https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBmaiMJdWEA

Don`t you just love stuff like this MAGIC

Don`t you just love stuff like this MAGIC

Fantastic!

Think it kinda epitomises why we hang on to this musical era so dearly....it happened at a magic time, never to happen again.....that era was pure soul magic..that's why I will always love this thing we call (Northern) Soul until my dying days.

It's not about nostalgia...it's about class that will never be repeated.

Looks like studio A at Motown, does anyone know who the lady playing bongos?

awesome ! fookin awesome !

Great! It's one of the very few video documents of the Studio A in action.

I think it was done for a TV special on the Motown Sound. I'm pretty sure they didn't record vocals and instruments at the same time by then. The girl playing bongo could have been an office worker or something added to put colour in it. Just a guess, though.

Fantastic!

Think it kinda epitomises why we hang on to this musical era so dearly....it happened at a magic time, never to happen again.....that era was pure soul magic..that's why I will always love this thing we call (Northern) Soul until my dying days.

It's not about nostalgia...it's about class that will never be repeated.

Great post mate, over the years as we have dug deeper & deeper into the history of our music, how many times have we wondered just what it would be like to be in the studios and see the bones behind the final product. I personally have often wondered about how the sound was made, the real heros were the ones behind the scenes who produced the sounds that we know and still love to this day

Fantastic!

Think it kinda epitomises why we hang on to this musical era so dearly....it happened at a magic time, never to happen again.....that era was pure soul magic..that's why I will always love this thing we call (Northern) Soul until my dying days.

It's not about nostalgia...it's about class that will never be repeated.

Bang on there fella

basically it was quality and then some

still get a buzz from motown and always will

shame Invictus did not make it , they should av been the new Motown but despite quality it did not succeed

Martyn

The girl playing bongo could have been an office worker or something added to put colour in it. Just a guess, though.

I think it's Bobbye Hall

great stuff,is there a part two,

Great post mate, over the years as we have dug deeper & deeper into the history of our music, how many times have we wondered just what it would be like to be in the studios and see the bones behind the final product. I personally have often wondered about how the sound was made, the real heros were the ones behind the scenes who produced the sounds that we know and still love to this day

I made my first visit to Detroit in 1978 , and one of the first places I ensured I went to , was 2648 WGB .

At that time , the place was pretty much as it was when Motown relocated its' operation to Los Angeles . I knocked on the door , which was opened by a secretary . she told me that her boss would be back in a while , and just to look around until she came back .

Studio A was more or less the same as it had been following the last recording sessions in there , with the piano , chairs , microphone and sheet music stands being left . I stood there in disbelief that I was doing so . The room had a magical aura about it , and I must admit , the hairs on the back of my neck and arms stood up .

The screcetary's boss did come back : she was Esther Gordy Edwards . Mrs Edwards apologised profusely to me for not being there when I arrived , stating that she had been delayed , due to her lunch with " Stevie's Mother " taking longer than she expected

Malc

It's on the DVD The Temptations-Get Ready,The Definitive Performances 1965 to 1972.

looks like it was specially staged for a Televison show, here's the info with the clip.....fookin awesome clip too

all the info >>>HERE<<< too

Insightful — May 12, 2009 — Given the fact that Motown had not been conducting Live sessions with the vocalists and instrumentalists recording at the same time since at least 1963, this session was clearly staged for the CBS News cameras that were doing a brief piece called The Motown Sound. Pictured in the studio are songwriters Lamont Dozier (Standing on the steps at the back of the studio), Brian Holland (The guy who cuts in on the band), Ivy Jo Hunter (Does the countdown), Russ Terrana (The engineer standing up), James Jamerson on Bass, Earl Van Dyke on piano, Bobbye Hall on congas, and from left to right on guitars Robert White, Joe Messina and Eddie Willis. The arranger, wearing headphones and conducting the band, is William Witherspoon. To the best of my knowledge this incredibly rare piece of film is the only one of two pieces of footage ever shot at a session inside the studio known as the Snakepit.

Thanks to their fine-tuned choreography — and even finer harmonies — the Temptations became the definitive male vocal group of the 1960s; one of Motown's most elastic acts, they tackled both lush pop and politically charged funk with equal flair, and weathered a steady stream of changes in personnel and consumer tastes with rare dignity and grace. The Temptations' initial five-man lineup formed in Detroit in 1961 as a merger of two local vocal groups, the Primes and the Distants. Baritone Otis Williams, Elbridge (aka El, or Al) Bryant, and bass vocalist Melvin Franklin were longtime veterans of the Detroit music scene when they joined together in the Distants, who in 1959 recorded the single "Come On" for the local Northern label. Around the same time, the Primes, a trio comprised of tenor Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams (no relation to Otis), and Kell Osborne, relocated to the Motor City from their native Alabama; they quickly found success locally, and their manager even put together a girl group counterpart dubbed the Primettes. (Later, three of the Primettes — Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard — formed the Supremes).

I think it's Bobbye Hall

it is according to the notes with the clip...

https://www.instrumentalwomen.com/page22.html

it is according to the notes with the clip...

https://www.instrumen...com/page22.html

Cheers Chalks

Two interesting post, hope to see you soon

Dave

Looks like studio A at Motown, does anyone know who the lady playing bongos?

Bobbye Hall

Don`t you just love stuff like this MAGIC:thumbsup:

YES!!!

Fantastic stuff SONBERT thanks for posting. The Temptations, best of the best.

Edited June 20, 201015 yr by Simsy

Looks like studio A at Motown, does anyone know who the lady playing bongos?

Hello Dave,

Sheila Wilkerson, know in the rare soul/funk scene for his Baby You're A Jive Cat on rft records, play bongos in some motown sesions, I thinks is on credits in some S. Wonder albums...maybe is him...(who knows.......).

Cheers!

Hi everybody -

What a superb clip. Very enjoyable. For the many who feel studio recordings are a thing of the past, please don't forget I went to Detroit in March 2008 and cut 4 songs at 'Studio A'/Dearbourn Heights' with original Detroit and Motown musicians from back in the day. The songs turned out well and there were no synths on any of the tracks. It is still possible to be creative with new material and emcompass traditional methods.........just like Champagne:

https://www.youtube.com/bandtraxs

Hello Dave,

Sheila Wilkerson, know in the rare soul/funk scene for his Baby You're A Jive Cat on rft records, play bongos in some motown sesions, I thinks is on credits in some S. Wonder albums...maybe is him...(who knows.......).

Cheers!

there's three posts saying who it is, Bobbye Hall. It is also in the notes on the youtube clip.

Is there the full CBS special to watch anywhere?