HDH's Possible Intentions: Who Do You Think They Might Have Written With In Mind?

[Methuselah2]

A recent thread reply from Rovereab mentioned Smokey Robinson & the Miracles/[[COME 'ROUND HERE) I'M THE ONE YOU NEED seeming to be more suited to THE FOUR TOPS or THE ISLEY BROS. And I have to say I completely agree--I think it's a terrific recording just as is but it always struck me as sounding written, perhaps, with The Tops or Isleys in mind.

I feel the same way about Martha & the Vandellas/I'M READY FOR LOVE--a sensational recording just as is but whenever I hear it, I can't help thinking that it sounds like something that must have been written for The Supremes.

I know HDH material was often assigned to one artist or group and ultimately released by another. So my survey questions here are:

What HDH tunes do you think sound just right for a particular artist or group but were released with someone else? Any other HDH tunes that you know of that were specifically re-assigned from one to another?

Thank you.

[jeff9nyc]

I could definitely hear the Four Tops or the Supremes do "[[COME 'ROUND HERE) I'M THE ONE YOU NEED" too. Same with the Temps "All I Need," and "[[Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need. I think the Supremes would have had bigger hits with them. Thoughts please...

[westgrandboulevard]

'Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart' and 'Going Down For The Third Time' for Martha & The Vandellas.....

[Methuselah2]

I could definitely hear the Four Tops or the Supremes do "[[COME 'ROUND HERE) I'M THE ONE YOU NEED" too. Same with the Temps "All I Need," and "[[Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need. I think the Supremes would have had bigger hits with them. Thoughts please...

Supremes on [[COME 'ROUND HERE)? Never occurred to me--but that's brilliant! The driving beat, the full orchestration, the complex melody, the speaking portions--The Supremes would have been perfect. Tailor-made for them.

[Methuselah2]

'Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart' and 'Going Down For The Third Time' for Martha & The Vandellas.....

Absolutely. No doubt about it. Both very Martha & the Vandellas.

[rovereab]

I know the timing or recording is not aligned but I can hear Marvin and Tammi singing All I Need.

[nabob]

Take Me In Your Arms was believed to be Martha & the Vandellas until a trip to the record store. Martha & Kim have [had] similar sounding voices, but Kim's had a sweetness and an ability to get notes that Martha missed. I hope Roberta isn't reading this. If so, please bear in mind that this is only one man's opinion and not a statement of fact. I love Martha too.

[Methuselah2]

I'd also add The Elgins/HEAVEN MUST HAVE SENT YOU. Very Supremes-like to me. But I love The Elgins on this one--great sound by a great group on a great tune.

Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote and produced superlative music. So fully realized, produced, and unforgettable lyrics. In a wonderful interview with Stephanie Campbell, Peter Benjaminson, author of a Florence Ballard biography and the very new Mary Wells one, mentioned giving some consideration to writing one on HDH. Wouldn't that be something? It would be a perfect match of author and subject. I can only hope that Mr. Benjaminson decides to do it. His appreciation and respect of artists and music and history is core to his writings. He's extremely talented with words and research, and would do justice to HDH. And his readers.

[snakepit]

"Come round here I'm the one you need" was intended to be the follow up to "Reach Out.
This was mentioned in the old Four Tops fan club newsletter....From Duke I think

[thanxal]

JMC for I'm Ready for Love. Totally could see M&V on Love is Like and Itchin.

[davidh]

Supremes on Jimmy Mack.seems to fit the 1964 profile of hits

[captainjames]

The Supremes do an excellent job on "Going Down For the Third Time" but I would love to hear Martha and The Vandellas kick it on that one. It does sound like a Vandellas song. " In And Out Of Love" sounds like it should be given to Smokey Robinson and The Miracles"

[roger]

A song that they had "nothing to do with writing" .. "Give Me Just A Little More Time" ..... for the FOUR TOPS perhaps ... :)

Roger

[honest man]

The Supremes could never be beaten on GDFTT ,they gave it everything,must be one of their strongest sides they ever recorded although V andellas were great , The Supremes shine on this song,sorry Martha and co, cheers.

