1965? Winter Wonderland (instrumental remake)

.....From 1960 to 1990 Motown released seven single-artist albums and three various artists albums of Christmas music, not counting singles, repackagings and overseas editions. Of these, only the first, 1963's CHRISTMAS WITH THE MIRACLES, contained the song "WINTER WONDERLAND". I mention this because there are two collections that have come out since then containing previously unreleased material from that period and each have an outtake of that song-- the same outtake in two different mixes, actually-- attributing it to two different producers in two different years. Here's what I know...

.....first the mono mix:

• 02:02 "WINTER WONDERLAND" (Felix Bernard)
• performed by The Funk Brothers
• produced by Ronald White
• recorded 1965
• original source: VACD CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY Motown Master Series 37463-6326-2 (G) 1993
• and my source: the same

.....and next, the stereo mix:

• 02:00 "WINTER WONDERLAND" (Felix Bernard, Dick Smith)
• performed by The Funk Brothers
• produced by Norman Whitfield
• recorded September-October 1968, as an instrumental only during the sessions for the Temptations' album CHRISTMAS CARD
• "First issued with a different mix on the Various Artists album CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY, Motown 6326, October 1993." [per liner notes of 2001 CD]
• original source: VACD A MOTOWN CHRISTMAS VOLUME 2 Motown/Universal 440 016 364-2(US) 2001
• and my source: the same

.....Ronald White produced the only other version from the 1960's, on the aforementioned Miracles' album. It's not the same music, even though it's probably some of the same session men playing the same song. It's not a radically different arrangement but different enough to distinguish between them. The only Christmas project at Motown in 1965 was the Supremes album, produced by Harvey Fuqua. My guess is that someone compiling notes for the 1993 CD got confused at some point.

.....The most noticeable difference between the mono and stereo mixes is that the stereo mix has a string section. Both versions feature what sounds like a toy xylophone, which sounds sharper in the stereo mix. Because the song isn't an original (see the 1963 posts until I can get around to posting about the 1934 versions), I'm going to hold off doing any more commentary on it until I cover the Temptations' 1968 single.

1964 Purple Snowflakes

.....Marvin Gaye seems to have spent ten years intermittently trying to get a Christmas recording of some kind off the ground. The earliest attempt I could find was a live recording of Cole's "THE CHRISTMAS SONG", but this one is not only an original composition, it's a real gem that the public never heard until years after he died. Take your pick, mono or stereo mixes:

• 02:53 "PURPLE SNOWFLAKES" (Dave Hamilton, Clarence Paul)
• performed by Marvin Gaye
• recorded in 1964 but not contemporarily released; instrumental track used for "PRETTY LITTLE BABY" [Tamla 54117 (US) 6/18/65]
• original source: VACD CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY Motown Master Series 37463-6326-2 (G) 10/19/93
• and my source: the same
• produced by Clarence Paul

.....That was the mono; here's the stereo:

• 02:54 "PURPLE SNOWFLAKES" (Clarence Paul, Dave Hamilton)
• performed by Marvin Gaye; background vocals by The Supremes
• recorded November 5 and 7, 1964 but not contemporarily released; "Track used with different lyrics as Gaye's single PRETTY LITTLE BABY, Tamla 543117, June 1965"[*]
• original source: VACD A MOTOWN CHRISTMAS 2 Motown/Universal 440 016 364-2 (US) 11/06/01
• and my source: the same
• produced by Clarence Paul

.....First of all, the [*] is to note that the catalog number is incorrect in the liner notes that came with the stereo version. I gave the correct number with the mono version. Secondly, I want to identify Clarence Paul as a Motown songwriter and producer and Dave Hamilton as a jazz musician in the Funk Brothers. Although both had careers prior to their time in Motown the song seems to be a Motown original with Gaye being the only artist to record it before using the music as the basis for "PRETTY LITTLE BABY", which was credited to Gaye, Paul and Hamilton. And in an odd coincidence, Clarence Paul soon after produced a Stevie Wonder B-side called "PURPLE RAINDROPS", written by Ted Hull and found on the flip of "UPTIGHT (EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT)" Tamla 54124 (US) 11/22/65.

.....Not exactly a Christmas song per se, it's one of the many seasonal songs that doesn't mention the holiday but is often remembered alongside carols and standards because it so effectively evokes the time of year. Had it been released three years later at the height of psychedelia it might have been remembered differently due to the lyrics alone. Speaking of lyrics, the numerous online sites that clog every musical term search with offers of free lyrics and mp3's are annoying enough, but those purporting to have the lyrics to this song must have set a record for errors. One site calling itself "Song Meanings" had a mistake on nearly every line of every verse. Since this is one of the few songs from that early soul period with only one known recording, how they managed to be so wrong so often is one of those mysteries that, as Spinal Tap said, "is better left unsolved".

