Feel The Need In Me - Detroit Emeralds

[Mart]

I just discovered a version of "Feel the need in me" on YouTube. A demo-ish version from 1972 owned by Warner Bros??!!
By the way, is the original 1973-version recorded with the Hi rhythm section? Is that recording ever released? In one of the shows of David Nathan I once heard a slower version, a very Al Green-ish one, but not the "Westbound" 7".

[splanky]

Welcome to the forum, Mart. There are over a dozen postings of the Detroit Emeralds Feel The Need In Me on youtube.
Do you remember anything else about this version you're talking about, how it was titled, spelled or mispelled or the name
of whoever posted it?...Could you copy and paste a link?...

[Sotosound]

The hit single version was indeed recorded with the Hi rhythm section. I only realised this recently myself, but it did explain why the production sound is as it is, i.e. Hi-ish.

[robb_k]

I just discovered a version of "Feel the need in me" on YouTube. A demo-ish version from 1972 owned by Warner Bros??!!
By the way, is the original 1973-version recorded with the Hi rhythm section? Is that recording ever released? In one of the shows of David Nathan I once heard a slower version, a very Al Green-ish one, but not the "Westbound" 7".
5048
Warner Bros. Records distributed Westbound in the '70s. That's why they owned the rights to release Westbound product.

[roger]

I suspect that this is the version under discussion ..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZfdWGM5naI

Roger

[Sotosound]

I suspect that this is the version under discussion ..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZfdWGM5naI

Roger

That sounds more modern and not a "Hi" recording in any sense.

[alanh]

Spooky.......only last week I was listening to an old Ace/Westbound CD of the Detroit Emeralds 'Do Me Right' and 'You Want It You Got It' albums. I hadn't heard their material for years [[apart from the frequently played 'Feel The Need') and was surprised at how 'Hi' it sounded. It sent me looking for information, but there doesn't seem to be much about those Westbound recordings. All I could find on an initial Google search was [[on Wikipedia and similar text on other sites too) :
'In 1970, they joined the Westbound record label. When touring in Memphis, Tennessee, they recorded some demo tracks at the Hi recording studios, run by producer Willie Mitchell, to which they then added vocals and strings back in Detroit. This approach worked and brought them another hit, "If I Lose Your Love", which was followed by a run of successes, including "Do Me Right", "You Want It, You Got It" and "Baby Let Me Take You [[In My Arms)" which all made the US R&B Top 10 while the latter also reached #24 on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in 1972.'

The album notes for 'Do Me Right' say it was arranged and conducted by A Tilmons, S Sanders and W Mitchell. The notes for the 'You Want It You Got It' however only give 'Special thanks to W Mitchell'. So obvioulsy Hi played a big part in their sound and indeed it certainly appears that Hi provided the basis for [[or all of) the band's tracks.

I really enjoyed listening to those two albums I was surprised at how good and consistent they were. Abrim Tilmon was amazingly talented. How sad that he died so young at 37 in 1982. They're a band that are cruelly under-represented with currently available CDs - there's not even a greatest hits!

[roger]

That sounds more modern and not a "Hi" recording in any sense.

Well sotosound .. in the original post Mart did state that he had heard a "demoish" version on you-tube and that fits the description. The "Hi" demo he mentions is something else entirely. As Mart has not yet returned to this thread to clarify things I'd still say that this is the version that prompted the thread.

Alanh .. I knew there was a "Hi" connection when I was buying those DETROIT EMERALDS 45s back in 1971/72, the knowledge being reinforced by also buying "Trapped By A Thing Called Love" by DENISE LASALLE which was on the same label [[Westbound in the U.S. .. Janus in the U.K.), was pure "Hi" and was presumably part of the same business arrangement.

Roger

[alanh]

Hi Roger - yes you're right about Denise Lasalle! I bought that too. I can't remember whether at the time I was aware of the Hi link [[or even whether it mattered to me at the time, if you understand what I mean). It's just strange that in hindsight and not having listened to the Emeralds tracks for so long, the Hi connection seems new to me. It must be my ageing brain cells!

[oldiesmusicfan]

There is a Detroit Emeralds Greatest Hits CD on Westbound on the U.S. Amazon site -

http://www.amazon.com/Detroit-Emeralds-Greatest-Hits-The/dp/B000026F4P/ref=pd_bxgy_m_img_c

I also have The Detroit Emeralds The Ultimate Collection '68-'77, a bootleg made in Martinique [[!!) which I can't find on line at all. This one contains some songs that aren't on the Greatest Hits CD.

