Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland and Eddie Holland compositions, as performed by the Funk Brothers, are a major part of the “Motown Sound” and this song is no exception.
I will just let you listen to all of these renditions by the Motown artists and let you hear for yourself. This is Classic Motown at it’s best IMHO.
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#9 R&B, #50 Pop
First here is the extended version by the very under-rated and so often over -looked Elgins. This 1966 hit is my favorite!
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And this version of “Heaven Must Have Sent You” is the Funk Brothers with The Andantes on vocals. For those of you that don’t know — this is the Motown “House Band” and the “House Backup Singers”
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This Supremes rendition comes from my 2000 Box Set Bonus Disc (Now OOP). Since I have digitized most of my music collection I don’t have the Box Set Booklet at my fingertips, but I will eventually locate it and see if it has a recording date for this tune and update this post accordingly.
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Naturally Bonnie Pointer’s first Motown LP released in 1978, produced by her husband Jeffrey Bowen, had the required Jobete published cover tunes, but this one was given a “Disco” flavor to update it to the then current sound of pop music. It was actually quite successful in 1979.
Now it is time for your opinion readers. Pick you fave and tell us why in the comments section.
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Probably one of the most under-rated pop singers of my generation is Dionne Warwick.
Brought up in the gospel world in a musical extended family, Dionne formed the “Gospelaires” singing group with her sister Dee Dee and her aunt Cissy Houston ( later the mother of Whitney Houston). Dionne and her group did vocal session work in New York on weekends while she studied music on scholarship in college during the week.
The story goes that Dionne was asked to provide vocals for some demos written by the songwriting-producing team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, while in the studio working on the backing vocal for the Drifter’s song “Mexican Divorce.”
When the composing duo pitched the demo(s) to Scepter Records, the head of the label (Florence Greenberg) liked what she heard and signed Dionne to a recording contract.
Bacharach and David wrote her first song for recording and the rest is legend!
Dionne sang her first and all subsequent Bacharach and David unusually complicated songs with ease, grace and smoothness. Her voice is just so mellow yet expressive and her singing sounds effortless. I recall playing with my Barbie doll in her black evening gown, microphone and pink scarf singing nothing but Dionne Warwick songs because even as a youngster she epitomized class to me!
Warwick charted high continuously from 1963 up until 1980 before her recording career began to slow down a bit.
This 1967 the single, “I Say A Little Prayer,” charted #8 R&B and #4 on the Billboard Top 100. The song appeared on Dionne’s LP of the same year “The Windows of the World” pictured above.
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Aretha obviously loved the song too because only a year later she put her spin on the tune and released her cover of Dionne’s hit. Naturally The Queen of Soul’s version was a hit too! Charting #3 R&B and #10 Pop in 1968. The song appeared on her 1968 certified Gold classic LP “Aretha Now” pictured above.
Over the years, Aretha’s hit cover of Marie Dionne Warwick’s original hit has become the definitive version of the song. Don’t think so? Then check this out -- my most favorite part of the movie “My Best Friend’s Wedding” is this clip: this is why I love YouTube
Of course I want to know which of these two renditions of the Bachrach/David classic YOU like best so please vote.
And here are a few more related videos to enjoy while they last on YouTube.
Dionne and Boy George “Say A Little Prayer” together live in the 80s
Aretha Says a Little Prayer live in 1970
Trivia: The Gospelaire’s are thought to have provided backing vocals for Ben E. King’s “Spanish Harlem” and “Stand By Me.”
Carole King and Gerry Goffin met at Queens College, along with Paul Simon and Neil Sedaka. Forming a musical partnership that eventually resulted in marriage as well, Goffin and King started out as Brill Building-scene writers, working for impresario Don Kirshner at his Aldon company. Together they penned some all-time classic pop tunes, including one of their best known, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” a number one hit for the Shirelles in 1961. As the story goes, Kirshner recognized the song’s potential immediately, handing over a 10,000 dollar advance to each of the writers upon being presented with the demo. This was huge money to the struggling couple, who until then had none of their songs recorded. The song is a masterpiece of pop songcraft and is typical for the pair in its subtle lyrical and musical approach. The two deftly handle controversial subject matter: the long-term concerns of a young woman involved in a physical consummation of love.
A decade after The Shirelles had a hit with the song, it was recorded by co-writer Carole King herself on her award winning masterpiece album “Tapestry”. James Taylor and Joni Mitchell provide backing vocals and Taylor also plays guitar and and Granfalloon (what is that?!) as indicated on the liner notes of my CD.
I played this album over and over again during my college years: it got me through some tough times. But that’s another blog -- for another time.
Here is Ms. King’s glorious version of the song from “Tapestry”
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Carole King -- Will You Love Me Tomorrow
Now that you have listened to both versions could you tell me the one you prefer please? Click Here to take survey
This song is what I call a “new” classic. It has been covered by everyone from, Roberta Flack, Linda Ronstadt, Ben E. King, Brook Benton to Dusty Springfield. Even someone with mediocre singing skills can make their performance of this song sound greater than their talent because the song is good. IMHO the song writing talents of Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Lionel Ritchie all have this quality in common. They write songs with great melodies & lyrics that have, and will continue to, withstand the test of time.
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]Shirelles -Foolish Little Girl Well I just had to do another Shirelles’ cut. This one charted #4 US and #38 UK. This was also another of the songs that my much younger step sister would sing to guests, when my Dad and step-mother trotted her out of bed in [...]
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] The Shirelles – Soldier Boy (1962) Soldier Boy” is the name of a song written by Luther Dixon and Florence Greenberg. The song was released as a single by The Shirelles in 1962 and met with great success, topping the Billboard Hot 100. This song became the Shirelles [...]
