The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 4: 1964 [Limited Collector's Edition, Compilation, Special Limited Edition, Original recording remastered]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 26, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 6
• Format: Limited Collector's Edition, Compilation, Special Limited Edition, Original recording remastered
• Label: Hip-O Select
• ASIN: B000EYKYD0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,905 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

163 songs, all from 1964! The 132-page book includes a personal essay by Motown songwriter Janie Bradford. Limited edition of 8000!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wells departs; Ross reigns, September 28, 2008

By 

musiqluv (Oxnard. CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 4: 1964 (Audio CD)

This Vol. 4 box set features interesting facts about tracks & artists (including other working song titles & recording dates), singles scheduled for release, rare photos, and more. Here are just some worthy mentions:

- Opening essay by Janie Bradford
- "Thank You (For Loving Me All the Way)" may be Little Stevie Wonder's first recording in 1961.
- The Serenaders are the actual singers on "Say Say Baby", not the wrongly credited Creations.
- Smokey productions for Bobby Breen, Carolyn Crawford, Kim Weston ("My Guy" soundalike), Mickey McCullers aka McCullough, and The Contours.
- The Hornets. A-side "Give Me A Kiss" recorded as by Mike Varo (the little Italian footstomper heard on songs like "Where Did Our Love Go"); B-side "She's My Baby" recorded as by Mike & the Modifiers.
- "Set Me Free" by Lee Alan with help from "The Vendellas", Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye.
- R.Dean Taylor A&B-side produced by Holland & Dozier.
- The Andantes only single although the lead vocal, Ann Bogan who later joined The Marvelettes, wasn't a group member. Killer party song and killer ballad thanks to H-D-H.
- "Oh Little Boy (What Did You Do to Me)". Did you ever think Mary Wells hit that high note? It was actually Liz Lands.
- "When I'm Gone" (Motown 1061) and "Whisper You Love Me Boy" (Motown 1065) both scheduled for release after Mary Wells left the company.
- "Baby I Need Your Loving" originally assigned to Holland-Dozier as recording artists.
- Norman Whitfield finds his sound on tracks for Jimmy Ruffin, Marvelettes, and Velvelettes.
- Eddie Holland retires as an artist with what may be his best single. I love the versions of "If You Don't Want My Love" by him and by Martha Reeves!
- "Dancing In the Street" originally assigned to Marvin Gaye as a romantic ballad. No mention that it was intended for Kim Weston although written in her attic.
- Oma Heard was wrongfully credited as "Oma Page" duetting on the 4-CD Marvin Gaye box set in 1990.
- "Hello Love" recorded as by The Majestics, then later re-recording it as The Monitors.
- Soul 35007 single "Do the Pig"/"Thompin'" by the Merced Blue Notes isn't included.
- Single after single released by Howard Crockett and Dorsey Burnette but no Motown album.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WARNING ABOUT SERIES AVAILABILITY, January 31, 2009

By 

Tome Raider (California, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 4: 1964 (Audio CD)

This entire series is amazing. I believe it will be completed at the publication of the 12th volume, and each volume has 5 or 6 discs. I am up to Volume 9, and I can't really say there has yet been a single weak song. And I have now discovered so many awesome Motown songs I had never even heard before! This truly is a treasure trove. Yes, some songs are better than others, but all the music from this amazing dozen-year Motown era is great. The British Invasion may have brought over the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and many others, but our American Motown is of equal or better historic significance. This music is just so consistently CLASSY it defies words. Elegance just pours out from each disc here, it is unprecedented and will never be equaled in the future.

I've been surprised to learn that there are styles of music other than soul on the Motown label. There is some very good country music as well. These discs also have a smattering of interviews and some other holiday-type nonsense which are very fun to hear and which puts the entire era in context.

The packaging for the entire series is the best I've ever seen. It is a little hard to hold the book open so you can pull out or put in the discs, but this is a minor struggle and it is well worth it. The discs are held tightly in place and are well protected, and the historical information about any particular song is readily accessible. The 45 disc which slots into the front cover is really an innovative and clever flourish, and it gives the volume's book a really nice upgrade.

Okay, here is the bummer, and it is a major one. If you are like me, you are going to want the entire series if you buy even a single volume. You will buy the first volume and you will immediately realize that it is a worthwhile investment to obtain the entire series. And who really wants to own only part of a series of anything? The cost of even one volume here is enough that you'll probably want the entire collection. Well, as I write this, in January of 2009, volume 6 is no longer available. Gone. Completely gone, except for some guy trying to sell copies for $2000 as an Amazon-affiliated seller. As good as this music is, I'm not going to spend $2000 on a single volume. Yes, I've searched eBay relentlessly for months, with no luck at all. Yes, I've searched the virtual catacombs of international online sellers, with no luck at all.

So, I'm already over a thousand bucks into this series and yet my collection is missing one of the best volumes (it covers 1966 when a lot of the talent was at their crescendos). I've twice emailed Hip-O Select Records, the publisher, and not heard a word back. I've called their customer service, and they were clueless and indifferent. The girl who answered the phone for them did not know a thing about the series. Basically what has happened, by proclaiming this as a "Limited Edition," is that they have created an inducement for various sellers to hoard the best volumes and then to gouge Motown fans later when the inventory held by legitimate sellers is gone. They then jack the price up into the stratosphere.

So, one can only hope that Hip-O Select does another run of these amazing Motown volumes. If you are a Motown fan, you will be astonished when you hear all the incredible treasures which this series contains.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 1964 Marathon, November 7, 2007

By 

Jim Z "music aficionado" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 4: 1964 (Audio CD)

1964 is now the year. Motown is churning out hit after hit just like the automobile assembly lines in Detroit ! Could anyone imagine 163 songs , 7 hours , 7 minutes ? Well , here it is on 6 discs. If you have the other three , you are now officially over 24 hours of Motown singles. I LOVE Hip-O Select!!! This project is historic on so many levels. Be part of the history-----Buy these limited editions now !! The monetary and historical / sentimental value can only increase in the coming years.