Track Listing

1. I Got A Feeling
2. You Got Me Hurtin' All Over
3. Can I Get A Witness
4. Bah Bah Bah
5. Another Day, Another Way
6. Chained
7. It's Got To Be A Miracle (This Thing Called Love)
8. Baby Don't You Do It
9. It's Not Necessary
10. I'll Turn To Stone
11. I'm So Thankful
12. (I'm A) Roadrunner
13. The Look of Love
14. Why Fight It
15. What's Easy For Two Is So Hard For One
16. Why Did You Run Away
17. When It Rains It Pours
18. You Finally Outdone Yourself

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8723 in Music
• Released on: 2003-09-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds
• Running time: 47 minutes

Customer Reviews

California Motown
Add the name of Barbara Randolph to the list of outstanding female vocalists that Motown did not handle properly. Unfortunately Berry Gordy had the idea of replacing Florence Ballard of The Supremes with stunning Randolph. She was vetoed by Diana Ross, and although she worked consistently with producers Hal Davis and Frank Wilson in Los Angeles, she didn't have a huge hit and the company never released an album on her. One only has to compare her rendition of The Supremes' "Bah Bah Bah" with the Diana Ross-led version (in the album "Reflections"), and it's not hard to imagine the reason why. Randolph's voice is earthier, more soulful and energetic than Ross', giving the song's storyline more dramatic resonance.
Barbara Randolph died in July 2002 and UK Spectrum released this compilation in 2003, which is the first Motown release ever on her. It features her two singles, both written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, Jr.: the cult track "I Got a Feeling" and an excellent cover of Marvin Gaye's hit "Can I Get a Witness", which was re-released in Great Britain as a maxi-single in 1979.
Randolph was indeed very good at singing the songs of H-D-H, the trio that wrote hit after hit for the 1960's Supremes: here you can listen to a completely different reading of "Baby, Don't You Do It" and her versions of "(I'm a) Road Runner" and "I'll Turn To Stone". But she also seems at ease with Smokey Robinson's tunes, as in "What's Easy for Two Is Hard for One" which is even better than the Mary Wells original and The Marvelettes' remake.
But the real surprises are the Wilson-Davis contributions. "Another Day, Another Way", "I'm So Thankful", "Why Did You Run Away", "When It Rains It Pours", and Gaye's single "Chained" are all powerful interpretations of Wilson's songs, given first-rate treatment by Davis and the West Coast branch of Motown Record Corporation.
Never mind if we had to wait 40 years to listen to these tracks. Enjoy them, as now we have the pleasure to hear what Florence Ballard, Brenda Holloway, Syreeta, Kim Weston, The Velvelettes, Mary Wilson, Chris Clark and many other chanteuses did at Motown, in spite of "Queen Bee" Ross.

An Album to Treasure
What more can I add to Edgar's words (previous review). this is a magnificant album, equal to, if not surpassing anything relesed during the 1960's. I came to it blind and was blown away. To anyone who has never heard of Barbara, risk the few quid, it will be really worth it.

Drumcondra Derek

The might-have-been Supreme
In the sixties, Barbara Randolph was, briefly, a singer with the Platters. Her performances there attracted Motown's attention. She was considered as the replacement for Florence Ballard in the Supremes, but didn't get the job, apparently because Diana Ross objected. Motown released two singles, both with the same B-side and both failed to chart. Barbara recorded fifteen other tracks for possible release on an album, but nothing was released. Apart from a few tracks that Barbara recorded for another label, she disappeared without trace from the music scene. News of Barbara's death prompted the release of this fine collection of her entire Motown recordings.

The first A-side, a cover of I got a feeling (Four Tops) opens this collection, followed by the only B-side (You got me hurting all over), then the second A-side, a cover of Can I get a witness (Marvin Gaye). The remaining tracks were never released to the public in Barbara's lifetime. Even if an album had been released, it is unlikely that all these tracks would have been released, but anybody assembling the album would have had plenty of quality material to choose from, whether or not they`d used the three singles tracks.

The potential album tracks include covers of songs also recorded by (among others) the Supremes (Bah bah bah), Marvin Gaye (Chained, Baby don`t you do it), Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston (It's got to be a miracle), I'll turn to stone (Four Tops), Roadrunner (Jr Walker), What's easy for two (Mary Wells) and Look of love (Dusty Springfield)., but there plenty of other great songs here that you probably haven't heard anywhere else.

The variety of sounds and styles show that Motown were experimenting, trying to find out which direction to take Barbara's career in, but by not releasing anything except two singles, their effort was waste - except that by leaving the unreleased recordings in the vaults, they did at least allow Motown fans to hear her music, albeit only after her death.

As befitting somebody who good enough to sing with the Platters, and who Berry Gordy considered as a replacement for Florence Ballard, this is an excellent compilation that shows what might have been. Now, why did Diana object to her becoming a Supreme? Judged on the music here, Barbara would have been a great Supreme.