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Motown M 1074 (A), February 1965
b/w I’m In Love Again
(Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland Jr.)
Tamla Motown TMG 501 (A), March 1965
b/w I’m In Love Again
(Released in the UK under license through EMI / Tamla Motown)
There have been lots of relationship songs written and recorded over the years; indeed, there had already been lots of them recorded by 1965. If it’s funny to think – from our almost wholly uncensored 21st Century bubble, where eye-wateringly explicit lyrical content has been readily available for thirty years to any music fan undaunted by a parental advisory sticker – that there was ever a time when some lyrical concepts were taboo in pop music, it’s also fascinating to realise how brutal the breaking of each of those taboos could be.
Stop! doesn’t feature any swearing, nothing sexually explicit, but it still retains its power to shock here in 2012. Not because it’s about infidelity, not even because it features a female narrator begging for mercy even when she’s the innocent party in all of this. It’s shocking because – wrapped in what’s plainly the Supremes’ best tune to date, an unstoppable earworm of a hook that was only ever destined for the top of the charts – it’s so pragmatic.
With Holland-Dozier-Holland in control, the Supremes had already begun building an entire career out of bouncy, irresistible pop melodies paired with bleak, despairing lyrics. Stop! In The Name Of Love, the Supremes’ first new material in six months, is the magnificent result of pushing both of those things all the way to the very edge.
D-T-M-F-A
Pop music is full of love songs about infidelity, songs where people do the right thing, or where people are implored to do the right thing, or where people regret not having done the right thing. The exact nature of “the right thing” is usually laid out pretty clearly. Cheating is bad. Guys who cheat are no good. If your guy’s cheating on you, stand up for yourself and kick him out. Do you give him another chance? Maybe, if he’s contrite enough, if he’s truly sorry, seen the error of his ways, all that stuff.
Stop! is different. The Supremes’ three previous Holland-Dozier-Holland-penned majestic Number One pop smashes – Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love, Come See About Me – are all sung from the perspective of broken women asking their partners what’s gone wrong, asking them to reconsider – but they’re only scratching the surface compared to Stop!, which is a masterpiece of storytelling, such that we understand these people completely by the time its three minutes are up. The basic message of Stop! isn’t that this narrator’s been badly done to – we know that, it’s taken as read. Rather, the basic message is what happens after it’s all blown up, out in the open, and the love remains, because you’re a woman in a society that doesn’t respect you, because you don’t know what will happen if you end it, because despite it all you still need them to hold you close at night. Not want, need.
It’s a sentiment more common in country music than R&B (Dolly Parton’s Jolene, written ten years later, shares almost the exact same plot); if those other songs are about the politics of relationships, Stop! is the sound of realpolitik, airy high-handed morality cast aside because it’s got nothing to do with the real world, with what’s happening to me, here, now.
As a result, it’s more impressive than any number of teenage love songs – and indeed there’s nothing teenage about this. Even though Diana Ross was barely twenty when Stop! was recorded, I’ve never once taken this as anything other than a grown woman making a last desperate throw of the dice. She’s desperate because she still has needs, both practical and emotional – she knows this guy is still the same guy she fell in love with, and my mind always assumes they’re married, rather than having exchanged class rings at the sock hop or something. If she’d thrown in a line about the kids needing their father, or the bills needing to be paid, it wouldn’t have sounded out of place.
The song’s genesis is well-known, Lamont Dozier blurting out the fateful catchphrase in an attempt to stop his girlfriend walking out after discovering his philandering. It’s not an edifying picture, and yet there’s something about the sheer brass neck of Dozier turning his own plea for another chance – his guilty plea, a glib, jokey reaction to having been caught with his pants down – into the heartfelt pleading of a woman on her knees which strikes me as an act of despicable genius. Consider how easily Dozier’s story could have been turned into a song, from the female perspective, simply recounting those events. “He told me, stop in the name of love / I told him no way, told him we were through…”
Instead, this is far more than a simple transposition; Dozier’s plea for his woman to give him another chance becomes Diana’s plea to her man – Dozier’s character – to think of the consequences and stop screwing around. Stop. It’s all built around that word, stop, that one, heavy, thudding syllable. It starts off as a demand, a tough-hearted ultimatum (forever intertwined with that traffic-cop hand gesture dance, taught to them by the Temptations for British television: choreography on a grand level); we’re introduced to the chorus first, out of context, starting with that one shouted word blasting out of the speakers after an ominous, rumbling organ roll getting louder and louder and louder and then blam, STOP! When the first verse essentially consists of Diana’s narrator telling her guy the game’s up – the backing singers (the Andantes either augmenting or outright replacing Flo and Mary, depending on who you believe) stopping just short of chanting Ha ha, busted!, you could almost take this as a feminist anthem, a wash-that-man-right-outta-my-hair screed. (Tempting to wonder how many listeners over the years have interpreted the song in precisely that way.) And he’d deserve it, too, the bastard.
But this isn’t a song of confidence. Everything about this is sorrow and saving face, such that Diana’s ultimatum quickly falls apart, and the second time we get to the chorus, the emphasis has changed from defiant fury to tearful pleading. The best weapon she’s got up her sleeve is that he’s throwing away a good thing here – can he really be so callous as to be so cavalier with her heart, she who’s given him everything, who’s tied up everything in this relationship, both physically and emotionally?
I’ve often wondered if there’s any difference in the way male and female listeners predict the guy’s response to all this. Me, I’ve never been in any doubt they’re doomed; she’s pouring her entire soul out for a guy who’s probably not even listening.
It just makes it all the more heartbreaking for us, listening to it all unfold, as uncomfortably as hearing the neighbours having a shouting match and turning up the TV to drown them out. Except you’d never turn up the TV to drown this out, because it sounds absolutely sensational.
ON POSTERITY VERSUS ICONOCLASM (OR YOUR OWN PRETENTIOUS HEADING HERE)
Okay. Time for a break, and a quick digression.
Some of you will be rolling your eyes at this point, I’m guessing. I can almost hear regular reader Rhine Ruder (that’s hard to say) groaning as he or she reads this, so I feel I should explain a little more. I love Stop! In The Name Of Love because it’s just a phenomenal piece of work – as so often with really good Motown, everyone involved is at the top of their game – and yet because this is so very famous (more than one source calls this the Supremes’ signature song, not to mention it being the very first record released on the UK Tamla Motown label), there’s a kind of wheels-within-wheels situation going on here.
“This is great and if you like Motown you must like it”, goes the general drift of critical opinion, leading to an instinctive reaction against that notion of pre-approved, predetermined greatness, to show you’re still an individual, that you won’t be dictated to. It’s only natural; I don’t like being told what to do. When I write three thousand words and stick a big coloured number at the end, it’s not an attempt to have the definitive last word, it’s just my own opinion. I’m every bit as keen to hear yours.
