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davidclark
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Joined: 17 November 2004
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 16 September 2023 at 10:32pm | IP Logged
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Not enough room for the full artist/title of "Martha Reeves & The Vandellas -
I Can't Dance To That Music You're Playing". Not sure when it was first
issued in stereo, but the website
don't forget the motor city
indicates stereo on 1997 UK Britannia CD "Motown: The History: Changing
Times". Anyone have this CD?
There are numerous version of this #42 hit around:
1) the mono 45 (it was never on an album at the time)
2) 2006 "Gold" CD stereo version - essentially the same as the 45, but with
a "bad edit" at 1:37, where Martha's vocal ends abruptly and the sax comes
in a bit later
3) 2013 "50th Anniversary - The Singles Collection 1962-1972" CD, a
different mix and a bit longer than "Gold" and with a lead vocal from 1:44 to
1:52 that is not on the mono single and "Gold" stereo version
4) a completely different recording, also on "50th Anniversary..."
Can anyone share any light on these?
Edited by davidclark on 16 September 2023 at 10:34pm
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Glenpwood
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| Posted: 20 September 2023 at 8:50am | IP Logged
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Here's some lengthy but interesting info from Deke
Richards, the producer, on the tune. Including how
Syreeta wound up replacing Martha on the chorus...
I know it's late, but its been one of those days and this
is the first chance I've had to write. I 'm sure most of
you are already under the covers and even down for the
count, but here's the bedtime story I promised you: "The
I Can't Dance Caper".
Well, you must remember in those days we cut on 8-Track.
There wasn't a lot of room for error, much less giving
anyone extra tracks, including the lead vocalist. The 3
guitars were mixed to one track while you were recording
live, Jamerson had his own bass track, the drums were cut
on one, (sometimes) on 2 tracks The piano on one,
percussion on another. So, you see there is 6 gone right
there. You had enough for the group and the lead. If you
planned to sweeten the tracks, you had to either do a
different mix when you recorded the original tracks or
make an 8 Track to 8 Track transfer and put the perc and
drums together etc., etc., to open up another track.
Well, let's cut to the chase . . .
The song, "I Can't Dance To That Music You're Playin'"
was complete with Martha singing all the way through, as
well as the 'saxy vocal break'. Enter . . . Quality
Control. (Now, if you don't know about BJ and QC, we'll
have to go into that one another time.) I can tell you
that BJ liked it from the first time she heard it. There
was competition from Richard Morris, who was out to
follow up "Honey Chile" with "Sweet Darlin'". I hadn't
really earned my 'stripes' yet to be in a QC meeting. I
remember, BJ said just before going in, "Take it easy
Deke, you've got a good record and a good shot at it.
We'll see." However, you could hear BJ and BG playing the
acetates (behind closed doors) in the hall, stopping and
starting, comparing the 2 back and forth . Then, there
was silence while they were voted on. When the door
finally opened, BJ said, "OK Deke, you got it!"
Well, I just about had kittens. However, BJ wanted me to
make a few changes. First she wanted the song to start
right out with the chorus and then wanted me to change
the melody on the chorus. 'Deke, make these changes, and
you'll have a hit!" Chorus at the top? Maybe, but change
the melody? I didn't really agree, but I wanted the
release. Hey, BJ was the pro, a senior at Motown while I,
was still a freshman. I had to go with her. After all,
after BG, she was the boss when it came to making those
kind of decisions. Don't get me wrong, BJ did have a
certain amount of magic, and she was right on a lot of
her calls. So, I had to go in the studio with my trusty
'safety razor' and edit the tape. After I did it, a few
of Martha's lines got clipped where I edited the tape.
Not only that. The phrasing just didn't sound natural. So
I asked for studio time, to make the opening kick with a
fresh OD of Martha doing the opening chorus. It was tight
because Martha was leaving for a gig. I think it was in
Philly. (I'm almost sure it started with a "P" anyway.)
At any rate, I also changed the melody like BJ suggested.
Done!
It goes back up to BJ & QC and Oh-Oh! Uh, the response to
the change was a tad cool. Meeting time, closed doors,
etc. I'm waiting in the hall, pacing back and forth, like
a man who's wife is getting ready to have a baby. Doors
open, "Come in, Deke". Well, it seems like I had it right
the first time. "Deke", pregnant pause, "change it back
the way you had it." (BJ had to admit she was wrong,
which I know was not easy for her to do, especially to
me, a kid who was still a bit green.) Great! No, it
wasn't. What a drag, I thought. BJ wanted those first
changes done so fast, there was no time to make an 8
track to 8 track transfer. I had to erase Martha's
original lead vocal to redub her with the new melody BJ
wanted. I didn't have an open track left. Anyway, back
into the studio I go and re-edit the tape and put the
pieces back where they were before I so rudely violated
it. Now, I go to A&R to schedule another dub in with
Martha. Wait a minute! Martha's gone to "P", wherever
that was. Now, I have to go back up to A&R and tell them
the problem. From there, I end up tangling with the Legal
Affairs Dept. to get permission to go to "P" so I can
redo her vocal back the way it was to begin with.
Now here' is the sad part of the story that no one,
including Martha, knows. Legal Affairs, nixes the trip.
What? Why Legal Affairs? Cost too Much? There wasn't a
studio near where Martha was performing? She was going on
to another gig and I wouldn't be able to catch up with
her? Why couldn't I go and have Martha redub the missing
pieces? This, I will never understand. On top of that, I
keep being told, "there is no time". DJs and/or sales are
putting on the pressure. They have to have the follow up
for "Honey Chile". The record HAS to come out yesterday!
