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STRANGE GOINGS ON - RECORDS BY JAMES BROWN, MARVIN GAYE

C

cklw800

Guest
Some questions about R&B oldies. Been bothering me for years. I grew up with a slower version of "Shop Around" by The Miracles. Every compilation or single of it I've bought over the years has a version that just sounds too fast for me. I know for sure I correctly recall a slower version.

"The Payback, Part I"-James Brown...there was a DJ voice on my single I had in 1974. No compilation I've bought or radio airplay has it on there. I don't have it anymore and I'm beginning to believe it was my imagination. When it played on the radio when it was new it wasn't on there and still isn't today.

On another Tamla record, I remember Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" fading out almost completely, then fading back in for just a few seconds and this was on the radio. I recall DJs getting fooled by this. Why was that even done? I remember hearing it that way on "American Top 40", too. I have the song on several CDs. It doesn't do that. Or maybe this was just a radio gimmick? I have a CD of the album "What's Going On." It doesn't do it. Makes me wanna holler. Throw up both my hands.
 
I don't know about the James Brown song, but the Marvin Gaye album What's Going On does fade out and into the next song.

As the first song fades out it goes into the next cut on the album. I remember this on the vinyl and I think it does do that on the CD, however I'm not sure. The silence in between songs was extremely short compare to most vinyl records back then.

It's not your imagination.
 
If you have ever heard the slower version of "Shop Around," you've actually heard a rarity that, if copies exist,
may be VERY valuable to collectors! Yes, the first issued version from very late 1960 was slower than the one we are familiar with (and Motown reissues on their collections, as well as TM Century in station libraries).

But, as I understand it, after a couple of weeks of issue of the original, Berry Gordy asked Smokey Robinson and the other Miracles to re-record a faster version of "Shop Around" to better match the tempo of the current popular dances teens were doing. The few thousand copies of the original, slower version were recalled from the distributors, but not after some were sold or distributed to station DJ's. The orginal, slower version has the same issue number (Tamla 54034) as the faster version. (The difference is in the matrix number carved into the unscored deadwax next to the label-the slower original says "H555-14A".)
 
Jace and King Bee, you guys rule! Thank you! My sister found the copy of our family single of "What's Going On". But we can't play it because we have no turntable. She did verify that copy does fade out for a few seconds and then comes back in. When I looked closely at the record I could see a dark spot at the end in the grooves and then it returns to normal for a few lines at the very end suggesting that something unusual happens there.

Thank you for verifying "Shop Around". I knew I wasn't crazy. We may have to dig around for that one too. We still have old records at our mom's house (we grew up in). It was too long ago to remember whether I heard it on the record-player or on the radio. But if we have it, whoa! We've got a valuable record! My sister believes we had the record and I kind of remember seeing it. We will look very hard over the Memorial Day weekend.

Now the only thing I have to figure out is if that voice on the James Brown record was in my head or actually on "The Payback" single. I just listened to "James Brown's 20 Greatest Hits", "The Best of James Brown" and "The James Brown Collection" CDs and no voice on either version of "The Payback."

Thanks to you two again for helping me out!
 
Did some checking on "The Payback," and yes, on most issued versions of the song, Brown's MC, Danny Ray, is dubbed in doing voice bits throughout the song. My cousin still has the 45 rpm stereo single in near-mint condition!

I remember this from the radio edit most stations used, as well. However, the version of "The Payback" used on the landmark James Brown CD compliation "Star Time" (1994) does not have Ray on it-at least not my copy.
 
the dj's voice on james browns' the big payback is hank spann he worked the afternoon shift @wwrl in NY at the time .hank spann followed al gee who followed frankie crocker in the super 16 afternoon drive slot
 
I stand corrected! Thanks.
 
cklw800 said:
Jace and King Bee, you guys rule! Thank you! My sister found the copy of our family single of "What's Going On". But we can't play it because we have no turntable. She did verify that copy does fade out for a few seconds and then comes back in. When I looked closely at the record I could see a dark spot at the end in the grooves and then it returns to normal for a few lines at the very end suggesting that something unusual happens there.


That wasn't rare to do in the music business of the 60's...same thing happened with "Suspicious Minds", Elvis Presley, and " Keep On Dancing " by the Gentrys just to name a few. There are a few others , but can' think of it off the top of my mind at the moment.

Thank you for verifying "Shop Around".

There was a few Smokey songs that were slower or later speeded up like ...."I Gotta Dance To Keep from Crying" ...not as big a hit, but great tune. The LP version was slower then the Single.
Click to expand...
 
Jace, The King Bee and Max88. You all rule and thanks for helping me out on these songs. Well, guess what. We found our copy of "Shop Around" over Memorial Day. No turntable, can't play it yet but that opportunity is coming soon. Can't tell what we have yet but that number in the wax where the needle takes the arm to the end on our copy is hard to read. Can't tell what it says. If it is the slower one, and I think it has to be, guess we do have something special? If so, I wonder how in the world with only a few thousand copies it made its way to NE Ohio? I can understand the radio part, and that's what worries me. Maybe I heard the slower one on the radio and maybe we bought the record afterward (the faster one) and possibly I never listened to it. It does say 54034 on it and a song called Who's Lovin' You is on the other side if that helps ID the version. Instead of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles the label says The Miracles featuring Bill Robinson. Looks funny to see the name written that way. It's pretty well worn but looks playable, maybe at least enough to hear the tempo. Thanks for the info on "The Payback". Apparently that voice was only on the single and not the album. So it was only or people who bought the single. Good way for Brown to save money on paying the guy I guess. The DJ voice doesn't appear on any compilation version of it, it seems.
 
Thanks again for all the help. Finally got to listen to the records. Our "Shop Around" is the fast one, not the slower one, so I guess I heard it on the radio. Listened to the James Brown record now knowing it's Hank Spann. He's on "The Payback Part 2" as well but they didn't put him on the LP version. So you had to have the retail single to catch him on record. The compilations all use the LP version. Marvin Gaye's record did exactly as I recalled. Real long fade out, then fade back in. I mean real long. It's cool but kind of reckless. But that was Marvin.
 
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