What it boils down to is that this site, these reviews – almost 550 of them now, taking me more than three years to write – are personal to me, based out of my own individual reaction to these sides. I didn’t really discover Motown until I was well into my twenties, hadn’t ever heard a good sixty per cent of the material on The Complete Motown Singles box sets before buying them, and until I started digging deeper and doing the research which led to this site, I didn’t really have any preconceived ideas as to which of these songs were the Beloved Timeless ClassicsTM and which of them were widely loathed or long-forgotten.
Which means that sometimes, I’ll seem to be almost deliberately contrary – giving out big marks to I Want A Guy, Dream Come True, Strange I Know or Oh Little Boy, just because they moved me that way, ranking them ahead of apparent favourites like Come See About Me, The Way You Do The Things You Do or Dancing In The Street. But other times, I’ll appear to be following that historical narrative, some kind of twisted Motown version of manifest destiny that implores us to consider each sacred cow as an undisputed cultural touchstone. And out come the top marks, a parade of hits you’ll find on any Motown oldies compilation: Please Mr Postman, My Guy, Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love, My Girl… Stop! In The Name Of Love.
But know this, readers. If I give something a ten, it’s because I really, really like it. The tens are my personal 50-track Motown mixtape, my solid gold Motown playlist, and nothing gets on that list without winning my heart first. Disagree all you like (I mean that, I really enjoy hearing other viewpoints), but I’m never going to be swayed by what others tell me I should love – and I’m never going to knowingly indulge in pointless iconoclasm for its own sake, like giving Stop! anything less than top marks just to say I’d been able to thumb my nose at the dread forces of consensus.
Oh, this is getting a ten, by the way, if you’d not already worked that out.
Anyway. Enough about me, let’s get back to the Supremes.
INFATUATION
It’s a great tune, though, isn’t it? I mean, the STOP! bit is the hook to end all hooks, but even leaving that aside, the whole record is just a beautiful melody, a masterclass in organ and bass, great waves of music crashing down like a thousand gallon drum of tears at Diana’s feet.
It’s an obvious continuation of the template begun on Where Did Our Love Go and the accompanying album, but an evolution rather than a simple retread: the first glimpse the public got of the new material featured on the follow-up LP, the modestly (but entirely accurately) titled More Hits by the Supremes, pictured right, and everyone involved – the band, the producers, and the girls themselves – ups the ante for the new year.
Melding the recognisable verse/chorus song structure from Come See About Me with the driving power and heartache of Baby Love, but somehow twisting them around that astounding lyric to create an even better song, this is genius writ large. There aren’t many songs that work equally well as a bellowed, drunken hen-party karaoke staple and a contemplative, melancholy, sitting on the windowsill at 4am with your headphones on kind of reflection, but this has everything.
It’s lucky this has such a strong tune, because it serves as a distraction from having to consider the kind of otherwordly magical skill it takes to transition from the tear-stained verses, Diana again nailing the emotional connection of her character to the audience:
I’ve known of your
Your secluded nights
I’ve even seen her, maybe once or twice
(honestly, you’d need a heart of stone not to be moved by it)
…and going straight into the most anthemic chorus Holland-Dozier-Holland had yet put together, and I say this coming straight off the back of reviewing Nowhere To Run? I mean, just imagine being another writer-producer at Motown in February 1965, doing your absolute best, creating some great records, and then watching helplessly as HDH put out these two singles, back to back… it doesn’t bear thinking about.
I do worry that, as we make our way through Motown’s mid-Sixties Golden Age, readers might begin to find the liberal sprinkling of top marks and the long reviews made up of gushing praise starting to feel a bit repetitive. For that, I can’t apologise; Motown made some of my favourite records during these years, and – this being one of them – I don’t hope to make you feel the same way, only to make you see how I feel about them. And, quite honestly, I feel this is a masterpiece.
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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It’s hard to pick a favorite Supremes hit. As a kid it was this one, As an adult it’s WDOLG. In any case, Stop will always rank a 10/10 with me. 1965 was indeed arguably Motown’s best year for quality releases.
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Thanks Mickey.
It’s odd, because I’d never say “The Supremes are my favourite Motown group”, and yet they’re going to wind up with more 10s – i.e. more tracks in my personal Motown 50 – than anyone else. Hell, they’ve already had four of them, and my favourite Supremes songs are both still yet to come. I’ve always thought the Supremes were best enjoyed in small, delicious doses, rather than trying to absorb the musical equivalent of downing an entire box of chocolate truffles in two minutes; I wonder if listening to the songs in isolation, surrounded by Motown’s other releases at the time, in order, rather than as track 11 of a greatest hits compilation or something, might skew the results a bit?
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Not your favorite Motown Group, but the get the most 10s from you Steve D. this just proves the greatness of The Supremes! lol
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This just proves the greatness of Holland-Dozier-Holland! lol
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LOL let’s agree to say the GREATNESS of both!
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That’s OK with me.
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My favorite Supremes song hands down. I went crazy for Where did Our Love Go, but when this came out I carried the 45 with the record sleeve everywhere I went including choir practice to show my girls off. Love em!
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Don’t apologise, or even apologize; totally with you! 😉
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Thanks EGP, it’s much appreciated 🙂
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I remember I was home sick from school that day, probably one of my chronic earaches that came like clockwork in the winter, when Joe Niagra on WIBG (Philadelphia) played this for the first time. That evening, I gave up all television to listen to Hy Lit’s evening, 6 to 10 program to hear it again … and he didn’t play it. One of the few times -but extremely memorable- that Lit ever disappointed me.
Of course, I’d have the record (and that gorgeous picture sleeve) by that weekend, and never ever be without it again. During its two week run at the top of Billboard is when I turned 11.
Great as all the first four No. 1 Supremes singles are, maybe it’s the content of them that makes “Back In My Arms Again” my favorite of the memorable royal flush from Motown 1060 to Motown 1075. With “Arms,” finally finally this singer that has me totally under her power and in love with her too is no longer in romantic distress, at last triumphant and “so satisfied.”
But “Stop” is a powerful, indispensible step toward that reward. Motown got me at my most suggestible age, and if a psychiatrist told me that my every romantic success and failure in life could be traced to some Motown song, I wouldn’t doubt him or her for moment. The Ladies of Motown were my teachers in romance and love, and that’s one classroom I never missed a day of. 🙂
You did it proud, Nixon! God bless you and keep you healthy.
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Thanks, Dave, as always – for all that you keep asking me to turn this into a book, you’re well on the way to writing your own personal track-by-track Supremes memoir in its own right, and I always really enjoy reading your comments.
