I listened to Rod Stewart, Human Nature (an Australian group), and Michael McDonald sing their favorite Mottown songs. All the participants in covering Motown classics show enthusiasm and energy singing these great songs. All of these guys are obviously involved in a Labor of Love in singing these songs. Of the cover artists, I’d have to go with the Human Nature group who put out not just one, but TWO albums of their interpretation of Motown hits. I think Rod Stewart just tries too hard and Michael McDonald’s distinctive voice doesn’t always work with the material he’s trying to interpret.
Are you a fan of Motown music? Do you listen to cover versions of your favorite Motown songs? Do you have a favorite Motown song? GRADE: B (For Rod and Michael; B+ for Human Nature)
TRACK LIST:
| Rod Stewart– | It’s The Same Old Song | 4:15 | |
| Rod Stewart Featuring Stevie Wonder– | My Cherie Amour | 3:10 | |
| Rod Stewart Duet With Mary J. Blige– | You Make Me Feel Brand New | 4:36 | |
| Rod Stewart– | (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher | 3:21 | |
| Rod Stewart Featuring Smokey Robinson– | Tracks Of My Tears | 3:36 | |
| Rod Stewart Duet With Jennifer Hudson– | Let It Be Me | 3:16 | |
| Rod Stewart– | Rainy Night In Georgia | 4:13 | |
| Rod Stewart– | What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted | 3:19 | |
| Rod Stewart– | Love Train | 3:03 | |
| Rod Stewart– | You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me | 3:17 | |
| Rod Stewart– | Wonderful World | 3:33 | |
| Rod Stewart– | If You Don’t Know Me By Now | 3:59 | |
| Rod Stewart– | Just My Imagination | 3:35 | |
| Bonus Tracks | |||
| Rod Stewart– | Never Give You Up | 3:24 | |
| Rod Stewart– | Only The Strong Survive | 3:19 |
TRACK LIST: (Reach Out)
| Reach Out I’ll Be There | 3:15 | ||
| You Keep Me Hangin’ On | 3:08 | ||
| Baby I Need Your Loving | 3:09 | ||
| If You Don’t Know Me By Now | 3:43 | ||
| I Heard It Through The Grapevine | 3:26 | ||
| Twenty-Five Miles | 3:25 | ||
| I’ll Be There | 4:10 | ||
| My Girl | 3:05 | ||
| I Want You Back | 3:00 | ||
| Stop! In The Name Of Love | 2:56 | ||
| You Are Everything | 3:52 | ||
| The Tracks Of My Tears | 2:52 |
TRACK LIST: (Dancing In the Street_
| -1 | Dancing In The Stree tWritten-By – Ivy Jo Hunter, Marvin Gaye, William Stevenson | 4:25 | |
| 1-2 | Ain’t No Mountain High Enough Written-By – Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson | 4:25 | |
| 1-3 | ABCWritten-By – Berry Gordy, Deke Richards, Alphonso Mizell*, Frederick Perren | 4:25 | |
| 1-4 | Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours Written-By – Lee Garrett, Lula Mae Hardaway*, Stevie Wonder, Syreeta Wright | 4:25 | |
| 1-5 | You Can’t Hurry Love Written-By – Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland Jr | 4:25 | |
| 1-6 | Ain’t Too Proud To Beg Written-By – Edward Holland Jr*, Norman Whitfield | 4:25 | |
| 1-7 | What’s Going On Written-By – Al Cleveland, Marvin Gaye, Renaldo Benson | 4:25 | |
| 1-8 | Uptight (Everything’s Alright) Written-By – Henry Cosby, Stevie Wonder, Sylvia Moy | 4:25 | |
| 1-9 | Please Mr. Postman Written-By – Brian Holland, Freddie Gorman, Georgia Dobbins, Robert Bateman, William Garrett | 4:25 | |
| 1-10 | I Can’t Get Next To You Written-By – Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield | 4:25 | |
| 1-11 | Midnight Train To Georgia Written-By – James D. Weatherly* | 4:25 | |
| 1-12 | I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) Written-By – Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland Jr* | 4:25 | |
| 1-13 | What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted Written-By – James Dean, William Weatherspoon*, Paul Riser | 4:25 | |
| 1-14 | Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) Written-By – Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield | 4:25 |
TRACK LIST:
| 1 | I Heard It Through The Grapevine | 3:44 | |
| 2 | You Are Everything | 2:48 | |
| 3 | Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours | 4:07 | |
| 4 | I’m Gonna Make You Love Me | 3:56 | |
| 5 | Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing | 2:48 | |
| 6 | Reflections | 3:22 | |
| 7 | How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) | 5:21 | |
| 8 | Ain’t No Mountain High Enough | 2:49 | |
| 9 | All In Love Is Fair | 3:31 | |
| 10 | I Want You | 4:28 | |
| 11 | Distant Lover | 4:20 | |
| 12 | I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever) | 5:05 | |
| 13 | Since I Lost My Baby | 4:34 | |
| 14 | Too High (Performer [Uncredited] – Fourplay) | 5:25 |
These all seem like solid efforts—but, when it comes to Motown, I’ll stick with the originals. As for a favorite Motown song, too many to count, but “If You Can Want” by Smokey & the Miracles, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder, “Trouble Man” by Marvin Gaye, and “Up the Ladder to the Roof” by the post-Diana Ross Supremes are among my all-time favorites, but there are so many others.
