http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=036gXPYpqqg
Printable View
CC at her best. Just love this song. Was only a young kid back then and I thought that Chris was black! Love the cold ending.
Chris Clarke is white - and on this great record - is doing her best to sound like Flo Ballard of The Supremes.Quote:
Originally Posted by copley
Great record - wasn't she Berry Gordy's love interest for a time - and did she not somehow get an OSCAR related to writing the screen play for LADY SINGS THE BLUES - you better ask somebody, for I could be wrong.
I think she was really taking after Dusty Springfield [[or did any of y'all forget about her?).
As much as I wanna talk about the mighty "S's", I rather just avoid I just read their names on this thread. LOL
Plus...THE FUNK BROTHERS are just swinging on this. James Jamerson is a madman on that bass!
Yes - I stand corrected - you are right - Very Dusty Springfield.Quote:
Originally Posted by midnightman
Oops, I meant black of course - lol!Quote:
Originally Posted by topdiva1
Yup, CC had a very Dusty look about her and she was 'friends' with BG :)
^ Oh I know but we won't get into that. ;)
I have a slightly different view. The music is great. Slammin' track! But Chris sounds like she's trying hard to sound "Black". Just ruins it.
Can i ask what her B side version of "Put Yourself" sounded like compared to other versions?
The music and the voice is good but the reason its not hit material is because there is no hook! I mean Loves Gone Bad, bad taste in my mouth, loves gone sad...its just music and the poor mans Dusty Springfield and its too short. With a hook of some sort or a chorus it could have been a hit.
^ The way the song was produced, it was like "ah f**k it". Berry never took her career seriously seeing how her musical career didn't go the way she probably would've thought it would've gone once she signed with the label.
I've always liked the song. The track cooks from the opening and never lets up until its [[then) atypical cold ending. The vocal is intense and clipped as suits the lyrics. I don't think it's Chris' best vocal performance, but she does sing with the intensity the song requires. I think she compares favorably to the late, great Dusty, though obviously Chris' career was not as developed.
Her version of "Put Yourself In My Place" is very good. Her harsher vocal style gives the song more bite than The Supremes prettier, pop oriented version, which is my favorite. But I would still say The Elgins have the definitive version.
The REEL Music release of Chris' album "Soul Sound" is done superbly. I've never heard this album sound better.
I'm always sad when I see CC being labeled as a poor man's Dusty Springfield. Dusty was a one off but CC had her own style and could sound tough or pretty as the song demanded. Her Motown Anthology was a revelation and proved that she was much more than just a pretty blonde.
In her day Chris could have gone far - but then - there was DIANA ROSS.Quote:
Originally Posted by sophisticated_soul
My eyss are raised to the sky. What about the song? What can you bring to this discussion about the record itself or Chris Clark's vocal ability?Quote:
Originally Posted by topdiva1
Indeed I can - it was a good song with a good hook and the vocal was good as well. I have tried to find additional recordings by CC and the ones I have found all frankly sound good.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamasu_Jr
CC could have competed with Dusty Springflied very nicely.
You can listen to 30 sec clips from her wonderful Motown Anthology here :)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motown-Antho...8618590&sr=8-1
Many thanks, friend.Quote:
Originally Posted by copley
Good point, Copley. It is believed Chris Clark was Motown's answer to Dusty Springfield. But wasn't she at Motown while Dusty was still in the early stages of her pop career and not yet recognized as the blue eyed singer of soul? Chris came to Motown with some formative blues singing chops already present. They just sat on her because they weren't sure about marketing her. She was a white blues & soul singer. It's important to note Soul Sounds was issued a year before Dusty's In Memphis album.Quote:
Originally Posted by copley
I have to mention the other blond blues & soul singer who was in Detroit at the same time as Chris lark and that was Kris Peterson. Kris said she and Chris never met each other which I find astonishing.
