3 great tracks (that you might not know) from Motown’s first year, 50 years later
a reissue of Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want)”, Motown’s first big in-house hit
As I mentioned earlier this week, Motown (official site) turns 50 years old this week. Back then it was called Tamla Records, becoming Motown in 1960.
By my count, Tamla released all of 13 singles (A and B sides, 26 songs) in their first year. I really started digging into these songs a couple weeks ago. I’ve been going in depth into the Motown stuff for a couple years now, but my time has largely been concentrated on the 1963-67 era.
I’ve been reticent to explore the early years because I figured it’d be cheesy or unpolished. (After all, the songs produced in the Motown hit factory were polished at every step and were great before it.) 1959 was before Holland-Dozier-Holland and other famed production teams came to define the Motown Sound. As it turns out, in some case these early Motown songs are cheesy or unpolished, but in wonderful and charming ways. There are also hard hitting doo wop tracks, great instrumentals and classic R&B songs in there.
Lastly, I just didn’t know that many songs from that era. I knew “Money (That’s What I Want)”, but just not that many of the songs were familiar. I certainly don’t think a song–Motown or otherwise–needs to be well-known to be good, but as I found while listening to later Motown collections, having some hits helps guide you through and to the unknown songs and gems.
3 great tracks (that you might not know) from Motown’s first year
- The first single and the first hit for Motown/ Tamla was Marv Johnson’s “Come to Me”. Well, that’s a bit misleading. It was a hit for United Artists after it got too big for Tamla to handle. This song definitely doesn’t have that “Motown sound” yet, but it’s great. I love fluid vocals, the bass/ bass vocals line and the light backup vocals.
Marv Johnson – Come to Me (mp3)
- I’m a total sucker for hard-edged, swaggering soul instruments. This one has more swagger than it knows what to do with, anchored by that baritone sax line. When I listen to this, I know why people used to go out dancing to pop music.
the Swing Tigers – Snake Walk (Part 1) (mp3)
- This song is just a bit goofy, but in a very charming way. It’s got a pretty 50s sound to it, pretty doo-wop. The harmonies during the pre-chorus are my favorite.
The Satintones – Going to the Hop (mp3)
All of these are available on the amazing The Complete Motown Singles, Vol 1: 1959-1961. If you’re into digging for Motown gems, it’s worth the investment.
