Customer Reviews

Motown: The Classic Years

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Berry Gordy Jr. and Motown changed the face of the pop music landscape. And over the course of the 40 tracks on this two-disc set (1960-73) you can hear for yourself the impact his stable of artists had. It's worth noting that the Beatles' Capitol debut contained no fewer than three Motown songs, two of which ("Money" and "Please Mr. Postman") are included here.

The only problem with a Motown anthology is that for every great song you include, there are a dozen that had to be left off. Essentially what this set amounts to is a condensed version of 1992's Hitsville USA box set. Only nine of these songs did not appear on the Hitsville Box: "Where Did Our Love Go," "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "Someday We'll Be Together" by the Supremes, "I Can't Help Myself" by the Four Tops, "Going to a Go-Go" by the Miracles, "Your Precious Love" by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, "I Heard Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye, "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" by the Temptations and "Neither One of Us" by Gladys Knight & The Pips. [The last two were on Hitsville, vol. 2.]

This is a terrific collection of songs and if you don't already have these in your music library, this is a great way to add these classic Motown tracks to your collection. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

After the plethora of box sets, one and 2CD artist anthologies, movie soundtracks and TV compilations (not to mention the original artist albums and "16 Greatest Hits" compilations from the 1960s), you had to wonder if any other (let alone correct) way existed to compile Motown's fundamental song/textbook of popular music.

The 2CD set "The Classic Years," from the Universal Music TV department that provided a series of bestselling "Pure" CD reissues ("Pure Ella," "Pure 80s," "Pure Tenors") , represents the most successful attempt yet to capture priceless Motown magic in an affordable bottle. Of course too many songs are missing; even the casual music fan will miss seminal tracks like "Love Child," "Get Ready," "I Second That Emotion," and dozens of others. Meanwhile, "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" and "Someday We'll Be Together, " (the Temptations and Supremes last #1 hits, respectively) are weightier productions than actual songs, best left off the next anthology.

Credit goes to Harry Wenger's liner notes, which do not yet again attempt to chart the road in and out of "Hitsville USA" or contemporize it (a fault of Nelson George's essay in 1998's "Motown 40 Forever" ). Instead, you get interesting background stories and ironic commentary within songs. For example, the notes on Gladys Knight and Marvin Gaye's respective versions of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" bridge their drastically different, magnificent renditions. The annotation on David Ruffin's still-powerful solo hit "My Whole World Ended" (a rarity on compilations like this) point out that the song originally was for his former group, the Temptations.

But these 40 songs, covering 1962-71 (considered the "classic years," when the label was headquartered in Detroit), form as good (and good-sounding, thanks to Suha Gur's exceptional remastering) a time capsule of a music and era as we may get in the still-new millenium. No Motown collection (or pop music collection) is complete without "My Girl," "I Can't Help Myself," "I Want You Back," "Do You Love Me," and almost all the other songs here. This is a value-added, intelligent way to acquire them, and "The Classic Years" delightfully introduces "The Sound of Young America" to yet another generation.

This is a great list of songs that is destroyed by the sound quality of reproduction. I had to turn the treble all the way down to be to listen to it. It sounds like they recorded it from a little transitor radio from the 50's.

As a former native Detroiter who grew up with this music (and has a considerable vinyl Motown collection), I was looking for a good classic collection to take along with me to listen to in the car, in the office, etc. This is one of the best brief (2 CD -40 song) Motown collection that I've seen.

True, it is primarily a condesation of the more comprehensive Hitsville 1959-1971 collection. But in one respect it is definitely better, and that is regarding the Supremes. The Hitsville collection inexplicably omits their signature hits Where Did Our Love Go and Stop! In the Name of Love, as well as their swan song Someday We'll Be Together, all of which are on this collection. This collection also keeps the maximum number of songs per act to five, which enables it to include great hit songs by lesser known groups such as the Undisputed Truth and the Contours.

Above all, this is the Best of the Best of Motown (16 of these songs were No. 1 Pop Hits, only one song - Money - did not make the Top 20), and that is very good indeed.

STAY WITH MOTOWN'S BOX SET HITSVILLE EARLY YEARS. YOU GET SAME SONGS AND MANY MORE PLUS PERFECT SOUND FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER
TAPES. NICE SELECTION HERE, BUT IT IS MYSTIFYING WHY THEY DIDN'T
USE HITSVILLE'S TRACKS. SO STAY AWAY AND SPEND THE EXTRA MONEY FOR THE BOX SET
FOR A PURE MOTOWN SOUND YOU NEVER HEARD BEFORE.

First of all, let me say that I've been waiting for this for years. 40 of the best Motown tracks on 2 CDs at a very reasonable price. There are great track details inside too, so the cds not only sound great, they look fabulous and are very informative. This is the definitive collection. Evry song is remastered too, so even if you already own some of the songs, they've never sounded like this. Pick this up and it's a great Christmas gift too. Cool highlight: back-to-back verisons of "I heard It Through The Grapevine" by Gladys Knight & The Pips (original) and Marvin Gaye's infamous version!

To me, Motown is the greatest record company ever. I have never seen a record label produce so many hits in history. This is feel-good music that will keep you dancing, make you sing along, and make you want to crank the sound up. The sound is not bad at all, it is excellent. If the Hitsville U.S.A. box sets are too complex and you're just going for the basics, this is perfect for you. I love every song on here. I might have substituted Gladys Knight and the Pips' "Neither One Of Us" with their other hit "Midnight Train to Georgia." "Motown-The Classic Years" is a definitive collection of Motown hits you can't do without.

This is one of the greatest CD's I own. If there is one CD to own, if you are into Motown, this is the one. Well worth the money. I received it as a gift, and it's the best.

