the elgins...wow

[mowsville]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhumAMG7ZPk

[Kamasu_Jr]

I have this. It's from one of the Swingin' Time DVDs that some people are selling.

[thomas96]

Absolutely fantastic! I've never seen this before, wow is right. Always thought Elgins was pronounced with a hard g. Thanks.

[Motown4Ever518]

There are barely photos of the group, this is a real find!

[thomas96]

Here's the whole show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH3G7Y25qm4
[[Don't know how to link it to view on this page)

They also sing Heaven Must Have Sent You.

[gary]

The Elgins are my favorite Motown second-tier group. Saundra Mallett really had it goin' on in my book.

"Darling Baby" is a nice track also.

[mowsville]

that's what I love about this forum...maybe we do have to put up with what shoe size the supremes were just so that once in a while we get real motown gems like this...totally blown away.

[gary]

Here's Saundra doing a re-make of Darling Baby. She was an amazing singer.

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

[stephanie]

Oh gosh what a great find! Thank you so much for this.

[Methuselah2]

Yes indeedy, Mowsville, what a rare and beautiful treat this is! Thank you so much. Just so wonderful to see The Elgins perform. Saundra Mallett has such a terrific, distinctive, gorgeous voice, along with that glorious smile of hers here. And I love how the other Elgins sound--and move! The routine seems to have all the great markings and imprint of the superb choreographer Cholly Atkins, I'd say. This is a real thrill to watch, Mowsville. Thanks again.

[cheekylincs]

This is an amazing find - I've never seen The Elgins perform anything before - there is hardly any photos even of them! Saudra Mallet is such a beautiful lady too. Thank you mowsville for posting this and sharing

[Motown4Ever518]

that's what I love about this forum...maybe we do have to put up with what shoe size the supremes were just so that once in a while we get real motown gems like this...totally blown away.

"I Second Your Emotions". I've actually looked at this clip a few times since it was posted and agree, there is always a place for interesting, new, not widely circulated materials on the Forum. I appreciated the fact the the male singers knew they were not the Temptations, but it was obvious to me that they were putting all that they had into the performance. Go Cholly Atkins!

[luke]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbTgd4fQo5c Here's just Heaven Must Have Sent you--sensational Saundra[[though she needed a few more dance moves)

[Methuselah2]

Luke, I couldn't ask for a more perfect companion piece for someone to add to this great thread. Thank you. The music from HDH was amazing and sounds just as amazing to me today.

[144man]

Out of all the Motown acts that Ian Levine recorded in the 90s, I thought that Saundra Mallett's voice had held up the best.

[marv2]

This is an amazing find - I've never seen The Elgins perform anything before - there is hardly any photos even of them! Saudra Mallet is such a beautiful lady too. Thank you mowsville for posting this and sharing

I saw the Elgins perform live but by that time Yvonne Allen was leading them.

[144man]

I saw the Elgins perform live but by that time Yvonne Allen was leading them.

Yvonne Allen was leading them when they were on the Motorcity Tour at the Dominion , London, in [[I think) 1990.

[marv2]

Yvonne Allen was leading them when they were on the Motorcity Tour at the Dominion , London, in [[I think) 1990.

I saw them in Detroit. She's pretty good. A big personality too.

[mysterysinger]

Back in the early 1970s, when first "Heaven Must Have Sent You" and then "Put Yourself In My Place" were re-issued on UK Tamla Motown, they toured the UK and I remember them also apearing on Top Of The Pops.

[marv2]

Back in the early 1970s, when first "Heaven Must Have Sent You" and then "Put Yourself In My Place" were re-issued on UK Tamla Motown, they toured the UK and I remember them also apearing on Top Of The Pops.

I wished they had saved all those old shows.

[Methuselah2]

Here's the whole show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH3G7Y25qm4 loO
[[Don't know how to link it to view on this page)

They also sing Heaven Must Have Sent You.

Thomas - The link works just great from here. Besides the wonderful Elgins, I got to see The Magnificent Men, Wayne Cochran, Jerrio of Tom and, plus several other wonderful performers. A real blast--48 non-stop minutes. Thanks very much for posting the link. I plan to watch it again.

[Methuselah2]

Here's Saundra doing a re-make of Darling Baby. She was an amazing singer.

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

Gary - Thank you for this link. Never heard Saundra do this re-do. Quite nice. Very enjoyable. And wonderful to watch her. Thanks again.

[thomas96]

Saundra is absolutely fantastic! Anyone know what she's up to now, if anything at all?

[theboyfromxtown]

Taken from the Darling Baby youtube clip above.


.............When The Elgins reformed for Motorcity, Yvonne stayed as lead singer, and although I wanted to record Saundra, no-one knew where she was. We finally tracked her down in Carolina, at a time when she wanted to return to Detroit anyway, and I recorded more than an album's worth of material on her, much of which has never been released to this day. I spent years thinking she was still alive, and was heartbroken when I learned of her passing. She stayed with me for three weeks back in 1991, and we really cut some great stuff on her, much of it co-written with Pamela Sheyne, long long before she wrote Christina Aguilera's hits. The twenty one songs we have in the can on Saundra are some of the finest songs of my career. Sadly this is the last video footage we have of her that hasn't been seen before.

[gary]

Saundra is absolutely fantastic! Anyone know what she's up to now, if anything at all?

Unfortunately, she passed away in 2002.

[gary]

Gary - Thank you for this link. Never heard Saundra do this re-do. Quite nice. Very enjoyable. And wonderful to watch her. Thanks again.

Glad you enjoyed it, I thought it was a great video too.

[marv2]

Here's a nice shot of the Elgins:

[jobeterob]

Great version of Put Yourself in my Place. She has it slowed down just a bit with great enunciation.

