Listening to the instrumental tracks shows the simplicity of the parts and how powerfully they combine as an arrangement that grooves and how all the components made this song not only a joy to listen, but also a dance hit. Mavin Gaye -- what can I say?...The singing is superb and the blend with the Andantes is sublime. This is from an era where music was produced by live musicians and master song writers. As a musician, your deconstructing great songs is not only an education, but provides insight into the creativity of the production, the songwriting and the performance. Thanks for this.
I have no insight on exact numbers, but as a producer and orchestral arranger, I can tell you that this sounds like 5+5+4+3 (violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello). Compared to a standard romantic era string section (9+9+8+7 or so) or late romantic/move score string section (could be much larger, i.e. 12+12+10+9 or more), you hear much more definition and individual nuance from each player, along with less chorusing (though recording to tape with heavy saturation will impart some additional chorusing, albeit in a different way). The sound is a little more raw and rugged, especially in those low spots where the violas and cellos step out to the front. The rawness is augmented by the fact that the players are likely sight reading the arrangement during the first take, and playing in an acoustically unfriendly environment to boot. They're great players, but great orchestras gain their polish through repetition and a deeper understanding of the internal mechanisms of the arrangement - stuff that only comes with time. That's not a bad thing though, not in the slightest. The roughness suits the song and the arrangement just perfectly. By contrast, listen to the strings on I Want You (I'd kill for an isolated orchestra track on this), which have a polished, almost cinematic quality to them - longer rehearsal/recording times for those sessions, and undoubtedly a larger orchestra as well, as well as just more clarity/less saturation on the tape itself due to better equipment/more tracks to work with/a better acoustic environment -- all of which suits THAT song perfectly. Iconic, in both cases, for completely diametric reasons.
@PokeEyeSlapSlap Pistol played the Indian War dance on the Tom's, Benny and Uriel played the back beat, and Benny played the bass drum (foot) on Marvin's version. The Funk Brothers discussed it in an interview after Earl's funeral in 1992.
Yes, and Eddie Willis is definitely playing alongside Dennis Coffey. The second guitar has that distinctive bite from the bridge pickup of his Firebird.
Oh yeah! The best Stevie Wonder song not recorded by him (although he did play drums and probably keyboard as well as produced it.). I always tell people that it's the most Motown of all Motown songs. It's got EVERYTHING: multiple guitars, funky bass, incredible vocals, great horns, etc...👍👍
Completely ridiculous to ask Marvin to hit notes like that. Thank God that wasn't his last hit. Imagine being on the road and having to close the show with THIS every night.
Single/In The Groove 1968
Drums 0:04-3:37
Percussion 3:41-7:00
Bass 7:04-10:05
Guitar 10:09-12:47
Organ and Electric Piano 12:58-16:17
Orchestra 16:41-19:45
Vocals 19:52-23:17
Listening to the instrumental tracks shows the simplicity of the parts and how powerfully they combine as an arrangement that grooves and how all the components made this song not only a joy to listen, but also a dance hit. Mavin Gaye -- what can I say?...The singing is superb and the blend with the Andantes is sublime. This is from an era where music was produced by live musicians and master song writers. As a musician, your deconstructing great songs is not only an education, but provides insight into the creativity of the production, the songwriting and the performance. Thanks for this.
All I can say is Awesome!!! Love those Funk brothers.❤❤❤. Thanx for this.
Fantastic !
Please do more Motown tracks🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾This is brilliant!!!
I enjoyed every bit of this…
Good stuff
It's a shame they didn't use more of the Hammond organ after the intro.
Any idea on how many strings players, what kind of strings are being played?
I have no insight on exact numbers, but as a producer and orchestral arranger, I can tell you that this sounds like 5+5+4+3 (violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello). Compared to a standard romantic era string section (9+9+8+7 or so) or late romantic/move score string section (could be much larger, i.e. 12+12+10+9 or more), you hear much more definition and individual nuance from each player, along with less chorusing (though recording to tape with heavy saturation will impart some additional chorusing, albeit in a different way). The sound is a little more raw and rugged, especially in those low spots where the violas and cellos step out to the front. The rawness is augmented by the fact that the players are likely sight reading the arrangement during the first take, and playing in an acoustically unfriendly environment to boot. They're great players, but great orchestras gain their polish through repetition and a deeper understanding of the internal mechanisms of the arrangement - stuff that only comes with time.
That's not a bad thing though, not in the slightest. The roughness suits the song and the arrangement just perfectly. By contrast, listen to the strings on I Want You (I'd kill for an isolated orchestra track on this), which have a polished, almost cinematic quality to them - longer rehearsal/recording times for those sessions, and undoubtedly a larger orchestra as well, as well as just more clarity/less saturation on the tape itself due to better equipment/more tracks to work with/a better acoustic environment -- all of which suits THAT song perfectly.
Iconic, in both cases, for completely diametric reasons.
@@notownsoundrecords5195 that was the greatest response ive ever recieved about anything. WOW. you are AWESOME! Thank you very much!
is there an application that does this stuff
I managed to get the proper multitrack stems for the song but you can use stuff like mvsep.com
Benny Benjamin was also on the drums in this track. Not just Uriel and Pistol.
Benny played on the Gladys Knight & The Pips original, not Marvin’s.
@PokeEyeSlapSlap Pistol played the Indian War dance on the Tom's, Benny and Uriel played the back beat, and Benny played the bass drum (foot) on Marvin's version. The Funk Brothers discussed it in an interview after Earl's funeral in 1992.
@@1anointedsoundInteresting. While Berry and some of The Funk Brothers are still with us, we need a book about who played on what at Motown.
Yes, and Eddie Willis is definitely playing alongside Dennis Coffey. The second guitar has that distinctive bite from the bridge pickup of his Firebird.
It be nice if you can deconstruct. It's a shame by the spinners.
Oh yeah! The best Stevie Wonder song not recorded by him (although he did play drums and probably keyboard as well as produced it.). I always tell people that it's the most Motown of all Motown songs. It's got EVERYTHING: multiple guitars, funky bass, incredible vocals, great horns, etc...👍👍
Completely ridiculous to ask Marvin to hit notes like that. Thank God that wasn't his last hit. Imagine being on the road and having to close the show with THIS every night.
NORMAN WHITEFIELD PUSHED HIM TO THE LIMIT! VOCALLY..