Bobby Darin - Motown Years 1970 to 1973

In the late 60s and early 70s Motown signed several well established acts but then sort of took their eye off the ball resulting in frustration. True that a lot was happening at once with the move to LA and entering the film industry with "Lady Sings The Blues". Nevertheless there were some fantastic tracks from artists such as Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Bobby Darin and to a lesser extent Sammy Davis Jr and Lesley Gore.

Thankfully, in the case of Bobby Darin, material that had long been vaulted has been made available over the years - mainly thanks to Joe Marchesse & co [[e.g. Andy Skurrow) who've made it possible for these tracks to see release on CD. The Real Gone CDs have wonderful liner notes as well and are well worth looking up. In particular, "Another Song On My Mind" includes a great resume of Darin's Motown career - much of this can still be seen on the Real Gone website -

https://theseconddisc.com/2011/02/16...-motown-years/

You can see the full CD artwork here -

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cookep...57668721459480

And here are the covers for Darin's Motown albums / CDs

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cookep...in/dateposted/

Please advise of any errors

BOBBY DARIN MOTOWN DISCOGRAPHY

Recorded - 6 February 1971 Live at The Desert Inn [[Renamed “Finally” but still unreleased at the time)

M1183 – 17 April 1971
A Melodie
B Someday We'll Be Together

M1193 – November 1971
A Simple Song Of Freedom
B I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

M1203 – 2 June 1972
A Sail Away
B Hard Headed Woman

M753 ALBUM AUGUST 1972 – Bobby Darin

M1212 – Promo 3 November 1972 [[withdrawn)
A Average People [[mono)
B Average People [[stereo)

M1212 – 3 November 1972 [[probably a bootleg)
A Average People
B Something In Her Love

M1217 – 20 November 1972
A Happy [[Love Theme From "Lady Sings The Blues")
B Something In Her Love

Bobby Darin died 20 December 1973

M813 ALBUM February 1974 – Darin 1936-1973

PR4 [[PROMO EP) - 1974
A1 If I Were A Carpenter
A2 Moritat [[Mack The Knife)
B1 Blue Monday
B2 Happy [[Love Theme From "Lady Sings The Blues")

MW3014 – 1974 [[UK & EU)
A Blue Monday
B Moritat [[Mack The Knife)

M5185 ALBUM July 1981 – Darin 1936–1973 re-issued with 5 tracks having different mixes.

MCD09070MD CD 1987 – Live At The Desert Inn [[first ever issue)

MOTD -5185 CD 1989 – Darin 1936–1973 first issue on CD.

3746351852 CD 1991 – Darin 1936-1973 CD re-issue

NTD-6509-2 CD 2005 – Live At The Desert Inn [[re-issue / remaster / 2 extra tracks “Work Song” and “Beyond The Sea”.

RGM-0440 2xCD 6 May 2016 – Another Song On My Mind [[Real Gone Music)

RGM-0714 CD 13 July 2018 – Go Ahead And Back Up [[Real one Music)

It's being reported on Facebook that Kat has passed. :[[

Ever since she passed five years ago, I have been hoping that Malaco or any label for that matter would release a decent retrospective or some kind of tribute to the late great Denise LaSalle, but so far nothing has been forthcoming and I guess after this much time nothing will.

However I just noticed on Amazon that a singer named Aretta Woodruff, whom I have never heard of, has released a CD entitled "A Tribute to Denise LaSalle." From the brief description given, it sounds as if she might have been a friend of the family and was encouraged to record this. Apparently it will have cover versions of Denise songs, and "Love Reputation" is specifically mentioned.

However, there is no track listing given, so does anyone have that or any other information about this CD? Heikki, where are you when I need you???????

Here is the new single from Trevor Horn's upcoming album. It's a re-imagined version of his composition, "Slave To The Rhythm", featuring Lady Blackbird...



https://youtu.be/K_QpI1M33bY?si=Sirznds8Hlvl6JLz

Anyone in the know: Does Ace UK have any Motown material CDs in the pipeline? Motown Girls/Men? Anything?

Admittedly, part of me thinks that the lack of releases directly by Universal has trickled down to Ace UK and Real Gone Music. Someone please tell me I'm wrong and things are planned for release in what remains of 2023 or starting in 2024?

We've been so lucky for the last 10+ years to have a fairly steady schedule of releases from Universal, Ace UK, and Real Gone Music. Now, it feels like the whole Motown market is considered dead. The way releases have generally stopped in the last few years reminds me of the early-to-mid '90s when it seemed NOTHING Motown was being released. Plus, back then, the internet wasn't really used for marketing the way it is/can be today. It's been a weird feeling not having several upcoming Motown releases on my online wishlist. My bank account may be healthier for it, but my music-loving soul sure feels sad without any upcoming releases to anticipate.

BG set his plans out ahead of time; Detroit was ending & LA was to be the new home.
Of course, Motown already had it's LA base and team of producers [[Frank Wilson, etc.), acts [[Brenda Holloway, etc.) and musicians.
But it would be summer 71 that the MoWest label was instigated.
It seems that things went awry from the start.
In all, 9 albums were released on the label [[2 on the label in the UK), but
many more were planned.
Numbers were allotted for 50 US singles on the label but not all of them actually made it into the pressing plant.
JUST WHAT HAPPENED & WHY WAS THE LABEL DISPENSED WITH ?
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