[Roger Polhill]

There are 3 DVDs available from Detroit Memories on "Swingin` Time" : [[1) 9.10.66. with "The Elgins" and "Tom & Jerrio" 9.17.66. no Motown, and 12.24.66 with "The Temptations" [[2). 8.27.66. with "Velvelettes" and "Stevie Wonder" & 9.10.66. with "Connie Van Dyke" [[3) 3.11.67 with Martha & the Vandellas doing 3 songs. The quality is a bit ordinary but this is all that`s available. Contact Eileen Glick @ www.detroitmemories.com. Copies are $10 each.

[Zantellor]

I remember hearing Put Yourself In My Place on WMCA NY when it first came out. I remember being blown away by Saundra Edwards' voice. I found the record in the 29Cent bin at a record store in Brooklyn.When I heard the follow up Heaven Must Have Sent You I was to become a big Elgins Fan . I saw them on channell 35 or something like that singing It's Been A Long Long Time.,and never heard anything about them again until the internet. I always thought and hoped Saundra Edwards would replace Diana Ross in The Supremes.And I Still feel she would have really filled Diana's shoes well

[JL2648]

Thank you, mowsville, for posting this clip of theElgins. You have really helped rekindle my interest in Motown’s Detroit era. And now I am a huge Elgins/Saundra Edwards fan, too.

I first became aware of the Elgins probably through one of the general books on Motown that I read in the mid-1980s or so. Shortly thereafter I spotted the Elgins’ album “Darling Baby” displayed on a wall behind the counter at a used record store across town [[Detroit). The price on this album was a bit rich for me at the time but I was certainly intrigued. Some years later I bought the CD “20 Hard-To-Find Motown Classics” Volume 1 which includes the Elgins’ songs “Darling Baby” and “Heaven Must Have Sent You”. I really liked these songs from the moment I heard them.

Since your post, mowsville, I’ve been trying to find out as much as I can about the Elgins and Saundra. Even after what I consider an extensive internet search, I haven’t come up with much. I even sought out mention of Saundra’s passing in February 2002 in the Detroit dailies but came up empty. I’ll keep at it, for sure.

I’ve also started collecting the group’s records with better luck.

On a general note, I’ve been “lurking” at this site for a few weeks and have decided to sign on. This is my first post. I’m amazed at the wealth of knowledge many of you have when it comes to things Motown .I’ve really been enjoying this site.

Jeff

[Motown4Ever518]

No need to lurk JL2648, I agree this is a great site, hats off to Ralph T. My feeling about the "second tier" artists is that the company made a business decision to sign these incredibly talented artists, even though the company knew there was only so much room at the top. This way they would not be competition.

[smark21]

Great clip...just shows how deep the talent pool was at Motown.

[theboyfromxtown]

Thank you, mowsville, for posting this clip of theElgins. You have really helped rekindle my interest in Motown’s Detroit era. And now I am a huge Elgins/Saundra Edwards fan, too.

I first became aware of the Elgins probably through one of the general books on Motown that I read in the mid-1980s or so. Shortly thereafter I spotted the Elgins’ album “Darling Baby” displayed on a wall behind the counter at a used record store across town [[Detroit). The price on this album was a bit rich for me at the time but I was certainly intrigued. Some years later I bought the CD “20 Hard-To-Find Motown Classics” Volume 1 which includes the Elgins’ songs “Darling Baby” and “Heaven Must Have Sent You”. I really liked these songs from the moment I heard them.

Since your post, mowsville, I’ve been trying to find out as much as I can about the Elgins and Saundra. Even after what I consider an extensive internet search, I haven’t come up with much. I even sought out mention of Saundra’s passing in February 2002 in the Detroit dailies but came up empty. I’ll keep at it, for sure.

I’ve also started collecting the group’s records with better luck.

On a general note, I’ve been “lurking” at this site for a few weeks and have decided to sign on. This is my first post. I’m amazed at the wealth of knowledge many of you have when it comes to things Motown .I’ve really been enjoying this site.

Jeff

There's a copy of their extensive recording output from Motown for only $5.42..I'd grab this now. Enjoy

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000OONPO0/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

[mowsville]

your very welcome Jeff..im glad its renewed your interest in this very underated group and all things motown...and welcome to the forum...you will learn some real interesting s**t on here...just beware of the Diana/Supremes threads.

[theboyfromxtown]

By Co-incidence the Elgins are the featured artist on this week's Motown Show on Smooth Radio. It's on now

http://www.smoothradio.co.uk/music/buzz/leee-john-to-host-motown-show/90d6d

[mowsville]

ha...yeah I was gonna say that...they were playing" thank you love" as I was typing the above thread...really good show this week

[JL2648]

My feeling about the "second tier" artists is that the company made a business decision to sign these incredibly talented artists, even though the company knew there was only so much room at the top. This way they would not be competition.

I tend to agree. This is much like a college football power grabbing all the top players, even though many won't even see the field, just so other schools can't grab them.

[JL2648]

your very welcome Jeff..im glad its renewed your interest in this very underated group and all things motown...and welcome to the forum...you will learn some real interesting s**t on here...just beware of the Diana/Supremes threads.

I certainly noticed the disproportionate number of Diana/Supremes items. To each his/her own, I guess.

[JL2648]

By Co-incidence the Elgins are the featured artist on this week's Motown Show on Smooth Radio. It's on now

http://www.smoothradio.co.uk/music/buzz/leee-john-to-host-motown-show/90d6d

Dang it--I missed it!

Jeff

[JL2648]

There's a copy of their extensive recording output from Motown for only $5.42..I'd grab this now. Enjoy

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000OONPO0/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

I bought this CD a few weeks ago and have been listening to it repeatedly since. What a nice, thorough compilation. And the liner notes are very well done.

Jeff