1963 Christmas With The Miracles side B

....."Business up front, party in the back" is just for mullets, it seems. As the previous post attests, the first side of this album contains the two purely secular winter numbers (party). Side two, I've found, ends with the two bona fide carols (business). It breaks down like this:

• 02:39 "THE CHRISTMAS SONG" (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells)- First recorded in 1946 by Nat 'King' Cole. You can just about hear Marv getting his Charlie Christian on at the very end.
• 03:05 "WHITE CHRISTMAS" (Irving Berlin)- Most of the pre-60's standards have stories behind them but this one has an actual, entire book. Named for the song and written by Jody Rosen, it was published by Scribner in 2002. At under 100 pages, it's pretty slim but that's mostly because it sticks to its topic and avoids the temptation to pad out, as some pop culture criticism does, to create the illusion that their chosen subject is more pervasive than it actually is. Rosen was confident, and justifiably, that the song's history was a tidy book on its own. The lead vocal on this version isn't Smokey; it's a much deeper register.
• 02:03 "SILVER BELLS" (Jay Livingston, Ray Evans)- Speaking of "WHITE CHRISTMAS", there's that damn Bing Crosby again. Crosby famously introduced the previous song in 1942 and this song was first released as duet between Crosby and Carol Richards in 1950, just months after Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell recorded their version for the movie "The Lemon-Drop Kid", still in production at the time. According to Wikipedia, the film version was rerecorded after the single became a hit. The Miracles' version opens with a guitar part more reminiscent of "TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM", but continues with the conventional arrangement using a group vocal with Claudette clearly audible.
• 02:30 "NOEL" (Traditional)- The source I turn to for hymns and carols of indeterminate origin is Ian Bradley's "The Penguin Book Of Carols". The earliest published version was found by Davies Gilbert in an uncredited 1817 manuscript in Cornwall, the most southwestern tip of England. Gilbert included it in his bound edition, "Some Ancient Christmas Carols" (revised, 1823). Of the nine verses Bradley includes, this recording uses only the first and the the chorus.
• 02:11 "O HOLY NIGHT" (Adolphe C. Adam)- Actually, Adam wrote the music in 1847 to accompany an existing poem by Placide Cappeau called "Cantique de Noël". The English language version was written by John Sullivan Dwight to fit Adam's music more comfortably than would a literal translation of Cappeau's poem. Both Cappeau's and Dwight's versions have three verses alternating with three different proclamations (the "Fall on your knees..." bit) rather than a repeated chorus. The Miracles choose to do only the first verse/proclamation coupling.

.....At the end of 1981, the various remaining labels of the Motown group were consolidated and after that point there was simply the Motown label. Tamla, Motown and Gordy were really the only labels left; everything else ended by 1978. So, my vinyl copy of CHRISTMAS WITH THE MIRACLES is the reissue Motown 5254ML and attributed to "Smokey & The Miracles" on the spine. The liner notes by Ray Scott mention "William Robinson" and "Claudette Robinson", but not the other members. In fact, there are only four credits total:

• Produced by Ronnie White
• Assistant Producer 'Smokey' Robinson
• Liner Notes Ray Scott
• Cover Design Bernard Yeszin/Wallace Mead

.....I have what I believe is the first compact disc edition, handled by MCA, MCD09091MD (US) 1987.

Typical of MCA before it was absorbed into Universal Music, there are no liner notes for the CD. There isn't even a booklet, just an inlay and card.The shrunken art on the card is clearly taken from my early 80's vinyl reissue, with the red Motown logo clearly visible in the lower right hand corner in lieu of a Tamla label. The credits now are:

• Produced by Ronnie White
• Associate Producer: William "Smokey" Robinson
• Mastered for compact disc by John Matousek at Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios, Hollywood, California.
• Design: Katherine Marking/ Alana Coghlan

...and for reasons not at all clear, the disc surface identifies Ronnie White as "Ronald" and Smokey as "Assistant", not "Associate", Producer.

