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Motown M 1078 (B), June 1965
B-side of I’ll Always Love You
(Written by Harvey Fuqua and Thomas Kemp)
Tamla Motown TMG 523 (B), August 1965
B-side of I’ll Always Love You
(Released in the UK under license through EMI / Tamla Motown Records,
credited to “The Detroit Spinners”)
This was more than a year old by the time Motown dug it out for use as a 45 B-side, one of a bulging sheaf of songs recorded by the Spinners under the tutelage of their mentor and champion Harvey Fuqua following the closure of the Harvey and Tri-Phi labels and their absorption into the Motown empire.
It’s no surprise to discover this is old material; in fact, the surprise is that it’s not the oldest thing they had available, because this stuttering, pedestrian doo-wop cut sounds about five years out of date.
The Spinners had scored an unexpected hit back in 1961 with the lyrically dubious That’s What Girls Are Made For, and so Tomorrow May Never Come works as a kind of attempt to recapture that success by going back to that sound; recorded after three years had passed, released after four. But four years is a long time anywhere in pop music; at Motown, this might as well have been unearthed not by an archive search, but by an archaeological dig.
It’s nowhere near as good as That’s What Girls Are Made For, featuring rougher harmonies, feebler hooks and a shapeless, meandering song that doesn’t really go anywhere. The band track is fine as far as it goes – some slick, modern sax, stabbing horns, and a bed of cooing female backing vocals do their best to cover up the surprisingly indifferent singing from the Spinners themselves, as well as being pretty much the only clue that it’s not still 1961 – but it’s still not great.
Perhaps its biggest mistake is that, in taking the decision to have a joint lead vocal on this, Fuqua takes usual Spinners lead singer Bobbie Smith – one of the top male Motown voices, the group’s secret weapon and greatest asset – out of the fray.
It’s a tactical error, and a grave one. Hiding Smith’s light under a bushel turns the Spinners into a decidedly average street-corner doo-wop group: the sort of amateur concern you might have seen gathered beneath a lamppost in 1958, and certainly not the same guys who’d almost touched the stars on the magnificent A-side, I’ll Always Love You.
It’s even more baffling when one considers the number of great songs on the group’s first Motown LP, The Original Spinners (left) – not to mention the amount of unreleased material on the excellent Truly Yours CD compilation – that was recorded well in time to be considered for the flip here, only to be overlooked by Motown in order to give Tomorrow May Never Come its moment in the sun. A rare miss, not just for the Spinners, but for Quality Control.
(If they had to go for an older-sounding cut on the B-side, my pick for a throwback flip would have been Lonely Tomorrow, which has no Youtube clip; but there are maybe eleven or twelve eligible choices that might have been better picks, to my mind, than Tomorrow May Never Come. Suffice to say, this is not even the sound of the 1964 Spinners doing their best doo-wop, never mind the sound of the 1965 Spinners soaring into the sky.)
Dated (which isn’t necessarily a problem), rough (again, not always a problem), and boring (definitely a problem), this is an inexplicable return to a time already vanished, and the trip does the Spinners no credit 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 Spinners “I’ll Always Love You” |
Danny Day “This Time Last Summer” |
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I’m forced to agree; I don’t remember turning it over much at all.
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Like Dave L. I probably played it once and not again. It probably wasn’t Motown enough for me. Perhaps they chose this because they wanted to assure “I’ll Always Love You” was the played side.
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I hear a bit of “Oh What A Night” by the Dells here. Anyone else think so?
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Yeah I hear that too Grandpa! = )
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Yeah, I hear it as well. The record has a certain charm to it that deserves a 7.
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Yes! I thought I was the only one who had that thought.
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Terribly dated by this point….would’ve been a great makeout song in 57 lol. That doesn’t mean it’s bad though. I love the steady “oooo’s” in the background. Also the harmonizing as well throughout the verses. This song also reminds me of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It on Home”. I would give this a 5/10.
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You hit that one dead in the eye Damecia. They hit a REAL sam lickl in this one. Thats whats most interesting about Mr. Cooke. He turns up everywhere you listen. It could be Bobby Womack, Rod Stewart, Lou Rawls, Smokey….everyone of them at some point is gonna hit a “Sam lick”
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Thanx for the shoutout Bogart! = )
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anytime!
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I don’t know what’s wrong with everyone, to me this is an absolute classic. Admittedly, it sounded a bit dated when it was released in 1965, but after nearly 50 years have passed that is irrelevant now. This is a classic piece of latter day doo-wop. The melody is very tuneful and immediately memorable, although the lyrics are fairly basic. It has a magnificent arrangement and I love the powerful saxophones that come in before each verse and on the fade out. I urge everyone to give it another listen you may find it growing on you with the passage of time. Marvelous stuff.
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I’d urge everyone to give EVERYTHING another listen, don’t ever be put off by anything I’ve said!
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I like it too. I’d give it a 6,5. I agree that there are about 8-10 better doo-wop sounding Motown recordings by The Spinners (several vinyl/unreleased). Nevertheless, this one is certainly easy on the ears.
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I love it! Yep, will listen to good bit of do-wop anytime
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