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Hi sorry if this has been on the forum before. However it's so rare to hear Claudette on lead vocals and it's such a shame she did not get more as I personally think she's got a great voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnjwl0yNdh4
Hope you enjoy as much as me.
All the best to you all
Paul
It's rather lovely! Very true to the original and quite honestly, I can't really tell the difference between the two. Definitely could have been the hit record. Wouldn't that have been something? I wonder what direction the Miracles would have taken then?
I knew about this and Claudette's lead on Mr Misery, but not about this album...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miracles_Sing_Modern
Here's Mr Misery...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgoWPockgQc
She sounds great! This would have been a hit with Claudette. Thank you for this McMotown!
Ronnie White got a little lead time on this one too. Love the brief sax workout.
Claudette had a really nice voice. Does anyone know why she never pursued a solo career?
It took me years to figure out that what I really loved about the Miracles' sound was Claudette's vocals. She wasn't given many leads, but they were solid songs. Mr. Misery is probably my favorite, and could have been a single.
Her backing vocals REALLY lifted the Miracles sound to another level.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thornton
Hi Mary,
That's a great question, If it had been a hit I wonder if it would have made a difference to the music of the Miracles? would they have had more success? what a thing to ponder.
I just love her voice.
Hey Soulwally, As far as I remember Mr Misery never made it as an album filler it was just one of those great tracks left in the vaults for years.
Hopefully they might find more Claudette leads in the vaults.
Marv you're more than welcome :)
The only other track I know of where Claudette has a part lead is the first verse from their Christmas album - Christmas With The Miracles 'Let it Snow' track. Which has got to be one of the shortest Motown album filler tracks.
Claudette sang lead on After All from their 1st album Hi! We're The Miracles and sang lead on He Don't Care About Me from I'll Try Something New album.
Also she was featured on Father Dear from the 35th Anniversary Box set.
http://<iframe width="516" height="3...lt;/iframe>https://youtu.be/3d3gvYU1IbAI was wondering if anyone was going to mention "Father Dear." This is the song by Claudette I love most. It's more than just being a cute little song, there is something very affecting about her performance here and the story line. We always get songs about my-mother-told-me-such-and-such, or mothers watching their sons grow up; not many about how daughters grow up and move on.Quote:
Originally Posted by noel181
The minor-key, bluesy arrangement gives Claudette's performance a real adult skew as well. Interesting that she is given the sole, solitary spotlight here; no accompanying backing vocals by any of the other Miracles.
I like all the songs that Claudette sang lead on, although being a major Marvelettes fan I have to give Wanda the nod for her version of "After All."
Something I just learned from watching the YouTube clip above is that it was Claudette on the cover of "One Dozen Roses." The clip features that image a few times, and I checked Wikipedia where it states that is Claudette on the cover. Pictures of her after she stopped touring with the Miracles seem to be pretty rare, and I always assumed the lovely girl was a model!
Attachment 14778
When I was in my teens, I always wondered why I was hearing Claudette's voice on the records, but not seeing her on the covers. It was only years later I found the reason was as basic as the fact that while Claudette stopped touring with the group, she still sang in the studio with them. Her voice is so crucial to the Miracles' sound I always figured its right to feature her photo alongside the rest of the group.Quote:
Originally Posted by kenneth
I'm chuckling at something you said- for the longest time, I too thought this was a very lovely model on the Dozen Roses album cover! Just goes to show how beautiful Claudette was...and STILL is!
And which also led me to the discovery that it's Claudette on the back cover of "What Love Has..." as well, which never occurred to me either! Another stunning photo of Claudette, largely the same look and styling as on the "Roses" album. Lovely.
