(Reybee) Elemental Music's ongoing LP reissue series, the Motown Sound Collection, delivers another trio of prestigious titles from the iconic Detroit label's archives: Marvin Gaye's When I'm Alone I Cry (in its original mono mix), Eddie Kendricks' People...Hold On, and The Four Tops' self-titled debut (also in a mono edition) on November 15, 2024.
MARVIN GAYE's When I'm Alone I Cry - 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of Marvin Gaye's third album for Motown. Released in 1964, When I'm Alone I Cry represents Gaye in the prime of his jazz crooner period when he also released Hello Broadway and A Tribute to the Great Nat King Cole. When I'm Alone is stocked with a terrific collection of standards. Perhaps the best-known tune is the Lerner/Loewe classic "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" from the musical My Fair Lady. However, Gaye also delved into the American Songbook with renditions of songs like "I Wonder" (a hit for both Louis Armstrong and Brenda Lee), "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)" (covered by everyone from Jerry Lee Lewis to Tommy Dorsey), and "Because of You" (Tony Bennett's first big hit). He covered several songs done by Billie Holiday: "I'll Be Around," "You've Changed," and "When Your Lover Has Gone." When I'm Alone I Cry captures Gaye at a unique moment in his illustrious career. Just a year after the album's release, he put out "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You," which established him as a superstar soul vocalist. This reissue is coming out in a mono version.
EDDIE KENDRICKS' People...Hold On - People...Hold On also came at a significant time in Eddie Kendricks musical career. One of the founding members of the Temptations, Kendricks, left the band in 1971. People...Hold On, Kendricks' second solo outing, saw the singer shifting away from the poppy sound of his past to grittier, more political music that one critic described as "the sound of the street." Critical to this shift was Kendricks' discovery of a young Washington DC-based group, The Young Senators (pioneers in what is now known as the Go-Go music scene), who backed him on this 1972 record. They helped to inject a powerful rhythm foundation to Kendricks' songs that popularized them on the dance floor. The centerpiece track, "Girl You Need a Change of Mind," was hailed by All Music Guide as "nothing short of an epic precursor to the extended four-on-the-floor numbers that would soon be christened as 'disco.'" At the same time, music writer Sam Armstrong recently proclaimed that People...Hold On "remains one of his finest releases, fusing heartfelt soul with meaningful social commentary on songs." The album's impact is evident, too, in the number of times its tracks have been sampled over the years by artists such as Erykah Badu, Lil Wayne, and Drake. The 1972 release was pivotal for Motown as it was among the final albums recorded at the legendary Hitsville U.S.A. studio before the label relocated to Los Angeles.
The Four Tops' Four Tops - The Four Tops' self-titled album turns 60 in January 2025 and remains among the best debuts ever recorded. Ron Wynn at All Music Guide declared, "You'd be hard-pressed to find two better singles on a debut album than 'Ask the Lonely' and 'Baby I Need Your Loving.'" Motown's elite songwriting trio penned both songs - Holland-Dozier-Holland - and several other tracks came from two more Motown ace tunesmiths, Ivy Jo Hunter and William "Mickey" Stevenson. Distinguished by the sublime baritone vocals of Levi Stubbs, the Four Tops would go on to a long, successful career, but it all started with this album. As the esteemed critic Dave Marsh wrote for Rolling Stone: "From their first hit "Baby I Need Your Loving," the Four Tops was one of the grandest things about Motown." Pioneering '60s rock critic Lillian Roxon offered up similar high praise "just as Motown helped to establish the Four Tops, the Four Tops helped to establish Motown." The public recognized this greatness as the album spent three weeks on top of the Billboard R&B Album Chart in the summer of '65.
These indelible Motown titles are part of a continuing series of long-playing vinyl reissues of crate digger favorites from the celebrated label's unrivaled catalog. All releases will replicate the bold sound and 12-by-12 full-color packaging of the '60s and '70s LPs. The Motown Sound Collection will continue with titles scheduled for release through early 2025; arriving on December 13 feature Gladys Knight & the Pips' Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the One to Say Goodbye), The Temptations' Solid Rock, and the Undisputed Truth's album.
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