1963 Christmas With The Miracles side A

.....Assuming that the recording dates at the website Don't Forget The Motor City are correct, recording for the first full album of Motown Christmas recordings was completed by August 1963. The first five songs were recorded in August of 1962 and the previous post gives their producers and dates. The post also notes the question of Pete Moore's participation. Here, I'll list the songs from the July-August sessions of 1963, all of which were produced by Ron White:

• Jul. 17: "SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN"
• Jul. 17: "LET IT SNOW"
• Aug. 9: "WINTER WONDERLAND"
• Aug. 9: "WHITE CHRISTMAS"
• Aug. 9: "SILVER BELLS"

.....A close look at Tamla's catalog numbers reveals that the album LP CHRISTMAS WITH THE MIRACLES has a lower number than any other title from 1963, yet it was one of the last released that year. That doesn't prove, although it certainly suggests, that there were once plans to release it for the 1962 holiday season. With the recording completed in 1963, side one looked like this:

.....LP CHRISTMAS WITH THE MIRACLES Tamla TM236 (US) 10/29/63

• 01:55 "SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN" (Haven Gillespie, J. Fred Coots)- originally recorded in 1934 by Harry Reser, a band leader who used Tom Stacks as a vocalist. When I uncover that recording, it'll have it's own post.
• 01:42 "LET IT SNOW" (Jules Styne, Sammy Cahn)- Claudette takes the lead vocal on this; originally recorded by Vaughn Moore in 1945, this is more of a winter song than a Christmas song.
• 02:20 "WINTER WONDERLAND" (Felix Bernard, Dick Smith)- Several versions of this came out in a short period beginning in 1934. The first was likely Richard Himber, but the biggest hit version was by Guy Lombardo. Also not really a Christmas song.
• 02:29 "CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY" (William 'Smokey' Robinson)- The album's only original composition, and it's a good one. Oddly, off the top of my head I can think of four Motown various artists Christmas compilation albums to come out over the following forty years (including a double LP in 1973) that don't include this, despite drawing various other songs, many of them covers of old standards.
• 02:27 "I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS" (lyrics:Kim Gannon, music:Walter Kent, for legal purposes: Buck Ram)- OK, let me explain; after Bing Crosby scored a huge hit with the debut recording in 1943 there was a claim filed by Buck Ram, who had filed an identically titled song for copyright the previous year which the publisher sat on while circulating the Gannon/Kent song. In a sense, Ram was being cheated, albeit not in the conventional manner, and the compromise was for him to share the credit. Some covers will credit him and some won't.

.....Side two tomorrow.

1963 Christmas Every Day

.....If Marvin Gaye recorded "THE CHRISTMAS SONG" (see previous post) close to the holiday, then Motown already had it's first full-length Christmas album in the shops at the time. A recent visit to the website Don't Forget The Motor City suggests that many of the recording dates and production credits I've read in liner notes are actually different, though, and I'm less certain of their relative order. Contrary to the liner notes from two sources, the website contends that the Marvin Gaye track was recorded live on December 16th, 1962, not 1963. But it also contends that half the material for the Miracles' Christmas album was recorded as far back as August 1962 and the other half a year later.

.....The object of this post is:

• 02:29 "CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY" (William 'Smokey' Robinson)
• 02:39 b/w "THE CHRISTMAS SONG" (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells)
• performed by The Miracles
• original source: LP CHRISTMAS WITH THE MIRACLES Tamla TM236 (US) 10/29/63
• as well as this: [promo] 7" Tamla EX-009 (US) Nov/63
• and my source: CD CHRISTMAS WITH THE MIRACLES Motown/MCA MCD09091MD (U) 1987

...which includes the album's sole original composition. I first heard "CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY" in the eighties and for someone hunting for original Christmas pop music it was a snow-glare intensity beam of sunshine in a hobby the requires slogging through the endless sleet of hundreds of iterations of "JINGLE BELLS" and "SILENT NIGHT". If this was in fact recorded in the summer of 1962, with plenty of time for preparation, packaging, promotion, etc., I can't imagine that Berry Gordy didn't have confidence in the recording. I suppose it's possible that he had his doubts about the market for seasonal novelties in general, given the failure of the previous year's single, "X-MAS TWIST".

.....According to DFTMC, the recording dates were as follows:

• Aug. 21: "THE CHRISTMAS SONG", produced by William Stevenson
• Aug. 21: "O HOLY NIGHT", produced by Ron White and Smokey Robinson
• Aug. 21: "CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY", produced by Smokey Robinson
• Aug. 23: "NOEL", produced by Smokey Robinson
• Aug. 29: "I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS", produced by Ron White

.....That last number brings to mind another problem regarding the chronology of this recording. The standard line-up for The Miracles' recordings was:

• William 'Smokey' Robinson
• Ronnie White
• Bobby Rogers
• Warren 'Pete' Moore
• Claudette Rogers Robinson
• plus Marv Tarplin on guitar
• all other instruments by the Funk Brothers

...but at some time before 1964, Pete Moore spent a year in the military. In fact, he's the only vocalist who doesn't appear in the album's original cover photo. Because the recording sessions for this album are about eleven months apart, Moore's service (and therefore his absence during recordings) almost certainly straddles one session or the other. I've looked around the internet for biographical information on Moore (at least 80% of which is just copied from Wikipedia) and while many sources corroborate the fact of his stint in the military I wasn't able to find specific dates for induction or release. For that matter, I'm only assuming that DFTMC is both authoritative and free of typos. I may have to track down a print biography of the group rather than rely on sources devoted to the label generally.

