Gloria Richetta Jones is an American singer and songwriter from Cincinnati, Ohio, who first found success in the UK, being recognized there as "The Queen of Northern Soul". She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love", and has worked in multiple genres as a Motown songwriter and recording artist, a prolific backup singer, and as a performer in musicals such as Hair. In the 1970s, she was a keyboardist and vocalist in Marc Bolan's glam rock band T. Rex. She and Bolan were also in a committed romantic relationship and have a son together.
The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972.
Diana & Marvin is a duets album by American soul musicians Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, released October 26, 1973 on Motown. Recording sessions for the album took place between 1971 and 1973 at Motown Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. Gaye and Ross were widely recognized at the time as two of the top pop music performers.
Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations is, as the title implies, a collaborative album combining Motown's two best selling groups, Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations. Issued by Motown in late 1968 to coincide with the broadcast of the Supremes/Temptations TCB television special, the album was a success, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200. Originally the lead single was to have been "The Impossible Dream" as featured in the climax to the TV spectacular TCB. However, it was decided to release "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" as a single instead even though it was not featured on TCB. This became a number-two hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B charts, and the follow-up, "I'll Try Something New", was a Top 30 hit. A third single, "I Second That Emotion", was released exclusively in the United Kingdom, where it became a Top 20 hit.
Temptations Live! is the first live album to be released by The Temptations. The album was recorded on October 3, 1966 at the Roostertail in Detroit, Michigan. The album cover photograph was taken on March 1966 at The 20 Grand, 14th and Warren in Detroit, Michigan, and the album was released on Gordy (Motown) Records in 1967. The album features David Ruffin, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams performing their regular live repertoire for a highly receptive crowd mostly consisting of young women. Included in the set are Temptations hits such as "My Girl", "My Baby", "Get Ready", "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", "Don't Look Back", and the group's then-current single, "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep". Out of the several live albums the group recorded during their career, this is the only one to feature David Ruffin. The album remained on the Billboard 200 album chart for 51 weeks peaking at number 10.
Emperors of Soul is a 1994 box set compilation for The Temptations, released by Motown Records. The five-disc collection covers the Temptations' entire four-decade history, from the first recording of The Distants in 1959 to four new recordings by the then-current Temptations lineup of Ali-Ollie Woodson, Theo Peoples, Ron Tyson, and stalwart members Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin.
VH1 debuted the first annual VH1 Divas concert in 1998. VH1 Divas Live was created to support the channel's Save The Music Foundation and subsequent concerts in the series have also benefited that foundation. The VH1 Divas concerts aired annually from 1998 to 2004. After a five-year hiatus, the series returned in 2009 with a younger-skewed revamp. In 2010 the concert saluted the troops and in 2011 it celebrated soul music, doubling the previous year's ratings. After a dance music-focused 2012 edition aired live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on December 16, 2012, the show took another hiatus before being revived on December 5, 2016, at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York with a holiday theme and achieved its highest ratings in over a decade.
Anthology: The Temptations is one of three greatest hits collections released by Motown Records covering the work of soul/R&B group The Temptations. The initial release was a vinyl three-LP set issued on August 23, 1973, which covered the group's work up to that point. A compact disc double album version was issued in 1986, including five additional tracks recorded between 1973 and 1984. The third and final version of Anthology, also a 2-CD release, was issued on May 23, 1995, with a further re-tooled track listing. In 2003, the album was ranked number 398 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time; the list's 2012 edition had it ranked 400th, while on the 2020 edition it was ranked at number 371.
"What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" is a hit single recorded by Jimmy Ruffin and released on Motown Records' Soul label in the summer of 1966. It is a ballad, with lead singer Jimmy Ruffin recalling the pain that befalls the brokenhearted, who had love that's now departed. The song essentially deals with the struggle to overcome sadness while seeking a new relationship after a breakup.
For Once in My Life is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder on Motown Records, released in November 1968. Then eighteen years old, Wonder had established himself as one of Motown's consistent hit-makers. This album continued Wonder's growth as a vocalist, songwriter and producer. It featured songs like the title track, "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" and the modest hits "I Don't Know Why" and "You Met Your Match". It also marked the debut of the Hohner Clavinet on a Stevie Wonder album, which would become a mainstay on albums to come.
