(come ‘round here) i’m the one you need question

i know 1966 was an extraordinarily busy year for holland/dozier/holland. they wrote a varietyof hits: reach out & standing in the shadows for the tops, my world is empty and you can’t hurry love for the supremes ... plus hits for the isley bros, jr. walker, the elgins, just to name the tip of the iceberg.
what i want to know is how they came about to write the rocker “[[come ‘round here) i’m the one you need” for the miracles. the song sounds tailor made for levi and the tops and it seems as if they would have been screaming to record it! i can even imagine the supremes taking a stab at it. considering how few songs h/d/h wrote for smokey and how prolific smokey was on his own, i’ve always been perplexed how this collaboration came about. it is one damn fine tune and smokey and the miracles sing their hearts out ... but does anyone know the story about how these two powerhous teams got together? i’d love to know! thanks

I cannot answer your question but that is THE song that turned me on to Smokey as I was first becoming acquainted with Motown. I also loved More More More of Your Love from that same album.

I believe it was intended as the follow up to Reach Out I'll be there....but HDH came up with SITSOL instead. This was stated in the Four Tops fan club UK magazine...Abdul I think...

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Originally Posted by snakepit

I believe it was intended as the follow up to Reach Out I'll be there....but HDH came up with SITSOL instead. This was stated in the Four Tops fan club UK magazine...Abdul I think...

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wow! thanks! this makes a whole lot of sense to me. i hope it’s true, but even if it turns out to be a more muddled story, i think this is the one i’ll believe!

I think Abdul said something along the lines of Smokey being a clever fellow...his group needed a single and he probably saw the potential of this HDH "offcut".
It could be that HDH thought it was too similar....It is very similar in lyric/style content...Reach out I'll be there...I'm the one you need....

the timing for “come ‘round here) i’m the one you need” as a follow up to “reach out” makes sense. “reach out” was recorded on july 27, 1966, “i’m the one you need” september 29, and “standing in the shadows of love” november 6.

you beat me to it....good work!!
HDH ,around this time , were using a flautist called Danya Hardwick [[ I think that was her name). A young lady fron the Detroit Symphony .I believe her first session was " Reach out".
The intro to Come Round here has that flute ...others from that period too no doubt.

"It is very similar in lyric/style content...Reach out I'll be there...I'm the one you need..."

Snakepit, The Cowsills must have agreed with you. The group recorded both [[Come Round Here) I'm The One You Need and Reach Out I'll Be There, with the former being on their first hit studio album and the latter being on their live album [[along with Please Mr. Postman). It was a great time, realizing that the Motown sound was becoming ever widespread, heard, shared and loved.

I wonder if there is a Four Tops version lurking in Motown's vault? Perhaps even one with a demo vocal take?

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Originally Posted by WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance

I too always wondered about this; after a banner year in '65, with a bumper crop of self-penned and produced hits, how 1966 saw the reins being passed to others. Frank Wilson did "Whole Lot Of Shakin' In My Heart" and then the HDH hit.

Maybe it was just felt a change in musical direction would be good at the time for the group?

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I think that you're right about this. It seems that Smokey decided to work with other writers/producers during 1966 as just a 'change of pace'. He'd be back in the writer/producer chair the following year with "More Love", "The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage" & "I Second That Emotion" [[not to mention most of the Make It Happen LP).

Smokey and I have talked about this record [[and the alternate) version of this record with the extra drums a few times - it's always been one of my absolute favorite Miracles tunes....but, not his. He has said very candidly in radio and tv interviews I've done with him - if there was one hit he didn't like of all of them - it was this one. It's like the one song whenever I try to bring it up with him - he just shakes his head and says "no" [[in a very kind way).

But - he loved the other H-D-H- hits they cut, like "It's A Good Feeling," "Mickey's Monkey," "I Gotta Dance To Keep From Crying" - just not this one. I'm guessing it has to do with the fact that the he's being pushed by H-D-H just beyond the top of his range which created the breathlessness and desperation in the performance - he just thought it was too much.

If you've ever heard our "Big Hits & More" set we did, Tom Moulton made an incredible extended version of this with the Miracles at the end that is just heart-pounding. But, Smokey [[in my talks with him over the years) did love "Whole Lottta Shaking In My Heart" a Frank Wilson track cut on them which to me is as "Mickey's Monkey" might be to "Dancing's Alright".

That would make sense...trying to get a 'Levi' effect on the track.

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Originally Posted by rovereab

I wonder if there is a Four Tops version lurking in Motown's vault? Perhaps even one with a demo vocal take?

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I doubt it...we would probably have heard it by now.

