Connect with us

Music

When The Temptations’ Motown Story Began With ‘Oh Mother Of Mine’

Published

on

Otis Williams, the one original member of a legendary soul group that would see its 60th anniversary, got to reminiscing one time about their pre-history. “We were the Elgins for two weeks, and there was another group called the Elgins,” he recalled. “We were standing outside with this fellow named Bill Mitchell, and we were kidding around with a name. Somebody said ‘The Temptations.’ I said, ‘That’s the one!’”

Williams had already fronted the late 1950s Detroit outfit the Distants, whose members also included Melvin Franklin and Elbridge “Al” Bryant. An audition was scheduled, after the addition of two members of the Primes, Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams, with Berry Gordy (already an admirer) at Motown Records. The new five-piece duly passed the test arranged by Gordy and wingman William “Mickey” Stevenson.

Otis told The Guardian in 2019 that fate had determined his own arrival in Detroit just as Gordy was getting his company off the ground. “It was happenstance,” he observed. “It was necessary timing and it was meant to be that God in his infinite wisdom put all of these producers, writers and artists together at that time and made such profound music.”

On July 24, 1961, with the fifth release on Motown’s short-lived Miracle label, the new group released their first single, the Stevenson-Williams copyright “Oh Mother Of Mine.” Its formative sound and mid-paced swing hardly epitomised the group sound that would take the label, and soul music, to unknown heights in the years to come. Lead vocals were shared by Paul Williams, the early group’s de facto leader, and Eddie Kendricks; instrumentation was by the studio maestros we would come to know as the Funk Brothers.

There was more of a birthmark about “Romance Without Finance,” recorded like its co-release in May. Its title may sound like a classic Smokey Robinson rhyme, but the song was actually a Stevenson-Kendricks composition, fuelled by pacy guitar and buzzing saxophone. Both sides were produced by Stevenson and yet another Williams, André, an eccentric R&B notable in his own right. He was known for his Top 10 soul hit of 1957, “Bacon Fat,” for later co-writes such as the Five Du-Tones’ “Shake A Tail Feather,” and as Edwin Starr’s manager, among other distinctions.

“Oh Mother Of Mine,” like many of the company’s releases of the time and all of them on Miracle, failed to trouble the national US charts. It was on release at the same time as the (still “no-hit”) Supremes missed the mark with “Who’s Lovin’ You,” although Motown was only a few weeks from the pop and soul chart glory of the Marvelettes’ August single, “Please Mr. Postman.” In 1999, “Mother” was added to the CD reissue of the 1964 debut LP Meet The Temptations, even though it predated that album by more than two and a half years.

Cash Box magazine did review the Tempts’ single in its September 2 issue, giving the flipside the lead and writing of “Romance Without Finance”: “R&B-styled songsters do an infectious job on the ditty, getting a strong combo sound for their setting.” Of “Oh Mother Of Mine,” the trade publication noted cursorily: “Another upbeat blues showing with an infectious way.” As an aside, another group called the Temptations rated a mention in Cash Box that year, they being the group backing one Cody Brennan, on the late 1961 Swan Records single “Am I The One.”

The first Temptations single may have gone nowhere fast, but the label stuck with them, and by November they were back with another release on Miracle, “Check Yourself,” produced this time by Berry Gordy himself. By the following March, now on the Gordy label and with Kendricks in the lead vocal role, they figured on the national R&B chart for the first time with “(You’re My) Dream Come True,” as their own dream indeed started to become reality.

Buy or stream “Oh Mother Of Mine” on the expanded Meet The Temptations.

Continue Reading

Music

2023 Year-End Music Industry Revenue Report | RIAA

Published

on

By

[[{“value”:”Recorded music revenues in the U.S. in 2023 continued strong growth for the eighth consecutive year. Total revenues grew 8%… Read More »
The post 2023 Year-End Music Industry Revenue Report | RIAA appeared first on RIAA.”}]] 

Recorded music revenues in the U.S. in 2023 continued strong growth for the eighth consecutive year. Total revenues grew 8% to a record high $17.1 billion at estimated retail value. Streaming continued to be the biggest driver of growth with record levels of engagement in paid subscriptions, continued growth in ad-supported revenues, and growing contributions from new platforms and services. At wholesale value revenues grew 7% to a record high of $11 billion.

