Bobby Taylor
The Motown Anthology
Universal/Motown
Released in the UK May 2006

Here at last is the eagerly awaited Motown anthology from the great Bobby Taylor whose two albums during the latter part of the 1960's are rated amongst the rarest releases on the Motown label and although the first of these two LP's was with his group the Vancouvers in 1968 it did not spawn any hit singles as such although the opening track 'Does Your Mamma Know About Me' received mixed reactions at that time after dealing with the tender subject of mixed race relationships and that so soon after the Detroit riots MAY have had an impact on any potential sales and the record appears to have relegated itself to the shelf reserved for those non hits even though the song itself was fabulous in its arrangement and James Jamersons opening bassline is just fabulous.

Bobby was officially credited with introducing the Jackson 5 to Motown but he himself was discovered by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson of the Supremes who saw him playing at his club in Vancouver (which he co-owned with group member Tommy Chong)  and it was they who alerted Motown boss Berry Gordy who immediately signed them to his Gordy label in 1967. The album didn't necessarily follow the usual 'Motown formulae' and as this release was right in the middle of the glory years period may have affected sales. This LP presents a number of Motown cover versions including the Temptations' 'Fading Away' and 'It's Growing' before taking on the masterful 'Grapevine' which had originally been recorded by Gladys Knight a year earlier, and a year later by the late Marvin Gaye. Other covers more in a pop mould were their rendition of the Beatles song 'Eleanor Rigby'  the popular 'My Girl Has Gone' and 'Little Miss Sweetness' by the Miracles and The Isley's respectively although seasoned Motown collectors will be the first to admit that the cover versions were not necessarily Taylor's best work although take a peek at their rendition of Otis Redding's 'Try A Little Tenderness'.

The best work came from the songwriting pen of one Tom Baird who had co-written the aforementioned opening song with group member Tommy Chong and they crop up again elsewhere on this set. Taylor's voice was as good as they came and one can only guess that a lack of real promotion at that time by the label caused the group to suffer whilst other household names scored all the hits. This LP was responsible however for a few cracking tunes most notably the northern soul favourite 'Oh I've Been Blessed' and the gorgeous 'Malinda' although my own particular favourite firmly remains to be 'Don't Be Afraid'. Listen out too for their version of the Berry Gordy written song 'Day By Day Or Never' which you also find on last years double CD set from Chris Clark. A year later in 1969 saw Taylor record his only solo LP for Gordy entitled 'Taylor Made Soul' which contained a number of the aforementioned songs and although this title in itself didn't fare much better sales wise than his first release it did actually have a more standard Motown feel to it.

Disc 2 kicks in with three singles before embarking on some interesting unreleased discoveries from the vaults. Opening with 'Blackmail' a glorious piece of modern northern soul co written by Pam Sawyer which finds Bobby at his peak vocally and on par with many other of the days soul giants. Of course the Motown sound had changed by the time this song was released in 1970 and the groove had slowed down somewhat and the orchestral arrangement had taken over on a lot of Motown songs from this point on. From the selection of previously unreleased tunes you have a mixed bag of pop, soul, and dance with a smattering of soul classic cover versions like Sam & Dave's 1967 anthem 'Soul Man' and a reworking of a song from the same year that Temptations  had scored a minor hit with 'All I Need'. Cover versions need to have that special touch that makes the listener sit up and listen and Bobby's take on Bill Withers' song 'Harlem' is for me a much more meaningful take. I also applaud how he keeps close to the original arrangement of Curtis Mayfield's song 'Meeting Over Yonder' which was released on the Impressions a few years earlier.

Northern soul fans will love 'I Can Feel The Pain' a song that was written by Ivy Jo Hunter and don't forget to check out along with 'Park Street Bridge' and another side to his vocal repertoire in 'In Other Words (Fly Me To The Moon) where his delivers a gorgeous laid back groove which is just perfect for late night radio plays.

To experience the full impact of this excellent anthology you'll need to order your copy today.

Rare, exciting, with a little touch of something different out of Hitsville!

Rating 8/10.