"On The Detroit Beat: Motor City Soul UK Style 1963-67" by VARIOUS (February 2019 UK Ace Records CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Sweet Thing..."

I must admit that when I copped the theme behind this 2019 Ace Records CD compilation (tuned-in and turned-on British lads and lassies and their 1963 to 1967 Blighty-released cover versions of Motown songs) - I wobbled a smidge on the basis that it would be boring or probably overly familiar (I'll already own much of it).

But compiler Tony Rounce and those sexually keen tastemakers over at Steele Road were already one step ahead of a musical Luddite like moi. Instead of taking the lazy but commercially more viable lets go for the "My Girl" and "Baby Love" biggest-hits route - Ace have dug in deep and unearthed overlooked moments of glory - one from Herbie Goins that TR even hypostasises might exceed the Motown original (and I think he's right). Here we get Chris Clark, Barrett Strong, The Monitors, Brenda Holloway, The Spinners, R. Dean Taylor and Carolyn Crawford as well as the to-be-expected Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Temptations, Supremes and the ever impressive Martha & The Vandellas who nab three slots.

In other words even though I have Stevie Winwood in The Spencer Davis Group doing a towering torch version of Brenda Holloway's "Every Little Bit Hurts" and the mighty Steve Marriott's throat-ripping take on "You Really Got A Hold On Me" with The Small Faces (like I suspect most Soul-Rock lovers do) - much of the others are new to me. UK obscuro acts like Truly Smith (now a school head-mistress) doing a (no pun intended) truly fab cut of the Smokey Robinson penned "My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down)" and Guy Darrell doing a long since forgotten Marvin Gaye B-side called "One Of These Days" are just the kind of talcum powder discoveries chaps like me like to make (there goes the kitchen lino again). This is a joyful listen all the way through and the choices exceedingly clever. As with-it DJs used to pronounce, let's get to the 'New Sounds Around'...

UK released Friday, 1 February 2019 (8 February 2019 in the USA) - "On The Detroit Beat: Motor City Soul UK Style 1963-67" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records CDTOP 1539 (Barcode 029667093422) is a 24-Track CD compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (64:58 minutes): 

1. Mickey's Monkey - THE HOLLIES [Smokey Robinson & The Miracles cover, Mono, 1965 UK LP "Hollies" on Parlophone PMC 1261]

2. As Long As I Know He's Mine - JULIE GRANT [Marvelettes cover, Mono, 1965 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 15884]

3. Money (That's What I Want) - THE UNDERTAKERS [Barrett Strong cover, Mono, 1963 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 15562] 

4. I Want A Love I Can See - JOHN LEYTON & THE LeROYS [Temptations cover, Mono, 1964 UK 7" single on HMV POP 1338]

5. Sweet Thing - GEORGIE FAME [Spinners cover, Mono, from the 1966 UK LP "Sweet Things" on Columbia SX 6043]

6. I'll Be Doggone - BILLY J KRAMER & THE DAKOTAS [Marvin Gaye cover, Mono, 1965 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5362]

7. Two Lovers - LOUISE CORDET [Mary Wells cover, Mono, 1964 UK 7" single on Decca F.11875]

8. Shake Sherry Shake - BERN ELIOTT & THE FENMEN [Contours cover, Mono, 1963 UK 6-Track 7" EP single "Bern Elliott and The Fenmen" on Decca DFE 8561]

9. You've Really Got A Hold On Me - SMALL FACES [Miracles cover, Mono, on the 1967 UK LP "From The Beginning" on Decca LK 4879]

10. The Way You Do The Things You Do - ELKIE BROOKS [Temptations cover, Mono, 1965 UK 7" single on Decca F.12061]

11. I Want To Go Back There Again - BILL KENWRIGHT & THE RUNAWAYS [Chris Clark cover, Mono, 1967 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 8239]

12. When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes - DUSTY SPRINGFIELD [Supremes cover, Stereo, on the 1964 UK LP "A Girl Called Dusty" on Philips SBL 7594]

13. One Of These Days - GUY DARRELL [Marvin Gaye cover, Mono, 1965 UK 7" single on CBS 201806]

14. (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave - BEVERLEY JONES with THE PRESTONS [Martha & The Vandellas cover, Mono, 1964 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5189]

15. No. 1 In Your Heart - HERBIE GOINS & THE NIGHT-TIMERS [The Monitors cover, Mono, 1966 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5478]

16. Every Little Bit Hurts - THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP [Brenda Holloway cover, Mono, 1965 UK 7" single on Fontana TF 530]

17. Stubborn Kind Of Fellow - THE ROULETTES [Miracles cover, Mono, 1964 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5218]

18. You're My Remedy - HELEN SHAPIRO [Marvelettes cover, Mono, first released 1998 on the Various Artists CD compilation "At Abbey Road 1961-1967"]

19. No Good Without You - THE BIRDS (featuring Ron Wood) [Marvin Gaye cover, Mono, 1965 UK 7" single on Decca F.12257]

20. My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down) - TRULY SMITH [Carolyn Crawford cover, Mono, 1966 UK 7" single on Decca F.12373]

21. Never Leave Your Baby's Side - TONY JACKSON [Martha & The Vandellas cover, Mono, April 1966 UK 7" single on CBS 202069]

22. Let's Go Somewhere - BERYL MARSDEN [R. Dean Taylor cover, Mono, 1966 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 7888]

23. In My Lonely Room (Mono Single Version) - THE ACTION [Martha & The Vandellas cover, Mono, 1965 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5354]

24. Shotgun - CILLA BLACK & SOUNDS INCORPORATED [Jnr. Walker And The All Stars cover, Stereo, a 1965 George Martin produced outtake from her first LP that first appeared on the April 2012 "Completely Cilla: 1963-1973" 5CD/1DVD Box Set on EMI 5099960283221]

All Tracks MONO except Tracks 12 and 24, which are STEREO

The 24-page booklet is the usual feast of publicity photos, bun haircuts, trade adverts, British demo singles (Louise Cordet's "Two Lovers" on Decca F.11875 graces the rear inlay beneath the see-through CD tray), the rare Bern Elliott EP, a foreign picture sleeve for "No Good Without You" by The Birds with a moody looking Ron Wood contemplating four or five decades in The Rolling Stones and so on. TONY ROUNCE pours on the facts and figures and it makes for a fascinating read - while the hugely experienced Audio Engineer NICK ROBBINS did the mastering - all of it sounding bright and Mono breezy.

An upbeat Julie Grant gives it some bobba-loo and doesn't care if the sun doesn't shine 'cause her baby's true in "As Long As I Know He's Mine" while The Undertakers get suitably graveyard-gritty with a boss version of Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)". The brass arrangements in George Fame's "Sweet Thing" and the 'really saying something' sway is the very definition of what a great cover should be - you can just see the dancefloor fill ten seconds into its joyful groove.

Dusty does her bopping drama thing on "When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" (fab photo of la Springfield on Page 13 giving it some shimmy for the camera) while The Roulettes get yeah-yeah-yeah on "Stubborn Kind Of Fellow" informing their intended that they’ve plans for their kisses. The Truly Smith cut is fantastic Northern Soul stuff and an inexplicable flop when it was first released in 1966 – her voice expressive and yet innocent like so much of those 60ts chanteuses were. Tony Jackson and his Phil Spector-huge production on "Never Leave Your Baby’s Side" is another ribcage destroyer while "In My Room" by The Action reeks of a classy British response to magical black music.

There is so much more on here, but I’ll leave that for you to discover – and once again Ace nail it – top job boys...