All the World’s a Stage…

…AND MOTOWN RECORDED ITS STARS THERE

“I do not feel that this could be a viable proposition,” declared John Marshall, “unless such an album could be sold in the U.S.A.” He added that should the situation change, “I will certainly make arrangements for this recording to take place within the budget you have quoted.”

It was October 14, 1970, and Marshall, who was Motown’s London-based European representative at the time, was writing to company vice president Ralph Seltzer in Detroit about the idea of a live album by Jimmy Ruffin being recorded in Britain.

The singer was popular there, having by then scored three Top 10 hits: “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted,” “Farewell Is A Lonely Sound” and “I’ll Say Forever My Love.” Within a few weeks of Seltzer receiving Marshall’s letter, Ruffin delivered a fourth: “It’s Wonderful To Be Loved By You.” Still, he never did get a Motown live album release, on either side of the Atlantic.

And the point of this anecdote? To illustrate that live albums are a peculiar breed, a valuable souvenir of an act’s in-concert capabilities and charisma, but usually unable to match the sales of their studio recordings — and, sometimes, being supremely variable in quality.

That said, Motown’s very first Number One on the Billboard album charts was an in-concert release: Little Stevie Wonder’s Recorded Live/The 12 Year Old Genius. Its success was largely fuelled by his chart-topping single, “Fingertips – Pt. 2,” and was an achievement the musician never subsequently matched with another live recording.

By contrast, not one but two of Marvin Gaye’s five Top 10 albums in the U.S. were on-stage recordings – and one of them even charted higher than What’s Going On. OK, there is a caveat: the fourth side of Gaye’s Live At The London Palladium featured a studio-made track, “Got To Give It Up,” which became the singer’s latest hit single. The same applied to the high-charting Commodores Live! which contained the group’s latest 45, “Too Hot Ta Trot.”

The Temptations fared well with live recordings, including one album sourced from their January 1970 turn at London’s Talk of the Town nightclub. Coincidentally, Stevie Wonder performed at the same venue later that year, but the resulting long-player was only released in the U.K. (Motown issued a different live Wonder LP in the U.S. in 1970). Too, the Talk of the Town produced only a mid-chart ranking for the album recorded there in early ’68 by Diana Ross & the Supremes.

Four Tops Live! was a substantial success, the second of the group’s four Top 20 albums, and a new, unusual vinyl version of that was just released by Elemental Music, as detailed here. It was recorded at Detroit’s famed Roostertail nightspot, as noted in detail in the new edition’s liner notes.

TAMLA TAKES TO JAPAN

On-stage albums by Marvin Gaye (his first), Mary Wells, the Marvelettes, Jr. Walker & the All Stars (their second) and Gladys Knight & the Pips all failed to chart, while four Motortown Revue LPs (including one taped in Paris) sold only moderately. And, of course, there were other live releases planned and even scheduled for various Motown acts (the Supremes and Billy Eckstine among them) which never made it out of the door at the time.

In later years, a range of live albums was reissued by Universal Music Group (UMG) on compact disc, while other, previously-unavailable recordings also appeared. In the latter category was a pair of 2004 CDs entitled In Japan! – one by the Jackson 5, the other by the Supremes, and both recorded in-concert in 1973 in Osaka and Tokyo, respectively. Also, Marvin Gaye’s At The Copa, which was taped in 1966 and finally issued (on compact disc) in 2005.

***Wowing a crowd at the 20 Grand, Detroit***

In 2010, UMG packaged a couple of Jackson 5 concerts in Los Angeles (from 1970 and 1972) into a 2CD set, Live At The Forum. Produced by Universal Music Enterprises’ Harry Weinger, this also included rare J5 photos and liner notes by Mark Anthony Neal. During their years signed to Motown, the brothers never had a live album sent to market (discounting their Goin’ Back To Indiana, which was the soundtrack to a TV special).

Another latterday Universal offering was the 2001 compact disc reissue of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, augmented with his only in-concert performance of that masterpiece on May 1, 1972 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (In 2019, Universal put the live portion of the CD onto vinyl for the first time.) Also in 2001 was a deluxe version of Rick James’ Street Songs which contained a 13-track live set from 1981, recorded in Long Beach, California, that summer.

In 2005, there was a 4CD set via UMG’s Hip-O Select imprint which pulled together the original four Motortown Revue albums: two from 1963-64, plus the 1965 Paris expedition, and an undated show (or compilation from several?) which first appeared in 1969. The French recording came out again as a deluxe 3LP vinyl set in 2016, including previously-unheard material.

And so to even more detail. Below is a list of Motown’s best-selling live albums when first issued during Berry Gordy’s ownership of the company. They are ranked by peak position on the main Billboard LP chart, and shown with the original release date and running time. (The latter is not a precise science: running times on the original vinyl and today’s streaming services can vary.)

AND THOSE REVIEWS…

Also shown is the R&B album chart peak of each album, if applicable (that chart debuted in Billboard in January 1965). N.B. The release dates below follow the British sequence: day/month/year. In addition, there are U.S. and U.K. media reviews of a dozen of these albums, as published at the time. The names of most of the critics are shown, with the exception of the trade press, which usually did not ID its reviewers individually.

