Mary Wells- Something New: Motown Lost & Found

[hwume]

"Your Loss, My Gain" and "In Case You Need Love" were mastered from the only known copies, which are mono reference mixes from 1963. All other tracks were mixed form the original three-track session reels - or, in one case, from a binaural two-track master. That means some of the new mixes are in stereo, and some are in mono as they sound best that way. I can't remember which ones without re-playing the entire set again...

[motony]

"In Case You Need Love" was recorded by the Miracles on the Going to A Go Go LP. At the time, I thought that & "All Thats Good" would have been GREAT Mary Wells records.Funny to find out 40 some odd years later that she did record one of them.

[sophisticated_soul]

"In Case You Need Love" jumped out at me the first time I played this set. It's an excellent song with a smoking track and kind of a Dinah Washington/Brook Benton feel. It was certainly worthy of inclusion on Mary and Marvin's duet album, if not a single.

BTW, Harry Weinger, I was re-reading the booklet to this wonderful set and realized that the question I asked you on Midnight Johnny's Nightflight show thread - the one about the tracks on side 2 of Mary's "My Guy" album and their relationship to tracks 16-20 [[disc 2) on this new set - was actually answered already in the booklet. I missed it. Oops! My bad.

[RossHolloway]

Is One Block From Heaven HDH's attempt to replicate the Phil Spector Wall of Sound?

And does anyone else think it's an odd coincidence that Smokey Robinson was in the middle of producing two great artists when they both walked away from Motown? Mary Wells and Brenda Holloway - two artist who did their best work with Smokey. I just thought it was odd..

[hwume]

"In Case You Need Love" jumped out at me the first time I played this set. It's an excellent song with a smoking track and kind of a Dinah Washington/Brook Benton feel. It was certainly worthy of inclusion on Mary and Marvin's duet album, if not a single.

BTW, Harry Weinger, I was re-reading the booklet to this wonderful set and realized that the question I asked you on Midnight Johnny's Nightflight show thread - the one about the tracks on side 2 of Mary's "My Guy" album and their relationship to tracks 16-20 [[disc 2) on this new set - was actually answered already in the booklet. I missed it. Oops! My bad.

Thats's OK, I had to assume you hadn't read it yet.

[kenneth]

"In Case You Need Love" was recorded by the Miracles on the Going to A Go Go LP. At the time, I thought that & "All Thats Good" would have been GREAT Mary Wells records.Funny to find out 40 some odd years later that she did record one of them.

That's amazing! Very ironic.

[dba]

All I can say is WOW. Listened last night. I now have new appreciation for Mary Wells.

The whole project is just stunning! Thanks Harry.

[motony]

I just got my copy last night when I got home so I haven't listened to disc 2 in depth but in reading the booklet I think that is a mistake on the writers part about "Bye Bye Baby" being recorded in New York...it was done at United Sound in Detroit. LOVE the '63 version of "Strange Love"!

[hwume]

From my POV, the tapes and additional internal [[Motown) paperwork are unspecific with regard to the recording studio and/or city for "Bye Bye Baby." Keith Hughes and I paused at the information conveyed in the notes, but in this editorial instance I had deferred to the writer Stu Hackel, who just sent me this email:

"You could be right, but it was Mable John, interviewed by Susan Whitehall in her book Women of Motown, who said that she was present when 'Bye Bye Baby' was recorded in New York and that's why I wrote what I did in the booklet. While others have speculated that it might have been recorded in Detroit, specifically at Hitsville, and have had good reason to think so, no solid evidence has turned up yet to show Mable's recollection was wrong. I'd be interested to hear what other info is out there to conclude the performance was recorded at United Sound. Thanks for being interested."

[motony]

Mary herself had said years ago that she never had been out of Detroit until she had a record out.I thought a previous CD release listed Bye Bye Baby as being recorded at United Sound.I'm pretty sure that over the years Mary said while on Motown the only outside studio work she did was in Chicago while the Revue was at the Regal. But I do remember Mable John sayin that about New York but I assumed it was some other songs & after the company had a little bit of money,LOL

[hwume]

OK, thanks, entirely plausible.

[motony]

isn't it really kinda eerie that "When I'm Gone" was the last time she recorded at Hitsville, I mean just with that title of a song. Can't wait to get home & listen some more. Really appreciate your hard work, Harry...the results speak for itself!I know Marys kids will be thrilled. I messaged Stacy & Meech today.