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No dissent here – I agree with your excellent commentary on the Stop in the Name of Love masterpiece – and I sincerely appreciate all you with Motown Junkies – thank you.
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Not at all – thank you for reading, and for the kind words!
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From that wonderful organ glissando at the beginning – perhaps comparable in its effect to the clarinet glissando at the beginning of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue? – to that glorious cry of ‘Stop!’ and everything which follows- this is indeed a masterpiece. LIke Dave (but ten years older!) I still remember every detail (well, perhaps not EVERY detail) of my life associated with this song (and with the wonderful More Hits album) – I was in New Haven for the summer, studying Chinese, sharing an apartment and making my first tentative experiments in cooking – so the smell of too much oregano is burnt permanently into ‘Stop!’ – it’s that sort of song; it stamps its flavour on everything surrounding it. Bravo for picking out that poignant moment ‘I’ve even seen her maybe once or twice…’ – By the way Dave, I think I’ve expressed reservations about ‘Back In My Arms Again’ – but the song has been working its way back into my heart over the past few months; consider those reservations cancelled. And a final note: I remember that Joan Baez inserted it into her concerts as a protest against the expansion of the Vietnam War!
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Although “Where Did Our Love Go” is my all-time favorite Supremes track, there are many that come very close, and this, of course, is one of them. As you point out, it is so iconic now (you can’t hear it without visualizing the girls doing their traffic cop hand gesture) that it seems to have always existed. I had the pleasure of seeing Lamont Dozier sing this at a songwriter’s concert in Los Angeles about eight years ago, and he prefaced it with the story of how he got the title during the argument with his girlfriend. (I found him the best thing in the show, but the older audience preferred the more “traditional” songwriters such as Alan Bergman and Arthur Hamilton.) In 1965 I remember saving my allowance and rushing out to buy “More Hits By the Supremes”. I loved the album and its great cover, but I regretted for many years not having the 45s in my collection!
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Agree! The cover is great and iconic as well.
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We’re not the only ones who know it’s iconic. Look at the obvious mash-up of More Hits and A Go-Go that Dreamgirls dared in 2008. Forty years earlier, how fast would Motown’s lawyers be sending out the threatening letters?
http://littleurl.info/1f1
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Yep! I remember when the movie came out Miss Ross said she hadn’t seen it, but if she did it would have to be with her lawyer. LMAO! All of the album covers they use in Dreamsgirls are rip offs, but isn’t that the whole movie? Funny thing is even though I know this I still love the music lol
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The production design of that whole movie is just sensational, and packed with easter eggs for Motown aficionados. The album cover for whatever their version of “Cream Of The Crop” is called is the best one, though I can’t find a picture of it right now.
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Yes, the wardrobe was also sensational as well. I know exactly which album cover you are referring to I watch the movie all the time and I would agree that cover is their best one as far as spot on value is concerned.
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I’d give this a 10/10 as well; and it’s not even in my Top 10 Motown records of the year. What a great year for Motown 1965 was!
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It really, really was. Thanks 144man.
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Whoop whoop! I’ve been waiting for a Supremes song to pop up and boy did this catch me off guard. With no anticipation of “Stop” being reviewed this is an unexpected pleasant surprise on a beautiful Saturday morning = )
“Stop” is one of those songs that never gets old. When I saw Miss Ross in February of this year THIS was the song that got everyone in the audience singing and doing those famous hand gestures. Now that I think about when I first became a Ross fan at the age of 11 this was the 1 song I already knew all the words to. Lol.
Steve D. called this a MASTERPIECE & gave it a 10/10 this must be his Christmas gift to me lol. Steve. D I love the mini history lesson you gave in the beginning…it really helps you younger readers to put things in proper context.
Now let me really put my 2 cents in on why I think this song is BRILLIANT besides the universal catchy chorus. 1 thing I love most about the song is the opening. The whole thing is very soap opera, but I guess Lamont Dozier had to be a dramatic guy to even say anything like “Stop! In the Name of Love” in the first place. Lol. 2nd HDH were really on a hot streak and this is/was one of their best songs to date. The third verse is my favorite: I’ve tried so hard to be patient/Hoping you’ll stop this infatuation/But each time you are together/I’m so afraid of losing you forever. The fear! The fear! Lol. 3rd in case any of you Junkies haven’t noticed this song opens with those same 2 “baby baby” as “Where Did Our Love Go” another ground breaking Motown track. 4th those background tracks are FIERCE! 5th I love the adlib Miss Ross does at the end, you know the “ooo think it over baby/ooo baby think it over” “Stop” is just a great song! I love how Diana would sing this song in a hiccup manner in the late 60s when they performed live.
From my rant I guess it is clear to see that I don’t see how anyone could possibly dislike this song. And for those persons that do I suggest you listen to the acapella of this song.
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You’re right on about the opening, Damecia – I’ve been thinking about how so many Motown songs begin with an unforgettable, indelible gesture – it could be the first statement of a hook, as in ‘I’m Losin’ You’ , ‘Truly Yours’ , ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’ – it could be a sort of instrumental ritornello, acting as a kind of supplementary refrain, as in ‘Reach Out’ and ‘Come Round Here’ – or it could be something which only happens once, as in this song’s glorious upward swoop towards the word ‘Stop’ – in all cases, the song announces its power and presence with the assurance of Beethoven.
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If there’s one practical point about that swift, sliding organ intro, it left jive-talking AM deejays no room to run their mouths over the intro, as they were too happy to do to “Heat Wave” or the next Supremes hit in line.
As for the intros to “You Keep Me Hanging On” and “Bernadette,” I thought they were brilliantly designed to mimic what HDH took for the alarm jingles that would precede an AM station’s break-in news bulletins. Smart thinking to both of them, and head turners.
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Oh wow, nice insight Dave L.
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Thanx John = )
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Have to say that when I first heard this song, the beginning disappointed me. I wanted drums or handclaps, an intro that grabbed my attention, like Where Did Our Love Go etc. Having said that I now think the intro is brilliant and could not imagine any other way to announce the first Stop! Love this record and I love the way everyone knows it instantly and knows the lyrics. I was in Las Vegas and saw a group called Human Nature doing a Motown tribute act and when they did this song the whole place stood up and did the hand gestures! It was awesome and made me realize what an impact Motown has had on generations. Love, love, love Diana Ross.
In my opinion no one has been able to sound like her to this day. Thank you for the great review. 10 for sure.
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Hi Richard! I agree with everything you said especially the bit about Miss Ross at the end = )
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Another reason why this is the golden age of Motown, and that all lovers of the music never want it to end, is that Diana’s voice is still new, still has undeniable innocence, and the ‘cry’ in her singing is as sincere as it gets. Another favorite of mine, “It’s All Your Fault” gets recorded in the time span between “Stop” and “Arms,” and would eventually be stripped and refashioned into the equally-good “Mother Dear.” “It’s All Your Fault” wouldn’t get released until 1986.
