Finders Keepers: Motown Girls 1961 - 1967 / Various

Jazz, blues, easy listening, and girl group pop sound. It's all here. Motown's girls could do it all. The mix of twelve previously unreleased tracks with tracks heard on other compilations works out well. The mastering and analog to digital transfers are fantastic. The quality of the monophonic sound is so high, I really thought I was hearing stereophonic sound. There are no losers or weepers on this offering. There are several stand outs: "Don't Turn Your Back On Me"; "Dance Yeah Dance"; "Lover Boy"; "My Black Belt"; "Grass Seems Greener (On The Other Side)"; "If Wishes Came True"; "So Let Them Laugh At Me" (reminds me of Nancy Wilson's early recordings); "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues"; and "It's Too Soon To Know" (this is the type of material that suited Kim best, in my opinion). A booklet is included with a detailed discography of recording dates, working titles, original assignments and other background information on the songs and artists.

I would rate this a Nine out of ten! I do appreciate the thought (and extraordinary efforts) over the song selections. Maybe I should take back the Nine and rate Finders Keepers a Ten! Regarding the Mary Wells and Florence Ballard (Supremes) selections - the folks at Ace could have chosen a Supremes "rarity" of Florence lead on Sam Cooke's "Ain't That Good News!" The "Supremes Sings Sam Cooke" is among the rarest of any Supremes albums.As far as Mary Wells, they could have chosen "any song" from her newly released "Lost and Found" Mary Wells. My possible selection might've been "Have a Little Patience and Wait" - since that song was also available on a second Motown Rareites CD. I really love the rare photos of all of the singers (Especially Hattie L., Velvelettes and Anita K. This only goes to prove that Motown had more great female singers than they could produced! Other than these two songs - Ace has found the best collection of Rare Songs (Artists) - to any collector's delight!

The ladies can sing. The Marvelettes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Kim Weston, Brenda Holloway, The Velvelettes, and more. Until I got this I didn’t know about Labrenda Ben or Liz Lands and now I can’t find enough of their music.

Once again ACE from England blows it away with these salvaged gems. So many terrific recordings, so little time. They just keep coming. Just buy every CD release ACE puts out on rescued Motown. You'll never regret it.

While some of the songs I have on other Motown collections - there are some new ones for me - so it's good to have them on CD. And the mix of songs is perfect for some great listening.

Great Motown girl songs. You wil not be disapointed with this selection of both released and unreleased songs. Brenda Holloway's "Don't Turn Your Back On Me" alone is worth more than the purchase price of this great cd.

Purchase was delivered ahead of schedule and as described. I would not hesitate to buy from this seller in the future. Also this was a great cd, especially for those who love that Classic Motown sound. The Carolyn Crawford cut, Lover Boy, is my favorite so far. Great vocals, lyrics and song = Classic Motown, and exemplifies why I became such a Motown fan and lover. The unreleased tracks by Gladys Knight & the Pips, Liz Lands, Linda Griner and LaBrenda Ben are also stand out cuts. I hope ACE keeps up with these terriffic releases.

a real disappointment. i really should have waited to buy the mp3 of Liz Lands and the Vandellas. how many times can you own the same songs? brutha!

I love Motown. It's still exciting to discover those gems that were buried in the Motown tape vault, often overlooked in favour of superior versions by other label mates, sounding too similar to other contemporary releases, company politics or in a number of cases because they didn't suit the groups image or failed to make the final cut on an album. Sometimes they were just real clunkers. There have been a number of dives into the famous vaults in recent years and we are now reaching the bottom of the barrel. There are a few good tracks on this collection but they are out numbered by the mediocre proto motown sound recordings mainly by obscure artists who had a very brief stint at the label. It does seem that the law of diminishing returns is proving to be the case with each of these final deep trawls through the sediment at the bottom of the motown vault! Hard core rate diggers will no doubt love it

Ace have been the most recent label to access the plentiful vaults of unreleased material at Motown, following on from the British licensees Tamla Motown, and US-based Hip-O-Select. This release is the first mixed artist compilation of Motown recordings and concentrates on the girl singers and girl groups on their books between 1961 and 1967. Half of the tracks have never been released before, with the remainder being mostly album tracks or B-sides, or, as in the case of the Velvelettes, only released decades after they were made. Perhaps the best known tracks are the Supremes single, Buttered Popcorn, from the days when they were the "no hit" Supremes, and featuring Florence Ballard on lead vocals, and Mary Wells' What's Easy For Two Is So Hard For One. This was originally a 1963 B-side but was well known enough to be included on her Greatest Hits album after she had left the company, in 1966. The Miracles selection features a lead vocal from one-time member Claudette Robinson in place of their usual lead singer, husband Smokey.A couple of selections that are well-known favourites from acetates and bootlegs get their first belated official releases, and sounding a million times better from original sources. These include an early epic Gladys Knight and the Pips outing from 1967, and a find attributed to the Marvelettes on acetate labels but that turns out to be a backing track intended for them that still has the demo vocal from one Bettie Winston. She was discovered by the track's producer Robert Hamilton, but left with him when he defected to Golden World a year later, and the track was then shelved.The Marvelettes also provide the compilation's title track, Finders Keepers Losers Weepers. This was recorded in 1964 with Gladys Horton singing lead and the Andantes helping out on vocals, but stayed in the can until slipping out on the B-side of a British-only Kim Weston single in 1980. A couple of high points are provided by Martha and the Vandellas. One, No More Tearstained Make Up, was on the album Watchout! in 1966 but could easily have been a single, and the other, Build Him Up, was a Holland-Dozier-Holland number originally offered to Kim Weston. Neither version was released at the time, and Martha's version astoundingly appears here for the first time, despite copious plunderings of the Vandellas unreleased work in recent years. As with Carolyn Crawford, whose output is thought to be exhausted with this final offering, it is surprising not to have been selected until now. Aficionados will welcome some of the less well known names, such as LaBrenda Ben, Liz Lands and Saundra Mallett, all part of the Motown story.Ace have chosen mono masters throughout this CD, some of the previously released material still appearing in this format on CD for the first time. The notes, by Keith Hughes, in the 16-page booklet, are as detailed and informative as one expects from Ace, and anyone with an interest in Motown is bound to find much of fascination and enjoyment in those well put together selection.

bought for a present , great tracks good quality ,good price

Nobody does it like the Motown Girls and these Ladies are Superb!

what can I say a grand collection of iconic tunes from motown some released on vinyl some unissued some tracks unknown to me all in all a recommended collection to have .