More lost 1960s treasures from Motown’s female stable – most previously unissued.
More than two years have passed since the release of our “Finders Keepers - Motown Girls” CD, so it’s time for a second volume. “Finders Keepers” was a half-and-half mix of previously released and unissued recordings. Here on “Love & Affection - More Motown Girls” are 25 tracks that have never appeared on CD before, or on vinyl for that matter. In a couple of cases the tracks weren’t so much shelved as abandoned but for the most part they are complete and ready to put out. Motown just had too much good stuff to release it all.
Between 1959 and 1969 Motown’s publishing houses registered more than 3000 songs with the Library Of Congress. Many of those titles were never cut by anyone, as far as we know, and a great number got just one recording that was canned. Although there are a few covers and a couple of alternate versions here, we’ve brought to light a whole host of songs by well-known writers that have never been heard before.
We lead off with a typically powerhouse performance from Brenda Holloway, who cut her vocal for ‘Reassure Me That You Love Me’ at the same session as the celebrated ‘Reconsider’ (aka ‘Think It Over’), which appeared on a bootleg 45 in the 1980s, helping stir up great interest in unissued Motown recordings among many fans and collectors.
We’ve sprinkled clues throughout the booklet notes about what we know there is left in the Motown vaults, but that’s only part of the story. Tracks such as Barbara Randolph’s demo of ‘My Love Is Your Love (Forever)’ often turn up by chance. They’re not necessarily documented anywhere; you have to listen to the tapes, often track-by-track across a multi-track recording, to discover an additional or alternative vocal. We look forward to being as surprised as you by what we find for future releases.
Meanwhile, the average time these recordings have been awaiting release is getting on for 50 years. We trust they will meet with the “love and affection” they deserve after being hidden away for so long.
Keith Hughes
