Just come across something on the great soulful detroit website regarding the Jackson five's "I want you back" We have talked about this before on here as to the fact you played on it but now it seems it was the David Ruffin version which turned up on the 2004 cd The Unreleased Album by David Ruffin that you were on? It would be good if you can clarify the story.
AROUND 1969 WE DID A SESSION AT MOTOWN WITH ALL THE USUAL SUSPECTS.WE CUT THE TRACK AND WENT ON ABOUT OUR BUSINESS.I REMEMBER TALKING TO BABBITT DURING THE PLAYBACK,AND TELLING HIM WHAT A BAD-ASS BASS LINE IT WAS.
SHORTLY AFTER THAT,"I WANT YOU BACK" CAME OUT AND WAS A BIG HIT. WE HEARD IT ON THE RADIO AND SAID,OH YEAH,THERE'S THAT SONG WE CUT. END OF STORY.....OR SO WE THOUGHT.
TIME WENT ON,AND THE SONG WAS TALKED ABOUT IN DEPTH ON SOULFUL DETROIT.SEVERAL PEOPLE SAID IT WAS CUT ON THE WEST COAST,AND PRETTY MUCH PROVED IT TO BE TRUE.SO....IT REMAINED A MYSTERY AS TO WHAT WE CUT.
I RECENTLY FOUND OUT THAT DAVID RUFFIN DID THE SONG TOO,AT THE SAME TIME. I WENT TO A SITE,AND LISTENED TO IT.IT'S THE ONE WE DID,AND THE MYSTERY WAS FINALLY SOLVED.HIS SONG NEVER SAW THE LIGHT OF DAY UNTIL 1998,AND AGAIN IN 04,AS YOU SAID.THAT'S WHY IT WAS SO HARD TO FIGURE OUT.WE WERE BEGINNING TO THINK WE DREAMED IT!
THIS TYPE OF THING WAS NOT UNCOMMON TO MOTOWN.THE SONG "WAR" WAS CUT ON EDWIN STARR,AND THE TEMPTS VERY CLOSE TOGETHER. AND OF COURSE SMILING FACES WAS R.E. AND UNDISPUTED TRUTH.
There's a heck of a lot of Invictus / Hot Wax stuff in there. I've got them all in my CD collection in one of my cupboards....funnily enough right next to the Rare Earth albums. I'll have to re-name it as the "Ray Monette Cupboard"
Thanks Ray for all the info, some of which we knew but as always we get something new from you. I see I will have to check through my collection as I certainly have many of these recordings, in particular I enjoy the Mike & Ray singles. I must dig out the David Ruffin 2004 release and double check the playing on I Want You Back.
Thanks for sharing that info with us. I love that old Honey Cone stuff. All that stuff about doing your man wrong or your man doing you wrong--very similar subject matter found in Betty Wright songs. Did you play on any of her records, Ray? I love the guitar groove and bass in Cleanup Woman which I recall was out the same time as Hey Big Brother. Did you feel you were competing against yourself and RE with the timing of some of the Honey Cone singles which were out at the same time as some RE singles?
I REMEMBER BETTY,AND I PROBABLY PLAYED ON SOME OF HER SONGS,BUT I REALLY DON'T REMEMBER SPECIFICS.I WAS DOING 6-10 SESSIONS A WEEK FROM 1965 UNTIL OCT. OF 1971,WHEN I JOINED RARE EARTH.MANY TIMES THERE WERE NO TITLES ON THE CHARTS,AND WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHO THE ARTIST WAS.YOU DID THREE OR FOUR SONGS IN THREE HOURS,AND THEN WENT ON TO THE NEXT ONE AT ANOTHER STUDIO.THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT SO HARD TO REMEMBER ALL THE SONGS THAT I PLAYED ON.I'M SURE THAT I MISSED MANY ON THE ABOVE LIST.
AFTER I JOINED R.E. I DIDN'T DO ANY MORE SESSION WORK UNTIL THE BAND BROKE UP IN 1974,AND WE WERE IN L.A.
......Thanks Ray for reminder, that is one of my fav LP`s off all time DAVID RUFFIN - Me`n Rock`n Roll Are Here To Stay !!!!!!
Any of you that like Ecology,Ma,Temps andUndisputed Truth with Norman Whitfield as producer,
YOU HAVE TO CHECK OUT THIS RECORD!!!!
DAVID RUFFIN WAS A RARE FIND...FANTASTIC VOCALS!!!!
I'm a *witness!*
Radenko's **right as rain** about this...
And the Eponymous 1973 LP (Produced by Bobby Miller) was a *winner*, too, IMHO.
Not forgetting that the coda/closing track on "Me 'N' Rock'N' Roll...." just happens to be a *stellar* version of Zesses/Fekaris's "I Just Want To Celebrate"...Coo-Ell!!