But really, all the tracks that eventually make their way into More Hits -and a good many from the same period we wouldn’t get till later- are The Supremes at their very best. And I mean all three. All of them are clearly happy, joyous and confident in their success, and I doubt the order to HDH to move Ballard further from the mike had come yet. Author J. Randy Taraborelli refers to Ross in this period as “the Pied Piper of her generation,” and that’s no exaggeration. More Hits is the first album I ever owned, and I’ve never been without it.
We don’t ‘do’ albums here, and while A Bit Of Liverpool and Sing Country Western and Pop make me groan more than smile, I’ll argue against harsh criticism of We Remember Sam Cooke. “You Send Me” opens the album breezily and gently and makes it a pleasure to stay for all the rest. “Cupid” is so adorably romantic it could have been a successful single. Male or female, you’ll want embrace Ross the way she winds down “Wonderful World” with that ‘oh la da da da da ummm-hmmmm‘ and Florence’s assured rendition of “Ain’t That Good News” is the best solo she was allowed on any Motown record. (It’ll actually make you angry that Florence was asked to spin gold out of a dog like “Buttered Popcorn.”) If Hipo Select gets around to spending attention on the group’s non-HDH material, we should all hope they focus on Cooke.
If our host ends up dropping half of all his fifty ’10s’ in 1965, I wouldn’t be at all surprised. I might be willing to trade back five years of my life to relive 1965 again.
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It’s going to end up looking something like that, yes…
However, Dave, I have some news you and Damecia may be pleased about. Don’t know if you remember, but I decided a while ago to include the UK Tamla Motown EPs in this project, which IIRC actually only adds five “extra” tracks – there’s a Stevie Wonder B-side, and then there’s the Supremes’ 1966 EP “Shake!”, a glorified sampler for We Remember Sam Cooke which I recently acquired. So you’ll have a chance to talk some more about “Ain’t That Good News” yet 🙂
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Yippie! This is the best news I’ve heard all day = )
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Yes! Preach on brother Dave L = ). I completely agree with everything you just wrote/said even though I actually prefer “Mother Dear” over “It’s All Your Fault.” I’m not sure if we will get the chance to discuss “Who Could Ever Doubt My Love” or “He’s All I Got” two wonderful tracks from this album that are also some of my personal Supremes favorite. And IMO there isn’t a bad track on the We Remember Sam Cooke album. I just love the way Miss Ross pronounced “darling” in “You Send Me”. Also I just adore the J Randy shout out Dave L. I always say “Call Her Miss Ross” is my second bible lol.
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Damecia, “Who Could Ever Doubt My Love” is a GREAT song from “More Hits” and also the B side to ” I Hear A Symphony”..”He’s All I Got” is from the “Symphony” LP and is the B side of ” Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart”…Another great Motown HDH production!!!
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No doubt we’ll also be discussing the merits of Brenda Holloway’s original version of WCEDML as a comparison.
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Indeed, although only as an aside – after the Supremes, the only other Motown version to be used on a single was the Isley Brothers’.
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Yes again, the Isley Brothers from their ” This Old Heart Of Mine” LP is the same backing track for Brenda Holloway and The Supremes..I do have the Isley Brothers single..
I saw in Las Vegas a few years ago a female impersonator doing The Supremes version of “Who Could Ever”…It’s a good song no matter what!!
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Yes! So we Junkies will discuss among ourselves…yippie lol = )
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Amen! “Ain’t That Good News” is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard.
Sam Cooke + Florence Ballard = One of the Best Supremes Recordings Ever
Sorry for being cheesy.
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Just for fun–I’m thinking of a number one Non-Motown record from 1965 that definitiey HAS a Motown influence in the beat..which one am I thinking of ???? [topped the US charts]
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My first impulse after looking them all over would be “Game of Love” by Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders and/or “This Diamond Ring” by Gary Lewis & the Playboys. But the Stones loved Motown too, and “Satisfaction” and “Get Off My Cloud” are kickass good records. I’m presuming Herman’s Hermits are safely ruled out…. The Four Seasons’ “Let’s Hang On” is said to nod deeply to Motown but it peaked at No. 3 on Billboard. Tough one…. 🙂
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The Toys – Lover’s Concerto? It’s kind of Motown-lite. I liked it at the time but tired of it quickly.
Another one that didn’t make it to no. 1 (although I suspect it was in Philadlephia) but I ‘m pretty sure was 2 or 3, was Len Barry’s 1-2-3. As was mentioned, it is patterned after Ask Any Girl (one of my favorite Supreme B Sides) but they really hit with that Motown beat and it still sounds good to me. It seemed in the fall of ’65 the whole world was either going Motown or Bob Dylan. Heck, even the Stones were saying that Satisfaction was patterned after the bass line of Nowhere To Run.
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Oh wow, didn’t know that about the Stones, but I hear it now.
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Lover’s Concerto is Bach’s Minuet in G with a beat added to each measure – a staple of first-year piano. I enjoyed the Toys’ singing more than the song itself, and the follow-up (called Stop, if memory serves!) more than the LC – which relies rather too heavily on repeated upward transpositions to make its effect.
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John: The follow up was called Attack. And, yeah, those modulations in LC really wear thin quickly.
Also worth mentioning is that shortly after A Lover’s Concerto came out H-D-H and the Supremes hit back with the infinitely superior I Hear A Symphony. I’m sure it was just coincidence (it had to be recorded long before LC was released) but it was a delightful coincidence.
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Lovers Concerto was one of those songs that was simply made for singing in the shower after gym class – also Chapel of Love. But SITNOL is in a class by itself. As for the song that Ed Pauli is thinking of, I’m darned if I know, (Satisfaction is my best guess) but I’m looking forward to finding out! And I’d also like to know how Mrs. Brown stayed at #1 for THREE WHOLE WEEKS???
Happy Election Day to my fellow Americans – don’t froget to vote!
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Hi Miss Mary! I voted = )
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I woke up at 10 before noon on the 6th, and before I even had half a cup of coffee in me, off to the polls I was to reelect the president. Obama ultimately carried Virginia -which surprised me happily- but Romney, by far, won my county.
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I thought the follow up was “Attack”?
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wow….Well what can I say about this song
First the opening when you hear that opening you already know your in for something good…..
The harmonies by the girls are excellent
My favorite part has to be the baby think it over when diana is saying it while you hear the girls in the background it’s brilliant and haunting
other than that I really love this song! and I think when you think about the girls you think about Stop in the name of love and the traffic stop hand movements
It became a signature for the supremes and their legacy
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Lol that’s also my favorite part.
