radio where it was announced that Carlos Santana had passed away. MOST of the time the stories are true but again I just wanted to take up for those who had not posted links.

[MotownSteve]

To paraphrase Marvin Gaye: People say believe half of what you see, Son, and none of what you hear.

[tl_harris]

R.I.P Marv

T.L. Harris

[soulster]

No offense to anyone on this board but there are LINKS that proclaim someone to be have passed away and they are not always true. Im not trying to start a war I just wanted to point out that just because someone puts up a link to a reputable source it is not always true. I guess I feel for those who announce something and there is not always a link. As an example I saw an obituary once for Abe Vigoda in the paper and it was not true, and also a piece on the radio where it was announced that Carlos Santana had passed away. MOST of the time the stories are true but again I just wanted to take up for those who had not posted links.

Thank you, Steph! That's all I was saying as well. And, to this moment, I still cannot find any official word of his passing from the media or otherwise. That's kind of odd, since this had been alleged all day.

[daddyacey]

R.I.P Marv Tarplin.
Take a good listen to the guitar parts on some of the old Miracle tracks and some of Smokey's solo tracks. They are perfection ,they flow with the same grace that Jamerson or Babbit produce from the bass. A true genius.

[splanky]

While I completely understand folks wariness of these announcements made without
valid links and I don't understand why there is not yet any news of Marv's passing on aol
I am of the belief that this is no hoax. I almost wish it were. I've have talked about how much I loved Marv's playing in the past and I will miss him. He did a lot of things on the
guitar that reminded me at times of Curtis Mayfield's gorgeous chordings and of Jimi
Hendrix's phrasing. I was talking with a friend a few years back about what he called hip hop's origination of the sound of scratching in music. I told him the first places I heard
scratching was on a guitar like Marv did on the Miracles Special Occasion and Jimi did on
Are You Experienced. Marv's liquid playing on I Like It Like That gets to me just as much
as Curtis's on tracks like Gimme Your Love. I hope someone will do a fitting tribute to this
great man, he surely is one of the most often overlooked talents of our musical history....RIP...

http://www.soultracks.com/story-marv-tarplin-dies

[MIKEW-UK]

Hi all,

The link I posted was to The Motown Alumni Association website after receiving an email from Billy Wilson telling me of the news.

This is a highly reputable website with far greater knowledge and sensitivity regarding Motown artists than other media outlets.

I think you can take it their announcement is genuine. Sadly.

[1wicked]

Well....you've gotta understand that the mainstream media doesn't generally have the knowledge or respect for group members that were not lead singers [[particularly of Classic Soul groups) that the SDF Collective has....thus a lack of coverage. Heck...if you recall....it was 24 to 48 hours after Teddy Pendergrass' passing before mainstream media picked up the story...like he was flash in the pan one hit wonder.

[stalebagel]

Like so many other people on this forum, I did not want to accept the news that Marv Tarplin had passed.
I last saw Marv at the Seldom Blues restaurant in Detroit in 2008 when my producer, Bernhard Kurz, had flown in from Berlin to audition Motown acts for the run of our [I]Memories of Motown [I] musical in Berlin. It was the first time I'd seen Marv in 42 years and he looked and sounded great.
Every night that I was on stage during the run of the show at the Estrel Festival Center in January-February 2009, I would talk to the audience about Marv and his role with the Supremes in the very early days. And every time -- every single night and every single performance -- that I mentioned his name, without fail it would be met with applause from the audience. The very hip German audiences recognized Marv's name and gave him the recognition he deserved. Ask anyone who was there -- it was amazing.
I think that's one of the greatest tributes anyone can pay to a true musical genius -- and a wonderful person.
We'll all miss you Marv.
Al

[mirage]

Hi all,

The link I posted was to The Motown Alumni Association website after receiving an email from Billy Wilson telling me of the news.

This is a highly reputable website with far greater knowledge and sensitivity regarding Motown artists than other media outlets.

I think you can take it their announcement is genuine. Sadly.

The passing of what I consider "guitar" icons oftentimes is kept in the background. To Marv Tarplin's family, I can only say
that memories are never forgotten, but kept in the heart. My deepest sympathy...

