Cellarful of Motown: Rarest Motown Grooves [Compilation, Import, from UK]

   Jazz FMのリチャード・サーリングが選曲した『A Cellarful of Motown』は、ヒット曲を量産したMotownレーベルの、60年代の作品から40曲をセレクト。うち39曲が未発表という実に驚きのコンピだ。当時発売されたのがジュニア・ウォーカー＆オールスターズの「Riding High on Love」だけというのが信じられない。それ以外の曲はモータウンの毎週開かれる『品質管理会議』の決定でお蔵入りになっていたというのだ。確かにポップス史上、Motownほど幅広くたくさんの名曲に恵まれたレーベルはない。今回の収録曲はオリジナルのマスターテープからリマスター。これまでノーザン・ソウル・ファンの間で出回っていた海賊版レコードは音質がひどかっただけに、Motownコレクター待望のコンピ・アルバムと言える。どの曲も素晴らしくベストトラックを選ぶのは至難の業だが、特に秀逸なのはバーバラ・マクネアのダンスチューン「Baby A-Go-Go」、アール・ヴァン・ダイクの陽気なインストナンバー「He Was Really Sayin' Something」、そしてここ数年ではノーザン・ソウル最高の発掘音源といえる、グラディス・ナイトの「If You Ever Get Your Hands On Love」だろう。ソウルミュージックにあまり縁のない人にもおすすめの、まさに必聴盤。（Chris King, Amazon.co.uk）

Compiled by Jazz FM's Richard Searling, A Cellarful of Motown is a truly astonishing 40-track collection featuring 39 previously unreleased 60s cuts plucked from Hitsville's archives. It's simply mind-boggling that only one of these stunning tracks--Jnr Walker's "Riding High on Love"--received an official release at the time. Incredibly, the others flunked Motown's weekly "quality control" meetings and were consigned to the vaults. Surely no other label in the history of popular music is blessed with such a boundless provision of timeless nuggets. Each gem here has been fastidiously restored from the original master tapes, so although many of these tunes are available as vinyl bootlegs on the northern-soul scene they are generally poorly pressed with inferior sound quality. This, then, is the compilation that Motown collectors have feverishly anticipated for years. It's almost impossible to pick standouts as the quality throughout is eye-rotatingly brilliant; however, celestial moments include Barbara McNair's infectious frugger "Baby A-Go-Go", Earl Van Dyke's exhilarating instrumental stampede through "He Was Really Sayin' Something", and one of the biggest northern-soul discoveries of recent years, Gladys Knight's phenomenal "If You Ever Get Your Hands on Love". This is an absolutely essential purchase for anyone even remotely interested in soul music. --Chris King

A stunning collection of the most sought after & most bootlegged Motown rarities. 40 of the hottest dance-floor cuts from Frank Wilson 'My Sugar Baby', Chris Clark 'Do I Love You', Barbara McNair 'Baby A Go-Go', Monitors 'Don't Put Off Till Tomorrow What You Can Do Today' (Extended Single Mix), Stevie Wonder 'Are You Sure Love Is The Name Of The Game' & many more. Slipcase.

Straight from the Detroit Vaults Comes this Fantastic Collection of Some of the Most Sought after and Bootlegged Motown Rarities. 40 Tracks of Rare Gems Include Earl Van Dyke's Instrumental Version of 'he was Really Saying Something' and Tammi Terrell's Rendition of the Stevie Wonder Composition 'all I Do is Think About You'.