Deb, you have excellent taste in Motown music! Love your choices! It’s had to pick a favorite, but I would go with “My Girl” by The Temptations.
I have to agree but would like to add my favourite:
You can’t hurry love …
Generally the Holland/Dozier/Holland songs fascinated me the most.
Wolf, The Supremes (and Holland/Dozier/Hollard) were right: you can’t hurry Love.
Not really. I won’t say I dislike it, and some of it is very good. But when I do listen to it it’s more likely to be incidentally than intentionally. What’s the old saw, “three chords and an attitude”? I’ll go with that.
Michael, I was interested in all these singers drawn to covering their favorite Motown songs. But, as Deb said, the original versions are better.
I prefer the originals too but I rarely listen to it. I usually opt for podcasts and audiobooks if I want to listen. Although I love going to a musical and am headed to see A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC this weekend. And a concert tomorrow at the DSO with Brahms and Rachmaninoff . So I guess most of my music is live nowadays but not pop. I love all the girl groups especially but Smokey is in a class by himself.
Patti, I have many Smokey Robinson (and the Miracles) CDs. Wonderful music! Not much music for me today: I’m going to see JOHN WICK, CHAPTER FOUR at 3 P.M.!
Growing up in the Detroit suburbs I heard plenty of Motown. My favorites are Smoky Robinson’s Tears of a Clown and Tracks f My Tears.
Steve, Smokey Robinson is a genius.
Yes, Smokey is a genius. We’ve seen him in concert solo once, and I saw him in the early ’60s with The Miracles. We also saw Rod several years ago because Jackie likes his “standards” CDs, and even she admits that was not good. Rod’s voice is shot.
On the other hand, we are huge Michael McDonald fans and have seen him solo, with the Doobie Brothers, and with The Dukes of September – Donald Fagen and Boz Scaggs.
You’re wrong, by the way. McDonald has also done TWO Motown cover albums.
I have no idea who Human Nature is, by the way.
I have to agree that sometimes McDonald’s fit with a song is not great, but many of his Motown covers are really good.
As to favorite Motown songs, too many to name. Anything written (My Girl) or sung (You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me, The Tracks of My Tears) by Smokey gets a vote. Also I Heard It Through the Grapevine and What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye, Reach Out I’ll Be There by the Four Tops, This Old Heart of Mine by the Isley Brothers (their only Motown song), many others.
Jackie’s favorite is What Becomes of the Broken Hearted by Jimmy Ruffin.
Jeff, love Jimmy Ruffin (and David Ruffin, too). “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted” is a stellar song! Great taste on Jackie’s part! I’ll have to track down that second Michael McDonald Motown album.
Jackie reminded me of Joan Osborne’s terrific cover of “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted ” with the Funk Brothers (as well as “Heat Wave”) in STANDING IN THE SHADOW OF MOTOWN.
You beat me to it. I was going to mention Joan Osborne’s version of “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted.” A great song that you can hear/watch on YouTube.
Jeff, I’m a big fan of STANDING IN THE SHADOW OF MOTOWN. Joan Osborne is an underrated singer. Love her rendition of “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted” too!
I like most Motown! Don’t see much need for cover versions but some are excellent nevertheless!
Bob, like you I grew up listening to Motown songs in the Sixties. On our local Oldies station, only the 1980s and 1990s music gets played.
Favorite hundred Motown recordings might be easier, likewise with Stax and others (maybe Only dozens from, say, Jubilee), and don’t ask less than that for Chess, and and…
But among the first to come to mind when asked for favorites include the Miracles’ “Shop Around” and “Going to a Go-Go”, “Heat Wave” by the Vandellas, ” a Lot of Stevie Wonder but certainly including “Fingertips”, on out past such less-heavily recollected tracks as Gloria Jones’s urgent first recording of “Tainted Love” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U and Eddie Kendricks’s solo title track “My People…Hold On” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7ZqR3tU-fc&t=231s
I can see how McDonald’s voice wouldn’t be quite supple enough for some of his choices, while certainly pretty well-adapted for others…
Todd, I’m fond of a lot of Michael McDonald’s work…but these Motown songs he covers aren’t a good fit. I love his version of Steve Winwood’s “My Love Is Leaving Me” with Fourplay.
Oops, forgot, put two links in my post and it’s awaiting moderation.
They being the not-so-well-remembered good works: Gloria Jones’s urgent first recording of “Tainted Love” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U
And Eddie Kendricks’s solo title track “My People…Hold On” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7ZqR3tU-fc&t=231s
Todd, thanks for the links!