songs for Flo

[sup_fan]

this tune popped up on my playlists today. could totally hear Flo doing it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMIgWpt_5yE

what songs from the motown catalog would have been great for Flo?

[RanRan79]

I could absolutely hear Flo giving that one the business!

I always thought she would have been great on MRATV's "Honey Chile". I figure that had Flo taken Motown's offer to remain as a solo artist and there was any chance of the label taking her signing seriously, hooking her up with Richard Morris would have been perfect. Some of those songs he cut on Martha, like "Honey Chile", "Sweet Darlin", "Love Bug", and two of my favorites, "Honey Love" and "I Tried" [[the intro of the latter puts me in the mind of Flo's "Forever Faithful") just seems like they would have fit Flo pretty well.

[sup_fan]

i always refer to that period as Martha's "country soul" era. of course i made up my own playlists for Riding High and a Country Soul lp.

and i think you're right - Flo might have fit these songs well. there's a playful quality to the lyric. not exactly a comedy element but there is a touch of humor to those "downhome" lines, terms of endearment and phrases. I think that sort of element would have worked well with her vocal.

i do have to say this isn't my fav MRATV period. I enjoy Martha's voice but sometimes there's just way too much vibrato. and the vibrato is wide and all over the place. it seemed to become more pronounced in the later 60s. i prefer a more full-throated solid tone from her.

and sometimes the tunes are too lightweight or pop. frankly those probably wouldn't have worked well with Flo either. there's a fine line between Honey Bee by DRATS and Honey Chile or Sweet Darlin'. they're both using these elements i've been discussing but there's enough difference

[RanRan79]

I love this period of MRATV but it's purely because of some of the songs. You're right, Martha's voice transitioned into a whole other thing that I don't necessarily appreciate all the time. But it was nowhere as "bad" as it would become later on the 70s. Martha was always such a fantastic vocalist. I don't know whether she ran into some vocal issues or if she decided to try something different and decided to stick with it.

[RanRan79]

But back to Flo, yeah, those songs had this down home feel that I think was perfect for her. If she had to do more MOR sounding stuff, I think she would have sounded good on some of the stuff Barbara McNair was recording at the time.

[sup_fan]

although Flo could sing [[and sing it well) soprano, i think keeping her in more a mid or somewhat lower range would have worked for her vocals. similar to Diana - sure she can sing high but they discovered a sweet spot in her lower range

although it's a short phrase, i think Flo's lead on Breathtaking was lovely and warm. on People the lower ranges are fine enough but i find some of the upper sections more strained. probably because the pace of that song is funeral dirge. [[also i really just don't like the song lol).

[floyjoy678]

How about Take Me In Your Arms? I can definitely hear Flo singing that one.

Songs that I always thought would have been good for her were non-Motown songs. Like I really could hear her getting into Elvis' "Burning Love".

And "It's Too Late To Turn Back Now".

[RanRan79]

How about Take Me In Your Arms? I can definitely hear Flo singing that one.

Songs that I always thought would have been good for her were non-Motown songs. Like I really could hear her getting into Elvis' "Burning Love".

And "It's Too Late To Turn Back Now".

I could hear Flo singing "Take Me" and "Burning Love". One of my favorite songs is one that I think Flo would have been great on, Denise Lasalle's "Trapped By A Thing Called Love".

[sup_fan]

what's interesting is that several of us have suggested she sing Kim Weston songs. i'm not hugely familiar with her body of work although i do have her Greatest Hits and Rare Classics collection and the Anthology set. She certainly has more of a gospel approach. I really like her original version of Your Wonderful Sweet Sweet Love and maybe could even hear Flo doing that. had i only ever known the jean-led version, i'd be like "no way!"

maybe the approach i'm trying to describe is sort of a combo of Martha and Gladys. Kim seems to have more of the r&b sounds from Gladys but with more of the "black pop" sounds from Martha's bigger hits. as opposed to the more bluesy approach of Brenda Holloway.

some of the Velvelettes tunes might have also worked. Bird in the Hand, Needle in a haystack, He was really saying something have a tone and lyric style that might have fit Flo. i also think a lot of the Velvelette content could have been earlier MRATV tunes