Motown collaboration thread

sws626
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Wed Sep 07, 2016 10:08 pm

No one can resist the groove of classic R&B. But getting that full Detroit sound from just one acoustic guitar can be a challenge. These days, I'm spending most of my time with my bass and have been revisiting a lot of the Motown tunes from my childhood. But the bass is a lonely instrument and playing along with records is is a poor substitute for making music with real people. I still have a special place in my heart for the TG community, so I thought I'd offer to organize a series of collaborations on of this awesome music we can play together, but might not be completely satisfied playing alone.

I've got a long list of songs, but to get things going, I'm going to suggest we have a go at Freda Payne's 'Band of Gold.' For those of you who missed the early 1970s, here's a flashback from her appearance on Soul Train.



And to give you an idea of how this might sound on an acoustic guitar (even though this sort of undermines my initial point), here's a cool countryfied interpretation I found on the interweb:



If you are interested in joining in this song, please just reply to this thread to let us know what instrument or part you'd like to play or sing. I'll take it from there. Or if you have other songs you'd like to see in the queue, please also chime in with suggestions.


sws626
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Thu Sep 08, 2016 12:28 am

Old timers will remember how this sort of large scale open collaboration works, but for the youngsters (and just because it's fun to dig up old stuff from the early days), here's the model:

http://www.totallyguitars.com/forum/4-g ... html#29814

I will post a lead sheet with the basic outline of the song and a rough arrangement in a day or two and come around recruiting volunteers if necessary.

================================

Chord chart:

Image


Collaborators:

Vocals:
Acoustic Guitar: jcrocket (Jeff)
Acoustic Guitar:
Other (be creative):
Bass: sws626 (Stuart)
Drums:

I've prepared this new click track with bass as a backing reference:



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jcrocket
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Thu Sep 08, 2016 2:09 pm

Hey Stuart -

I'm a big fan of Motown. I grew up to the songs of Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, etc. blasting through my radio care of CKLW-AM out of Windsor, Ont., just across the river from the Motor City. Glad to hear you're playing the bass; it seems the common thread through this genre is a strong (and often unique) bass line.

I've never participated in a collaboration like this, but would love to give it a try.

If you're looking for suggestions for additional artists & songs, here are some of my favorites:

The Temptations - My Girl, Just My Imagination
The Isley Brothers - This Old Heart of Mine
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - I Second That Emotion, You Really Got a Hold On Me
Stevie Wonder - I Was Made To Love Her, Signed Sealed Delivered, Superstition
Jimmy Ruffin - What Becomes of the Broken Hearted
Jr. Walker & the All-Stars - What Does It Take
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On, Ain't That Peculiar
The Four Tops - Reach Out I'll Be There, Baby I Need Your Loving
Sam & Dave - Hold On I'm Coming

This is really just scratching the surface, there are so many great songs in this genre.

Jeff


sws626
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Thu Sep 08, 2016 4:56 pm

Thanks great, Jeff. I'm adding a chord chart with and starting a list of contributors to the original post. I'll post a backing track shortly. What you would need to do is choose your part, record yourself while listening to the backing track on headphones, and send me a link to your video.

All those songs you list are great. We are really spoiled for choice.

-Stuart


sws626
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Thu Sep 08, 2016 7:35 pm

Okay, I can see it's going to take a little bit more work to get your groove going. So I'll jump in first. This is just a quick take of what the bass might sound like:



You're next. Don't be shy.


sws626
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Sun Sep 11, 2016 1:37 am

New click/backing reference added above:

http://www.totallyguitars.com/forum/129 ... tml#137514


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