Attachment 14779
She looks a little like Hazel Gordy in this picture. Claudette is a beautiful woman.Quote:
Originally Posted by kenneth
McM: I've got Mr Misery on the CD Lost and Found: Along Came Love, all vaulted tracks. And, as the wikipedia article says, the 'Sing Modern' album was never releasedQuote:
Originally Posted by McMotown
https://www.soundhound.com/?al=300423107407055795
I really like her voice. I wonder if the Miracles would've been "bigger" stars had they incorporated Claudette into a lead role with Smokey. I wonder what some of those beautiful love songs would've sounded like had they been duets between Smokey and Claudette. As for why she never pursued a solo career, I think that once the curse of the miscarriages ended and she finally gave birth and was raising a family, that took precedence over everything else. Plus IMO I think in order for a woman to really navigate the music business on her own she has to have a certain amount of "bitch" in her, and I have to say that Claudette comes across as so genuinely nice. You can even see the niceness in her face, if you believe that's possible, and I don't believe I'm aware of anyone publicly saying a bad word about her. That lady appears to be as beautiful on the inside as she is gorgeous [[then and now) on the outside.Quote:
Originally Posted by lakeside
I agree. They needed her.Quote:
Originally Posted by lockhartgary
Many thanks all, I'll have to check out some of these early Miracles albums.
Hi RR,
That would have been great if Smokey and Claudette would have duetted.
I wonder if Smokey did try to push Claudette forward for duets.
And yes I have to agree Claudette always seemed a really nice genuine person, a lady of class.
At some point in the 80s, I recall there was press that Smokey was working on an album for Claudette but I have no idea how many songs [[if any) were completed.
I truly believe, especially in Claudette's case, you can see the niceness in her face. I've always had the feeling about her being super genuine, real and above all, kind ever since I saw first saw her picture. I had found a copy of "The Miracles' Greatest Hits From The Beginning" and seeing her picture, I fell right in love 100%. Yes, I saw the niceness back then at the age of 14.Quote:
Originally Posted by RanRan79
Yes it would have been a very interesting album on Claudette Robinson - I think she could have been much bigger at Mtown. She is a beautiful lady but more than that she is down to earth and appreciates the fans - more apparent these days through social media, No wonder Berry was "interested" in Claudette. Indirectly, of course, it all helped Motown along the way. The first lady of Motown.
They did have a duet on Smokey's Warm Thoughts album, "Wine, Women and Song". It's an okay song. But I think what would "I'll Try Something New" or "Ooh Baby, Baby" have sounded like as a duet.Quote:
Originally Posted by McMotown
I wonder if "Wine, Women and Song" was a test run or if it was originally intended for her solo and instead was placed on the album. Interesting that a Claudette solo project was on the radar at all at that point. Thanks for the info Reese.Quote:
Originally Posted by reese
Love this duet from Claudette and Smokey....and peppy ensemble from The Miracles.
Yes indeed; Claudette Robinson's lead vocals on the early albums by the Miracles were indeed a highlight of the groups' work. The only reason she didn't do more of them is because of shyness. According to the notes from Depend On Me: The Early Albums when The Miracles recorded Claudette's lead vocals on "After All", she had her back to the engineer. She also said that she was more comfortable doing background vocals.
I agree that Claudette was sadly underused as a lead vocalist. I remember reading that in the very early days she sometimes took the lead in concert if Smokey was unwell.
The original by the Orlons is so far superior to the Miracles version. Claudette did an acceptable vocal, but nothing close to the thrill of the Orlons' original.
While I totally agree that The Orlons recorded the definitive version of this song I thinkQuote:
Originally Posted by Circa 1824
the general consensus of this thread is that Claudette as a member of a group of singers
with a capable voice could have handled more leads. But that was not what she wanted to push for, for whatever reasons. If you listen to a lot of their early recordings she was
as folks have mentioned, integral to their sound. Plus I liked it when Motown artists went
out of the box and covered non-Motown songs. Even when acts outside of the company
did Motown or obviously Motown inspired music. Like The Orlons mimicking Martha Reeves on Envy....
While we all agree that we would've liked Claudette to do more lead vocals while she was a member of The Miracles, she did have a few great moments when the spotlight was on her. Good examples of this include the spoken intro to "I Need Some Money", and the endings of "Who's Loving You" & "Here I Go Again".
Hi RanRan79Quote:
Originally Posted by RanRan79
A duet Claudette & Smokey sing 'Ooh Baby, Baby' now that is something I would have loved to listen too.
Must try and find 'Wine Women and Song'
I could easily imagine Claudette doing the vocals instead of the lovely Syreeta on 'Love Brought Us Here Tonight' form Smokey's One Heartbeat album.