Kent CDTOP 351 - Marv Johnson - I'll Pick A Rose For My Rose - The Complete Motown Recordings 1964-1971 - (2011)+ Booklet FLAC

                                                                   THE CD INFO

This was the first time on CD reissue of Marv Johnson’s “I’ll Pick A Rose For My Rose” album, as first released on the British Tamla Motown label in 1969. The first CD there has ever been of this great artist’s Motown recordings, the collection features a further 15 tracks, including five previously unissued rarities from the vaults. Marv Johnson was there at the birth of Berry Gordy’s fabled Detroit empire with his Tamla single, ‘Come To Me’, in 1959, which Gordy placed with the established United Artists label for national release, using the proceeds of the deal to finance recording sessions. Marv remained at UA until 1964, when he returned to the Motown fold. Over the next few years he released three tremendous singles on the Gordy label – ‘Why Do You Want To Let Me Go’, 'I'll Pick A Rose For My Rose' and the ultra stompy ‘I Miss You Baby (How I Miss You)’, but found it hard to re-establish himself, at least in the USA. It was a different story here in the Motown hungry UK, where ‘I’ll Pick A Rose For My Rose’ reached the Top 10 early in 1969. To satisfy demand, US Motown dug into what they had in the can on Marv and sent over enough tracks to create a similarly titled LP for the British market. The album was never issued in the USA. The first 11 tracks on this CD represent that long-player in its entirety, mastered from the original stereo tapes used by EMI to manufacture the album in 1969. The next nine tracks are presented in recording date order. They include the four numbers that have surfaced on multi artist CD collections in recent years, plus a clutch of exclusive previously unissued masters. Some of these have been circulating on underground bootlegs for a while, but here they are superbly mastered from brand new digital transfers of the precious original tapes. In other words, this CD collects together Marv Johnson's complete Motown recordings from 1964 to 1971.
Motown took particular care when it came to their single mixes, and for the many aficionados out there who prefer them, the final six tracks comprise the original punchy mono mixes of Marv's three Gordy 45s.

                                                                 THE ARTISTS INFO

Best remembered for a handful of hits including the Top Ten smashes "You Got What It Takes" and "I Love the Way You Love," Marv Johnson was also a seminal figure in the early history of Motown Records. Marvin Earl Johnson was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1938, and was raised in a musical environment that mixed the gospel music of the Baptist church with the jump-jazz of Louis Jordan & His Tympany 5. By the time he was in high school he had joined a local singing group, playing carnivals and fairs. In 1958, he cut his first sides, "My Baby-O" and "Once Upon a Time;" the single failed to sell, but the recording session resulted in a meeting with songwriter and would-be record producer Berry Gordy. After Johnson played his original song "Come to Me" for Gordy and his future wife Raynoma, the couple chose Johnson as the first artist for their fledgling record label, Tamla. Because the new label didn't have distribution outside of Detroit, "Come to Me" (credited to Gordy and Johnson) was released nationally by United Artists, and rose to number six on the R&B charts and number 30 on the pop charts. Gordy soon lost direct control of his first discovery after United Artists signed Johnson directly, but continued as the singer's manager. Johnson also toured with Motown acts such as the Miracles in addition to appearing on Alan Freed's rock & roll revues and media venues such as American Bandstand, and joined early package tours and stage revues where he shared bills with his idols Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson. Johnson's second single fared poorly, but his third, 1959's "You've Got What It Takes," exploded onto the charts, becoming a Top Ten hit and earning a gold record. The 1960 follow-up "I Love the Way You Love" also landed in the Top Ten; among his subsequent singles, "You've Got to Move Two Mountains" was a more pop-flavored effort that reached the Top 20, while "Happy Days" got to number seven on the R&B charts late in 1960. "Merry-Go-Round," issued in early 1961, was Johnson's last chart success. In 1965, with the British Invasion in full swing, Johnson's contract was dropped by United Artists; he finally came "home" to Motown, joining the Gordy label, but never enjoyed another American hit, although he earned a British gold record with "I'll Pick a Rose for My Rose" for Tamla Motown in 1968. He later worked in a front-office job for Motown, and also wrote songs for Tyrone Davis and Johnny Taylor. Johnson's recording career ended in the late '60s, but he never stopped performing, and remained active on stage into the early '90s. Johnson died from a stroke at a concert in Columbia, South Carolina on May 16, 1993.

AMM

                                                        Review Courtesy Of Oldsoulrebel

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