Search - Four Tops, Marvin Gaye :: The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 5: 1965

Pretty close to the mountaintop

A. J Metz | San Francisco, CA USA | 01/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, if you're reading this, you're likely already a soul aficionado. You probably own a good dozen Motown records, but you're looking to dig deeper. If you want to hit the vein right when the label was really hitting its' stride, 1965 is a great place to start. If you pick up this set you'll end up with:



- The equivalent of a Brenda Holloway album

- Some kooky instrumentals from Earl Van Dyke and the Soul Brothers

- much of the best Four Tops singles ("Ask The Lonely", "I Can't Help Myself", "It's The Same Old Song"....)

- 8 kickass instrumentals from Jr. Walker and The Allstars

- An amazing Kim Weston track, "A Thrill A Moment"

- "Nowhere To Run" by Martha & The Vandellas - one of the best Vietnam-era tracks, ever

- Marvin Gaye, just as he was finding his footing ("Ain't That Peculiar

, "I'll Be Doggone")

- The same deal with Stevie Wonder ("Uptight", "High Heel Sneakers")

- The equivalent of an entire Supremes album chock full of great tracks ("Stop! In The Name of Love" is only the beginning here...)

- Some formative Temptations tunes

- Some sort of out-of-place crooning by a 51-year-old Billy Eckstine (not bad, just a little strange for this set)



I think that the 1966 set is a little more rockin', but this set is rock-solid, and if you wanted to know what the car radio sounded like in 1965, this is the set to check out."

7 1/2 Hours

Jim Z | 11/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"1965. Motown at the top of the musical mountain. 167 songs on 6 discs. You've heard about these phenomenal sets , take the plunge. If you appreciate what Motown did , you won't be disappointed. You will have every single from a premier year-1965. Just be prepared to be smitten and spellbound !"

WARNING ABOUT SERIES AVAILABILITY

Tome Raider | California, United States | 01/31/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This entire series is amazing. I believe it will be completed at the publication of the 12th volume, and each volume has 5 or 6 discs. I am up to Volume 9, and I can't really say there has yet been a single weak song. And I have now discovered so many awesome Motown songs I had never even heard before! This truly is a treasure trove. Yes, some songs are better than others, but all the music from this amazing dozen-year Motown era is great. The British Invasion may have brought over the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and many others, but our American Motown is of equal or better historic significance. This music is just so consistently CLASSY it defies words. Elegance just pours out from each disc here, it is unprecedented and will never be equaled in the future.



I've been surprised to learn that there are styles of music other than soul on the Motown label. There is some very good country music as well. These discs also have a smattering of interviews and some other holiday-type nonsense which are very fun to hear and which puts the entire era in context.



The packaging for the entire series is the best I've ever seen. It is a little hard to hold the book open so you can pull out or put in the discs, but this is a minor struggle and it is well worth it. The discs are held tightly in place and are well protected, and the historical information about any particular song is readily accessible. The 45 disc which slots into the front cover is really an innovative and clever flourish, and it gives the volume's book a really nice upgrade.



Okay, here is the bummer, and it is a major one. If you are like me, you are going to want the entire series if you buy even a single volume. You will buy the first volume and you will immediately realize that it is a worthwhile investment to obtain the entire series. And who really wants to own only part of a series of anything? The cost of even one volume here is enough that you'll probably want the entire collection. Well, as I write this, in January of 2009, volume 6 is no longer available. Gone. Completely gone, except for some guy trying to sell copies for $2000 as an Amazon-affiliated seller. As good as this music is, I'm not going to spend $2000 on a single volume. Yes, I've searched eBay relentlessly for months, with no luck at all. Yes, I've searched the virtual catacombs of international online sellers, with no luck at all.



So, I'm already over a thousand bucks into this series and yet my collection is missing one of the best volumes (it covers 1966 when a lot of the talent was at their crescendos). I've twice emailed Hip-O Select Records, the publisher, and not heard a word back. I've called their customer service, and they were clueless and indifferent. The girl who answered the phone for them did not know a thing about the series. Basically what has happened, by proclaiming this as a "Limited Edition," is that they have created an inducement for various sellers to hoard the best volumes and then to gouge Motown fans later when the inventory held by legitimate sellers is gone. They then jack the price up into the stratosphere.



So, one can only hope that Hip-O Select does another run of these amazing Motown volumes. If you are a Motown fan, you will be astonished when you hear all the incredible treasures which this series contains.

"