[jsmith]

I wouldn't have assigned extra songs by HDH to the Supremes, I'd have given them less.
The other Motown groups always put over much guttsier versions of HDH songs than Diana & Co were capable of.
So versions by other artists were always better than the wimpy Supremes' takes.

[Methuselah2]

Jsmith - You make an interesting point and I have some agreement with you on it. I love The Supremes on their own hits. But their covers that appear on albums such as A' GO-GO and SING HDH are not particularly good--lackluster, deficient, negligible. Yet their recordings of lesser known HDH material--such as those included on the MORE HITS BY album--sound awfully good to me. Perhaps the producing focus and emphasis along with the overall production value given to certain recording sessions and projects had a lot to do with the outcome.

[supremester]

I think Smokey's vocal hurt the record a lot - it's a top 10 record, but he sang it too high. I would have given it to The Supremes, Tops or Vandellas. I think it would have charted highest by The Supremes, but Martha would def have hit top ten with it if HDH produced it. Miss Ross would have nailed it but then we wouldn't have Love Is Here and Now You're Gone [[probably)
I could definitely hear the Four Tops or the Supremes do "[[COME 'ROUND HERE) I'M THE ONE YOU NEED" too. Same with the Temps "All I Need," and "[[Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need. I think the Supremes would have had bigger hits with them. Thoughts please...

[supremester]

HDH cut "Third Time" on Martha and, were suprised Miss Ross did it better. Martha def had the more soulful sounding voice, but as a vocalist, she had not come into her own yet. Listen to her work on her stuff before 68/69 and after: there's a huge difference. Her vocal on Bless You is, IMHO, her best pop vocal ever - and I don't think she had it in her to do that in '66. Miss Ross, even in high school, while signing through her nose, was an excellent stylist. Martha's best vocal work was on her last few Motown albums - especially Natural Resources and Black Magic. They didn't sell, but she rocked them both.


'Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart' and 'Going Down For The Third Time' for Martha & The Vandellas.....

[supremester]

Now that you mention it, I do too - amazing!


I know the timing or recording is not aligned but I can hear Marvin and Tammi singing All I Need.

[supremester]

I'd leave this one and Nowhere To Run with Martha. Heat Wave is another story..... I prefer Diana's one-shot, no production vocal. I think with actual time spent on the cut, The Supremes would have gone to #1 with it.




Supremes on Jimmy Mack.seems to fit the 1964 profile of hits

[supremester]

If that wasn't written for Levi, nothing was!


A song that they had "nothing to do with writing" .. "Give Me Just A Little More Time" ..... for the FOUR TOPS perhaps ... :)

Roger

[supremester]

I think the HDH covers on those albums were just quickly made fillers. Obviously no time or effort was put into most of them. They may have felt the familiarity would help sell these under-produced tracks. Exceptions: Shake Me, Wake Me - I think Diana nails the song and delivers the best vocal on it I've ever heard. I don't think it suits Levi and it stalled like at 18 - yet it's a good track. Considering The Supremes' release schedule, I'd have given Shake Me, Wake Me to Martha instead of Levi. I think Martha got lesser material because The Supremes and Tops were selling albums and Martha wasn't at all. I also much prefer The Supremes' Put Yourself In My Place and Baby, I need Your Loving. I think, with some effort, they would have run away with This Old Heart of Mine.




Jsmith - You make an interesting point and I have some agreement with you on it. I love The Supremes on their own hits. But their covers that appear on albums such as A' GO-GO and SING HDH are not particularly good--lackluster, deficient, negligible. Yet their recordings of lesser known HDH material--such as those included on the MORE HITS BY album--sound awfully good to me. Perhaps the producing focus and emphasis along with the overall production value given to certain recording sessions and projects had a lot to do with the outcome.