I just can't hear it by the tops,maybe the supremes but not the tops.

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Originally Posted by tjl

Smokey and I have talked about this record [[and the alternate) version of this record with the extra drums a few times - it's always been one of my absolute favorite Miracles tunes....but, not his. He has said very candidly in radio and tv interviews I've done with him - if there was one hit he didn't like of all of them - it was this one. It's like the one song whenever I try to bring it up with him - he just shakes his head and says "no" [[in a very kind way).

But - he loved the other H-D-H- hits they cut, like "It's A Good Feeling," "Mickey's Monkey," "I Gotta Dance To Keep From Crying" - just not this one. I'm guessing it has to do with the fact that the he's being pushed by H-D-H just beyond the top of his range which created the breathlessness and desperation in the performance - he just thought it was too much.

If you've ever heard our "Big Hits & More" set we did, Tom Moulton made an incredible extended version of this with the Miracles at the end that is just heart-pounding. But, Smokey [[in my talks with him over the years) did love "Whole Lottta Shaking In My Heart" a Frank Wilson track cut on them which to me is as "Mickey's Monkey" might be to "Dancing's Alright".

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Thanks for sharing that info TJL. I didn't know that Smokey never cared for "[[Come 'Round Here) I'm The One You Need" [[and it might due to the reason you stated that H-D-H made Smokey sing outside of his range on that song).

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Originally Posted by snakepit

I believe it was intended as the follow up to Reach Out I'll be there....but HDH came up with SITSOL instead. This was stated in the Four Tops fan club UK magazine...Abdul I think...

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If this is true, I think that it's a good thing that H-D-H came up with "Standing In The Shadows Of Love" for The Tops. I think if Levi & Co. had recorded & released "[[Come 'Round Here) I'm The One You Need", it would've been seen as an inferior knock off of the classic "Reach Out I'll Be There".

Exactly...if Reach Out had been a modest hit, the follow up would probably be similar...The Motown pattern..
But Reach Out was a worldwide monster....the follow up had to be a "special".
Did SITSOL achieve that....I'd say "sort of"!!

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Originally Posted by Motown Eddie

I think that you're right about this. It seems that Smokey decided to work with other writers/producers during 1966 as just a 'change of pace'. He'd be back in the writer/producer chair the following year with "More Love", "The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage" & "I Second That Emotion" [[not to mention most of the Make It Happen LP).

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Glad you enjoyed the comment Motown Eddie! It's my very last one here.

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Originally Posted by WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance

Glad you enjoyed the comment Motown Eddie! It's my very last one here.

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May I ask why it's your last one here?

The tops should have gotten that. Levi has the stronger, soulful voice. The tops are the best.

Nice Extended version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV11qq-VCyA

as I listen to the intro I'm expecting to vocally hear the J5. Yes I could hear them doing this.

well I'll be doggone ....look what followed automatically on you tube :eek::

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auEilvaO--k

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Originally Posted by Soulmusic4life

The tops should have gotten that. Levi has the stronger, soulful voice. The tops are the best.

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I can easily hear Levi part singing and part speaking/shouting the lyrics to this song with gusto. I don't think the song is a good match for Smokey's voice.

Perhaps there is a Four Tops version that is being held back for an expanded version of their classic album, Reach Out. I live in hope!

Smokey may not have liked it but he recorded it at least twice. I much prefer the less hiccupy single version.

Isley Brothers are great on this, but Levi would have been amazing and that is the HDH song that they should have done.

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Originally Posted by mysterysinger

Smokey may not have liked it but he recorded it at least twice. I much prefer the less hiccupy single version.

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Smokey also recorded an Italian version.

i’m surprised to hear that smokey did not like “come round here.” he certainly didn’t have any problem with the quick, wordy “going to a go-go” and i read here that he liked the even faster “whole lotta shakin.” 1966 was h/d/h’s most rockin’ year and i’m wondering if smokey felt pressed into recording this tune. i think it is one of smokey’s very best uptempo vocal performances, but maybe he realized that levi or the isleys could do just as good of a job [[ross, too, for that matter) and felt it was just too obvious of an h/d/h production and felt his miracle sound was getting overpowered. perhaps, his negative comments show just a little hidden jealousy. i’m not sure though, smokey seems pretty secure with his high place in music history!

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Originally Posted by Boogiedown

Nice Extended version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV11qq-VCyA

as I listen to the intro I'm expecting to vocally hear the J5. Yes I could hear them doing this.

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And what a long intro it is

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Originally Posted by snakepit

Smokey also recorded an Italian version.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNFnviKmI1E

I guess someone made Smokey "an offer he couldn't refuse" to record this :)