#1LITTLE STEVIE WONDER Recorded Live/The 12 Year Old Genius (Tamla 240) 21/5/63 (no R&B LP chart) 27:03

Forget the fact that his pitching might be a little short of perfect. Forget his tender years and don’t hail him as a child prodigy. Remember that he is an undoubted talent whether it be vocally or instrumentally on harmonica, bongos, drums or piano. His debut single in Britain, “Fingertips,” has still to hit the charts, but Oriole are obviously pretty well convinced that he is something in the making as they have followed up with TWO albums on simultaneous release. The first is a studio-recorded set paying tribute to Ray Charles and the second is recorded live in front of a most appreciative and receptive audience. The atmosphere on the latter is electric. You MUST hear it — then you’ll buy the other one, too. — Jimmy Watson, Record Mirror, September 1963

***‘The sweet nothings sound more personal’***

#3 MARVIN GAYE Live At The London Palladium (Tamla 352) 15/3/77 (#1 R&B) 78:08 (including studio track, 11:52)

Marvin Gaye’s set…offers three sides from London and a shortish fourth side given over entirely to a studio disco number that is his latest single. The live material is far more convincing than any recent Gaye concert in this country that I have heard, and there are two reasons for that. One is that Gaye, who stopped performing for a while, seems more confident (or at least more practiced) here than he has on stage in New York. He can still be shy and awkward, but he makes his limitations work for him to suggest vulnerability. The other reason is that Gaye’s is largely a private art, much given to cooing, overtly sexual intimacies. At an actual concert it can seem distant and hence indulgent. On records, with the microphones right up close, the sweet nothings sound more personal. — John Rockwell, New York Times, May 1977

#3 THE COMMODORES Live! (Motown 894) 18/10/77 (#2 R&B) 72:53 (including studio track, 5:37)

Like an actual Commodores concert, this album gives ample proof of just why these guys have become one of the hottest soul bands in the land in recent years — well-paced shows full of churning, riffing horns and spine-shaking rhythms, all surrounding some of the best-crafted songs to be heard in contemporary black music. It’s all here. With the exception of the studio cut (a funky “Too Hot Ta Trot”) the album is drawn from the group’s torrid road shows (primarily from Atlanta, it seems) and features such favourites as “Won’t You Come Dance With Me,” “Slippery When Wet,” “Come Inside,” “Just To Be Close To You” (dedicated, of course, to “all the ladies in the house”), “Funny Feelings,” the ultra-hot “Fancy Dancer,” “Sweet Love,” “Zoom,” “Easy” and a non-stop run through from “I Feel Sanctified” into the crowd-pleasing “Brick House.” A burner of an album"! — Bob Claypool, Houston Post, November 1977

#8 MARVIN GAYE Live! (Tamla 333) 19/6/74 (#1 R&B) 43:30

#10 THE TEMPTATIONS Live! (Gordy 921) 6/3/67 (#1 R&B) 51:29

A live recording of one of the finest recording groups that have emerged during this decade. The voices of Paul Williams and David Ruffin get first-class support from the boys and the band. This album is recorded in a better way than the recent live album by the Tops. Far more atmosphere and excitement. There is very little to choose between the tracks — after all, they have mostly been hits for the group anyway — except that the slow numbers come over perhaps a little better. — John Abbey, Home Of The Blues, July 1967

#11 THE SUPREMES The Supremes At The Copa (Motown 636) 1/11/65 (#2 R&B) 43:19

#15 THE TEMPTATIONS Live At The Copa (Gordy 938) 9/12/68 (#2 R&B) 44:14

#17 THE FOUR TOPS Live! (Motown 654) 14/11/66 (#1 R&B) 51:35

The Four Tops are here recorded live at the Upper Deck of the Roostertail nightclub in Detroit. The mood is supercharged as the group renders standard tunes and songs that bear the stamp of the quartet. Among the numbers now associated with the Four Tops are “It’s The Same Old Song,” and “Baby I Need Your Loving.” Standards include “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.” This set should be a mover. — Cash Box, December 1966

#21 THE TEMPTATIONS Live At London’s Talk Of The Town (Gordy 953) 24/7/70 (#5 R&B) 46:35

More from the hard-to-resist Temptations, this time live at London’s Talk Of The Town, where they were received with the same storm of enthusiasm the Motowners get at the Apollo or the Copa. Dennis Edwards leads the group through their familiar club act of hits and medleys styled around “Runaway Child,” “(I Know) I’m Losing You” and “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me.” — Billboard, August 1970

#29 RARE EARTH In Concert (Rare Earth 534) 12/71 (#19 R&B) 33:48

***Her highest-charting live album as a solo star***

#29 DIANA ROSS An Evening With Diana Ross (Motown 877) 18/1/77 (#14 R&B) 66:31

#46 DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES Farewell (Motown 708) 13/4/70 (#31 R&B) 83:18

There are collectors’ items and there are collectors’ items, but this is much more than that. Call it history, maybe. The last big night at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas that Diana Ross and the Supremes sang together on stage. Motown has made it an extra-special two-record boxed set with color photos of the occasion. You know exactly what they sang and, believe me, they never sounded better. — Bob Talbert, Detroit Free Press, May 1970