[RossHolloway]

isn't it really kinda eerie that "When I'm Gone" was the last time she recorded at Hitsville, I mean just with that title of a song. Can't wait to get home & listen some more. Really appreciate your hard work, Harry...the results speak for itself!I know Marys kids will be thrilled. I messaged Stacy & Meech today.

I touched on the strange fact yesterdady that both Mary Wells and Brenda Holloway both were being produced by Smokey Robinson when they both abruptly left Motown...

[Kamasu_Jr]

I liked the stereo mixes of some tunes [[I Want You Around, One Block From Heaven, Honey Boy, etc.) that I already have in mono and stereo elsewhere. Wasn't Vintage Stock issued in stereo? I believe my dad has a stereo copy. I liked some of the duets with Marvin Gaye and some of the standards recorded with the Andantes. A great job from the crew at UMe. The only thing I was disappointed in were the photos. There were none I had not seen before. When Mary left Motown, did they discard most of her publicity photos? i've never seen a photo of Mary recording in the snakepit/studio.

[zani57]

here is today's [[12/11/12) review from The Second Disc blog --

http://theseconddisc.com/2012/12/11/...music-records/

[oldiesmusicfan]

I just received this set in the mail a few days ago and am looking forward to listening. There is a problem though and I haven't seen anyone else mention it yet. The track information is missing on Disc 1. When I put the CD in my ITunes, all the titles appear in Itunes as Track 1 Track 2 Track 3, etc. Disc 2 has the title, artist and album name for every track. This is a very expensive set to have something like this wrong with it. I bought it new on Amazon, still in wrap. What can be done about this? I could fill in all that information myself, but really, it should be there!

Oldies

[caliluv]

as with the I Hear A Symphony cd Disc 1, I had to manually add the names to disc 1 of this cd.

[Motown Eddie]

I liked the stereo mixes of some tunes [[I Want You Around, One Block From Heaven, Honey Boy, etc.) that I already have in mono and stereo elsewhere. Wasn't Vintage Stock issued in stereo? I believe my dad has a stereo copy. I liked some of the duets with Marvin Gaye and some of the standards recorded with the Andantes. A great job from the crew at UMe. The only thing I was disappointed in were the photos. There were none I had not seen before. When Mary left Motown, did they discard most of her publicity photos? i've never seen a photo of Mary recording in the snakepit/studio.

Yes, Mary Wells' "Vintage Stock" was released in stereo [[and I have a copy of it). However, the stereo mixes of the songs from LP on the new "Something New-Lost & Found" set are previously unreleased stereo mixes [[according to the notes from "Something New").

[hwume]

Right. We wanted to extend them and freshen them up as possible w/o taking away from the classic sound, and make all tracks on the collection "something new."

[kenneth]

The set is a great collection and the sound and mastering is fantatstic. Hip-O really did a great job on this one; the tracks all sound fresh and new. What a great tribute to Wells and her talent. It's hard to believe this much was in the vaults all these years.

I remember when "From the Vaults" came out, which I think had to be Motown's very first album of various artists' previously unreleased tracks. It had to be around '84 or thereabouts. I remember how excited I was that there were 10 or 12 tracks we hadn't heard before! I think that LP included Wells' "Drop in the Bucket," a great track which is also on this Wells set. Who ever knew what we had to look forward to all these years later?

Thanks, Hip-O!

[Motown Eddie]

The set is a great collection and the sound and mastering is fantatstic. Hip-O really did a great job on this one; the tracks all sound fresh and new. What a great tribute to Wells and her talent. It's hard to believe this much was in the vaults all these years.

I remember when "From the Vaults" came out, which I think had to be Motown's very first album of various artists' previously unreleased tracks. It had to be around '84 or thereabouts. I remember how excited I was that there were 10 or 12 tracks we hadn't heard before! I think that LP included Wells' "Drop in the Bucket," a great track which is also on this Wells set. Who ever knew what we had to look forward to all these years later?

Thanks, Hip-O!

