"The Marvelettes I Can't Turn Around" Stereo/Mono "Motown Greatest Hits" "Women Of Motown"
"The Marvelettes I Can't Turn Around" Stereo/Mono "Motown Greatest Hits" "Women Of Motown"
"Arguably one of Wanda Rogers' most moving and fully-realized performances hands down; a performance among 11 others that unquestionably cemented the Marvelettes' place among Motown's top artists. On July 16, 1966, Frank Wilson recorded his contribution to "The Pink Album," "I Can't Turn Around."
On a previous upload, Marvelette Katherine Anderson's recollections of Motown seemingly not wanting the group to mature were cited. Smokey Robinson was one of the producers who had to fight Motown's Quality Control twice for two songs he had done with the group, showcasing a sleeker, newer side of the ladies. Fortunately, other Motown producers were also giving the group some of their best material and, in the process, showcasing that all the years of recording, touring and training with Motown's Artist Development Department was paying huge dividends.
"I Can't Turn Around" is something of an anomaly of sixties Motown. In construction, instrumentation, mood and execution, the song almost sounds as if it was a divining rod pointing the way to the more introspective sounds that would become the norm in the early-to-mid seventies. When I first heard this, so many years ago, my first impression was that "I Can't Turn Around" wouldn't have sounded out of place on a Carole King album, or any number of similarly-styled singer/songwriter artists that were blossoming at the time.
The lament of a woman who knows better but still can separate herself from a "ship that's going down." The opening lyric: "I can't turn around/ I've got to stay here till the end" and then the killer: "_If nothing else just let me be your friend"_ I mean, who was writing that kind of a deeply, emotionally conflicted line in the sixties? And Wanda Rogers, who one year previously, had been playing the Ann Margret/Eartha Kitt sex-kitten role with "Don't Mess With Bill," was now singing with a depth of personal introspection and ambivalence that was rarely displayed elsewhere with the exception of Dionne Warwick in her songs.
Wanda had been demonstrating for years her startling ability to morph into whatever character a song's setting called for, and with astonishing maturity: lovelorn and lovestruck; "Forever"'; youthful, romantic exhilaration: "You're My Remedy"'; soul singer extraordinaire: "I'll Keep Holding On," "Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead." Now with "I Can't Turn Around," Wanda was displaying yet another facet of her endless array of "characters" of song.
Recording Info from the site Don't Forget the Motor City http://www.dftmc.info/titles/ti-02.htm
I Can't Turn Around (Frank Wilson) published Jobete 01-Aug-66
The Marvelettes; recorded Hitsville, completed 16-Jul-66 ; produced by Frank Wilson ; [lead Wanda Rogers]
06-Mar-67; LP (S): Tamla S274 The Marvelettes
06-Mar-67; LP (M): Tamla T274 The Marvelettes
09-Mar-92; CD (S): Motown MOTD 5421 The Marvelettes
13-Dec-11; CD (S): Hip-O Select B0017193-02 Forever More: The Complete Motown Albums Volume 2
13-Dec-11; CD (M): Hip-O Select B0017193-02 Forever More: The Complete Motown Albums Volume 2
#northernsoul #motown #motowngreatesthits #motownmusic #womenofmotown #motown25 #themarvelettes #graphicdesign #graphics