As far as the Motown Alumni Association ... I found the exact posting, attributed by Wilson to Wilson and "a few notable words" from Wilson re: Marv being attributed by Susan Whittall of the Detroit News to Wilson, as coming from Wikipedia. Stealing from Web sites and not thoroughly checking quotes and where they came from is absolutely unreliable sourcing.
Waiting for a bonafide news agency that checks facts is much more factual.

[marv2]

courtesy of the Detroit News


http://www.detnews.com/article/20110930/ENT04/109300454/1361/Miracles-guitarist-Tarplin--co-writer-of-%E2%80%9CTracks-of-My-Tears%E2%80%9D-dies-at-70


Last Updated: September 30. 2011 7:27PM.

Miracles guitarist Tarplin, co-writer of “Tracks of My Tears” dies at 70

Susan Whitall/ Detroit News Music Writer

Motown's Marv Tarplin, who as a guitarist and songwriter was a vital part of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles' sound, has died.

The Atlanta, Ga. native was 70 and living in Las Vegas at the time of his death. Details of when and how are still sketchy, but Jeanne Sorensen, who books engagements for the Miracles today out of Metro Detroit, said that Tarplin's daughter Talese Tarplin confirmed that her father died in Las Vegas. Marv Tarplin left Michigan, and the Miracles, in 1973.

Billy Wilson of the Motown Alumni Association sent out an email alert late Friday afternoon that Tarplin had died, lauding him as the Miracles' "secret weapon."

"I've known Marv since I was 15," Sorensen said. "The Miracles were playing in New York, where I grew up, and I went to the Brooklyn Fox to see them. End of story, I was Miraclized."

Unlike most Motown studio musicians, who stayed in the "Snakepit" at Hitsville on West Grand Boulevard from the beginning, Tarplin was a full-fledged member of the Miracles, recording and touring with them, and appearing on album covers as a member of the group.

While Tarplin was briefly with the Supremes, in their early, Primettes days, Robinson liked his guitar sound and grabbed him for the group. Tarplin was with the Miracles from their first Motown recordings in the late '50s.

He was vital to the group's sound not only as a guitarist, but because he co-wrote many Miracles hits with Robinson, including "The Tracks of My Tears," "Going to a Go-Go," and "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage." Tarplin also co-wrote [[with Robinson), "Ain't That Peculiar" and "I'll Be Doggone," for Marvin Gaye.

Reluctantly, Tarplin moved out to California from Detroit along with Robinson in 1973, and he continued to tour and co-write with Robinson, working on "Cruisin'" and "Being With You" with him.

Since retiring from touring with Robinson in 2008, Tarplin lived a quiet life in Las Vegas. "Marvin was a gentleman, very private. That's what was endearing about him," said Sorensen.

swhitall@detnews.com

[[313) 222-2156

[mirage]

Billy Wilson of the Motown Alumni Association [[who is not really a Motown alumnus) sent out an email alert late Friday afternoon that Tarplin had died, lauding him as the Miracles' "secret weapon."

Unless Billy Wilson's name is Wikipedia ... he is not the individual who called Marv the "secret weapon". Wilson needs to stop stealing from other sites and passing it off as his and Susan Whitall [[Detroit News) needs to check her facts prior to attributing a quote to a person who lifts the quote. Thank you Wikipedia for giving Marv Tarplin the credit he is due
on a Wikipedia Page.

[sunshineonacloudyday]

R.I.P Marv Tarplin. Although he wasn't up front, he was so much a part of the sound.

I never knew it, but I read today that was Marv's beautiful guitar on one of my favorite MT songs, Four Tops "Still Water [[Love)"

[MIKEW-UK]

Article and photo on Marv Tarplin by Larry Buford

http://www.lasentinel.net/Tracks-of-My-Tears-Guitarist-Marv-Tarplin-Dies.html

[voyce-cz]

I'm gonna miss you Marv!

[juicefree20]

I've been away from Facebook & the like for a few weeks & I hadn't heard anything about Marv's passing. I'm very sorry to hear this sad news & all that I can say about Marv is that his skills & guitar figures on just about every song he blessed were memorable.

My sincere condolences to his family, friends & fans, of which I am one.

Marv Tarplin - R.I.P.