MOTOWN's Rare Earth-Label LP Titles Available On CD

[Philles/Motown Gary]

The backup singers are Telma Hopkins, Joyce Vincent [[ before they became Dawn with Tony Orlando) and a third singer named Bunny, if I remember correctly.

I'm not sure what label is being shown for the CDs. The band's manager, Tommy Bee somehow[[and I'll never figure out how it was accomplished) acquired the master tapes from Motown and formed his own company, SOAR, re-releasing the albums on that label with much success.

Thanks, Ralph! I was gonna check out the credits in the CD booklet last night but I didn’t get a chance. I do remember now that you had mentioned Telma and Joyce in your book. Thank God that Tommy Bee obtained the masters from Motown [[however he managed it). I can’t imagine not having "Plight Of The Red Man" in my collection.

To answer your question, Ralph, "Plight Of The Red Man" and "Silent Warrior" are on the Soar label – Soar 101 and 102, respectively. "Plight" mentions that all tunes are written and produced by Tommy Bee in association with Motown staff producer Mike Valvano and published by EMI/Jobete Music [[ASCAP).

It also states that "Plight" was recorded at Motown/Hitsville Studios in Detroit, Michigan. [[You’ll love this next part!) It says, "Special thanks to Russ and Ralph Terrana for their technical support on this historical recording" [[Way to go, Ralph!) "and to musical arranger David Van DePitte for his masterful string arrangements." [[So THAT’s why I love the super string passages so much! David Van DePitte [[along with Paul Riser) is one of my all-time favorite Motown arrangers. As always, he did a fantastic job on this XIT album!

As an added touch, the back of both CD covers use a take-off on Motown’s "The Sound Of Young America" by billing themselves as "The Sound Of Indian America"! Very cool!

If you have any more questions about my XIT CD’s, Ralph, just ask. Thanks again for your help. [[BTW, you were SO LUCKY to have sat in on those sessions! I would give my right arm to have been there with you. - Gary