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Tamla T 54031 (A), August 1960
b/w You Made A Fool Out Of Me
(Written by Berry Gordy, Roquel Davis and Gwen Gordy Fuqua)
Just the twenty months and 36 (!) songs in, we finally come to the first female artist to get a Motown single release. Claudette Rogers of the Miracles and Berry Gordy’s wife Raynoma Liles Gordy, “Miss Ray”, had been featured doing backing vocals on Motown singles before, while on the other side of the glass Gordy’s sisters Anna and Gwen had both picked up writing credits, as had company receptionist Janie Bradford, but otherwise the company’s output up to this point had been decidedly XY.
The great Mable John, an early confidante of Berry Gordy when he was struggling to get songwriting work and who provides the touching opening essay for the first volume in the Complete Motown Singles box set series, was therefore the first Motown female solo act, beating out the better-known Mary Wells by a matter of weeks, and this engaging bluesy strut was her first professional recording as well as her début single.
Mable had been being coached by Gordy for years leading up to this single, and not surprisingly, the result is exceedingly confident; John’s voice is earthy and full of knowing swagger, and at various points she hits high, strong notes with verve. Despite being one of the least experienced vocalists in a stable with a very young average age to start with, it’s also a technically proficient performance, hitting her marks with dead-eye timing rightly applauded in the liner notes.
It’s not a brilliant song, but it’s likeable and listenable, and Mable’s voice is so refreshing after listening to so many samey male vocals, filling in a gap with something that had been sorely missing from the Motown blend up to this point. There is a slightly worrying bit where she sings about how her boyfriend likes to buy her fancy clothes, but there’s just the hint of another “mmm” consonant in her vocal, so that it sounds like she sings “He likes to see me un dressed”. But she doesn’t. So that’s alright, then.
Mable wasn’t the only member of her family to embark on a musical career; her brother “Little Willie” John had scored a national hit with Fever some years previously, a song later unmemorably “borrowed” by Berry Gordy for Eugene Remus’ Gotta Have Your Lovin’.
Later down the line, in 1963, when Motown was really getting into full swing, Mable would re-record her dĂ©but, releasing a new (and somewhat inferior) version of Who Wouldn’t Love A Man Like That as her final Motown release. It still wasn’t a hit.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
COVERWATCH
Motown Junkies has reviewed other Motown versions of this song:
- Mable John (re-recording) (June 1963)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
(Or maybe you’re only interested in Mable John? Click for more.)
Popcorn & The Mohawks “Shimmy Gully” |
Mable John “You Made A Fool Out Of Me” |
mary magaldo said:
I think it can be truly said that Claudette Robinson is the first female artist of Motown. However, I fail to understand why she never cut any solo singles. She has a beautiful voice
and anything she recorded would have been a vast improvement over Ron and Bill’s terrible”It”! At least Ian Levine had the sense to record her for his Motor City label.
mary magaldo
marymagaldo@basicisp.net
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Damecia said:
Agree! Claudette had a great voice. She should’ve cut some solo singles.
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Landini said:
FYI on Claudette. I saw one of those PBS Oldies Shows on TV yesterday. They had a group of “Miracles” which included Claudette & Bobby Rogers. Had a young guy doing the lead who sounds a lot like a young Smokey. They did “Ooh Baby Baby” Though they sounded good, I’m not sure I’m crazy about these “refurbished” groups, but the crowd seemed to enjoy them so whatever… I guess. Curious, has anyone ever seen this version of the Miracles before? And, believe me, no criticism on Claudette or Bobby was intended. If they are enjoying doing this then more power to them!
By the way, Claudette looks very nice. Lovely lady.
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Damecia said:
I know exactly what PBS Oldies Shows you’re talking about. I tried to watch, but I just can’t get into it. One performance I did see was “Da Doo Run Run” I know the amazing Darlene Love song the original song, but it was fronted by The Cystals. On this special a member of The Crystals performed the song solo. She sounded nothing like Darlene (LOL). I’m not crazy about those “refurbished” groups either. It’s just something about the idea that seems wrong. Speaking of wrong. The whole story of The Shangri-Las (I adore this group) in the 80s suing fake Shangri-Las, but they had no grounds because they did not own the name. Very heartbreaking!
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144man said:
La La Brooks was the lead singer on “Da Doo Ron Ron”. Darlene Love, who was never officially a member of the Crystals, only sang lead on “He’s A Rebel” and “He’s Sure the Boy I Love”. The situation sort of repeated itself in 1971 when Darlene sued Holland-Dozier-Holland’s Invictus label for releasing her lead vocals on “Touch Me Jesus” as by the Glass House.
