Customer Reviews

Motown Meets the Beatles

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

 

 

Track list is not correct. Here is the correct one:
1. A Hard Day's Night - Supremes
2. Eleanor Rigby - Four Tops
3. We Can Work It Out - Wonder, Stevie
4. Hey Jude - Temptations
5. Yesterday - Gaye, Marvin
6. Long and Winding Road, The - Ross, Diana
7. Come Together - Supremes
8. She's Leaving Home - Syreeta
9. You Can't Do That - Supremes
10. Fool on the Hill, The - Four Tops
11. Michelle - Four Tops
12. And I Love Her - Robinson, Smokey &
13. Something - Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
14. Let It Be - Gladys Knight & The Pips
15. Imagine - Diana Ross
16. My Love - Walker, Jr.
17. My Sweet Lord - Starr, Edwin

This is Fantastic.Marvin Gaye Rips Up Yesterday and The Four Tops Sprinkle Mad Soul to Eleanor Rigby one of My Favorite Beatle songs.also Michelle&Gladys Knight&The Pips Take on Let It Be.this is a Must.MOTOWN does The Four Lads From LIVERPOOL JUSTICE.

Man. Oh man. I don't want to be too harsh on this collection, because these artists are great and so is the music they are covering.

But man. Oh man. Words cannot describe the butchering some of these classics receive. Listen to The Temps destroy "Hey Jude" and you will know what I mean. On second thought, don't. "Imagine" is a timeless classic, except in this cover version by Diana Ross. I hasten to put any version of a Beatles classic in the same category as Captain Kirk's delirious rendition of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," but we are getting close. I won't even mention the Supremes' cover of "Come Together." There goes ol' flat top, indeed.

That doesn't mean there aren't some solid tracks here. Marvin Gaye's version of "Yesterday" is moving and elegant. Syreeta is sweet in her take on "She's Leaving Home." And the other tracks are either ok, inoffensive, or mildly enjoyable.

But for me I saw this collection as evidence of some of the flaws of the Motown approach. Overuse of tamborines, too much sweetener applied, songs reduced to mid-tempo numbers, regardless of lyrics or structure.

In short, this record is a curio, worth purchasing only if you are trying to round out your collection of either Motown or the Beatles.

Oh, and to hear Diana passionately sing about "toejam football."

Wow. Just found out this album was in existence. I now own it and i am pretty excited about it. If you're a fan of soul, Motown, and The Beatles then this disc should be yours.

Of course, if you're not a fan of soul, Motown, and/or The Beatles then avoid this like the plague.

I admit that a few of the songs are a bit mediocre and just plain not good, but otherwise, gobble it up. Goes down real smooth.

This CD is a winner! If you are a Beatles fan and enjoy unique covers of their hits, then you'll love this. If you're a Motown fan who jams to Stevie and Diana, these versions will rock your ears. Awesome and a must for any collection!

Although I was very disappointed with a couple of the covers (the Temptations' "Hey Jude" and the Four Tops' "Eleanor Rigby"), I'd still recommend this CD for folks who miss the good ol' days of Motown ... artists we love, singing some of the greatest songs ever written.

In the sixties and early seventies, it was common practice to include plenty of cover versions on albums, and Motown were no exception. Seventeen of the best Beatles covers by Motown acts (including three songs from after the break-up) were brought together in this fascinating collection.

Nearly all the songs are classics. You can't do that, from one of the Beatles early album, is by far the least well known. Some of the songs are more true to the originals than other, but among the more distinctive are Eleanor Rigby, sung with real feeling by the Four Tops, and Yesterday, which Marvin Gaye was obviously determined to make his version different from the hundreds of others, and succeeded brilliantly.

While many of these tracks are available elsewhere, it is great to have them all together. If you enjoy either Beatles tribute albums or sixties Motown, you will enjoy this too. If, like me, you enjoy both, this is essential.

Cunningly recycling a batch of album tracks by some of Motown's most prominent artists, recorded over a period of dozen years, the compilers have come up with another winner with this clutch of Beatles songs, which plays through with surprising cohesiveness. The Beatles loved Motown, and here they return the favour.
Stevie Wonder's We Can Work It Out is probably the stand-out listen, with an exuberance that made it a natural choice for a single in 1971, and one can also detect his influence in then-partner Syreeta's definitive cover version of the usually over-treacled She's Leaving Home. The Temptations' Hey Jude, from Puzzle People, comes with a suitably distinctive Norman Whitfield production, and Marvin Gaye's Yesterday is also a highlight. The Four Tops are called upon to deliver cabaret versions of three Paul McCartney ballads. Though none have the classic hallmark Levi Stubbs touch, Eleanor Rigby comes closest.
Both the original Supremes tracks come from a 1964 curio entitled A Little Bit Of Liverpool and ought to be great. They have lots of gusto and fire, and are great fun, but the sound is muddy and the production sounds hurried, leaving a sense of what might have been with a little more trouble and care. Diana Ross appears again on Let It Be's The Long And Winding Road. Come Together comes from the 1970 incarnation of the Supremes led by Jean Terrell and is an excellent Frank Wilson production.
George Harrison's Something is well handled by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (from Natural Resources) and Gladys Knight and the Pips' version of Let It Be is another stand-out, equaling Aretha's version of Paul McCartney's tribute to his mother Mary. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' And I Love Her is rescued from the rather overlooked album What Love Has Joined Together. It sounds just how you imagine.
The final three tracks are from the post-Beatle period. Diana Ross does a syrupy version of John Lennon's Imagine; Jr Walker blows a fine horn on Wings' My Love from 1976; and Edwin Starr gets gospelly on the rousing George Harrison classic My Sweet Lord, ending the album on an uplifting note

this is a group of great performers singing great songs. i didn't like some of the songs, just because i am not a big fan of the singers, not because they did a bad job. if you like the singers, you will like the songs. some of the songs were a real treat and some just nice. look at the performers before you get it.

The other reviews here almost do this collection justice--however no one has mentioned the piece de resistance: Syreeta's "She's Leaving Home". It is fabulous, with Stevie Wonder's genius (and back-up singing, I believe) all over it. It is a pre-cursor to those mid-'90's hip-hop tracks with synth-voice harmonies; way ahead of its time. In addition, Marvin Gaye's "Yesterday" is heartbreaking and gorgeous; Jr. Walker's "My Love" (ok, it's a Wings song, but why quibble?) is makeout music heaven; and the Supremes are actually not bad on "You Can't Do That" (their "Hard Days Night" is rather painful, but it's the first track and you get over it quickly!)
Highly recommended.