From The Vaults first came in out 1979 [[on Motown's Natural Resources label) and was reissued in the early '80s [[on the Motown label) as part of Motown's line of budget priced LPs. Mary Wells' "Drop In The Bucket" was included on that album. From The Vaults was the first time I heard some of the great music that Motown had hidden in it's vaults. And yes, who ever knew how much we Motown fans had to look forward years [[and decades) later.

and, thanks again Hip-O!

[Motown Eddie]

Right. We wanted to extend them and freshen them up as possible w/o taking away from the classic sound, and make all tracks on the collection "something new."

And you did a great job on the new mixes for the new Mary Wells set and you made all the songs sound like "Something New" [[but still true to the classic Motown sound of the era).

[robb_k]

From my POV, the tapes and additional internal [[Motown) paperwork are unspecific with regard to the recording studio and/or city for "Bye Bye Baby." Keith Hughes and I paused at the information conveyed in the notes, but in this editorial instance I had deferred to the writer Stu Hackel, who just sent me this email:

"You could be right, but it was Mable John, interviewed by Susan Whitehall in her book Women of Motown, who said that she was present when 'Bye Bye Baby' was recorded in New York and that's why I wrote what I did in the booklet. While others have speculated that it might have been recorded in Detroit, specifically at Hitsville, and have had good reason to think so, no solid evidence has turned up yet to show Mable's recollection was wrong. I'd be interested to hear what other info is out there to conclude the performance was recorded at United Sound. Thanks for being interested."

As I remember it, The Snakepit wasn't built yet, when "Bye Bye Baby" was recorded. At that time, Berry was using Motown's very limited studio equipment [[Bristoe Bryants two-track recorder) only for recording demos, and recording for release at United Sound. Mike hadn't yet started with Motown. I remember several references to that recording session having been in Detroit.

I can't believe that Berry took Mary to Detroit to record her first song with Motown. The company had no money. I never heard of him recording artists in other cities in 1959, 1960 or 1961. He had Marv Johnson and Eddie Holland signed to United Artists in New York. Yet, he recorded those artists in Detroit, and sent the tapes to New York. Why would he take his own artist to New York? I think that Mable was quoted incorrectly, or remembers things incorrectly.

[sophisticated_soul]

This set just keeps unfolding, there is so much to absorb. This is by far one of the very best of the many great Hip-O releases. As others have stated the sound quality, mixing and all technical aspects leave nothing to be desired. Nor does the quality of the individual tracks. Often I find released vault material - while interesting to have - not essential. Definitely not the case with "Something New" [[a perfect title by the way) every track sounds complete, fresh and worthy of release at the time of recording.

I was stuck on Disc 2 the first week then Disc 1 the second week. This set will remain in my heavy rotation for quite a while. So many wonderful, wonderful tracks. Another great big thanks to Harry Weinger and everyone involved in this born of love project - this very fitting tribute to the one of kind, Mary Wells.

[lakedistrictlad1]

Just letting all U.K fans know that Sainsbury's has this set for pre order at the fantastic price of £13.99 with free postage.

This will be twice now I've ordered Motown cd's through Sainsbury's. They seem to be unbeatable on price. And nectar points too!

http://www.sainsburysentertainment.c..._source=google

[soulwally]

I don't think Brenda Holloway was recording much with Smokey when she left Motown. I thought Frank Wilson was her main man in the latter days [[as he had been part od in her early days)

[carole cucumber]

I just took time to revisit the booklet and realized that Eddie Kendrick's Disc 3 [[partial) of The Thin Man The Motown Solo Albums, Vol 2 was not included in the 'other Motown :Lost & Found releases' on pg 31.

[Kamasu_Jr]

It was not a Lost & Found. All of Eddie Kendricks' Tamla albums had been previously issued. There wasn't anything on the set that had been vaulted.

[carole cucumber]

It was not a Lost & Found. All of Eddie Kendricks' Tamla albums had been previously issued. There wasn't anything on the set that had been vaulted.

From Hip-O-Select:

Eddie boogies down! Former Temptation, now a no. 1 solo star, Kendricks keeps the fires burning with the rest of his classic albums – and much more – in The Thin Man: The Motown Solo Albums, Vol. 2. This 3-CD set captures EK shooting back to no. 1 with “Boogie Down,” hitting the dance floor with a pair of Philly soul spectaculars, then returning to collaborate with Leonard Caston on his final Motown recordings. That “much more”? An incredible bonus of an album’s worth of unreleased tracks.........
That completes Eddie Kendricks’ Motown solo albums collection – almost. As an exceptional bonus to this set are eight “Lost & Found” tracks newly discovered in the Motown vault, a complement to the bonus “album” on The Great David Ruffin, Vol. 2. They’re several outtakes circa People…Hold On and one more, fully completed cuts [[not demos) that went begging to be part of an album.

