Fantastic Four - "You Gave Me Something [[And Everything's Alright)"

[mysterysinger]

I understand this was a reasonably sized hit in the USA on the Ric Tic label. That being the case, I wonder slightly why Motown didn't make more of a show of it by featuring it on hits packages for example, back in the day.

Come to think of it, Motown USA didn't seem to make that much of Edwin Starr's "Stop Her On Sight [[SOS)" either.

Granted the tracks featured on the Fantastic Four album and Edwin's "Soul Master" respectively. But in the UK SOS also showed up on Motown Chartbusters Volume 3 - even though at that time it had only been released on Polydor and not Tamla Motown as a single.

Also, the Fantastic Four's "The Whole World Is A Stage" featured on the UK 16 Big Hits Volume 7 album. I think the Ric Tic catalogue fared better in the UK than in the USA over the years.

[woodward]

You Gave Me Something is a fabulous song. One of my favorite F4 songs. In the Motown Encyclopedia James Epps explained their disappointment with Motown. "We were just like one big family at Ric Tic and I think that is why these records are different from anything else. Everyone was involved in the music and that was really what mattered. I think we were all upset when the company closed, it was like closing a chapter of your life. We were the last that Ed Wingate kept but when he arranged that we join Motown he felt that we would stand the best chance of succeeding." Wingate's optimism proved wrong. "We never felt the company was interested in us and we were unable to concentrate on what we were doing."

Unfortunately, none of the Fantastic Four are still alive.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

I can't imagine for the life of me why Motown ignored the Fantastic Four the way they did. Their recordings on both Ric-Tic and Motown were top-notch. One thing that has always bothered me was the photo of the group in which lead singer, "Sweet" James Epps, was wearing those horrible high-water pants which further accentuated his wide girth. What on earth was Motown thinking? Always presenting its artists in the best possible light, that photo was embarrassing and unprofessional. Was anybody else besides me annoyed by that unflattering picture?

[TomatoTom123]

This is a great one! I love The Fantastic Four's Ric-Tic and Motown recordings. Their unreleased Motown album [since released by Ace Records] is ESPECIALLY awesome.

I like The Supremes & Temptations' version of this song too… released on the 2004 CD Joined Together: The Complete Studio Duets.

[MIKEW-UK]

Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers 1968 version

https://youtu.be/qy0LHBGMvQQ
https://youtu.be/qy0LHBGMvQQ

[heikki]

Hi!

This is a wonderful thread about one of my biggest favourite groups, Fantastic Four. I'm also glad that my in-deep article with all the members of the group in the late 90s/early 00s [[plus updates) is now frequently quoted. This is not bragging, but just wondering, why wasn't there anybody doing in-depth interviews with the guys while they were still more or less active.

One more interesting detail, a quote from Don Davis: "My contacts with the Fantastic Four were minimal. Even though I would see them sometimes almost daily, I related to them more in the capacity of a session guitarist. Usually at our sessions the artists seldom were present, leaving the music to be developed by the producer, Al Kent. Having said that, James Epps was a big favourite of Ed Wingate. He was enormous in size for that day and time, yet Wingate saw, believed and developed James' talent withourt regards to the 'artist look' of the day."

Best regards
Heikki