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I like it too. 🙂
Now, since you indulged in a digression, I think I will too.
It stopped me cold when you defensively admitted that you only knew 40% of the tracks on Complete Singles prior to purchasing the boxes.
I.e. you ONLY knew about 650 tracks released on 45’s.
JEEZ! I lived through the era, and was listening to pop radio obsessively and
daily by 1959 (and continued to through 1970. Yet, I’d be surprised if I knew
even 10% of them prior to obtaining the boxes. That’s about 160 tracks spread out over about a decade and that sounds about right. Of course, my exposure was
entirely via the radio. Even at that, those 16-or-so tracks per year were a huge chunk of what was best about pop radio in the decade, at least 10% of the reason why I listened (considering my catholic taste that really is huge). I hail from the San Francisco Bay Area. Let me give you an idea of what a presence Motown was in the U.S. In ’64 the Beatles burst into the U.S. scene. They dominated pop radio all that year in an amazing way, quite tragic really for all other artists struggling for exposure.
this is an unresearched impression based on fifty year old memories, but my sense is that in ’64 about 1/3 of all radio play was Beatles, another 1/3 was Motown artists, and the other 1/3 of broadcast time was everybody else!! As I say, these statistics may be way way off the mark, but this is the sense I get as I try to remember the era. And that in itself speaks for itself, at least on a personal level, for the impact these records had at the time.
By the way, speaking of the Complete Singles boxes: one of the pleasures I got from the sets was hearing the regional version of Shop Around, more relaxed, more natural-sounding, less processed-sounding, more swinging. Another unexpected pleasure was hearing the original take of Stop! In the name of love, in which the “STOP!” is not on the one, but is syncopated. I actually prefer the original but wouldn’t argue it on the merits. I really don’t think the well known version is come kind of “white-ning” of the opening. It just makes a slightly different impression. Heck maybe tomorrow I’ll change my mind and decide I like the released version better after all. Nonetheless it is such a pleasure to hear these little alternate versions.
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Michael, you’re making me feel much better – I thought I was soooo smart, until I started reading this blog and realizing how very many of these artists – not to mention songs – were completely new to me!
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That 40% figure is a total guess rather than a mathematical deduction, I’ve no idea what the real figure would be – but yes, although I came late to Motown, once I got there (like the titular Junkie) I hoovered up as much as I could get my hands on, mainly via British compilations and single-artist anthologies/rarities sets, and converting them to mp3 makes things a lot easier; as a result I’ve known a lot of these songs already, which is probably considerably more than I’d have been able to do as a listener in the 1960s. There are still great big yawning gaps in my knowledge, though, so who knows, really? My point was that I don’t mean to hold myself out as some kind of self-appointed “expert”.
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somehow missed this review, nixon! you are right. i am thinking “stop! in the name of love” … a ten?! way too obvious … especially when the super excellent “back in my arms again”, and the always forgotten and rockin’ “nothing but heartaches” are coming up in short order. if they don’t get a ten, you are gonna be hearing from me! where are the connoisseurs out there? i really do think there is a different way of hearing these if you were a motown freak when these were issued, rather than becoming one after. as always, though we disagree … keep up this wonderful epic project!
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Neither of them is getting a ten, so have your angry barbs at the ready 🙂
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Can’t add anything new here. Agree it is a wonderful song. Nice commentary Mr. Nixon. Do hope you are well!
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Thanks Landini, right back at you. We’re all pulling for you.
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No Andantes on this song. Just Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard, and honey chile, I like it like that. (puns intended, and if you don’t laugh, I’ll have nothing but heartaches)
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LMAO! This is cute!
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I wish there were no Andantes on this song, but there was one. If you listen to the DMF version on the box set from 2000, it’s like night and day on the chorus. Marlene Barrow (I think) was called in to beef up the backgrounds on the chorus. The rest of the song is just Mary and Flo.
Also for further comparison, listen to the end of the song on the #1’s CD. The fadeout goes on longer than in the released version, with the instruments fading out and the voices continuing a capella. No way is that just two voices. So, although Gordy and HDH rarely called in any extra troops on a Supremes record at that time, this is apparently the first major hit that does have one extra voice. I’d include “Lovelight,” but although I’m fairly certain that Barrow is on that one, I don’t know definitely, and you might hesitate to call that one a major hit anyway.
There are several non-releases, B-sides, and album cuts that include at least Marlene Barrow in the background, I’m pretty sure. I’d say “Crossroads of Love” is one.
I’d love to hear other opinions on this subject!
Robert
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If there is an Andante on the chorus as you say (and you’re probably right, the more I think about it), I don’t think it would be Marlene Barrow. The “third voice” is deeper, more gutsy (for lack of a better word) than Ms. Barrow’s. I think it’s Jackie Hicks.
P.S. The only extra voices on “Lovelight” (I believe) are the Four Tops and H-D-H, who do the growl before the instrumental break. No Andantes.
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Upon listening to the isolated vocals of “Stop!…” I must agree with you that Marlene Barrow (and perhaps the rest of the Andantes) are on this recording along with the Supremes. You’ve got great ears, sir. Better than mine.
P.S. I know that by now, I’m probably notorious for for being incredibly stubborn on things I’m not sure of, and then quickly flip-flopping when I find out I am wrong, so this is going to be the last thing I’ll say on this subject before I make a fool of myself.
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I’ve only just noticed this review had entirely the wrong catalogue number sat up there for over a month. Oops.
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I was listening today to the Supremes box set, and was surprised to notice for the first time (and I’ve been hearing this song since its initial release!) that “Stop! In the Name of Love” features what sounds like it might be two basses. One of the parts sounds like a typical James Jamerson bass part, with his usual artful mix of notes and empty space, and the other, which comes in only sporadically, consists of straight eighth notes (or quavers, if you prefer!). This second part is in a range that fits in the overlap between the guitar and bass ranges, so it might be played on guitar rather than bass; if so, it’s a rather unusual guitar part.
I searched online to see if I could find any mention of there having been two basses on this session. I could imagine two basses either on some of the Spectoresque 1963 Motown releases, with their undifferentiated mass of instruments, or perhaps on some late ’60s Norman Whitfield sessions, but it seems uncharacteristic to me that a hit release from Motown’s mid-’60s glory years would feature the unusual presence of a second bass.