1963 The Christmas Song (Marvin Gaye)

.....This song is a cover, so I'm not going to go into any length for it.

• 02:35 "THE CHRISTMAS SONG" (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells)
• performed by Marvin Gaye
• recorded live at the Apollo Theater in 1963, but not contemporarily released
• original source: 4CD THE MARVIN GAYE COLLECTION Motown MOTD4-6311 (US) 09/19/90
• and my source: VACD CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY Motown Master Series 37463-6326-2 (G) 1993

.....Last month I posted on The Moonglows' "JUST A LONELY CHRISTMAS" (click on '1953' under the "Check Them Twice" list). Towards the end I mentioned that Harvey Fuqua had put together a new line-up of the group including a young Marvin Gaye. Harvey married Gwen Gordy and the two tried unsuccessfully to keep their own record companies going before putting their efforts to work for Gwen's brother Berry. Harvey brought Marvin with him and Marvin briefly worked as a session drummer before stepping up to the mike. He signed with Tamla and began releasing singles and an album in 1961. Although there is no specific date given for this recording, we can safely assume it was near the holiday in December. Earlier that year he recorded the album LP RECORDED LIVE ON STAGE Tamla TM242 (US) 09/09/63, produced by William Stevenson. Although my source says that this track was produced by Smokey Robinson, Discogs reports that the track, as it appears on the boxed set, was also produced by Stevenson. Why it was recorded is just as unclear. Was it intended for a 1964 release and simply forgotten? If it was recorded, as I assumed and as the stage patter suggests, close to the holiday, then it couldn't have been intended for release during the 1963 holiday season. It's also not likely to be an outtake from a live album recorded closer to the summer, although it's possible that the audience just sat there politely confused listening to a Christmas song. At the Apollo...

.....The song itself is of course a modern standard. It was recorded in 1946 by Nat 'King' Cole and became an instant hit sparking numerous covers even before this one. At the moment I haven't yet posted that recording, but since I own several copies it's inevitable that I'll get around to it.

1962 Wish You A Merry Christmas

.....Mention Kim Weston to any large group of people and enthusiasts of old school rhythm and blues will likely close their eyes and say, "Ahh, yes", while casual radio-listeners will probably mumble, "Who the hell is Kim Weston?". I was already familiar with the name years ago from rooting around catalogs and compilation record bins for the Christmas truffles of other Motown artists that I knew to exist. It wasn't until the mid-1990's when I came across a German import of rare and previously unreleased recordings that I discovered what I was missing. At first I was afraid it might be simply alternate takes or mixes, since the label is known for returning to the same hit well many times and most of the tracks were by their only three acts to release full Christmas albums during the sixties-- the Miracles, Supremes and Stevie Wonder. Then I noticed not one, but four tracks by Marvin Gaye. That made me give a closer scrutiny and I noticed the Funk Brothers, Kim Weston and a non-album B-side I had been hunting for and the purchase became a done deal.

• 02:35 "WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS" (William 'Mickey' Stevenson)
• performed by Kim Weston
• recorded in 1962 but not contemporarily released
• original source: VACD CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY Motown Master Series 37463-6326-2 (G) 1993
• and my source: the same

.....Some databases state that Weston signed to Motown in 1963, which is guesswork, apparently, since her first solo release was in that year. If you look closely at the previous post, you can see the name Brian Holland (of "Holland-Dozier-Holland" fame) as a co-writing credit for "WHITE HOUSE TWIST". The Brian and brother Eddie had a cousin named Johnny Thornton who recommended a local girl named Agatha Weston. Eddie brought her to Berry Gordy, and, no doubt owing to her background of singing in church, Gordy placed her with the Wright Specials. They released the first two singles on the short lived gospel subsidiary Divinity, but those both came from a 1961 session she didn't take part in. Agatha became Kim and recorded this for producer Mickey Stevenson. Not as slinky or suggestive as Eartha Kitt's "SANTA BABY", or even Dodie Stevens' "MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY", it is easily as seductive despite being nearly belted out as though Whitney Houston were working in a bar filled with longshoremen. With a little more polish she began releasing singles on the company's first label, Tamla, in February 1963 and shifted to Gordy in 1965. She married Stevenson in 1966 and when he was offered a position at MGM's Venture subsidiary, the two left Motown together, reportedly with two albums unreleased.

