Really enjoyed this breakdown of the Motown sound 8 found on YouTube.
I particularly enjoyed little details like deadening the bass strings with kitchen sponges & the drum kits being mongrelised from assorted makes – & the actual playing & singing isn’t too,shabby either.
Recreating the Motown sound
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Thanks for that. Very interesting as Arte johnson used to say on Laugh In.
The bass and guitars fed into the same interface.No separate amp.
Fascinating stuff! Thank you. I too am startled by the lack of guitar and bass amplifiers. All fed in direct! Wow.
I think these kinds of things are great as a historical study. The results almost always sound just that little bit off that you can tell its not genuine, but I suppose that’s what makes the original recordings so unique.
I agree, Arthur. I find myself watching a lot of bands covering songs on YouTube- & when they get it ‘right’ (which is pretty rare), it’s a real sign of how closely they’ve observed & worked on the original.
Dreadful or clunky covers are also illuminating, as it highlights the ‘x’ factor that made it special in the 1st place – it can be very conspicuous when it’s absent!
A different thing, but the painstaking attention to detail that’s gone into this is pretty mind-boggling.
Here are the opening lines of “My Old School”:
“I remember the thirty-five sweet goodbyes
When you put me on the Wolverine up to Annandale…”
Anyone know what “the Wolverine” was? A bus? A train?
I mean, it can’t be a real wolverine…
There y’ go.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine_(train)
Wolverines, Greyhounds… we have a public transport network, they have a fkin safari park
We did have the Mallard though.
Oh yeah – well ‘ard.
Nice brass section and vocal harmonies on that clip. The lead vocalist is just wrong, though. Far too polished. Something that almost always occurs when people cover The Dan.
This lot don’t do too bad a job with much more limited resources. And their brass section absolutely nail the “California, tumbles into the sea” vamp. Guitarist fluffs the final bit of the final solo, sadly.
Here’s another cracking example of a cover that illustrates how good you have to be to even attempt some tracks. This is v good IMO.
This outfit are very impressive, using los of different vocalists for different tracks.
The trio of ladies on their funkier ones are particularly good.
That was incredible. This is my favourite kind of music by far, and to hear it re-created like that, just wow.
Two words: Sharon Jones (and the Dap-Kings).
That Soul Revue thing that Daptone did at Glasto, a few years back.