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VIP 25016 (A), May 1965
b/w Tell Me
(Written by Berry Gordy and Barney Ales)
First things first, this isn’t Richard “Popcorn” Wylie making a return to Motown. Not only does it sound nothing like him (in fact, if we’re going to compare it to any early Motown figure from the distant past, it’s more like Andre Williams – with a bonus dash of James Brown thrown in), but the compilers of The Complete Motown Singles: Volume 5 asked him outright, playing him a copy of Buttered Popcorn for good measure which elicited no recognition. It ain’t him, folks.
That aside, the Vows appear to fall into the same category as the Hit Pack a few entries ago: with the real Contours having hit personal problems and seemingly on the verge of disintegration, Motown were in the market for a gang of raucuous, lunk-headed dance rockers. Enter the Vows, previously heard as backing singers on some of VIP’s West Coast Motown productions, stepping up for their audition.
(Of course, the Contours – or a new version thereof – would soon come back in full force, meaning there was no longer a vacancy on the Motown release schedules. Whether for that reason, or simply because it’s not very good, this was the Vows’ one and only Motown single.)
There’s another claim to Motown fame here, though, which does pan out: yes, this is indeed a cover of a long-forgotten Supremes single from the years when they weren’t even famous enough to be called the “no-hit Supremes”, an ill-advised experiment in Motown history which almost consigned their most successful group to the ashcan with the falsest of false starts, and one of the only times we’ll ever get to talk about a Florence Ballard lead vocal here on Motown Junkies. Buttered Popcorn always felt like the Supremes were entirely the wrong sort of group for the song; now, some four years later, Motown put that theory to the test, giving it to a bunch of crazy sandpaper-rough male rockers instead.
The results? Not great.
The song certainly works better in these circumstances, with a group tearing loose and hollering all over it (and putting on a series of silly voices while they’re at it), but the fact that we’re namechecking the likes of Williams and Brown just illustrates what an uphill struggle poor Flo was facing trying to make it work for the Supremes instead. If it was supremely (ha!) out of character there, though, it doesn’t really get much better when it’s undeniably in character here; the Vows are much more suited to the song, and they turn it into the hellraising, sweaty R&B workout it was clearly always meant to be, but that only goes to show what a poor song it was in the first place, the flirtation with the Supremes a red herring.
If you came to this not knowing anything about it, you’d think I was mad when I told you it was a cover of a Supremes song, written (implied dirty jokes and all) with a bunch of naïve schoolgirls in mind. But the more appropriate stylistic changes can only take it so far, and Flo’s game attempts at saucy asides and throaty giggles are sadly missed when the only alternative is a guy screaming like a second-rate Billy Gordon.
Better than the original, but that’s not saying much; it’s still both stupid and annoying, and without the Supremes connection, I’m not sure anyone would pay this any attention at all.
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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The Vows “Tell Me” |
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There’s no accounting for why a particular Motown cut by a given group got a release and why others did not. In my opinion, “Buttered Popcorn” and Tell Me” were “throwaway cuts”, while I’ll never understand why The Vows’ version of “My Baby Changes Like The Weather” link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMw1Sac4nSY
was left in the can. I suppose that their release on V.I.P. Records was just Hal Davis’ “token reward” to them for their good work as background singers on so many of Davis’ and Marc Gordon’s and Frank Wilson’s and Chester and Gary Pipkin’s Los Angeles Jobete Music (Motown) productions on other artists.
The Vows had had some success in the L.A. market previously (“I Wanna Chance”-with Helen Simpson on lead), and others with Morris Chestnut on lead, and would also get a nice two-sided release on Tamara Records (“Dottie”/”The Things You Do to Me”) with a production of songs produced by The l.A. Motown crew, but rejected by Motown.
They made about 3-4 really nice recordings for Motown. It’s a shame we had to wait until after 2000 to hear them on CD or digital file, and they didn’t get a vinyl release in 1965.
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Ha, there’s a link to that exact video in tomorrow’s entry 🙂 Thanks Robb.
Morris Chestnut is a fantastic name.
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Another Track I listened to the first time
Eh …this group sounds like a poor man’s version of the contours…If I didn’t know any better I would’ve thought they sung this…
I could see how this song could fit into a funky soulful rumper but the lyrics are so uninspired it’s hard to take this song seriously
3/10
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Maybe you’re being too kind to “poor Flo.” Her rendition of Buttered Popcorn seems to be consistent (in energy, dynamics and vocal styling) with much of her work, even that portion that occurred much later on.
Florence was a belter, with little refinement or restraint. Possibly, having been encouraged by her high school music teacher, she was too enamored of herself as an opera singer. Perhaps, having been relegated too frequently to the background, she wanted to show off herself and her powerful voice when she was given the chance.
In any event, if you listen to many of the recordings — in particular, her performance on I Saw Him Standing There, where she seems absolutely out of control and, dare I say it, drunk, or on some of her final, defiant, concert performances, when there was no producer at hand to turn down the mike or tone down the on-stage antics — she did not seem to understand what was appropriate. She just let herself go, often at the expense of the other group members. More and more, she came across as an undisciplined party girl, putting in her time and expecting everyone to admire her.