NOW, what am I supposed to do? (to be continued . . .
tomorrow night)
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Glenpwood
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| Posted: 20 September 2023 at 8:51am | IP Logged
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OK Soulkiddies, it's time for the 'Rest Of The Story'
"The I Can't Dance Caper"-Part II
BJ suggests I have the Adantes sing the chorus on the
opening. "Maybe you can get one of the girls to sound
like Martha (or like the old Vandellas) in the
background." Anyway, I try, but no way. I need Martha,
that's it, period. It just won't work without Martha.
Well, I don't know what to do. Sure, I want the release,
but it's not right. To make matters worse, they won't let
me go to Martha; and even if I got the OK, sales was
putting on the pressure to get the record yesterday. If I
wasn't a young buck, I probably would have had a heart
attack.
Enter . . . Rita Wright. Rita was working in the
arrangers room running sheet music to the sessions and
assisting the arrangers etc., waiting for her own break.
(Remember, many stars in the Motown family, worked as
secretaries and such waiting for their chance.) She had
already done a few demos for Diana. One of the arrangers
asks me, "Have you heard Rita sing?". Well, to be honest,
I hadn't. "She's really good"! I listened to one of her
demos, and she had this little edge that gets thinner and
fatter when she gets up there. Could this possibly work?
Maybe if I bury her just enough with the other girls . .
. Maybe if I double the girls and add just one Rita? No,
then it will sound too big, to overproduced, to 'Mamas &
Papas-ish". So, I go over and talk to Rita and tell her
the situation. "So, do you want to give it a crack?", I
asked. "Keep in mind there is no glory in this Rita, you
are just playing a part." It was like . . Rita was going
to be the one fake brush stroke on the original painting
of the Mona Lisa."
I go into the studio and we begin. I even have her sing
along with one chorus I still had with Martha's voice
that was clipped when I did the edit. You know, Rita
really tried. I even made her change the timber of her
voice in the middle of words and almost crack. But I have
to tell you, only Martha can really do that. I changed
EQ..while recording live. I had 3 different setups I
would switch to. Believe me, no one or two could have
tried harder. When I originally mixed the rough 7 1/2
ips, it did sound decent. But, I had to pull her back
into the group just right. However, I think anyone would
have still said, "Why did you lower Martha's voice in the
chorus?" Now, here's the next cute move. I didn't mix the
final record! They didn't even call me in to be at the
mixing session. QC and especially BJ, knew this was a
problem side. (Note: There were only a few producers that
got to mix their own product at that time: Norman
Whitfield, HDH, Smokey and that's about it. Your final
mixes were done without you being there.) So, you can see
what a disaster this one was going to be. Whoever mixed
it, needed to know what was going on. I remember when I
heard it mixed the first time. "You better pull Rita back
into the mix." I said. Who do you think you are going to
fool? The fool, that's who . . . and that's all, I
thought
Through all of this, my gut is doing somersaults. Here we
are, emulating the great Martha, when the real Martha is
still with us. Now, I don't want to make this a political
forum, however . . .After all is said and done, and all
the stories have been told, you have to ask yourself the
following:
DO YOU REALLY THINK . . . I would want my first solo
record by a major artist on Motown to be a fabrication?
DO YOU REALLY THINK I wanted my first solo record to stop
dead in it's tracks at the lower half of Billboards Hot
100, and have a bullet on the way down? Anyone who could
have really prevented this from happening, took
themselves off the hook. Someone had to take the fall. I
remember seeing Martha one last time in Detroit. I went
up to see BG, and she had just returned from being on the
road. She was sitting there also waiting to see Berry,
with tears in her eyes. She didn't even want to talk to
me. I don't think she was ever told what was going down.
She just heard it on the radio. Swell. What in the world
did they tell her? I don't think any of us will ever
know.
Since then I've heard stories, including a few mentioned
in this forum. Well, Martha never mentioned anything to
me about changing the lyrics because a relationship gone
bad with a musician. If that was really the case, then
she kept it inside, until she blurted it out later down
the line to someone. Either that ,or some writer stared
that junk. Oh yes, and the one about Rita having to hit
the notes for Martha? Nonsense. Martha hit the notes I
gave her just fine.
I met with Martha one more time after Motown in 1981. She
was taking care of her mom and she came over and we spent
the day together. We were both at low points in our
lives. However, Martha had been "To Hell and Back". She
had signed a couple of artist deals, neither of which
were totally satisfying. I could tell she had definitely
seen the demons. However, as much as I wanted to do
something, I was really not in shape to help her, much
less myself. Dearest Martha, I was crazy about you, I
idolized you. Do you think I did this to you for my
personal gain? Do you really think I had the authority to
do this to you? Better yet, where did I, the new kid on
the block, ever get the authority to do this to you?
Ain't no way, baby. Never in a million years.
And then there's Rita. She was just a pawn in this deal.
However, I'm sure she's had her share of embarrassing
questions to answer over the years.
Now that it's history, I think we all are to blame. I
could have stood up and told QC, "I'm not going to do
what you want, without Martha!" Rita could have told me,
"I don't want to be the one to play "Martha Reeves" on a
Martha Reeves record"; and Motown could have said, "Get a
hold of Martha and have her come back here so we can
finish this record".
...and so we all came to the finish line together, dead
last.
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Glenpwood
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Joined: 03 April 2012
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| Posted: 20 September 2023 at 8:52am | IP Logged
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and to toss in. The multiple versions on the Vandellas
Complete Singles Set came out after Deke wrote all of the
above when tapes were found later that still had Martha's
original vocals on them...
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Topic: Vandellas - I Can’t Dance To That Music