Anyway, I found nothing except the following:
http://bassmusicianmagazine.com/2011/01/art-vista-presents-groovemaster-the-tony-newton-bass-libraries/
“While at Motown playing from time to time with the “Funk Brothers,” [Tony Newton] left his trademark of solid, hard driving, and deftly clever grooves on such timeless hits as “Where Did Our Love Go,” “Baby Love,” “Stop In The Name Of Love,” “Nowhere to Run,” “ABC,” “Never Can Say Goodbye,” “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” and many others. A little known fact is that Newton and James Jamerson played together as two basses on these Motown hits.”
Honestly, this claim seems preposterous to me. On most of these records (except the last three, on which Jamerson didn’t play at all), it clearly sounds like Jamerson is the only bassist. Two basses would probably have cluttered things up and ruined the groove. I suspect that Newton might be padding his resume a bit. (Not quite as ludicrous as Bernard Purdie’s famous claim that he played drums on several early Beatles records, though!)
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Oh wow, your comments open up a can of worms for me. Carol Kaye, now-legendary bassist with The Wrecking Crew (a name she claims did not exist when they all played together) insists she played on several of the early Supremes hits. She is most, um, disagreed with when she claims she played the bass line on “You Can’t Hurry Love.” I think her stand is that she and the other musicians in California played the instrumental tracks, the tapes of which were flown to Detroit to add the vocals and whatever else. She offers, as documentation, a copy of a 1963 Billboard magazine blurb about Motown opening an office in Los Angeles.
Whatever the case, I don’t think L.A. musicians did much on Motown records until late ’66. I’d bet that “Love is Here and Now You’re Gone” was cut in L.A., signalling the end of The Supremes’ and most other Motown artists’ Detroit recording careers.
Oh, another thing about Carol Kaye: She claims to this day that she played bass on Stevie Wonder’s “I Was Made to Love Her.” That, along with the YCHL claim makes bass aficinados’ heads explode.
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“Oh, another thing about Carol Kaye: She claims to this day that she played bass on Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Was Made to Love Her.’ That, along with the YCHL claim makes bass aficinados’ heads explode.”
The Four Tops’ “Bernadette” as well.
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Interesting that this should come up when the very next review I’m working on is a Supremes record where there’s actually a legitimate chance Carol Kaye is playing (“Things Are Changing”) – albeit guitar rather than bass, according to her own comments.
Anyway. This is a topic that rears its head semi-regularly over on Soulful Detroit, but I don’t think we’ve dealt with it here on Motown Junkies before, so it’s probably a good time to lay out the facts as I see them.
Carol Kaye is a legend, genuinely one of the all-time greats; much like Phil Spector, regardless of your opinion of her as a person, no conversation about 20th Century pop music would be complete without mentioning her work. And there’s little doubt she did play bass on a number of Motown hits, and many dozens more non-hits.
But her claims to the Motown basslines she claims as her own are, frankly, bollocks. Her claims only seem to have crystallised in the mid-80s, when Allen Slutsky, while writing “Standing In The Shadows Of Motown” (the book, not the film), contacted her to make sure he wasn’t accidentally treading on her toes by misattributing any of her work to James Jamerson.
Slutsky, knowing she’d done some Motown work, asked her which tracks she’d played on, and received a list of practically every Motown hit single of the 1960s. He did some more research – stating that if her story panned out, he’d make the book about her rather than Jamerson – and wrote up his research and conclusions here. For me, this is very convincing re: the whole “bollocks” issue. Particularly damning are the signed affidavits from Brian Holland and Henry Cosby; the whole thing is well worth a read, but some highlights from Slutsky’s piece as follows give a flavour of what we’re dealing with:
“…The songwriting-production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland attested to the fact that James Jamerson played on almost every one of their productions, and they never allowed others to produce songs that they had written. Brian Holland signed a notarized affidavit categorically stating that “Bernadette”, “Reach Out”, “Can’t Help Myself”, “Keep Me Hanging On”, “Standing in the Shadows of Love”, “Reflections”, “Baby Love”, “Back In My Arms Again”, “Come See About Me”, and “Can’t Hurry Love”, (all tunes claimed by Carol) were in fact, played by James Jamerson. Most damning was his statement that he had never even heard of Carol Kaye…
…Smokey Robinson who wrote or produced probably 30-40 percent of Motown’s biggest hits also denied that she had any major role in the Motown story, and had no part at all on the songs in question…
…The performance credit that Carol has pursued with the greatest tenacity over the years is the bass part on Stevie Wonder’s “I Was Made to Love Her”. Hank Cosby who co-wrote, produced it, and who, in his own words, “was there every step of the way from the writing of the song to the day the 45’s were shipped”, vehemently denied any participation by Carol Kaye on this recording. Cosby added, “Fifty percent of the song was James Jamerson’s bass line. No one played like that but Jamerson.” Cosby also signed an affidavit similar to Brian Holland’s attesting to Jamerson’s performance…”
Pretty damning.
Years later, in 2000, Slutsky then penned a follow-up article, (optimistically) entitled The Final Chapter, after Carol (unsuccessfully) sued him and the web host of the above piece. Again, it’s well worth a read in full, but here are some of the killer lines:
“…Hitsville’s studio band the Funk Brothers (including keyboardists Earl Van Dyke, Johnny Griffith, and Joe Hunter; guitarists Joe Messina, Robert White, and Eddie Willis; percussionist Jack Ashford, and bassist Bob Babbit) vehemently denied her story since they were on the same sessions as Jamerson. I interviewed numerous West Coast musicians that Carol claimed played on her alleged West Coast Motown dates, including drummers Earl Palmer and Hal Blaine, percussionist Jerry Steinholtz and others. They all recalled playing numerous Motown sessions with Carol but none of them backed up her claims to the songs in question. Earl Palmer for instance recalled working with her behind a Motown act called The Lewis Sisters (not exactly the Four Tops or the Temptations) but that’s all he could substantiate…
…Numerous Motown producers including Johnny Bristol, Smokey Robinson, Brian Holland, Hank Cosby, Freddie Perren, and Frank Wilson all vehemently denied her claims. Brian who produced and wrote the majority of the songs in question never even heard of her. Hank Cosby who co-wrote “I Was Made To Love Her” (along with songwriter Sylvia Moy who I also interviewed) also said the same thing and supplied us with signed, notarized affidavits attesting to these facts (as did Brian Holland). The West Coast producers, Frank Wilson and Freddie Perren readily admitted Carol did numerous recording dates for Motown… Frank Wilson said specifically that Motown didn’t like the clicky sound of her pick for the straight R&B stuff (I’ll discuss this later on) but she did a great job for them on the other material…
…Paul Riser was the arranger on most of the disputed dates in question’ all cut at Hitsville, and he was always there when one of his charts was being cut. He has no idea who Carol Kaye was, and his eyes light up every time he recounts Jamerson’s studio exploits on songs like “Bernadette,” “Reach Out,” etc. He remembered specific details of the sessions…
…Most damning of all was the Motown studio log. Carol sent me hers thirteen years ago. The dates don’t line up anywhere. When we checked the recording dates of the specific disputed Motown hits she claims to have played on, Carol’s log always was at odds. Instead of playing a Motown date on that specific day, she was with Sonny and Cher, or the Beach Boys, or Nancy Sinatra, or a TV or movie session, etc…”
Slutsky’s last paragraph is pretty much exactly what I’d want to say too; it’s not about dissing Carol, who (let’s say it again) is a genuine legend, but rather about righting a wrong:
“..It is not an opinion that James Jamerson played “Bernadette,” “Reach Out,” “I Was Made To Love Her,” and the dozens of other Motown songs… that are claimed by Carol. It is an uncontestested fact!!! Get over it. She did not play on the original recordings of any of these tunes. She has had thirteen years since my first and only conversation with her to produce some hardcore facts or credible witnesses who back up her claims… If Carol Kaye is your teacher, your idol, your musical hero, I suggest that she remains all of these things to you. Whether she played the Motown bass parts she claims or not, she nevertheless remains a very important figure in the history of the electric bass. But this isn’t about Carol, or Bob Lee, or me. It’s about James Jamerson. A BASS PLAYER magazine article recently referred to Jamerson’s body of work with Motown as the most important single body of bass work in the history of popular music. With the exception of the family he left behind, that legacy is one of the few things he had that was good and untarnished in a very tortured and unhappy life. He paid the price to be deemed the author of those bass lines. To those of you who keep pushing Carol’s Motown agenda, I say this: You are taking that legacy away from James, you are taking it away from history, and you are taking it away from the bass lore that should be handed down to generations of future bassists. Carol has enough credits. Let James keep his.”