The Supremes is the twenty-seventh studio album by The Supremes, released in 1975 on Motown Records.
The Return of the Magnificent Seven is the second collaborative album between Motown label-mates The Supremes and Four Tops, released in 1971. The production only featured two covers compared to their first album together, The Magnificent 7, that included more than eight. Although the three albums the Supremes recorded with the Four Tops did not match the commercial success of the Supremes/Temptations duet albums, what they did have instead were original tunes, soulful lead vocals by Jean Terrell and Levi Stubbs and high production values in terms of arrangements and orchestration.
The Complete Duets is a two-disc compilation album of duet recordings by Motown Records artists Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, recorded between 1965 and 1969. The set compiles all of the tracks from the duo's three albums - United,You're All I Need and Easy - as well as several of Tammi Terrell's solo recordings and other previously unissued material.
Away We a Go-Go is a 1966 album by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. The album features the singles "(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need", a Billboard Top 20 Pop hit, written and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland; and "Whole Lot of Shakin' in My Heart ", written and produced by Frank Wilson. The album uses a different take of "I'm the One You Need" than what was issued on the single. A third single was planned for release from this album, the tune "More, More, More ", cataloged as Tamla T-54005, but the single was never released. It was later covered by the regional group Bob Brady and The Con Chords. Still another single from this album, the Stevie Wonder/Ivy Jo Hunter composition of "Can You Love A Poor Boy", was released to radio stations as a special Disc Jockey Advanced Single, Tamla T-540, but was never given an official catalog number for general release. It too, inspired cover versions by Gil Bernal and Ronnie Walker.
Any Way You Like It is the fourth album by Thelma Houston, released late October 1976 on Tamla Records. The album features energetic disco songs with fierce vocal performances by Houston on side 1, while side 2 focuses on ballads. It includes the major hit single, "Don't Leave Me This Way", Houston's remake of the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes song, zooming to No. 1 in the US charts. In the US, "If It's the Last Thing I Do", a track originally recorded in 1972, was chosen for the second single release on MoWest, while Europe had an edited version of the Stevie Wonder cover, "Don't Know Why I Love You", produced and arranged by Michael Lovesmith.
Soul Men is the third album by R&B duo Sam & Dave, released in 1967. It reached #5 on the Billboard "Black Album" chart in 1967 and #62 on the "Pop Album" chart in 1968. The album launched the hit single "Soul Man" which ranked #1 on the "Black Singles" charts and #2 on the Pop Singles charts. The song won Sam & Dave a Grammy in 1967 for Best R&B Group, Vocal or Instrumental.
Live in Concert is a live album by Ray Charles released in 1965 by ABC-Paramount Records. The recording was made at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California in September, 1964 following a tour of Japan.
Ray Sings, Basie Swings is an album that mixes previously unreleased Ray Charles vocal performances from 1973 with newly recorded instrumental tracks by the contemporary Count Basie Orchestra.
Promises Kept is an unreleased album by The Supremes, recorded during the latter half of 1971 with multiple producers. Ultimately, the project was shelved by Motown in favor of a different set, Floy Joy, produced entirely by Smokey Robinson the following year. The idea for the title came from Supreme Mary Wilson who said that "I'd heard the phrase and loved it. I wanted to use it on the next album."
Paul Riser is an American trombonist and Motown musical arranger who was responsible for co-writing and arranging dozens of top ten hit records. His legacy as one of the "Funk Brothers" is similar to that of most of the other "Brothers", as his career has been overlooked and overshadowed by the stars of Motown that became household names. Some of the Funk Brothers he worked with include: Earl Van Dyke, Johnny Griffith, Robert White, Eddie Willis, Joe Messina, Dennis Coffey, Wah Wah Watson, James Jamerson, Bob Babbitt, Eddie Watkins, Richard "Pistol" Allen, Uriel Jones, Andrew Smith, Jack Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Eddie "Bongo" Brown, Benny Benjamin, Cornelius Grant, Joe Hunter, Richard "Popcorn" Wylie, Marcus Belgrave, Teddy Buckner and Stevie Wonder.