Between 1961 - 1972, Motown Records boasted several of the most remarkable productions in the history of music. Based in Detroit, the label gradually grew to become more than just a record label, hosting a string of legends that remain unparalled. Berry Gordy wanted to establish his roster of all-black Soul/R&B artists to have music that would cross-over onto the mainstream charts (the more profitable white market) whilst firmly retaining their roots. And it worked. There is an injection of pop in most of these soulful numbers that are also coated with a commercial R&B sound. From Diana Ross to Marvin Gaye to The Four Tops to Stevie Wonder, the lists of legends goes on and on. This compilation, approriatley titled The Classic Years, features a host of just some of Motown's landmark recordings. Motown's first release was the bluesey, Money (That's What I Want) by Barret Strong, where as the infectious Shop Around features a very young Smokey Robinson, giving an enthusiastic performance. Smokey Robinson would perharps be one of Motown's most gifted songwriters and was even described by Bob Dylan as "being the greatest love poet alive". Please Mr. Postman was sung by Motown's premier female group, The Marvelettes who took credit for delivering Motown its first U.S chart topper. The sound of young America was well underway and soon Diana Ross And The Supremes, The Four Tops, The TempTations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Martha Reeves And The Vandellas etc would be registeing hits on the charts as regularly as clockwork. Do You Love Me was sung by the fabulous, yet highly underated group, The Contours, who bought a more Rock&Roll feel to their work where as the fabulous sounds of little Stevie Wonder playing the harmonica on the masterpiece, FingerTips (Part 2), makes you appreciate the sheer genius of his work. Martha Reeves And The Vandellas enjoyed a successful run of hits from the mid 60's to around the dawn of the 70's with titles such as the sparse, well-crafted Pop tune, HeatWave and the rolling Dancing In The Street. their acheivements were perharps overshadowed by the enormous blockbuster success of Diana Ross And The Supremes who pumped out three no.1 hits in a row in 1964. Some of their greatest hits are here such as Where Did Our Love Go, Stop! In The Name Of Love and their touching swan song, Someday We'll Be Together but more soulful offerings such as Love Child, I'm Living In Shame, Reflections, My World Is Empty Without You and Love Is Like An Itching in My Heart, are curiously left out as these are just some of their most spectacular and exciting recordings. Another one of Motown's more overlooked acts was the fantastic Junior Walker & The All Stars, where they bought a touch of Jazz & Blues to their mainstream R&B sound. Shotgun is sensational, featuring an effective saxophone interlude played throughout the classic whilst Motown's first solo female singer Mary Wells is featured with her only phenomenal hit, My Guy. The Four Tops were consistently excellent throughout their time with Motown and Levi Stubb's rocketing vocals were completley astounding. Again some odd choices left out of this set such as the chilling 7 Rooms Of Gloom (one of their most compelling and exciting numbers) and the unforgetable Bernadette, but it is compensated for the inclusion of the startling Reach out I'll Be There which is nothing short of stunning. There is such passion and feeling in Levi's voice and his explosive delivery is magical. Its interesting to hear Gladys Knight And The Pips version of I Heard It Through The Grapevine, which she certainly delivers with fire and a certain sassiness though Marvin Gaye's remains first choice. Marvin Gaye was one of the most definitive artists at Motown (along with Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson) with his creative and highly original songwriting talents that became more indepth in the 1970's, with his songs offering social commentary and profound political statements such as on classics like What's Going On that is deservedly included on this compilation. Two of The TempTations greatest ever recording are included here with the rip-roaring Ball Of Confusion which also saw them experimenting in new sounds and styles, exploring social and political issues whilst their are undertones of hot, pulsating funk on the classic Papa Was A Rollin' Stone. The Jackson 5's first major hit, I Want You Back, slightly loses the traditional Motown sound sounding too much like out and out pop, whilst Edwin Starr's phenomenal classic, War is positivley timeless. The upbeat Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) by Stevie Wonder, the glorious The Tears Of A Clown, It's A Shame by The Detroit Spinners and Jimmy Mack by Martha Reeves And The Vandellas are just some of the other highlights included here. There is strangley nothing from Diana Ross' solo career who churned out a string of hot Soul/R&B classics in the early 70's with such acclaimed titles as Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Touch Me In The Morning and Remember Me but The Supremes first track without Diana is included which was the sparse and infectious, Up The Ladder To The Roof which featured the line-up of Jean Terrell as Diana's replacement for lead singer and Mary Wilson (who remained with the group through to the bitter end) and Cindy Birdsong as backing vocalists.

Following Motowns headquarters move from Detroit to L.A. in the early seventies, the golden and distinct Motown sound ceased to exist as encapsulated on this album. Still the magic was'nt over and whilst some of the acts graually faded from view, artists like Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder continued to have blockbuster success with their singles and albums. Its the 1960's that Motown will always be remembered for. Motown stands as a landmark in the history of black music and also plays an important part in the history of Pop music in the twentieth century. Never again has there been a record label that managed to capture such an exciting and distinct sound with a series of different artists. Superb compilation, delivered by some of the most unique talents of that era!

Motown Music is certainly a very important part of the history of Popular Tunes. This compilation has many great songs such as My Girl, What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted, I Want You Back, etc... I could go on. However there are a few lesser hits that could have been omitted. My Whole World Ended, Its A Shame, and Ball of Confusion certainly fit that category. Superstition and I'll Be There should definitely be included. I Second That Emotion and Get Ready are two other missing classics. None the less, there are many many all timers on here that certainly make it a worthy buy. Plus I like the idea of back to backing I Heard It Through The Grapevine by both Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight and The Pips. Gladys sure gives it a spirited flavoring. Anyway, this is a nice collection for all you soul dudes.