Download the full report here.

The post 2023 Year-End Music Industry Revenue Report | RIAA appeared first on RIAA.

FlipsideMediaET Tampa Bay Music • Live Music & Music News “Everything Music”

Continue Reading

Music

ELVIS Act Becomes Law as Tennessee Leads the Nation

Published

on

By

[[{“value”:”Creative Community Applauds Modern Voice & Likeness Protections in AI Era. Governor Bill Lee Signs Landmark Bill During Nashville Press Conference with Multi-Platinum Country Stars Luke Bryan and Chris Janson
The post ELVIS Act Becomes Law as Tennessee Leads the Nation appeared first on RIAA.”}]] 

Creative Community Applauds Modern Voice & Likeness Protections in AI Era

Governor Bill Lee Signs Landmark Bill During Nashville Press Conference with 
Multi-Platinum Country Stars Luke Bryan and Chris Janson

Pictured (L-R): House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-44), Luke Bryan, Governor Bill Lee, Chris Janson, RIAA CEO/Chairman Mitch Glazier & State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-27)

NASHVILLE, TN (March 21, 2024) – Often progress takes time, but mere weeks since its January 10 introduction, the bipartisan “Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act was signed into law earlier today by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee at legendary lower Broadway honky-tonk Robert’s Western World in Nashville. The ELVIS Act establishes strong protections for every person’s unique voice and likeness against unauthorized artificial intelligence (AI) deepfakes and voice clones.

“This incredible result once again shows that when the music community stands together, there’s nothing we can’t do. We applaud Tennessee’s swift and thoughtful bipartisan leadership against unconsented AI deepfakes and voice clones and look forward to additional states and the US Congress moving quickly to protect the unique humanity and individuality of all Americans,” said Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Chairman & CEO Mitch Glazier. 

Five-time Entertainer of the Year and American Idol judge Luke Bryan addressed the crowd saying, “what an amazing precedent to set for the state of Tennessee. The leaders of this are showing artists who are moving here following their dreams that our state protects what we work so hard for, and I personally want to thank all of our legislators and people who made this bill happen. It’s hard to wrap your head around what is going on with AI, but I know the ELVIS Act will help protect our voices.”  

Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment/Harpeth 60 Records’ chart-topping singer/songwriter Chris Janson expressed his appreciation noting, “It’s a pleasure to be here today. If it weren’t for moving to this town and busking up and down the street begging for a gig, I would not be where I am today. It takes real leadership, and it takes a real team coming together to protect us. I came here wanting a voice, wanting to be heard and to sing in a Lower Broadway honkytonk. Do you know what that means to a kid from the Midwest or South Florida or all of these other cities around the world? It means they made it, and now we need to protect our voices from AI-generated deepfakes using our voices, our dreams. I love what I do, I’m so grateful for my job, and I’m grateful for leadership who cares. Thank you for passing the ELVIS Act today!” 

Other prominent members of the music community – many who have lent support from the beginning – were on hand to celebrate the ELVIS Act, including Natalie Grant; Bernie Herms; Matt Maher; Maggie Rose; Wendy Moten; Drew Baldridge; Harper Grace; Tennessee Entertainment Commission chair Gebre Waddell; Stax Music Academy/Stax Museum’s Pat Mitchell Worley and Isaac Daniel; Sam Phillips Recording’s Jerry Phillips; Tora Tora’s Anthony Corder and Recording Academy Memphis Chapter Trustee Ken Shepherd.

“Fittingly named after one of the world’s most iconic voices, the ELVIS Act marks a history-defining moment – protecting us all from irresponsible and unethical AI. The Human Artistry Campaign applauds this strong, bipartisan effort to stop unauthorized AI-generated deepfakes and voice clones that steal essential parts of our individuality,” said Dr. Moiya McTierHuman Artistry Campaign Senior Advisor“The life’s work and irreplaceable contributions of the creative community to our culture deserve safeguards that allow AI technology to be used responsibly without violating anyone’s rights or appropriating their art.”

