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Motown M 1070 (A), November 1964
b/w My Heart
(Written by Berry Gordy)
Stateside SS 384 (A), February 1965
b/w My Heart
(Released in the UK under license through Stateside Records)
The end of the line for 15-year-old talent contest winner Carolyn Crawford, as far as Motown Junkies is concerned; this is her third and final Motown release, and after it sank without trace, Miss Crawford and her family declined to continue with the label.
How different it all might have been, eh? In the liner notes to The Complete Motown Singles: Volume 4, Carolyn recalls being called into a meeting where she was told Motown “were planning on moving someone ahead, and there were three people involved: Brenda Holloway, Kim Weston and myself”. The prize was, effectively, to become Mary Wells’ replacement, both as a big-ticket solo artiste and as a duet partner for Marvin Gaye.
By way of an audition for the role, all three ladies cut new singles for Motown during the summer of 1964, of which Carolyn’s effort, My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down), was up with the best (and made the national R&B charts, to boot) – but it was Kim Weston who ended up “winning” whatever contest there was.
“I was considered, but maybe because I was still young, and all the things that go along with that… I don’t know. I wasn’t it”, says Carolyn. You can argue whether the prize was really a poisoned chalice, but the fact remains Carolyn didn’t win it, and the complete commercial failure of this single underlined that fact for her.
If we’re going to pigeonhole Carolyn’s Motown career, it’s more accurate to think of her not as a failed Kim Weston, or a forgotten “new Mary Wells” (Mary was Carolyn’s heroine, whose style she seems to be actively copying here), but rather as a prototype for Tammi Terrell. Their voices are similar, the solo material provided to them was similar (and, in some cases, the same), and Carolyn was seemingly a hair’s breadth from being chosen as a foil for Marvin Gaye. You can absolutely imagine Tammi singing this one.
(Which isn’t really that much of a problem; you might imagine that as soon as you start imagining Tammi singing this, you’d end up wishing it was Tammi singing this, but Carolyn does a nice enough job with another difficult song.)
When Someone’s Good To You was written and produced (for Oma Page, not Carolyn) in one of Motown president Berry Gordy’s increasingly rare trips to the producer’s chair. The songwriting gifts that had once conquered America still hadn’t deserted him – this is a pretty tune with a lovely horn riff as a hook – but his ability to write a hit single must have been in question if this is what he came up with.
This is a floaty bit of midtempo jazz-pop; the clomping drum beat recalls a more laid-back, gentle cover of Gaye’s own Hitch Hike, but the two records are worlds apart. Rather than being a promising 45, really the whole thing sounds like a Mary Wells B-side from two years before. Not necessarily a bad thing in itself, but never a single to follow up a budding young starlet’s first R&B hit.
Oh, Motown fans have taken it to their hearts over the years (especially in the UK, where this was picked up for release – perhaps putting the lie to Carolyn’s fears that Motown weren’t promoting her career), and it commands high prices from dealers today – but I can’t imagine this ever getting near the radio, just because it’s so thin and ephemeral. It drifts by in a blissed-out little bubble, flitting aimlessly from cloud to cloud, and it’s gone before you’ve had a chance to really get to grips with it.
We’ll never know what might have been, as Carolyn left Motown and didn’t really resurface again in the music industry until the early Seventies, first as part of Mickey Stevenson’s girl band Hodges James & Smith (who sound like a law firm, and who were renamed Hodges James Smith & Crawford while Carolyn was in the lineup), and then with Chapter 8 and Bohannon – so it’s impossible to mentally cut and paste her voice into some of Motown’s biggest late-Sixties hits. But it would at least have been nice to hear what she might have done. This is pleasant enough, and it’s nicely done, but it isn’t really the farewell Carolyn’s Motown career deserved.
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!)
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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Martha & the Vandellas “Dancing Slow” |
Carolyn Crawford “My Heart” |
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Robb Klein said:
I disagree strongly with your grading on this one. This is one of my favourite (2nd or 3rd) of Carolyn’s recordings. I’d give it an 8, It’s pure Smokey. I know it was written by Berry, but Smokey ran this session, and had it arranged to sound like one of his songs. And, I think he did a great job. It could have been an “A” side for Mary.
Carolyn resurfaced earlier than Hodges James Smith & Crawford, in the late ’60s, as a single artist on Roulette Records (cutting some very nice recordings, but not having a lot of commercial success). She also had some success as a solo artist with Gamble and Huff at Philadelphia International/TSOP.