[hwume]

I just took time to revisit the booklet and realized that Eddie Kendrick's Disc 3 [[partial) of The Thin Man The Motown Solo Albums, Vol 2 was not included in the 'other Motown :Lost & Found releases' on pg 31.

I can't believe I did that. Thanks for noticing.

And thanks to all again for the positive reception to the Mary Wells set.

[Kamasu_Jr]

From Hip-O-Select:

Eddie boogies down! Former Temptation, now a no. 1 solo star, Kendricks keeps the fires burning with the rest of his classic albums – and much more – in The Thin Man: The Motown Solo Albums, Vol. 2. This 3-CD set captures EK shooting back to no. 1 with “Boogie Down,” hitting the dance floor with a pair of Philly soul spectaculars, then returning to collaborate with Leonard Caston on his final Motown recordings. That “much more”? An incredible bonus of an album’s worth of unreleased tracks.........
That completes Eddie Kendricks’ Motown solo albums collection – almost. As an exceptional bonus to this set are eight “Lost & Found” tracks newly discovered in the Motown vault, a complement to the bonus “album” on The Great David Ruffin, Vol. 2. They’re several outtakes circa People…Hold On and one more, fully completed cuts [[not demos) that went begging to be part of an album.

Dang, how did I miss those? I had to dig the set out and look at it. There are 8 bonus tracks on it. I don't think I've ever listened to them.

[Motown4Ever518]

This set just keeps unfolding, there is so much to absorb. This is by far one of the very best of the many great Hip-O releases. As others have stated the sound quality, mixing and all technical aspects leave nothing to be desired. Nor does the quality of the individual tracks. Often I find released vault material - while interesting to have - not essential. Definitely not the case with "Something New" [[a perfect title by the way) every track sounds complete, fresh and worthy of release at the time of recording.

I was stuck on Disc 2 the first week then Disc 1 the second week. This set will remain in my heavy rotation for quite a while. So many wonderful, wonderful tracks. Another great big thanks to Harry Weinger and everyone involved in this born of love project - this very fitting tribute to the one of kind, Mary Wells.

I have only gotten to the end of Disc #1. A very solid set so far with a great booklet, actually one of the best from Hippo. I really like having all the un-released material in one place.

[sophisticated_soul]

I have only gotten to the end of Disc #1. A very solid set so far with a great booklet, actually one of the best from Hippo. I really like having all the un-released material in one place.

Hip-O released many fine projects in 2012, but "Something New" is definitely my favorite. Each play seems to reveal something new and I'm struck by the plethora of excellent, quality tracks. It's still in my heavy rotation and is not likely to be shelved any time soon. Love it!

[mr_june]

Has anyone seen reviews from some of the noted websites? I just heard of the release and just sent my wife a not asking her to buy it for my birthday [[August 17th) now!

[Motown4Ever518]

Has anyone seen reviews from some of the noted websites? I just heard of the release and just sent my wife a not asking her to buy it for my birthday [[August 17th) now!

A good move Mr. June, the Mrs. hopefully will move fast since this is a very limited run. I just listened to the second CD, and because a lot of the first CD has been released in some form or another, I actually prefer it to the first. If I had had to answer the question, Why? Mary recorded these tunes before she was 21, but brought a certain amount of sophistication to the songs, she obviously liked the songs, and appeared to want to record them, and to my ears appears to have taken direction well from the producers. On some of the other Motown artists it was obvious that they were not sold on doing standards, show tunes, or Jazz. Ms. Wells on some of the tunes never sounded better. Even hanging tough with Mr. Gaye, who was definitely singing for his supper.

As an aside, besides our interest in Motown a very august date August is my birthday as well.

