Elemental Music’s ongoing LP reissue series the Motown Sound Collection continues with the release of three more classic titles from the Detroit label’s archives: the Jackson 5’s Get It Together (on red vinyl, with a die-cut cover) and the mono editions of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles Make It Happen and More Hits by the Supremes on August 16, 2024
JACKSON 5’s Get It Together
Produced by Hal Davis and issued on September 12, 1973, Get It Together might be seen as the Jackson 5’s first adult album, as Motown made a major attempt to craft a more mature image and style for the family group, whose first hits landed in 1969 when they were still youngsters. In particular, lead vocalist Michael Jackson was then 15 years old and sporting a deeper but still mercurial voice, which he used to great effect on the album’s title single. “Get It Together” roared to No. 2 on the national soul/R&B chart (becoming the group’s highest-charting 45″ in two years) and No. 28 on the U.S. Hot 100. It prefaced the smash “Dancing Machine,” heard in its original version on the album; the subsequent edited single (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 pop) also led to a like-titled 1974 album.
The Miracles’ album Make It Happen had two lives under two different titles – first as Make It Happen and then later as Tears of a Clown. Originally issued on August 29, 1967, the collection reached No. 28 nationally on the strength of the hit single “The Love I Saw In You Was Just a Mirage,” which climbed to No. 10 on the R&B side and No. 20 on the pop charts. But Motown never let a great song go to waste, and the album yielded an even bigger smash. In 1970, after “The Tears of a Clown” was pulled off the LP and became a No. 1 hit in the U.K., it was finally released as a single in the U.S. The circus-themed song, written by Smokey Robinson with Stevie Wonder and Hank Cosby, roared to No. 1 on both the soul and pop charts, and Motown’s Tamla subsidiary re-released Make It Happen as Tears of a Clown to capitalize on the signature hit. It reached No. 143 in its second incarnation. (“The Tears of a Clown” bears an alternate Robinson lead vocal on Elemental’s mono edition.)
Released on July 23, 1965, More Hits by the Supremes bore a title that acknowledged the female trio’s ongoing chart supremacy; at that point, the girl group had been competing week in and week out for a year with the Beatles at the top of the national pop chart. This new set, which continued the label’s winning formula of pairing the act with songs by Holland-Dozier-Holland and production by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier, yielded two immense singles that topped both the pop and R&B charts, “Stop! In the Name of Love” and “Back in My Arms Again,” and a lesser but still potent entry, “Nothing but Heartaches” (No. 6 R&B, No. 11 Pop). The album became the Supremes’ second top-10 collection, peaking at No. 6 pop and No. 2 R&B.