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Damecia said:
Thanx for correcting me. Wow, Darlene stayed getting done wrong!
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MotownFan1962 said:
If I might add some interesting information, Ms. Love was already in a group (two groups really) when she recorded “He’s a Rebel” and “He’s Sure the Boy I Love”. She was a member of The Blossoms; the other Blossoms (Fanita James, Gloria Jones (not the famous one), Edna Wright, and I think Gracia Nitzche or Carolyn Willis; Wright, Nitzche, and Wills were “part-time” Blossoms), along with Bobby Sheen (aka Bob B. Soxx) sang back-up on those songs. Later, Phil Spector formed Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans with Sheen, James, and Love. It was intended to be a vehicle for Bobby’s lead vocals, but most of their recordings ended up having Darlene on lead (Spector must have really loved her voice; it’s not hard to see why). Ms. Love also made “solo” recordings (with the other Blossoms). Later, in 1964, The Blossoms got a job as the in-house backing group on “Shindig!” (by then, The Blossoms consisted of Love, James, and newcomer Jean King). They also got some time in the spotlight as featured artists, though they weren’t allowed to sing any Spector songs for some odd reason. They even got solo spots! (i.e. Darlene sang “Saved”, Fanita sang “Going Out of My Head”, Jean sang “Somewhere” Look ’em up! They’re awesome.) They continued to record until the ’70s. Ms. Love left the music business in 1974, and Ms. King passed away in 1983. Ms. James, meanwhile, kept The Blossoms going on with new singers. Darlene returned to music in 1981 and still performs today, as do Fanita and the Blossoms (now consisting of James, Gloria Jones (again, not the famous one), and another member whose name I don’t know).
Wow, I talk a LOT!
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144man said:
Mable John is still performing fifty years after this release, and still knows how to hold the audience in the palm of her hand. What stage presence and what a personality!
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Snakepit said:
Gotta say I like this 45, and the later alternate even better. I think it is a better song than given your review, a confident approach compared to many of the early 45s.
If cherry picked for a CD of rare Motown it would hold it’s own….IMO
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Steve Robbins said:
Claudette sang the Miracles lead on an unreleased recording which at the moment escapes me.
Berry, you know the formula now. Why are you skirting around the edges? That’s something learned with the Temps and Supremes….stick with the formula. HDH knew it well.
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Robb Klein said:
Claudette sang lead on three Miracles cuts that I can remember (from 1960) “Father Dear”(early album cut), “After All”(unreleased) but bootlegged onto bogus 45 Tamla 54022 around 1979, and one more unreleased (whose title escapes me).
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Mary Plant said:
She sang lead on Mr. Misery – it’s on a Lost and Found recording. Too bad we didn’t hear more from her.
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MotownFan1962 said:
She also sang lead on their cover of “The Wah-Watusi”.
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dave grifiiths said:
one of the greatest, if not the greatest, soul records ever, heard it first on a Motown Memories series and the comment which I agree with ran like this, if you want to know what a soul record is then listen to this!
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dave grifiiths said:
think i made a mistake and confused it with hattie littles’ your love is wonderful, sorry!
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The Nixon Administration said:
Hey, they’re both good.
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Damecia said:
This song is alright. Even though Mable does sing with confidence and swag this song is missing something that I just can’t put my finger on.
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144man said:
You might like the 1963 version better then.
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Damecia said:
Thanx! I checked it out and I did like it better. Too bad it didn’t chart.
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Ricky said:
First female solo star of Motown and she is a boss on this song. This should have been a hit for Mable John, wonder why it didn’t chart. I love the bluesy feel to the song. Should have stomped with the big dogs like Mary Wells and Diana, Martha, and Gladys!! 7/10
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Landini said:
Hey. I am assuming you’ve heard her stuff on Stax. I have heard a few of the Stax things & they are pretty good. I need to check her out more. I found out a few years ago that she toured as a Raelette for awhile & that she has been involved in Christian ministry work in recent years.
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Ricky said:
I haven’t really heard her stax records but would be glad go hearthem
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Rob Green Nashville TN said:
Mable sang lead on the Raelettes single “Bad Water” , a sizeable hit. An album was issued on Ray’s TRC Tangerine label as well.
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144man said:
For anorak’s only: this must be the earliest example of Motown’s practice of not using question marks in their song-titles.
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