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One humorous comment I once read about Carol Kaye goes something like, She played on 10,000 records and claims she played on 20,000. That pretty much says it all.
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I have to admit that I used to believe that Carol Kaye played on “I Was Made to Love Her.” Frankly, things like “affidavits” don’t mean a whole lot to me; after all, what sort of legal consequences would have resulted for Brian Holland or Hank Cosby if they had simply lied, or if their recollections were faulty? I’m guessing “none” – and how would anyone check, anyway?
Based solely on the aural evidence, I just didn’t think the bass on “IWMTLH” sounded like Jamerson’s other work. Also, comparing Stevie Wonder’s recording to the Beach Boys’ later cover version, on which Kaye unquestionably did play bass, the bass parts and execution thereof are so similar that to my ear it goes beyond imitation; it sounds to me like the same player, period.
A notable figure who agreed with my assessment was singer/songwriter Marshall Crenshaw, who was and is somewhat of a pop music historian. At some point I read an article, in Rolling Stone I believe, in which Crenshaw defended at some length his view that Kaye was the bassist on this record. Interestingly, I was just searching online for this article or any quotes from it that I could find, and came upon a 2002 post on the Soulful Detroit Forum by Marshall Crenshaw himself, suggesting that he had changed his mind:
http://soulfuldetroit.com/archives/624/784.html?1023982270
“I used to give her the benefit of the doubt until fairly recently when I picked up some CDs by the great producer/composer David Axelrod. This stuff is really beautiful late ’60s West Coast funk/Jazz with heavy orchestration. Carol Kaye is the credited bassist (with the great Earl Palmer on drums) and you can clearly hear her sound and approach in a funk/R&B context, pick and all. After hearing this, the truth is clear; there’s no way on the face of the Earth that she ever played on a Motown record. A good musician like her isn’t going to suddenly cease to sound like herself and turn into somebody else; nobody’s that ‘versatile.’ So now the question in my mind, and I find it an intriguing one, is Why Did She Start This Stuff in the First Place? Why would she vehemently claim to be responsible for somebody else’s work, then sling around words like ‘racist’ and ‘sexist’ whenever someone questions her claims, which she herself knows to be false? She must have a perverse sense of humor, not to mention various other ‘issues’…”
Anyway, Slutsky cites some compelling evidence, and with Crenshaw, possibly the most notable of the “Carol-ites,” having apparently reversed his position on this issue, it does seem like the smart money is on Jamerson as the bass player on “IWMTLH.” The part is pretty darn fast and clean for a guy who played with only one finger on his right hand, though…
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For “fast and clean,” check out “i”m Glad You Belong to Me,” recorded by Edwin Starr and Blinky on their Gordy LP “Just We Two.” And I’m not saying that’s Carol Kaye in a million years!
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Wow! Very cool bass playing; thanks for the recommendation. I think this sounds more like Jamerson than does “I Was Made to Love Her,” but that hook – the little five-note phrase that he repeats over and over again, landing on different parts of the measure each time – is something I don’t think I’ve heard him (or anyone else!) do elsewhere.
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I’m not an expert on any of this, only a lifelong pop music fan. Before she went all Game of Thrones on me and banished me from her “good ole message board” forever, I asked her if she had played bass on CSAM and “Stop!” She said yes to both. Now, I didn’t specify the original versions or the (for example) TCB medley, but I implied the former. If she meant the former, I don’t believe her. If she meant the latter, of course I believe her.
I’ve just had to resign myself to keeping my personal opinions of her separate from my immense respect for her vast body of excellent work.
Robert
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“Also, comparing Stevie Wonder’s recording to the Beach Boys’ later cover version, on which Kaye unquestionably did play bass, the bass parts and execution thereof are so similar that to my ear it goes beyond imitation; it sounds to me like the same player, period.”
Aaaugh! I should have listened again to both before posting this. They’re more different than I remembered. Wish I could delete that part of my last post!
The Stevie version still doesn’t sound like J.J. to me, though, especially after listening to an instrumental remix with the bass and drums soloed for part of it. Maybe James had an extra cup of coffee that day?…
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I’d just like to touch on the affidavit point – as a lawyer, I think it bears some further explanation.
An affidavit is a sworn statement made under oath. In most jurisdictions, lying under oath in an affidavit is classed as perjury, attracting the same criminal sanctions as lying under oath when taking the stand.
Affidavits are rarely used in court by themselves in common law jurisdictions, but they’re a key aspect of most civil law jurisdictions, and as I understand it, they can usually be adduced as evidence in an open court environment like the US, generally as long as they’re not being used in isolation (i.e. as part of a ball of evidence, rather than as a judo argument in themselves). That’s what they’re meant to be for, even if it rarely happens in practice.
Had Kaye’s lawsuit – which she dropped, if I understand correctly – proceeded to a hearing, it’s highly likely Slutsky would have sought to have those two affidavits adduced, as well as to subpoena other witnesses to make further sworn statements or appear in court.