I’ve often thought her to be over-rated. She did not fit well within the group; she seemed to going in a different direction, whether she was tackling tacky songs early on or being inattentive as the other group members developed a polished, professional delivery.
Always, it seemed that Flo continued to be a raw, rough, renegade teenager long after her teenage years ended and the others readied themselves for chart-topper status and Copa gigs. (And she continued to sound pedestrian, at best, on her subsequent solo recordings on ABC; there was nothing remarkable about her voice or her interpretative abilities.)
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The reference to Flo was only en passant. Most of this comment would be more suitable to accompany the review of the Supremes’ version itself.
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Your assessment of Flo is full of errors and seems to be heavily influenced by personal opinion. For instance, the drunk comments and the “raw, rough, renegade” comments are totally uncalled for, and, incorrect. Florence’s voice may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but bringing up hearsay about her personal life is unkind.
“More and more, she came across as an undisciplined party girl, putting in her time and expecting everyone to admire her.” – This, for instance, has never been acknowledged by any source. In fact, quite the contrary has proven to be true. Florence reportedly wanted “People” to be a GROUP song – not her own solo. Second, her problems with Gordy and Ross toward the end of her tenure in the group had little to do with herself, but with group dynamics and politics. She clearly saw that Gordy’s personal relationship with Ross was negatively affecting not only Wilson and Ballard, but other artists on the Motown roster, as well.
Regarding her being a “party girl,” Florence had alcoholism. It’s quite insulting to denigrate someone who struggled for years with depression and disease as a “party girl.”
As for her “on-stage antics,” all of that stage patter was planned and/or approved by Gordy himself. Gordy even encouraged Florence to keep up with the comedy routine. The only instance of her stage patter being out-of-line was during her final appearance with the group.
I implore you to do some deeper research on the Supremes’ personal dynamics, as well as Florence’s life before speaking about her in such an unflattering light. There is plenty out there on Florence, and none of those courses ever imply she was some selfish, ego-driven party girl.
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Be that as it may, these comments about Flo’s life and career are inappropriate and irrelevant to a review of the Vows’ version of “Buttered Popcorn”.
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Hello, doo wop record collectors are familiar with this Vows gp. They had a very nice release on George Matola’s Markay label out of LA in July ’62 entitled I Wanna Chance/Have You Heard. A black label first press is pretty hard to find. You usually see the orange label 2nd press. The lead on both sides is Helen Simpson. The male voice on the intro of Have You Heard belongs to the song writer James Moore. He was lead on several other highly sought after records most notably The Precisions on Highland records (8 Reasons Why I Love) , The Individuals on Sparrow (Without Success) and a decent cover of The Pentagons To Be Loved with The Pretenders on Tishman records. All were from 1959-1962, the heyday for great, mysterious LA vocal gp records with constantly changing & shared members,labels & gp names. There is a female voice in the Highland record so it’s possibly the Precisions are the Vows. I believe the Vows on VIP contain either Morris or Ralph Chestnut (the Cheerios on Infinity-Ding Dong Honeymoon/Where Are You Tonight-another great LA collectors item). How the Vows ended up on VIP is a mystery. James Moores lead on Tell Me isn’t bad but you folks are the better judges of the Motown sound than I. I just wanted to fill you in on the groups background and hope you won’t judge them only by their VIP release. James Moore made some really nice records that every doo wop collector I know regard highly & would love to find. Thanks much. Best Jon Ryder. J
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I think that The Vows were brought into Motown by either Hal Davis or The Pipkin Brothers (Chester and Gary – who were signed as producers and songwriters to Motown’s Jobete Music office in mid 1963, Run by Davis). He had hired Frank Wilson and The Pipkin Brothers to produce demo cuts for songs they would write for Jobete Music. Davis, Gordon and Wilson all knew The Chestnut cousins, and the other members of The Vows, so, really, any of them could have brought The group into Jobete. Actually, they were brought in to sing demo recordings for the eventual Motown contracted group to use in recording, and also to back up solo artists in their demos. Often, these demo singers wanted to leave Motown’s employ if they didn’t have a chance to have a record released (to help their career -getting them – local radio play-leading to more local appearances-which is how they made their money). My guess is that The Vows getting their VIP release (which had no marketing push from the company at all) was merely a gesture to placate the group, and keep them around Jobete’s L.A. Office, for Davis to use them making demo tapes. The same thing was done for Oma Heard, The Lewis Sisters (more for their songwriting), The Serenaders, Sammy Turner. Unfortunately for us fans, Mary Love, Pat Hunt, Gloria Jones, Jeanne King, The Parliaments, Tamala Lewis, Roy Handy and Sidney Barnes (among others) were NOT thrown any bones (given artist contracts and actual record releases).
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Morris Chestnut did the lead on “My Baby Changes Like The Weather”, so he was with them for, at least that cut. I think he also lead on another one of their unreleased Motown cuts. Ralph was likely with them on most or all of their Motown recordings.
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