Supremes A Go Go Reel To Reel Tape Discovery

[R. Mark Desjardins]

I finally got hold of a reel to reel machine that could play back the "Supremes A Go Go" tape I found on eBay. While the "You Can't Hurry Love" track is not the wild psychedelic alternative version that was hinted on a blog I once stumbled upon, it certainly is different indeed. Just before the musical bridge, Diana distinctly sings, "I've been waitin', I've been taken." For some unknown reason, this particular version of this recording has never appeared on any other compilation, at least not to my knowledge.
Was my search for the "holy grail" of Supremes recordings worth it? Yes indeed, but as we all know, the actual hunt4606 is most often way more fun than the eventual outcome.

[kenneth]

What a fun find. I've read that reel-to-reels were the Betamax of their time. The sound was far superior to the other media generally available then [[LPs of course, maybe 8 tracks?), but like Beta tapes, they just never caught on. Probably in the case of r-2-r's the fact that you had to thread a tape, and so on, added to the fact that most teenagers wouldn't be able to afford or have the patience for the equipment.

But I think in their time the true audiophiles bought the reel-to-reels.

Congrats on your finding the little known track as well.

[ejluther]

Very cool! They sure loved to put different versions on different formats, didn't they? Are any of the other songs different on this A' GO-GO Reel-to-Reel? And are any other Supremes songs from other albums rumored/said to be different on the Reel-to-Reel tapes? Is there anything else you can share about this "wild psychedelic alternative version" you'd read about?

[pj1]

Very cool! They sure loved to put different versions on different formats, didn't they? Are any of the other songs different on this A' GO-GO Reel-to-Reel? And are any other Supremes songs from other albums rumored/said to be different on the Reel-to-Reel tapes? Is there anything else you can share about this "wild psychedelic alternative version" you'd read about?

Might the wild psychedelic version of "You Can't Hurry Love' be the one coupled in medly with "You Keep Me Hangin' On" featured as a bonus track on 'Diana Ross & The Supremes And The Temptations Joined Together: The Complete Studio Duets released in 2004. Deke Richards himself calls the medly 'weird' and 'musically cool'?

[soulster]

Very cool Mark!

Now, get that thing transferred to digital at 192kHz/24-bit. You can do it yourself.

[motony]

reel to reel tape players with good speakers were expensive.I had a few Motown 4 track tapes & a little 4 track player that my grandmother bought me at Woolsworth Dime Store. I had "Sophisticated Soul" "Watchout" & "United" they only had about 8 songs on each & obviously never caught on.

[captainjames]

very very cool, I think I know of the version you speak of.

[des123]

the cassette of the album had a different version [[could be the same as yours?)

[carlo]

That's so awesome! Thanks for sharing your discovery with us. I've always wanted to collect these reel-to-reels. I still have to track down a decent player. I've heard/read that the sound is pretty good. Some audiophiles have argued that reel-to-reel is better than LP's in terms of sound, while others have argued the opposite. I guess it depends on personal preference?

[R. Mark Desjardins]

Thanks to all the members who have added comments. As is often the case, one makes a discovery and files the finding in their brain rather than on paper for easy reference. The mists of time may have played tricks on my memory, but I seem to recall this discovery was gleamed from a reviewer of a Supremes CD on amazon.com some years ago. I tried in vain combing past reviews to no avail, but I seemed to remember "You Keep Me Hanging On" as the alternative side in question. Now keep in mind that the Vanilla Fudge psychedelic remake didn't get released until 1967, so in retrospect, it seems improbable that a "wild and weird" version could have been conceived by
H-D-H in 1966. Undaunted, I keep searching for any information on this and thought that if I could find a reel to reel copy of "Supremes Sing H-D-H" I would find this holy grail.
I kept getting emails that I should "check out the Supremes A Go Go" reel to reel "for a surprise," and that led me to finally tracking down the tape. However, tracking down a reel to reel machine proved another challenge altogether. When I found what appeared to be a reconditioned working AKAI 2000DB model here in Vancouver, it turned out that a tiny knob that controlled the speed at 3 3/4 and 7 1/2 was missing. Of course, wouldn't you know it, the Tamla/Motown reel to reel tapes were recorded at 3 3/4 speed. I subsequently learned that many other labels released reel to reel versions at 7 1/2!
Mentioning this frustration to a buddy, he said he had an AKAI reel to reel in storage! Yesterday we hauled it out, and it played my Supremes A Go Go tape perfectly.
Yes, it is frustrating threading the delicate tape and it can break easily. Too quick movement of the rewind or fast ward modes can result in disaster. But, the sound is wonderful for sure. I seem to remember seeing mid sixties Playboy magazines in which many of the audio ads were for reel to reel decks. I figure it was the "Playboy" idea to slap on a tape to hear a full side of music without having to interprupt the action at hand, to turn over the other side. Every year there was a "Playboy Music Poll" and I remember seeing that The Supremes were the most popular vocal group. They made have even won that honor for a few years running.
After reading some comments here, I went back to the "Diana Ross & The Supremes and The Temptations Joined Together: The Complete Studio Duets" CD, and sure enough track 13 on Disc One is a medley of "You Can't Hurry Love/You Keep Me Hangin' On" recorded in LA with "additional instrumentation" with vocals added in August, 1968. That extra instrumental segment added on at the end is very reminiscent of the Vanilla Fudge remake.
Perhaps someone got carried away in their comment, and I got swept away in my hunt for this holy grail, which may not have really existed after all. But, is was fun and I now have a "conversation piece." But wouldn't it be fantastic if HDH had cut a psychedelic alternative side on the Supremes?4607