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gregory said:
On one of the pressings I have, The credits have berry Gordy Jr. as the writer of the song, But Smokey is listed as the the Producer on the right hand side!! The song even sounds like a Smokey Interpretation of this Berry Gordy song!! Carolyn indeed sounded more like Mary ,if that was indeed the object of the contest!!! Even though she was young at the time, I felt she should of got stronger material and more in to the productions, You can hear the young sweet voice and just like Mary, If she would given a chance, at the age of 15? she could be a polished act!! Kim was a good and great vocalist but in no way looked or sounded like Mary Wells, but I Believed that Carolyn would of wanted to be recognized as her own style and to be referred as her own sound!! not a sound alike !! This was the first time I heard of the contest story!! After the company losing Mary Wells with Smokey productions.There is no one that could really fully replace her or sound just like her anyway..but Carolyn had a smooth young Kind of a sexy voice that went well with Smokey’s productions! plus she seemed to have that look as well. Thanks Robb as I was unaware of her latter recordings on roulette records I somehow missed those! I will have to see if i can find a few of them to listen to… I kind’a agree with Robb on this one! I also in my humble opinion think the rating should of been a tad bit higher at least to a 7 or 8 this was really a great record!! it is too bad that she did not get to grow more with Motown !!!! what a great voice !!
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Damecia said:
Agree with Robb about the rating!
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Kevin Moore said:
“It’s pure Smokey”
Do you have any anecdotes that might reveal whether the actual chord progression was devised by Gordy or Smokey? If the former, he’d been doing some woodshedding. I agree that it deserves a higher rating.
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Damecia said:
Funny, when I first began listening to this song I couldn’t help but keep saying “I like this song, but it reminds me of a whole bunch of other Motown songs” (LOL). Steve D got it correct when he says that this could have easily been a Tammi T. song. I so can hear her singing this! In fact, this is a song I can hear nearly every female group or solo at Motown singing. The Supremes would’ve made it cute, The Marvelettes would’ve made it tough, Martha and The Vandellas would put some soul on it, Tammi Terrell would sung it in her hic-cup manner, Debbie Dean would’ve MOR’ed the hell out of this song, and Mary Wells…well she would’ve put some Mary in this song. (LOL).
As you can tell I like this song and think it had great potential. Even though this isn’t a very strong song, it is still good. I love the jazzy-laid back feel it has, not to mention Carolyn does a great job vocally. I particularly like the horns on this track…great addition. Nice song written by Mr. Berry Gordy Jr. IMO this deserves a 7/10
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144man said:
If 5/10 means an average Motown record, I agree with the rating; but if 5/10 means an average pop record, I’d give it a 7.
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bogart4017 said:
Did they ever even try to promo her records outside of the greater Detroit area? Because really, i don’t remember seeing so much as publicity photo being released at the time.
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Robb Klein said:
WVON in Chicago played all 3 of Carolyn’s 45s – “My Smile is Just a Frown”, “Forget About Me”, and “When Someone’s Good To You”, but they didn’t play my favourite side by her, “I’ll Come Running”. I would like to know, for sure, who the male background singers were on “When Someone’s Good To You”. By their sound and voices, I’d guess they were The Love-Tones. I don’t think they were The Spinners or The Originals.
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psychedelic jacques said:
i’m also with Robb on this one – it’s so much better than average. In my book, she had 3 A sides and all were ‘9s’ – a case of what might have been if she’d stayed at Motown, and such a shame there isn’t a ton of unreleased stuff on her in the vault.
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nafalmat said:
5/10 how could you? This is the Motown boss at his best, and when he was at his best he was bloody near unbeatable. He penned and produced this splendid piece all by himself and deserves at least 9.5 out of 10. This is top rate stuff in every department, melody, lyric and production. A top quality song if ever there was one.Some really nice subtle touches in the production and arrangement that hold it back rather than lay it on too heavy. Brilliant. Love the bit where she sings “You don’t turn your back and walk away” and the male backing replies forcefully “No you don’t!”
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Damecia said:
My first rating of this song, I didn’t give it a 9.5/10, but after listening to it various times afterwards I feel the same as you.
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144man said:
“This record will prove that the natural heiress to the throne that Miss Mary Wells left vacant when she quit Motown is Miss Crawford. Such comparison in justice to her own talent should end there though, but since she is the first female singer to emerge since Miss Wells’ departure, it seems an inevitable conclusion. Both of these sides are very strong, and only personal preference will decide upon a favourite. Both have the highly individualistic and identifiable characteristics of their composers, and both are handled with ease and charm by Miss Crawford. Excellent value. [Both sides] 4/5”
Dave Godin, Hitsville [U.S.A. 2, 1965]
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Nick said:
At least 8/10. Her potential was enormous. Even to be compared with Tammi shows what promise she had… and Tammi passed away so early… Carolyn could have filled that enormous hole… Letting her go was a big Motown mistake… I really wish they had given her more commercial material
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therealdavesing said:
I hear member of the Temptations on the background. Definitely Eddie Kendricks
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