The interesting thing is that both CDs contain the titles Feel The Need and also Feel The Need In Me. Only one of the four is the disco-y 7:05 version. Billboard lists 1972 and 1977 versions, both titled Feel The Need. The '77 one is listed in the Billboard R&B book as a new mix. I guess that's the later disco-y one. I'll have to take a closer listen to the two on the Greatest Hits CD [[3:40 and 3:44) and see if I can spot the differences. The booklet states that the earlier version is a Damon Shawn vocal, who isn't listed a a group member in Billboard.

The Amazon reviews contain some information also.

My favorite song by them is [[I'm An Ordinary Man) Take Me The Way I Am from 1968 -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0fr94lCJyc

This I have only found on Ric Tic Relics Volume 2. My hope is that one day there will be a big Ric Tic / Golden World box!

Oldies

[alanh]

Thanks for the info about the Greatest Hits comp, Oldies. I've obviosuly been going around with my eyes closed as well as my ears!

[robb_k]

Spooky.......only last week I was listening to an old Ace/Westbound CD of the Detroit Emeralds 'Do Me Right' and 'You Want It You Got It' albums. I hadn't heard their material for years [[apart from the frequently played 'Feel The Need') and was surprised at how 'Hi' it sounded. It sent me looking for information, but there doesn't seem to be much about those Westbound recordings. All I could find on an initial Google search was [[on Wikipedia and similar text on other sites too) :
'In 1970, they joined the Westbound record label. When touring in Memphis, Tennessee, they recorded some demo tracks at the Hi recording studios, run by producer Willie Mitchell, to which they then added vocals and strings back in Detroit. This approach worked and brought them another hit, "If I Lose Your Love", which was followed by a run of successes, including "Do Me Right", "You Want It, You Got It" and "Baby Let Me Take You [[In My Arms)" which all made the US R&B Top 10 while the latter also reached #24 on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in 1972.'

The album notes for 'Do Me Right' say it was arranged and conducted by A Tilmons, S Sanders and W Mitchell. The notes for the 'You Want It You Got It' however only give 'Special thanks to W Mitchell'. So obvioulsy Hi played a big part in their sound and indeed it certainly appears that Hi provided the basis for [[or all of) the band's tracks.

I really enjoyed listening to those two albums I was surprised at how good and consistent they were. Abrim Tilmon was amazingly talented. How sad that he died so young at 37 in 1982. They're a band that are cruelly under-represented with currently available CDs - there's not even a greatest hits!
5050
Adding the "Detroit-Style" strings is the reason why that recording "doesn't sound like a Hi Records production". I'm sure that the demo, with just the Hi backgrounds, WOULD sound like a Memphis recorded, Hi production.

[phil]

I also have The Detroit Emeralds The Ultimate Collection '68-'77, a bootleg made in Martinique [[!!) which I can't find on line at all. This one contains some songs that aren't on the Greatest Hits CD.



Oldies, is it this one ? http://www.vendio.com/stores/cddoowop/item/music-cds/the-detroit-emeralds-ultimate-/lid=7450027

I love this group ! Alanh is right about Abe Tilmon's talent, he composed and arranged most of their material and their songs are really unique and immediatly recognizable. One of my favorite is "You're Getting A Little Too Smart" :


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QxuFSnQ3cg

[oldiesmusicfan]

Alan - You're welcome!

Phil - Yes, that's the one. The first track is Show Time, not Show Me as listed there. I'm noting the correct title because it's one of those that are not on the other Greatest Hits CD.

Oldies

[destruction]

My best friend in the hood, KK, was a big fan of their sound. He used to make people sing it with him because he daid their songs never sounded right being sung by one person. And we he asked...People sang. Yall remember Homey?

....and they got pretty decent play on radio in Bmore.

Thx again Oldies for re-connecting me to "Ordinary Man".....many moons ago.

[snakepit]

I first heard the Damon Shaw version about 1972....played a lot in the club I was attending back then. As I remember, the DE version was issued later, but the two 45s are almost an exact copy of each other, some slight changes.
If I played the Damon Shaw version at our cricket club BBQ next month I doubt anybody would notice the difference.