Cheers

[jboy88]

I just got my copy this past weekend, I can honestly say this is one of my favorite hip-o releases so far. I couldn't find anything wrong with it what so ever. These track are just as good [[some even better than) the tracks that were released during here time with Motown. A must have for any Motown fan. You got early Jamerson workouts, background vocals from almost every popular Motown group, and the mixing is just superb, Especially through my Beats audio computer speakers. Fantastic all around.

[mr_june]

A good move Mr. June, the Mrs. hopefully will move fast since this is a very limited run. I just listened to the second CD, and because a lot of the first CD has been released in some form or another, I actually prefer it to the first. If I had had to answer the question, Why? Mary recorded these tunes before she was 21, but brought a certain amount of sophistication to the songs, she obviously liked the songs, and appeared to want to record them, and to my ears appears to have taken direction well from the producers. On some of the other Motown artists it was obvious that they were not sold on doing standards, show tunes, or Jazz. Ms. Wells on some of the tunes never sounded better. Even hanging tough with Mr. Gaye, who was definitely singing for his supper.

As an aside, besides our interest in Motown a very august date August is my birthday as well.

Cheers

Cheers to you also Motown4ever. I got the discs earlier this week and was listening while reading the Mary Wells bio that I ordered along with the disc from Amazon. It sure helps the reading when you can que up a song that is being mentioned in the book. There are some real gems on the two disc but I too prefer the second disc more. It was snowing here in Chicago today and I was already late for work but I still went back to the house to get the Well's disc so I could listen on the way to the train station. I'd sure like to have Mary's songs on SACD or DVD-Audio.

My favorite memory of Mary Wells is when I went from "Cowboys to Girls." I was a freshman in high school and I was on my way to the house of a young lady I met in a music class we shared. Before going, I stopped by the house of a guy who lived on the next block from me. He had a Mary Wells album and record player. I remember playing both sides of that album over and over. That's how good it sounded. After that day I didn't hang around with the fellas like I used too and it was a long, long time before I saw my friend with the record player again.

[kenneth]

I think this is one of Hip-O's most outstanding sets. While I love Disc 1, it is the more traditional Motown/Mary Wells. Disc 2 I think truly showcases what Mary's career might have been had she stayed at Motown. The unreleased duets with Marvin Gaye are fun and infectious, especially their version of Sammi and Sherri's "Oh! Lover!" which they do in the same loose repartee style that the original had and which Otis Redding and Carla Thomas later used to so much advantage on songs like "Tramp."

The standards that Wells performs under the subtitle of "The Second Time Around" are really done well. It's hard to believe a girl of 19 or 20 could already sing those songs with so much authority. I love her versions of these selections, especially "Can't Get Out of This Mood" with the 4 Tops singing backup.

This set is just a wealth of great music, but one can't help listening to it without thinking, ah, what might have been. Even though I'm fond of much of Wells' later work on Atco and other labels, had she stayed with Motown I think her career would have had virtually no limits.

[RossHolloway]

@kenneth - I agree with your sentiments about this release - truly a gem. Berry Gordy definitely had a vision for his artist that went beyond just making hits. I don't think he and his artist have gotten enough credit for being so versatile.

[kenneth]

@rossholloway - Thanks for the comment. Played Disk 2 again last night and am just struck by the arrangements and the maturity and confidence in Wells' voice. What can I say, we both have great taste!

[mr_june]

Was listening to track 20 [[didn't check for title name) on the second disc in the car this morning. Wow! that is the best one on the entire set to me. That would have been a two sided hit with one of her more well known songs. I think Mary and Brenda Holloway had the best female voices at Motown back then.

[kenneth]

Was listening to track 20 [[didn't check for title name) on the second disc in the car this morning. Wow! that is the best one on the entire set to me. That would have been a two sided hit with one of her more well known songs. I think Mary and Brenda Holloway had the best female voices at Motown back then.

"A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening." It was a standard, though I don't know who sang it originally. I'm sure it was done by folks like Johnny Mathis, Sinatra, and others.

I love her "Graystone" version of "Strange Love" on Disc 1, also. Completely changes the song in the "live in the studio" recording. A really nice, low key jazzy arrangement.

[dickiemint]

After the long wait this set is finally available in the UK ! Playing it for the 2nd time now and taking it all in, I really love the lost and found series and hope there are many more to come, but for now Mary Wells set will be on repeat till I gotta go to work!
Thanks as always to Harry, Andy and the Hipo team.