Jr. Walker & The All-Stars-"Shotgun" LP now available for streaming

[Motown Eddie]

From SecondDisc.com:
The 1965 dance classic of the same name by saxophonist Walker - who took a turn at vocals when the session singer never showed - is one of Motown's best mid-'60s numbers, topping the soul charts and going Top 5 on Billboard's pop survey. This long player features a dozen sides released in the wake of "Shotgun," like Top 40 hits "Do the Boomerang," "Shake and Fingerpop" and "[I'm A] Road Runner."

Jr. Walker & The All-Stars, Shotgun [Motown] [iTunes / Amazon]

1. Cleo's Mood
2. Do The Boomerang
3. Shotgun
4. [I'm A] Road Runner
5. Shake And Fingerpop
6. Shoot Your Shot
7. Tune Up
8. Hot Cha
9. Monkey Jump
10. Tally Ho!
11. Cleo's Back
12. Ain't That The Truth

[Boogiedown]

who's Cleo??

[Motown Eddie]

who's Cleo??

According to the notes for "Cleo's Mood" from The Complete Motown Singles 1965, 'Cleo' was simply Jr. Walker & All-Stars Guitarist Willie Woods aphorism for a beautiful woman. As Junior recounted, the band was working on a song at a club when a beautiful woman walked across the floor. Nobody knew her name but Junior said 'Mmmmm! Ol' Cleo's back!'

[Boogiedown]

Thank you Eddie
I like it

of Motown artists I’ve become more familiar with in recent years , Jr Walker stands out most.
have really come to enjoy his sound.

[paul_nixon]

Thank you Eddie
I like it

of Motown artists I’ve become more familiar with in recent years , Jr Walker stands out most.
have really come to enjoy his sound.

I wonder why this has been singled out for download? Relatively easy to get on CD I would have thought or on all the streaming platforms - I can never get my head around some of the logic - maybe that's why I'm where I am and not the head of a record label.

[mysterysinger]

Yes "Shotgun" regularly seems to have been released on CD over the years [[his most released album) - and haven't we already had all bar one of Junior's albums on CD?

[SatansBlues]

From SecondDisc.com:
The 1965 dance classic of the same name by saxophonist Walker - who took a turn at vocals when the session singer never showed - is one of Motown's best mid-'60s numbers, topping the soul charts and going Top 5 on Billboard's pop survey. This long player features a dozen sides released in the wake of "Shotgun," like Top 40 hits "Do the Boomerang," "Shake and Fingerpop" and "[I'm A] Road Runner."

Jr. Walker & The All-Stars, Shotgun [Motown] [iTunes / Amazon]

1. Cleo's Mood
2. Do The Boomerang
3. Shotgun
4. [I'm A] Road Runner
5. Shake And Fingerpop
6. Shoot Your Shot
7. Tune Up
8. Hot Cha
9. Monkey Jump
10. Tally Ho!
11. Cleo's Back
12. Ain't That The Truth

Over on the Youtube music streaming service they have the Shotgun lp, plus Roadrunner, Soul Session, Moody Jr, Hot Shot, Rainbow Funk, Peace & Understanding Is Hard To Find, A Gassss, Home Cookin', Back Street Boogie, and their 1970 Live album.

[TomatoTom123]

I’m fairly sure Shotgun has been available digitally for a while. I know I’ve had a download of it for some time.

Junior & the All Stars’ early 70s albums, A Gassssssss through to Hot Shot, became digitally available after the awesome CD release of Walk In The Night: The 70s Motown Albums.

[TomatoTom123]

Thank you Eddie
I like it

of Motown artists I’ve become more familiar with in recent years , Jr Walker stands out most.
have really come to enjoy his sound.

Hey Boogie, what do you think of Junior's take on "It's Too Late"?

[Boogiedown]

Hey Boogie, what do you think of Junior's take on "It's Too Late"?

Oh dear . I've tried listening a few times thinking it would soften up a bit. Just too grating from the first vocal on. Like the back up vocals much more .... This is a lyric oriented song [and piano too] and I don't think Jr. pulls it off.....and the fade out as an ending is a poor alternate imo. Maybe that song is just too ingrained as King delivered it ...

What say you Tom??


Hey here's one I like a lot. And i got to thinking , speaking of background vocals....they are sorely missing here ....how cool it would have been had the two Supremes showed up and supplied them...that would have been something really special ....

[TomatoTom123]

I actually quite like Junior's "It’s Too Late"… I like the chorus, just sax and backing vocals. It’s definitely very different from the original though.

Ah ha! I LOVE Junior's version of "Come See About Me" even more! It would have been awesome with the Supremes in the mix too.

[Boogiedown]

nice !


post another Jr. fave Tom, if you get a chance

[TomatoTom123]

Oooh! So many to choose from, but here's of my absolute favourites…



There's just something about this one… Junior really pours his heart and soul into every line.

[Motown Eddie]

This one is a Big Favorite of mine; "Walk In The Night" from the Moody Jr. LP.

[Boogiedown]

Great songs both.
WAY BACK HOME I can hear the Bristol sound on it. Having grown up floating down the kern river on patched inner tubes from the local tire store, hitchhiking with them in the back of somebody’s pick up to get back up to the mouth of the canyon where our van was , that and riding our bikes out to swim in irrigation canals, I can relate to fond memories of swimming in the muddy creek.
And WALK THE NIGHT is another good one from that time.
Dont know why Motown didn’t push harder for Jr. during that early seventies period.
Maybe they did? Somehow he got shortchanged.

thanks for sharing !

[TomatoTom123]

I feel like I wanna go there too Boogie, even though I was never there in the first place.

And yes, I don’t know how much of a push Junior got, but those early 70s albums are certainly held in high regard by me.

[SatansBlues]

Oh dear . I've tried listening a few times thinking it would soften up a bit. Just too grating from the first vocal on. Like the back up vocals much more .... This is a lyric oriented song [and piano too] and I don't think Jr. pulls it off.....and the fade out as an ending is a poor alternate imo. Maybe that song is just too ingrained as King delivered it ...

What say you Tom??


Hey here's one I like a lot. And i got to thinking , speaking of background vocals....they are sorely missing here ....how cool it would have been had the two Supremes showed up and supplied them...that would have been something really special ....

My favorite version of Come See About Me is their 1970 live version recorded in 1969 at the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles. There's really great energy on their live version.
.

[SatansBlues]

Hip City is a great opening number from their 1970 Live album. The hypeman/announcer is fantastic. The bass player is also going really hard.

[Boogiedown]

My favorite version of Come See About Me is their 1970 live version recorded in 1969 at the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles. There's really great energy on their live version.
.

that is a good version, very personalized. I get the impression Jr. enjoyed performing/ touring.

[Boogiedown]

I feel like I wanna go there too Boogie, even though I was never there in the first place.

And yes, I don’t know how much of a push Junior got, but those early 70s albums are certainly held in high regard by me.

Way back home ....couldn't happen today ....for starters, tires don't have innertubes, you can't ride in the back of pickups , and hitchhike??

And , we were bare- barefoot that is the entire time too! lol!


the b side is the instrumental. A beautiful piece of music.



Wistful