SPILL NEWS: ELEMENTAL MUSIC ANNOUNCES THE MOTOWN SOUND COLLECTION | AN LP REISSUE SERIES OF CLASSIC AND COLLECTIBLE ALBUMS FROM THE DETROIT SOUL LABEL

ELEMENTAL MUSIC ANNOUNCES THE MOTOWN SOUND COLLECTION

AN LP REISSUE SERIES OF CLASSIC AND COLLECTIBLE ALBUMS FROM THE DETROIT SOUL LABEL

Reissue and archival imprint Elemental Music proudly announces the inauguration of the Motown Sound Collection, a continuing series of long-playing vinyl reissues of classic titles and crate digger favorites from the catalog of the Detroit-bred soul music giant Motown Records. All releases will replicate the ’60s and ’70s LPs’ bold sound and 12-by-12 full-color packaging. Further Motown Sound Collection titles are scheduled for early 2025.

Elemental will release an additional 20 titles through the end of 2024, including music by such storied Motown stars as Smokey Robinson (and the Miracles), The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye (both solo and with duet partner Mary Wells), The Jackson 5, Eddie Kendricks, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and The Undisputed Truth.

“As a rule of thumb, we always try to reissue the music that we love. That’s our priority. With the Motown Series, we wanted to take a deep dive into the label’s history and to reissue some more obscure titles,” describes Elemental Music Founder and producer of the Motown Sound Collection Jordi Soley. “For many of the albums that we’ll be putting out throughout 2024 and into 2025, it will be their first reissue since their original release. It’s our way of showing some love to Motown’s legacy.”

The collection bows already (May 10) with the initial vinyl release of its first two titles: The Temptations’ Wish It Would Rain and The Supremes’ We Remember Sam Cooke.

The Temptations’ Wish It Would Rain features the titular single, a No.1 R&B hit and No. 4 pop entry that became one of the last by the vocal group to feature original lead singer David Ruffin. The album reached No. 13 on the U.S. pop charts in 1967. “I Wish It Would Rain” and five other tracks on the album were produced by the visionary Norman Whitfield, who shaped the Temptations’ subsequent “psychedelic soul” period with a series of smash singles. Whitfield — who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this April 2024— is also represented in the Motown Sound Collection with the Temptations’ Cloud 9 (July 12) and the self-titled release by The Undisputed Truth (Dec. 13).

The collection’s other May 10th release, We Remember Sam Cooke finds the The Supremes’ early in their hit-making career — one that ultimately made them second only to the Beatles in the ranks of ’60s vocal groups — when it was issued in 1965 Some of the trio’s first Motown albums were high-concept affairs that saw them essaying British Invasion hits and country songs by Willie Nelson, Eddy Arnold, and the Sons of the Pioneers. Here, they covered 11 of the late soul originator Cooke’s best-known compositions, including “You Send Me,” “Cupid,” and “Shake.” It rose to No. 5 on the national R&B charts. Four other Supremes LPs will be featured in the Motown Sound Collection this year.

Among the unique titles to come in the collection are a blue vinyl pressing, in a gatefold package, of Robinson’s Smokey (June 7), the mono edition of Gaye and Wells’ Together (their only duo recording) and a green vinyl pressing of the Supremes’ I Hear a Symphony(both July 12); a red vinyl pressing, in a die-cut cover, of the Jackson 5’s Get It Together and the mono editions of the Miracles’ Make It Happen and More Hits By the Supremes (August 16); the mono version of Meet the Temptations (September 13); a red vinyl version of the Jackson 5’s Third Album and the mono edition of the Supremes’ A Bit of Liverpool (October 11); and the mono versions of Four Tops and Marvin Gaye’s When I’m Alone I Cry (Nov. 15).

The complete 2024 release schedule for the Motown Sound Collection

May 10:
The Temptations: I Wish It Would Rain
The Supremes: We Remember Sam Cooke

June 7:
Smokey Robinson: Smokey (Blue Vinyl/Gatefold edition)
The Four Tops’ Still Waters Run Deep

July 12:
Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells’ Together (Mono edition)
The Supremes’ I Hear a Symphony (Green vinyl)
The Temptations’ Cloud Nine

Aug. 16:
The Jackson Five: Get It Together (Red Vinyl/Die-Cut Cover)
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles’ Make It Happen (Mono edition)
More Hits By The Supremes (Mono edition)

Sept. 13:
Meet the Temptations (Mono edition)
Marvin Gaye’s In the Groove
The Supremes’ Love Child.

Oct. 11:
The Jackson 5: Third Album (Red Vinyl)
The Supremes: A Bit of Liverpool (Mono edition)
The Temptations’ Sky’s the Limit

Nov. 15:
Four Tops (Mono edition)
Marvin Gaye: When I’m Alone I Cry (Mono edition)
Eddie Kendricks’ People…Hold On

Dec. 13:
Gladys Knight & the Pips’ Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the One to Say Goodbye)
The Temptations’ Solid Rock
The Undisputed Truth: The Undisputed Truth

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