Customer Reviews

Best of

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Producer/songwriter Thom Bell has justifiably been praised for helping draft and design R&B's legendary "Sound of Philadelphia," most recently on the Philadelphia International box set. But his finest songcraft may be here in this Spinners collection, turning a neglected Motown group into one of the mid-70s most consistent hitmakers.

Bell worked with the best ingridients. Phillippe Wynne's lead voice danced and testified around the melodies of "Mighty Love" and "One Of A Kind (Love Affair)," crooned atop the sparkling old-fashioned ballad "How Could I Let You Get Away," captured the stately, sweet family memory of "Sadie." (Could any song sound happier to hear or sing than 1974's #1 "Then Came You," or "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love?")

Bell had outstanding songs, many written with late partner Linda Creed, which poetically caught snapshots of 70s life ("Ghetto Child," the missed opportunities of "Games People Play." But most of all, Bell had unerring pop and R&B style sense; he arranged funny, funky, and silly (1976's #2 "Rubberband Man") or sparce and serious ("I'll Be Around," with its two distinctive, chiming intro guitar chords).

Released in 1978 at the height of disco and after Wynne boarded the Parliament-Funkadelic mothership, this Spinners collection misses several fine tracks ("Love Don't Love Nobody," "It's A Shame") which show up on 1991's later "One Of A Kind" 2CD anthology. Yet "The Best Of The Spinners" remains a reasonably-priced set recalling one of classic soul's underrated groups (and producers) at their collective best. Highly recommended.

It is impossible not to listen to this album and not get a real warm feeling. The sweet, soft sounds of the Spinners is the "Sargent Pepper" of the Rhythim and Blues sounds of the Sixtys and Seventys. In my humble opinion, this is one of those very rare albums that has absolutely no bad songs on it, just great ones. I particularly liked "Then came you" with Dionne Warwick. If you like the Atlantic R&B sound, then this is the one to get. The recording quality is also very good considering that some of the cuts are thirty years old. Be aware though that not all of the Spinner's great songs are on this collection and if you listen to it you will probably be hungry for more. I know I was. A best buy!

This CD does NOT have the tracks listed. No "Rubberband Man",
"Could It Be..", nor "Then Came You". I was VERY dissapointed!
Those were the only songs I wanted. BOO AMAZON!!!!!!!
Fix your track listings!

Long before they teamed with Gamble-Bell-Huff, the Spinners were one of those many Motown groups in the mid-1960s that oozed with talent, but lacked much support from Berry Gordy's A&R staff. "I'll Always Love You," and "Truly Yours" enjoyed moderate success on the R&B airwaves. And in 1969, "It's a Shame" became their biggest Motown hit. Of course, everyone seems to think of the Spinners in terms of their success with Atlantic Records, but theirs was a solid sound many years before. Other cuts of note are "Together We Can Make Such Sweet Music," and "Sweet Thing." NO Spinners collection is complete without the early Motown stuff.

I have this CD and love it. I've read the other reviews and I don't understand it........the track listing that Amazon has is EXACTLY the same as my disc. The only thing that Amazon didn't mention is that on "Then Came You", Dionne Warwick sings with The Spinners.

I once owned this great album on vinyl. The description on Amazon looks great -- everything one would want from a Spinners CD. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and found a completely different CD than the one pictured and advertised online (even though the product codes match exactly). I sent the CD back to Amazon (no problem) but I'm disappointed Amazon still has it listed incorrectly online more than a year later.

First of all i was reading some of the reviews for this cd and amazon is being blamed for people who don,t know that the spinners were on motown first.For which the hits truly yours/it,s a shame(written by stevie wonder)ill always love you and together we can make such sweet music all classics on MOTOWN! thats why they have a best of with MOTOWN! .For those of you looking for the best of the spinners, ill be around/rubberband man/then came you will find them on ATLANTIC! Now that thats this cd is a real classic enjoy!

This CD is missing most of their great hits: Then Came You; I'll Be Around; Could It Be I'm Falling In Love, etc.

And, at 29:57 minutes of music, a rip-off too.

I have looked for something like this for a while. The other day I found it. It is great. Good CD, sound, and especially beat. It has a tendancy to make me sad though.

Really enjoying listening to this album and it was delivered in great shape!

Tnank you!