#47 VARIOUS Recorded Live/The Motor-Town Revue, Vol. 1 (Motown 609) 22/4/63 (no R&B LP chart) 40:21

#57 DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES Live At London’s Talk Of The Town (Motown 676) 26/8/68 (#22 R&B) 38:45

I expected to be able to rave about Diana Ross & the Supremes’ Live At London’s Talk Of The Town, but alas, some recording engineer seems to have been doing his best to drown the girls with a super-amplified double bass that I found impossible to lose. Otherwise, the 23 songs — mixed show and Tamla Motown standards — are unbeatable, and the girls, from all appearances, have the audience eating right out of their hands. — Barry White, Belfast Telegraph, April 1968

#64 DIANA ROSS Live At Caesars Palace (Motown 801) 15/5/74 (#14 R&B) 45:16

Diana Ross Live is a Motown LP which catches the vivacious vocalist-actress on stage at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The songs, presentations, and arrangements are not all that bad, but the chief engineer should be horsewhipped for allowing such variances in sound levels, sometimes making it virtually impossible to hear the introductions. The best song, “God Bless The Child,” was kissed off, unfortunately, in a few bars. It would have been better if she had devoted more time to this song than the Supremes medley, because that was yesterday and Diana Ross is very much into her own thing these nights. Let’s credit her with a more than adequate performance, but the engineer definitely flunks. Why wasn’t this corrected at Motown? — Bill Buchanan, Boston Evening Globe, July 1974

***‘The orchestra is frequently flat’***

#71 SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES Live! (Tamla 289) 6/1/69 (#6 R&B) 54:43

On the ill-fated [U.K.] Motown tour of some years back, Smokey emerged as the only artist to really score. His act was slick and the harmonies of the quartet were superb. Therefore, the fact that this album is bad cannot reflect truly on the capabilities of the group. The orchestra is frequently flat and behind the voices. Smokey never really gets going until the end and his voice, frail though it often is, is positively weak in places. What more can be added? — John Abbey, Blues & Soul, May 1969

#75 SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES 1957-1972 (Tamla 320) 8/12/72 (#14 R&B) 58:33

#81 STEVIE WONDER Live (Tamla 298) 6/3/70 (#16 R&B) 59:26

The fantastic Stevie Wonder has been captured in all the excitement of a live performance, and it includes some of his greatest performances. From “Shoo-Be-Do-Be-Doo-Da-Day” to his recent “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday,” it’s a powerhouse of action, and is sure to ride straight to the top of the sales charts. — Billboard, March 1970

#102 VARIOUS Recorded Live/The Motortown Revue Vol. 2 (Motown 615) 8/4/64 (no R&B chart) 55:46

#111 VARIOUS Recorded Live/Motortown Revue In Paris (Tamla 264) 11/65 (– R&B) 45:54

#119 JR. WALKER & THE ALL STARS “Live!” (Soul 705) 29/8/70 (#22 R&B) 30:51

#139 THE MIRACLES Recorded Live/On Stage (Tamla 241) 31/5/63 (no R&B chart) 29:00

#140 MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS Live! (Gordy 925) 29/8/67 (– R&B) 43:51

#165 SMOKEY ROBINSON Smokin’ (Tamla 363) 31/10/78 (#70 R&B) 79:50

This two-record live set features Smokey Robinson in the solo spotlight, offering more hits from his Miracles days than from his one-man efforts. His voice remains one of the silkiest in soul music, capable of nearly teary-eyed emotion or stiff-lipped resolve. He swoops and dives with his vocals, wringing the maximum of sentiment from the songs, whether it’s the sadness of “The Tracks Of My Tears” or “The Tears Of A Clown” or the spirited eagerness of “Mickey’s Monkey” or “I Second That Emotion.” — Marshall Fine, Florida Today, December 1978

#177 VARIOUS Motortown Revue Live (Motown 688) 10/7/69 (– R&B) 46:39

UNCHARTED (POP)

JR. WALKER & THE ALL STARS Live (Soul 725) 13/4/70

GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS All In A Knight’s Work (Soul 730) 30/9/70

MARVIN GAYE Recorded Live/On Stage (Tamla 241) 9/9/63

THE MARVELETTES Recorded Live/On Stage (Tamla 243) 11/6/63

MARY WELLS Recorded Live/On Stage (Motown 611) 9/9/63

Absent notes: The two Gordy LPs released in 1963 containing speeches given by Rev. Martin Luther King in Detroit and Washington, D.C. could be classified as “live” albums, but they’re not music, so are excluded here. The same applies to Black Forum’s Guess Who’s Coming Home: Black Fighting Men Recorded Live In Vietnam, a 1972 release. Motown At The Hollywood Palace from 1970 has the appearance of an in-concert recording by various artists, but it’s actually the soundtrack of a TV special, and so is also not listed above. Bobby Darin’s Live! At The Desert Inn from his Motown days was originally scheduled for release in 1971, but did not appear. It was, however, issued under license from Motown by Concord Music in 2005.

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All the World’s a Stage…