In 1970, Motown and its Gordy and Tamla subsidiaries issued a couple dozen albums, Psychedelic Shack, ABC, Diana Ross, and Signed, Sealed and Delivered among them. Shelved that year was Sunny and Warm, intended as the first solo LP credited to Blinky, an Oakland native who had signed to the parent label after performing and recording with AndraƩ Crouch's Cogics and cutting solo gospel material (under birth name Sondra Williams) for Vee-Jay and Atlantic. Movements toward Sunny and Warm began with the 1968 release of "I Wouldn't Change the Man He Is," written and produced by Ashford & Simpson. The ballad was effective in demonstrating the might and range of Blinky's church-bred voice -- more grit than glamour, closer to Martha Reeves than to Diana Ross -- but it was second-tier by Ashford & Simpson's standard, with lyrics that seemed excessively tolerant voiced by a singer who sounded anything other than meek. It did not chart. A duets album with Edwin Starr, Just We Two, fared no better the next year, presaging the cancellation of Sunny and Warm. Almost 50 years later, the entirety of that LP is presented for the first time on this two-disc compilation from the dutiful Real Gone Music. "This Man of Mine," a more suitable number written and produced by Clay McMurray, surfaced as a B-side in 1973 (scheduled to be on one of two other[!] abandoned Blinky LPs), and some other cuts, such as the most potent version of Jimmy Webb's sorrowful "This Time Last Summer," were included on volumes of Cellarful of Motown and The Complete Motown Singles. These and the previously unreleased recordings -- including a durable if unnecessary roll through Fontella Bass' Chess hit "Rescue Me," one of the slower and more belting takes of "For Once in My Life," and the charming "Is There a Place (In His Heart for Me)," subsequently waxed by the Supremes and Gladys Knight & the Pips -- amount to a decent full-length any smaller label would have been proud to circulate. The remainder of the first disc contains the rest of Blinky's 1972 and 1973 sides for Motown and MoWest and her contributions to Lady Sings the Blues and other contemporaneous Motown compilations. The second disc is filled to capacity with newly released, mostly rawer efforts with a little studio chatter. There's minimal overlap with the tracks heard on the two-part Motown Unreleased 1968. Motown fanatics should be delighted to hear Blinky renderings of material that went to the singer's various labelmates, interspersed with covers of songs written and/or popularized by the Yardbirds, Rolling Stones, Beatles, and James Taylor. No doubt a major undertaking, the set finally presents a clear picture of Blinky's underrepresented work from 1968-1973, just before she achieved musical immortality with the theme for Good Times.
**********REQUEST**********A TASTER BELOW!
TRACKS ON BACK COVER BELOW!
18 comments:
Lots of tracks I haven't heard until new ... Thanks for review, P.
Many thanks for the upgrade AMM
Reb
Thanks for the upgrade amm, you are the man!
Thanks for the upgrade version MM, thank you.
cheers,ELtel
Another fantastic Motown singer. Beautiful compil.
Yves
Another new one to me. The review will be quite interesting! Thanks AMM.
A quality review, thank you
May I take a look at the upgraded review please ?
Thanks in advance !
I'm beginning to think there's more music in Motown's vaults than they actually released! Thanks, AMM!
Thanks AMM. gmortars might be onto something.
This collection offers a package of unknown songs for me... Thanks so much !
Thank You AMM!!
Thank you for unearthing material never heard from this singer. I remember I wouldn't change him. Good voice.
Looks interesting.
thanks for nice long review AMM
looks great RealGone stuff unknown to me also
and much grateful for full art i love booklet thing!
Big upgrade for me and great review All Music Man
Cheers Pedro
A very good looking album from Blinky, I have her Sunny & Warm album, but this release has so much more on it. Thanks for the review
This looks good!
Post a Comment