Martha & the Vandellas - Gotta Let You Go [[1970)

[midnightman]

[Kamasu_Jr]

II like it, but it was kind of dated [[in terms of sound) by the time it was issued. How many mixes of this are there. It needed something extra--maybe handclaps. I

[midnightman]

^ I got their GOLD album from the store a while back like about four years ago and there's a version that had an extra saxophone riff.

[mowest]

Too much of a throwback to the Temptations' "Girl [[Why You Wanna Make Me Blue) from 1964. Makes it sound dated.

[midnightman]

^ At this point though, no one was treating Martha Reeves with any respect to give her the "treatment" that they gave others. So they gave her leftover material like this.

[rod_rick]

I've always liked it. It may have been dated for 1970 but I didn't hear it until the Anthology lp was released

[midnightman]

^ Yeah I didn't hear it until the GOLD album and I love it too.

[144man]

Some of us old folks liked it BECAUSE it sounded dated.

[soulwally]

Hear hear, 144! I went to Torquay on holiday in 1971 and I remember this being the highlight of the night in a pub with a DJ who other wise just played chart stuff. It had been released earlier in the year.

It did puzzle me why such an obviously-old backing track was married to Martha's then-current vocal style and given a single release. In the UK it was the flip to Forget Me Not, which reached No. 11 in the UK

[arrr&bee]

Dated??? Haaaaa the ladies do a great job with this track i've always wondered though if this song was originally meant for the temps!!

[luke]

Weak hook though great Martha performance.

[tomato tom]

Havnt played thisn in eons. Must dig it out..used to play it a lot as the flip of Forget Me Not on TMG...Paulo XXX

[adrian]

Great song but I much prefer Jimmy Ruffin's 1964 version.

[tomato tom]

Forgot about his great version too...Tks for the reminder,,Paulo XXX

[tamla617]

i got this on gordy in '73 with 50 other 7" in a contempo [[blues and soul mag's shop) soul pack!never heard the forget me not b side!it got played and played i loved it and still do,dated doesnt mean much to me.it was motown thru and thru.

i hadnt heard or even knew about another version 'till 2006 i was in a record shop in york and i heard jimmy ruffin singing it [[adrian just mentioned)it was on "this is northern soul vol2" i had all the tracks 'cept jimmy's.the shop owner wanted 10 pounds and i was 2nd hand too much!i picked one up for 2 quid last year.that record shop in york went bust!
btw it sounds like jimmy's vocals laid on the same instumental track as martha's to me.its one of his best.its on his anthology if anyone is interested

[tomato tom]

Thats I how how I found Jimmys version. Great isnt it. In fact lots of great tracks on his Anthology..Paulo XXXX

[stephanie]

I have always liked this song. Martha's vocals are impeccable I have always felt that the music was good but the backgrounds should have been fuller there is no punch to the song.
Maybe a heavier bass and fuller backgrounds. Its more of a Martha solo and no Vandellas.

[Kamasu_Jr]

Too much of a throwback to the Temptations' "Girl [[Why You Wanna Make Me Blue) from 1964. Makes it sound dated.

It does sound like something the Temptations would have recorded in 1964-1965. It did sound very dated in 1970 especially when you consider what else was on the charts back then: Band Of Gold, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, I Want You Back, Patches, Ball Of Confusion, War, Don't Play that Song, Signed, Sealed, Delivered, Up the Ladder to the Roof etc. Yeah, dated is about right.

[arrr&bee]

That's why i'm wondering was it meant for the temps...i can hear eddie singing lead on it,has a temps feel to it but still a great job by the ladies!

[westgrandboulevard]

I seem to remember a comment by Martha at the time IGLYG was released, that they'd wanted to recapture that Motown sound but, in her own words, "I think we went back too far!"....

[Kamasu_Jr]

I seem to remember a comment by Martha at the time IGLYG was released, that they'd wanted to recapture that Motown sound but, in her own words, "I think we went back too far!"....

What a funny comment from Martha, but accurate.
Don't get me wrong, I like I Gotta Let You Go, but it sounded odd in 1970 especially when you recognized it was similar to tunes the Temptations had recorded in 1964-65. Yes, I can hear Eddie Kendricks singing lead on it, which makes me wonder just how damned old the band track was to begin with? The tempo was quite fast for 1970 when most soul records of the time had a midtempo groove to them. IGLYG had a bop or "fast dance" feel.

[adrian]

which makes me wonder just how damned old the band track was to begin with?

As I mentioned earlier, Jimmy Ruffin recorded it in 1964.

From DFTMC:-

I Gotta Let You Go [[Norman Whitfield) publ. Jobete
Jimmy Ruffin; rec 20-Oct-64 ; produced by Norman Whitfield
Jul-97; CD [[M): Debutante 530 814 2 This Is Northern Soul! Volume 2 [ UK ]
12-Jan-04; CD [[S): Motown 981 200 6 Jimmy Ruffin - The Ultimate Motown Collection [ UK ]
03-May-05; CD: Motown 067 024 2 This Is Northern Soul! The Motown Sound Volume 1 [ UK ]
The Vandellas ; produced by Norman Whitfield
01-Oct-70; 45 [[M): Gordy G 7103 A
07-Sep-93; CD [[M): Motown 37463 6313 2 Live Wire! The Singles 1962-1972
May-02; CD [[S): Motown 016 838 Natural Resources / Black Magic [ UK ]
07-Mar-06; CD [[S): Motown B000522602 Gold

[arrr&bee]

I think that by 1970 martha was the last person that berry was thinking about,the song by them that motown should have pushed at that time was-i should be proud!