.....I have to mention that this song is completely unrelated to the standard "WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS". In fact, the title doesn't appear anywhere in the lyrics. There is really only one verse, which is then repeated with the first half spoken. Why they passed on this is beyond me. In the last ten years it has certainly been making up for lost time by appearing on several Motown compilations.

1961 Xmas Twist

.....Chronologically, the first Motown Christmas single is a recording I don't actually own-- yet. The only CD appearance I've managed to find is the limited run 6CD THE COMPLETE MOTOWN SINGLES VOLUME 1: 1959-1961 Hip-O-Select B0003631-02 (US) Jan/05. I was, however, able to hear this and its flipside on youtube.

• 02:44 "X-MAS TWIST" (Berry Gordy, Barney Ales)
• -N/A- b/w "WHITE HOUSE TWIST" (Brian Holland, Berry Gordy, Barney Ales)
• performed by The Twistin' Kings [Funk Brothers]
• original source: 7" Motown M1022 (US) November 27th, 1961
• as well as this: LP TWISTIN' THE WORLD AROUND Motown MLP 601 (US) Dec/61
• and my source: ...um, youtube

.....After finally getting a chance to hear this (youtube didn't exist when I bought all the Motown Christmas music I packed away years ago), I think I can guess why it doesn't show up on the various compilations I've seen. Compared to much of the rest of the label's material, it was a bit of a throwback. It more closely resembled the jazz and swing singles and 78's of the 1930's and early 1950's than the Miracles or the Supremes. If it seems odd that the Funk Brothers-- the nickname for Motown's house band-- doesn't quite sound like most Motown singles, bear in mind that this was a rush job ordered by label owner Berry Gordy to cash in on a dance craze. If there are any Motown fans out there who don't recognize the name Barney Ales, it's because he was the VP of Sales. The fact that he's got a writing credit on both sides (oh, and one of the songs on the album is actually called "Twisting Ales Style", as though the audience would know what that meant) gives you some indication that the objectives here were not to create a lasting product.

.....For more (and more authoritative) information on the Funk Brothers, I would recommend the book (and subsequent documentary film) "Standing In The Shadows Of Motown". Relevant to this song, I can only say that the line-ups for most Motown recordings of this period are almost never 100% confirmable. The Funk Brothers weren't exactly a band, per se, but a pool of musicians. At any given time during Motown's residency in Detroit (roughly until 1972, when most operations moved to California, creating "Mo-west") there were 8-12 musicians in the pool. Producers would form ad hoc groups by selecting 3-6 of them, sometimes recording several vocalists over the same Funk Brothers instrumental track and letting Gordy pick his favorite to be released as an A-side. Sometimes the other vocal takes would be used as B-sides or album tracks. The only personnel I could confirm (courtesy of Discogs) would be:

• Producer Berry Gordy
• Vocals (and probably saxophone) by Thomas "Beans" Bowles
• Piano by Joe Hunter
• Saxophone by Ron Wakefield

...but there are probably others. The entirety of the project is included on the album, which was recorded, packaged and shipped in the blink of an eye to maximize exposure in the gift-buying season. The other single even has a subsequent catalog number (M1023), despite shipping three weeks later. For more details I'll refer you to the excellent blog Motown Junkies, which specializes in the label's singles. The following link:

http://motownjunkies.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/138/

...should lead you to the page for "X-MAS TWIST", at the bottom of which you'll find a link to the page for the A-side. Enjoy.

Motown Introduction

.....Spelunking has unearthed a cache of CD's I packed away over eight years ago, just in time for the new month beginning today. I will now be able to post a song every other day (although not as long as the previous one) just by rifling through a box. Oh, and reading all that tiny print.

.....To start, I can select a theme for the first month to help me organize. Since Christmas songs by or about presidents are few and thin on the ground, and Valentine's Day is an entirely separate holiday, I've decided that Black History Month would provide an easily satisfied framework. In fact, I had already expected to be documenting songs by black artists off and on all year. Thus, to make this project within a project special, I'm going to do a chronological look at the Motown family of labels. With 27 days left, I should be able to cover everything they released with regards to Christmas music up to about 1980. Because that would include standards as well as original songs I'm going to try and mention the original artists for those songs being covered. Eventually, they too will each get a full post. Cross your fingers.