State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-27) and House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-44) shepherded the ELVIS Act to unanimous General Assembly passage (93-0 vote in the House of Representatives and 30-0 in the Senate). Throughout the process, Country guitar-slinger Lindsay Ell, five-time Dove Awards Female Vocalist of the Year Natalie Grant, BMI Awards-winning songwriter/producer/Evanescence co-founder David Hodges, nine-time GRAMMY® Awards-nominated Contemporary Christian artist Matt Maher, singer/actor/author Chrissy Metz, hit songwriter/NSAI Board Member Jamie Moore, RIAA SVP of Public Policy Jessie Richard and legendary Christian artist Michael W. Smith spoke to the potential harms of unchecked AI deepfakes and voice clones.

From Beale Street to Broadway, to Bristol and beyond, Tennessee is known for our rich artistic heritage that tells the story of our great state. As the technology landscape evolves with artificial intelligence, I thank the General Assembly for its partnership in creating legal protection for our best-in-class artists and songwriters,” said Governor Bill Lee.

As Tennessee cements the fundamental rights all people should have to their likeness and voice, the U.S. Congress has also seen some federal progress with Senators Coons’ and Blackburn’s NO FAKES proposal and Representatives Salazar’s and Dean’s No AI FRAUD Act working towards a national response to unauthorized digital replicas and AI-generated voice clones. GRAMMY® Award-winning Country artist Lainey Wilson and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. as well as nearly 300 actors, artists, musicians and songwriters co-signing these basic yet necessary protections. See here.

The post ELVIS Act Becomes Law as Tennessee Leads the Nation appeared first on RIAA.

FlipsideMediaET Tampa Bay Music • Live Music & Music News “Everything Music”

Continue Reading

Billboards

Lenny Kravitz Nominated to Rock Hall ‘It’s a Beautiful Thing’

Published

on

By

The rock legend chatted with Jimmy Fallon about his Rock Hall nomination and new album “Blue Electric Light”.

If form is a guide, Lenny Kravitz ought to be a shoo-in for the Rock Hall class of 2024.

With a new album out in May, the veteran rocker has been soaking up the plaudits on the awards trail, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, presented earlier this month (with a savage roasting by his daughter Zoë Kravitz), and the Music Icon Award at the 2024 People’s Choice Awards, held last month in Santa Monica, Calif.

The most-coveted music award of them all potentially awaits, a spot in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, for which Kravitz is nominated alongside the likes of Mary J. Blige, Oasis, Dave Matthews Band, Cher, Mariah Carey, Kool & & the Gang and more.

Nothing is certain. Though Kravitz is taking the time to smell the flowers.

” It’s a beautiful thing. It’s lovely to receive flowers,” he explained when he stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, for an interview which aired Wednesday night, March 20.

The “Fly Away” singer’s recording career took off in the early ’90s, following a bidding war among the-then five major labels. He decided on Virgin, and the label’s promise that the multi-hyphenate would have total creative control.

” I promised myself,” he told host Jimmy Fallon, “when I was coming up I never took the time to enjoy those kinds of things. I was always moving forward, not thinking about the past or what was happening. So, I said when this stuff starts happening again, I’m going to take the time, and I’m going to enjoy the moments because it’s beautiful.”

Awards are a bonus for Kravitz, who is readying the May 24 release of Blue Electric Light, his 12th studio album. The collection, he remarked, is about “celebration, life, humanity, sexuality, sensuality, spirituality.”

Its title track came to Kravitz in a dream during the final stretch of recording sessions in the Bahamas. He cut it the next day, and guitarist Craig Ross persuaded Lenny to dump his previously planned album title.

Blue Electric Light is “just that vibration of love, of god, of spirit,” he explained to Fallon.

Kravitz will support the album with a summer European arena and festival tour, kicking off June 23 at Sporthalle in Hamburg, Germany. But first, the rock star and his band gave a taste of things to come with a late-night performance of album track “Human,” a song about us “spiritual beings having a human existence, the journey, man.”

Watch the late-night interview and performance below.

 
 

 

FlipsideMediaET Tampa Bay Music News • Live Music “Everything Music”

Tampa Bay Music News Flipside Entertainament

Continue Reading

Music News Trending