Genre: soul
Rating: *** (3 stars)
Title: Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers
Company: Gordy
Catalog: 930
Year: 1968
Country/State: Canada
Grade (cover/record): VG/VG
Comments: minor ring wear
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 4304
Price: $60.00
Cost: $14.00
Fronted by
namesake vocalist Bobby Taylor, The Vancouvers (guitarists Tommy Chong and
Wes Henderson, keyboard player Bobby King. drummer Ted Lewis and bassist
Eddie Patterson came together in the mid-'60s. Popular on the local club
scene, the interracial group's big break came when Diana Ross caught their
act. Ross brought them to the attention of Motown's Berry Gordy Jr., who
promptly made them the first Canadian act signed to his Gordy subsidiary.
Written by Chong and Tom Baird, the group's debut "Does Your Mama Know
About Me" b/w "Fading Away" provided them with a surprise
top-40 hit. As was standard marketing procedure, Gordy rushed the group back
into the studio to record a supporting album. Produced by Gordy, "Bobby
Taylor and the Vancouvers" offered up a modest mix of
soul and pop numbers. Somewhat limited by Taylor's modest tenor (he was
nowhere near as talented as the liner notes led you to believe), the results
weren't exactly your standard Motown offering . Roughly half the set was
great. Up tempo number such as "Malinda" and "It's
Growing" served to underscore the group's reputation as a great live
act. Unfortunately, exemplified by tracks such as "I Am Your Man"
and "You Gave Me Something (and Everything's Alright)" the other
half of the album suffered from a sound that was a little too MOR ...
Highlights included a nice cover of "I Heard It Through the
Grapevine" (has there ever been a Motown group that wasn't forced to
record the sing?) and "One Girl". In spite of the hit single and a
tour opening for Gladys Knight and the Pips, the set failed to chart. That
makes it one of those rarer Motown LPs more folks should probably hear.
"Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers" track listing:
(side
1)
1.) Does Your Mama
Know About Me (Tommy Chong - Tom Baird) - 2:55
2.) So This Is Love (Tom Baird) - 2:55
3.) I Am Your Man (Nickolas Ashford - Valerie Simpson) - 2:58
4.) I Heard It Through the Grapevine (Norman Whitfield - Barrett Strong) -
2:43
5.) Malinda (Smokey Robinson - Cleveland - Johnson) - 2:52
6.) Fading Away (Smokey Robinson - Rogers - Moore) - 2:50
(side 1)
1.) You Gave Me
Something (and Everything's Alright) (Hamilton - Savoy - Toney - Garrett) -
3:05
2.) It's Growing (Smokey Robinson - Moore) - 2:56
3.) One Girl (Tom Baird) - 2:25
4.) Try a Little Tenderness (Connelly - Woods - Campbell) - 2:52
5.) Day By Day or Never (Berry Gordy Jr.) - 2:40
6.) If You Love Her (Tom Baird - Bobby Taylor) - 2:35