I recently picked up a Temptations double CD called "GOLD" :



CD 1 is fantastic -just what I was looking for; throbbing, raw, driving, rocking stuff you feel in your chest and soul. And it's all got that great production and sound from the 60s. Love it.

CD 2 is pure shit. I am assuming it's stuff they did later in the 70s and 80s. I'm sure some folks go for this era of the Temptations' career - but not me.

My question is - can anyone recommend some other similar artists from the same era as when the temptations were cranking out songs like:

It's Growing
Since I Lost My Baby
Don't Look Back
Ain't Too Proud To Beg
Beauty is Only Skin Deep
All I Need


?

I also dig "Build Me Up Buttercup" By the Foundations - anyone know if they recorded anything else that good?

If you really want the Motown Sound, just pick up the 4 CD box Hitsville USA. It's a frantastic Motown specific comp that pretty much covers all then hits from the good old days of Motown.

And, if you're even in Detroit...the Motown museum is wonderful. You get to see the recording studio just the way it was left and even Barry Gordy's upstairs apartment furnuished to period.

As long as we're talking soul...just wanna mention that I've been spinning Isaac Hayes: Hot Buttered Soul a bunch lately and while much more drawn out than the punchy Motown stuff...it's just a fantastic album...only four wandering tracks, but fantastic music.

you hit the nail right on the head. THAT'S what I am looking for. I am certainly interested in some of the hits... so this box set might be the ticket... but I was also hoping that there are some aficionados on here who could recommend some of the hidden gems out there... both by the legends, and perhaps by more obscure artists.

That's really why the box is good...it's got a lot of the big hits, but also has some lesser known stuff...some that hadn't even been on CD until that box got released...and they're all in the orioginal single mono mixes.

If you like that stuff...you can always look to the grimier Stax records stuff as well...again, the first Stax Singles Box set...while kinda long at 10 CDs, making it expensive as well, it is something you'll keep coming back to listen to for years to come.

Four Tops

What he said.

Check out Volumes 5 - 7 of the Atlantic Rhythm & Blues (1947-1974) collection. All 8 volumes are available as individual releases or as an expanded box set.

The Stax-Volt sets are insanely good as well - in nearly every case, worth the price of admission.

Trivia...how did Motwon get that vocal echo before electronic means made it possible?

Easy...stick a mike in the attic and leave the scuttle hole open while miking the vocals directly below.

I'm not a huge fan of the motown sound compared to other styles of soul, but if you like 60's temptations then you'd probably like:

The Impressions
The Supremes
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles


Those are the most obvious ones to me

np: Twilight Singers "Powder Burns"