Had Kaye then been able come up with even one piece of compelling evidence to prove those were lies, which after all is her entire case, both Brian and Hank would have faced the prospect of being sent to prison. The attorney or notary who swore the affidavits would have notified them of this risk before they did it; it’s stretching credibility to believe they were not only so committed to the lie, but also so arrogant and supremely confident that the truth would never come out, that they were prepared to swear to it anyway.
An affidavit, then, is rather more than just a fancy way of saying you stand by your story; it’s saying “This is my story, and I wish you to treat me (for all practical purposes) as though I have stood up in court and repeated it”; it’s not something you casually dick around with just to add weight and gravitas to your argument.
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Thanks for the clarification!
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You can always rely on a lawyer for a tedious and lengthy answer to a throwaway question. It’s what we’re here for, really.
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No, it was genuinely appreciated! And when it comes to “tedious and lengthy answers,” musos are certainly capable of that too…
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Thank You!
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My Thank You was attributed to the Nixon Administration Post regarding Jamerson/Kaye; Hearing the instrumental version of “I Was Made To Love Her” w/ Stevie and Benny Benjamin joking around before the take, I seriously doubt that Carol Kaye was in the room. Now to the song reviewed in this post – Stop! ITNOL (or the faster tempo release of “Nowhere To Run”) marks the beginning of Benny Benjamin’s signature “Every Beat Snare”, unless someone else can peg an earlier release. For me, this is where Motown memories go from grainy B&W to Vivid Color (only figuratively, because TV was still B&W in ’65 lol) It was as if the Motown Starship had left the dock at that moment. Most definitely a “10” IMO.
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The Supremes performing this song on “Hollywood Palace” was burned into my memory, Diana Ross looking incredible that night! My first girlfriend (Kindergarden/1st grade) had eyes like her LOL I remember to this day!
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ummm..Tv was still b & w? i remember Bonanza being in color!! Lol!
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I remember the mid-’60s of my childhood as a transitional time for TV. Some programming was still in monochrome, while other shows were starting to make the switch to color. Bonanza was an early adopter in this regard; from the very first episode in 1959, it was filmed and broadcast in color.
Also, color TVs were expensive, and not every family rushed out and bought one right away. I believe my family acquired its first color set in 1968. Prior to that, I remember on at least one occasion walking with my older brother to a nearby shopping mall to watch “The Adventures of Superman” on the color sets at Macy’s!
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You Americans were miles ahead of us in the UK. We didn’t have any color TV at all until 1967 and then it was only a couple of hours a week on the then specialist BBC 2 channel which was only broadcast on 625 lines and many people only had 405 sets. Even as late as 1970 only about 25 percent was in color and the cheapest color set then was equivalent to about 7500 UK pounds now. Most working class Brits didn’t get a color set until the mid seventies, 10 years or more after you in the USA.
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Yep – I remember my family getting their first colour TV some time in the mid-Eighties.
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Yes, I remember colour TV coming to Holland in 1967. And, while I was traveling in Berlin that summer, they were having an international convention to introduce colour TV, and all the hotels were filled. The city’s people opened their homes up to house the extra travelers. I ended in the home of an SS officer’s widow, with photos on the wall show Adolf Hitler decorating him with medals. Pretty spooky for a Jew who lost half his family to the Nazi death camps. Wow! Nix! No colour TV till the mid ’80s! Sounds like me, not getting a personal computer until 2003, and not getting a mobile phone until 2013! And, Bonanza in colour in 1959! I thought colour TV didn’t start until mid 1960. Speaking of Bonanza, my mother used to date Lorne Greene. He was one of the great announcers on CBC before going to USA. He gave me a carved wooden lion from Africa, which I still have. I bet that none of you knew that he was Jewish.
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I was 5 years old when this came out, and I remember hearing it blasting out of my elder brother’s bedroom and loving it. This record, probably more than any other Motown record, made me want to discover where it had come from, and what else came from the same place. It is a journey that, 50 years later still amazes me with each new discovery I make from listening to Motown records. Long may it continue.
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First, endless thanks for getting me to really pay attention to the lyrics. I’ve always loved how every syllable of this song SOUNDS, and felt the emotional conviction of her delivery, but you’ve opened up a whole new avenue of appreciation for me with your “storytelling” angle.
Second, as you say: “the STOP! bit is the hook to end all hooks”.
And it’s such a hook for the ages that this song couldn’t possibly be less than a 10/10 even in the absence of a bridge, which would have truly made it the ne plus ultra. The title hook – aside from being a celestial marriage of lyrics, melody, chords and groove – is the best example yet of that harmonic innovation I keep blathering on about – the idea of chords with something other than the key note in the bass.
If you play guitar or piano, try playing Ami, G, F, G as you sing “stop … in the name of love … before you break my heart”. Playing a normal G chord fits, but it cuts the very heart out of the phrase. Now put a big loud B note under the G chord. Voilà. Pure Magic. A triad with the third in the bass is common in gospel (but not in this particular combination), but is nowhere to be found in the “Great American Songbook”. And the melody note on “name” (A) isn’t in a G chord. If you play a big B in the bass and a chord made up of G, D, A – it’s just a transcendent chord – especially for 1965.
In other words – the G/B isn’t just a nice arranging touch – it’s absolutely essential and it comes at the emotional climax of the whole record.
Also, the “STOP!” of the “stop in the name of love” hook comes on the first backbeat, just as it does in How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You, so here’s an example of Motown’s recycling program producing something of geometrically greater value (and I love HSIITBLBY). (In the intro, “stop” comes right on “1” – but the other occurrences are on the backbeat).
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On Carol Kaye & James Jamerson – wow – what a fascinating discussion above! That link to Slutsky’s article is really interesting. Here’s a key line:
“Carol herself admits that she never recorded in Detroit.”
Are there any recordings where there’s any doubt as to the city?
If you watch the Wrecking Crew documentary (not bad), she seems to play exclusively with a pick, while in the videos I’ve seen of JJ he strictly uses his fingers. She’s a converted guitarist and he’s a converted contrabassist.
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I think this is one of the better Supremes’ songs, with fabulous HDH background tracks. I’d give it a 9. “10” should be reserved for perfect songs. I think this is short of perfect.
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Got another nice eBay deal in the mail today, that I just opened. The draw among its contents was a beautiful picture sleeve to “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” that I haven’t owned since the teen years. The record too, and a beautiful RCA pressing it is, plus two nearly immaculate vinyl (not styrene) copies of “Stop!”. No oldies drill holes in any of them. Easily worth it at $23.78, and whoever owned them previously regarded them like jewels. 🙂
Next, I need a backup copy, and as pristine as can be found, of “Reflections,” so that that ‘beep-beep’ intro is as clean as can be. The happy hunting goes on.
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