[R. Mark Desjardins]

Not to work this thread to death, but it has occurred to me that since so many different versions of a Motown song seem to have appeared on various formats in vogue at the time [[vinyl, cassette, reel to reel) who would have taken responsibility for this.
In her book, "I Remember Motown," Frances [[Fran Hard) Maclin recalls her tenure at Motown. Initially hired as a Tape Librarian, over a twenty-five year association with Motown Records she became Library Director, having oversight to thousands of recording tapes at the Detroit based studios, and later for the one located in Los Angeles. Her duties entailed cataloguing and storing the session reels, dispensing them back and forth to the engineer and producer for final mixing, and if being released, to ensure the right tapes were sent for mastering before being delivered to the pressing plant.
Perhaps she has insight into how or why this practice occurred. Maybe Georgiana Ward, the tape Archive Manager has thoughts of her own to share. 4608

[jobeterob]

Great find and I've never seen the book either!

[uptight]

Unfortunately, Georgia Ward is no longer with us...

I'm happy that you discovered the A' Go-Go R2R gem. I think the reel-to-reel format lasted way longer than the Betamax videotape format on the market.

R2R touted high dynamic range and less distortion and were marketed at consumers with a bit more money. The format was "better" in some regards than vinyl but not so good in others, IMO. The good was there was no pops and clicks like a record. And if you found a commercial copy of a tape made at the 7 1/2 inches-per-second mode, that was even better than the 3 3/4 i.p.s. titles.

The bad was the waiting for the winding and rewinding to get to another song on the tape. It was so linear in time, unlike the random accessibility of each vinyl LP side. My concern was whether the taped recording was aligned properly with the heads on the deck. If it's a little askew, it wasn't worth hearing because the high-end could be dull. Then the record was better.

Two of my friends would always be afraid to adjust the heads on their R2Rs or cassette decks. But it is worth adjusting them for every different tape if you are transferring them to digital. That way you are sure to have the best sound.

At the present, I, too, have a R2R copy of Supremes A' Go-Go. And a friend transferred it for me to CDR years ago with a misaligned deck. Aargh! This R2R version of YCHL has been released on a DRATS CD compilation, though, right?

[thommg]

I can't believe someone else had a 4 track machine! I bought one, with my own money, because they had a bunch of Motown tapes to go with them. My favorite was Tammi Terrell, "Irresistible".

There used to be a record store in NYC called Footlights that had a huge collection of tape reels. I saw many Motown in their bin but never bought any because I had no way to play them. I should have bought them anyway.

[johnny_raven]

I have 19 Supremes R2Rs ... WDOLG, More Hits, Copa, Merry Christmas, Symphony, A' Go Go, HDH, Rodgers & Hart, Greatest Hits 1&2, Talk Of The Town, Love Child, Join The Temps, TCB, Cream Of The Crop, Greatest Hits 3, Right On, New Ways, Mag 7 & Dynamite. Now, I just need to get a player to see what else might be different.

[R. Mark Desjardins]

It's funny how ancient formats suddenly become very collectable again. It wasn't that long ago that you couldn't give away reel to reel tapes. What a treasure trove of all those Motown tapes mentioned above at Footlights in NYC would have been! Since my near mint condition $5 ebay find of Supremes A Go Go a few weeks back, I see a less than pristine copy available now starting at $55! Even least desirable pop music titles titles list at $19.95 for an opening bid.

The Frances Maclin book is available from Amazon. It is basically a self published book with some positive and upbeat stories of her years associated with the label. I wish it was more in depth, but it is worth seeking out.

