Motown In Mono & Stereo: "Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While) - Kim Weston" & Alt. Vocal

[@Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles]

Time Stamps: 0:00 original 45 mix 2:59 stereo mix 5:58 alternate vocal Very interesting example of how things worked at Motown (and probably every other record company). Here is the timeline for this song according to the site Don't Forget The Motor City: 1.] Eddie Holland records the Funk Brothers band track in September of '64 and the track is assigned to "The Vandellas" but no vocals are recorded at this time. 2.] Brian Holland produces the session where Eddie records his lead vocal; interestingly, the notes include this: "[odb on the Vandellas]". Did Martha Reeves record a lead, or did The Vandellas only record backgrounds? 3.] The next year, on July 18 of '65, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, AND William Stevenson pack the producers booth while Kim records her lead vocal, and once again, the session notes include " [odb on the Vandellas]". The backing vocals on Eddie's version and Kim's version are done by The Andantes, but they are not the same performance on each. The Andantes' performance on Kim's version is a little smoother, less "churchy" and a lot less shrill. But there are additional voices on Kim's version; you can't really hear it on the mono version, but with the stereo mix, it is VERY evident because The Andantes are panned to the left channel and a mystery group is panned to the right channel. I'd love to know who this mystery group is doing backgrounds. It sounds like a mixed group- male and female singers. But they also sound to be singing a little off-key, at least during their first go-round singing the "ooooo" parts during the second verse 3:52; but while they sound a little rough around the edges, I love their energy and charm! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The alternate vocal is a fairly atom-splitting performance. It's as if producers HDH told Kim to just "Go For It, Girl!"

[@billmacneil6781]

Another gem from Kim Weston! (P.S. another case of the mono version outshining the stereo.) 💖💖💖

[@robertanzalone5853]

Eddie Holland, the original producer and co-writer of this song, recorded it first as his single release . You can hear how closely he had Kim follow his way of singing the song when she recorded it. Perhaps it was even the same music track used again.

[@ericask4666]

Great song and video! I still don't understand why Kim Weston isn't better known among Motown fans today.

[@Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles]

Thank you so much for the compliment on the video! And yes, this is definitely a great song. Kim was one of those Motown artists who always put out excellent records, but that one hit that would make her a household name just didn't happen. I honestly think KZbin and social media has actually introduced her to new generations and given her an even higher profile than she may have had back then. A few years ago, I got to know someone through KZbin who is friends with Kim. Because of that, I got a chance to speak to Kim herself on the phone! What an amazing woman. She's so completely into helping others, especially the people of Detroit - she doesn't complain about not being a bigger star or anything like that. She's just a wonderful person who puts others welfare ahead of herself.

[@ericask4666]

@Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles Wow, that's incredible that you got to talk to her! Interesting to hear what she's like from someone who has actually spoken to her.

[@skipsutton780]

I love both versions--Weston & the Doobies.

[@Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles]

Yeah, I was really taken with how excellent a job the Doobies did with it. They put their sound on it 100% but there's also still that Motown energy. The Doobies made everything sound amazing.

[@Bigeazy87]

Marvin Gaye's 2nd duet partner. The song got new life in the 70s when it was covered by the Doobie Brothers.

[@Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles]

I've always loved the Doobie Brothers for this one. Kim's version made the top 100, it's peak somewhere around 50. So it's surprising that the Doobies were aware of this song - I mean, it's one of the hottest things ever done at Motown and it should have been much bigger - but the Doobie Brothers really did an incredible job with the tune. It's great that they gave the song the attention it deserves.