[supremester]

I think the HDH covers on those albums were just quickly made fillers. Obviously no time or effort was put into most of them. They may have felt the familiarity would help sell these under-produced tracks. Exceptions: Shake Me, Wake Me - I think Diana nails the song and delivers the best vocal on it I've ever heard. I don't think it suits Levi and it stalled like at 18 - yet it's a good track. Considering The Supremes' release schedule, I'd have given Shake Me, Wake Me to Martha instead of Levi. I think Martha got lesser material because The Supremes and Tops were selling albums and Martha wasn't at all. I also much prefer The Supremes' Put Yourself In My Place and Baby, I need Your Loving. I think, with some effort, they would have run away with This Old Heart of Mine.




Jsmith - You make an interesting point and I have some agreement with you on it. I love The Supremes on their own hits. But their covers that appear on albums such as A' GO-GO and SING HDH are not particularly good--lackluster, deficient, negligible. Yet their recordings of lesser known HDH material--such as those included on the MORE HITS BY album--sound awfully good to me. Perhaps the producing focus and emphasis along with the overall production value given to certain recording sessions and projects had a lot to do with the outcome.

[tmd]

This has Levi and the boys all over it. Isley Brothers were great, but I would have loved to hear the 4 Tops on this.

[supremester]

I would have preferred Levi to The Isley's, but still think it's a girl's song. Diana is so sweet and plaintive on the verses - I think better than anyone could have done, but Martha or Tammi Terrell - yeah.

This has Levi and the boys all over it. Isley Brothers were great, but I would have loved to hear the 4 Tops on this.

[davidh]

i thought that THIS OLD HEART was scheduled for the Tops but they were out of town so the Isleys got it.
i can hear the Supremes on Come Round Here....great idea.would have been better than The Composer.
i like the Supremes on Love Makes Me Do Foolish Things.
i was never a fan of Supremes A GO GO lp. it was uneven to me. i read somewhere half the lp was recorded in detroit while the other half in LA with sessions singers. which makes sense to me as i only like half of the songs. Heatwave and Same Old Song both were out takes from Go Go.i suppose we'll find out when the deluxe edition comes out.i prefer SING HDH lp. did my own version minus the 2 songs above and used my favs tracks from GO GO

[supremester]

Andy what he knows about TCB coming out on DVD..................

[Motown4Ever518]

"Come round here I'm the one you need" was intended to be the follow up to "Reach Out.
This was mentioned in the old Four Tops fan club newsletter....From Duke I think
I can definitely see the 4 Tops doing this. Mr. Robinson never completely sold me on this, though I could see them doing it from a marketing perspective, offering a change of pace if you will.

[theboyfromxtown]

"Come round here I'm the one you need" was intended to be the follow up to "Reach Out.
This was mentioned in the old Four Tops fan club newsletter....From Duke I think

Yes it was Duke. I still have the original newsletter.

[davidh]

Andy what he knows about TCB coming out on DVD..................

is TCB coming out or am i misreading your post?

[davidh]

did the 4 tops evr record COME ROUND HERE?

[stephanie]

Man everybody said what I was thinking about Martha and the Vandellas doing Going Down for the Third Time but the Supremes DID nail it and it should have been an A side IMO. I wish that the 4 Tops had done This Old Heart of Mine it would have been better I never cared too much for that record. The Supremes did a good job but I felt it was too rushed [[the arrangement that is) I know I am in the minority here but I thought Mary Wilson did a better job with Come and Get These Memories I never liked the song until I heard her do it.


I could see Smokey and the Miracles doing Back in My Arms Again
The Marvelettes could have done Ooh Baby Baby with Wanda on lead
The Supremes should have never touched In My Lonely Room I think that honor would go to Gladys Knight and the Pips. Not until a few months ago did I find out that Turn to Stone was a low charting single. Ross, Wilson, and Ballard did a better job on it. I am amazed at how good the Supremes sing HDH is most of the Motown remakes I dont care for but Diana showed her stride on that album and its much better than Supremes A Go Go. If they let Flo do These Boots and left off the version of Get Ready it would be a much better album. Martha and the Vandellas could have pulled off Get Ready as well as the Temps did. Tammi Terrell should have done Your Always in My Heart from the Supremes sing HDH album. I have to agree with Supremester that Martha and the Gang had a swan song with Black Magic its one of their best albums and easy to listen to I have not heard a better version of Anyone who Had a Heart other than Dionne Warwick.