Dusty had found Motown before CC. Her first album was in '64 and included 'When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes' and other soul numbers. Also in '64 Dusty recorded 'Can I Get A Witness' on an EP. Her version is my fav, even better than Marvin's. As much as I love CC I have to admit that she was no Dusty and really the two shouldn't be compared as CC was her own person.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqiOAzzcC1Q&p=E33803C147217DBF&playnext=1& index=22
True - but do you think Motown saw this as a goood and profitable move for themselves - to have a DS type in CC - DS made big bucks and was a major star and much loved. It would make sense for Motown to look to do the same with CC.Quote:
Originally Posted by copley
Sadly I think that CC was another artist who needed special promotion and Motown was clueless in this respect. Ultimately she got lost in the shuffle like so many others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by copley
And with all that talent we can only wonder why Gordy and Motown did not push her more. Maybe she did not do well live - or maybe she did not want the strain of touring. Is she still alive.
chris Clark is alive and doing well as a photographer/artist. She tours the UK occassionally and was on the forum until some scared her away. She was married to screenwriter Ernest Tidyman, who wrote the screenplay for Shaft. Chris learned well and would earn an Oscar nomination for her contributions to the screenplay of Lady sings the Blues. She was far more talented & smarter than people give her credit for.Quote:
Originally Posted by topdiva1
Oh heavens yes Chris is still very much alive. She's performed a few times recently in the UK and looks and sounds wonderful. I believe that she is also recording again.
Glad that you mentioned Chris's photography, I forgot - duh!. A few years ago she sent me some excellent photos. Chris is also a member of Motown Treasures.
Thanks Blueskies, I'd forgotten that was on YT :)
Doesnt she kind of talk sing through this? Stephanie made good point about hook.
I've no problems with this track - love it. I always thought it fitted in with the US garage band scene of the mid-60s, with the Funks coming on like the Standells or Count Five, especially in that rudimentary organ-led instrumental break. In fact Earl [[like JJ) is all over it.
Didn't CC also work for Motown in the 1980's? I'm not sure what capacity, it seems to me it was marketing or something along those lines.
Does anyone know: was Chris a part of the MotorCity group that recorded for Ian Levine? I don't know that I've ever seen anything.
I just purchased her Motown/Tamla Anthology, so I am waiting excitedly to hear all Miss Chris has to offer.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamasu_Jr
Many thanks for this update - see I am learning from you.
She has a website and has given a few intervews recently.
Are you saying it was a bad arrangement? I kind of agree. But, the hook was mainly in the keyboard parts. Problem is, non-musicians really understand the vocals. That's why most non-musicians tend to concentrate on the lyrics and singing, and why the vocal tracks are turned up and compressed too damn much these days.Quote:
Originally Posted by stephanie
The vocal on LGB was forced, but she does have a fine singing voice. I have only heard the song in question, though. I have not investigated anything else. but, I can tell from it that she can sing quite well.
I love her version too. But it's funny you say this. Ms. Springfield, herself, would probably disagree though. She never felt confident about her own covers of others' hits. She always thought she was beneath Dionne, Martha, Aretha and 'em because to her, their voices were more powerful than her's, according to her.Quote:
Originally Posted by copley
Which is odd because she seemed to want to control whatever she was doing in the booth.
Chris Clark's first Motown single on VIP that I purchased as a 45. At the time, I knew nothing much about her. The record got some local airplay on KFWB radio in Los Angeles and made its Top 40. It wasn't until MUCH LATER that I knew of Chris's earlier single releases on VIP with the company. I was fortunate to have purchased a copy of her album "Soul Sounds" in the 60s.
I also had another version of this song as a VIP 45 by The Underdogs. They were a "garage band" and only had the one single release, I believe. Their version was definitely underproduced for my taste.
Attachment 1747
She did a much better job on "Whisper You Love Me Boy", which I think is her best recording.
One of my favourite recordings by Chris is "If You Should Walk Away" from Soul Sounds.
As a Drummer, I must say that the track is off the charts, though it did not do well on the charts. Think back to what was happening on the charts in 67 and it is easy to see why it did not perform very well. As a matter of fact threre are dozens of unreleased songs from that year produced that would have done better chartwise. On the R+B chart it was so different that without Motown promoting it it would not have done as well as it did. I do own the Motown Anthogy and the most prominent thing to me was Deke Richards writing and producing.