Mel-o-dy 112 (B), March 1964

B-side of Satisfied Mind

(Written by Howard Hausey and Bruce McMeans)

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Unlike the thomping dance experience of the A-side, Satisfied Mind, which had been recorded at Hitsville by Motown musicians and Motown producers, this B-side is a Dallas recording a little more in keeping with the rest of the Mel-o-dy Records catalogue.

Only a little, mind, as this still isn’t exactly what you’d call a country and western record; despite being co-written by Howard “Crockett” Hausey, it’s still more uptempo and less pastoral than the rest of Motown’s Mel-o-dy stuff. It’s more like a course correction than a major departure; if the A-side had been something of a departure for Bruce Channel, a step towards a different kind of pop music to that with which he’d originally made his name, then this is a step back towards more familiar rockabilly territory.

It’s a stronger tune than the A-side, for sure, with more of a chorus, and a stop-start structure that features Bruce doing a sort of call-and-response thing with the horn section. Channel, who co-wrote this song with Hausey, also sounds (understandably) more at ease with the material than on the topside, his thin voice not so stretched, his pacing not so starved for breath.

The problem with it, ultimately, is that it’s boring. It ends up feeling like an endless series of those short call-and-response sections (even though it really isn’t):

I tell you true love
BOM BOM BOM
Is what’s a-happening
BOM BOM BOM
I tell you true love, baby
BOM BOM BOM
Is what’s a-happening right now
BOM BOM BOM
I tell you true love is the only thing
Makes your mind overwork, makes the church bells ring
I tell you true love
BOM BOM BOM
Is what’s a-happening
BOM BOM BOM
I tell you true love, baby
BOM BOM BOM
Is what’s a-happening right now

… and as a consequence, it seems much, much longer than its two and three-quarter minutes’ duration (even though, again, it really isn’t). There’s plenty going on here, the horns are engaging, the tune in the melodic verses is good, but every time it seems to be going somewhere good, we end up with that repetitive section rearing its head again –

I tell you true love
BOM BOM BOM
Is what’s a-happening
BOM BOM BOM

…and it just wears out both the listener, and its welcome. Ironically, decent tune though it is, there’s just not enough happening.

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!)

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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.

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Bruce Channel “Satisfied Mind”	Marvin Gaye & Mary Wells “Once Upon A Time”

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