And a thought to Johhny Raven regarding obtaining a reel to reel machine. Most towns have a place where reconditioned turntables are sold. They may have a tape decks for sale, or you could ask them to call you when one comes in. My advice is to bring a tape [[preferably one that is not important to you) with you to check in the store if it plays. Be sure that the machine is able to play the tape at the speed indicated on the box, otherwise it is useless to you. Buying a machine in a thrift store is risky, but it could pay off big time. Good luck!

[ejluther]

This R2R version of YCHL has been released on a DRATS CD compilation, though, right?
Is that right? Can anyone point us to where it is? Thanks...

[reese]

Is that right? Can anyone point us to where it is? Thanks...

I think it has. I know I have it on something. I believe it might be on the Japanese Quad edition of GREATEST HITS or maybe the LOST AND FOUND?

[ejluther]

I just checked LOST AND FOUND and the alternate vocal of "You Can't Hurry Love" does include the "I've been waitin', I've been taken." line as well as Diana's "Better fade" at the end...

[ivyfield]

I've heard the version with Ross singing 'I've been waiting, I've been taken' - it's on the Japanese quadrophonic LP which I now have on CD. Same version? Dunno, but it could be...

[kenneth]

I have 19 Supremes R2Rs ... WDOLG, More Hits, Copa, Merry Christmas, Symphony, A' Go Go, HDH, Rodgers & Hart, Greatest Hits 1&2, Talk Of The Town, Love Child, Join The Temps, TCB, Cream Of The Crop, Greatest Hits 3, Right On, New Ways, Mag 7 & Dynamite. Now, I just need to get a player to see what else might be different.

There's a used record store in Thousand Oaks, CA, called Record Outlet, which sells all kinds of used and refurbished audio equipment. I think the owner, whose name is Casey [[or maybe K.C.) can pretty much fix anything. He's fixed and balanced my old turntable a few times. Anyway, I bet they have some reel to reel equipment for sale there.

[762rob]

Get a Pioneer RT 707 it's a great machine there are lots of them on eBay.

In have a big collection of these tapes but focused on the rare ones.

Earl Van Dyke That Motown Sound

The Original Spinners

Marvin Gaye / Kim Weston Take Two

16 Big Hits Series [[Some of which are 7 1/2 ips)

Diana Ross and The Supremes Sing and Perform Funny Girl

Good ones to look for

[thommg]

I'm surprised that reel-to-reel tapes were sold of the late 60s Motown titles. I didn't realize they were still around by then. Is there a listing of the Motown lps that appeared on R2R?

[tamla617]

sony were still making them in the mid/late 80's.and they sound ace

[soulster]

I'm surprised that reel-to-reel tapes were sold of the late 60s Motown titles. I didn't realize they were still around by then. Is there a listing of the Motown lps that appeared on R2R?

Consumer pre-recorded reel-to-reel tapes were sold into the late 70s.

[johnny_raven]

I just uploaded the Supremes A' Go-Go Reel To Reel version to Youtube. It's a different take than what's on the L&F set, but I believe it's the same take as the quad version. The sound is much better and it's 10 seconds longer than the quad version.

Enjoy!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlqpJWyJSvo

R. Mark - I hope you don't mind that I used your R2R pic in the video.

[aarondillon2011@gmail.com]

Checked all my Supremes cds with You Can't Hurry Love on them and nowhere is this version to be found. Wonder if Harry and Co. could get this version out on the next Supremes expanded edition :confused:

[mysterysinger]

So it's around 1:14 on the video where the differences occur. That does sound like a strange edit and seems identical to the same section at around 1:19 in the Lost & Found version.

[daviddh]

the Japanese version of Greatest Hits Quad has many alternate versions,i like the version of Forever Came Today.on it, now I got to find it

[PeaceNHarmony]

I can't believe someone else had a 4 track machine! I bought one, with my own money, because they had a bunch of Motown tapes to go with them. My favorite was Tammi Terrell, "Irresistible".

There used to be a record store in NYC called Footlights that had a huge collection of tape reels. I saw many Motown in their bin but never bought any because I had no way to play them. I should have bought them anyway.
'Footlights' - remembered and lameted!

[aarondillon2011@gmail.com]

Would anyone be able to upload the Greatest Hits Quad version to youtube? I would love to hear these alternate versions. Only one I have ever heard was Love Is Here And Now Youre Gone.

[Mark Desjardines]

For anyone wanting to her how "The Supremes A Go Go " Expanded Edition came about, be sure to listen to Nightflight" [[May 2, Tuesday 9P-12M ET www.womr.org [[http://www.womr.org/)). Producers Andy Skurow and George Solomon are taking listeners through the blood, sweat, tears and the magic involved in creating this very special release.