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Nature Planned It
''Nature Planned It'' is the eleventh studio album by American vocal group the Four Tops, released on April 17, 1972. It was released under the Motown record label and was produced by Frank Wilson. Upon its first release, the album charted poorly as the group was re-negotiating to re-sign with Motown. After being offered what they considered an insulting sum to remain with the label, the group then signed with ABC-Dunhill and began work on their first LP there, entitled Keeper of the Castle. In an effort to thwart their future sales at another label, Motown then re-issued ''Nature Planned It'' to much better results, with the album peaking at No. 50 on the Billboard Pop Charts. Rolling Stone magazine gave this album a glowing revue thus spurring sales. This would be their final studio album for Motown until 1983, when they returned to the company after the smashing success of their Motown 25 television appearance with The Temptations. Track listing Side one # I Am You ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1953 as the Four Aims. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel Motown Records to international fame. The group's repertoire has incorporated elements of Soul music, soul, R&B, disco, adult contemporary music, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Lead singer Levi Stubbs, along with backing vocalists Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together in the group for over four decades, performing until 1997 without a change in personnel. Along with fellow Motown groups the Miracles, the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Temptations, and the Supremes, the Four Tops helped to establish the "Motown sound"; pop-friendly soul and R&B with a clean, polished production quality. They were notable for having Stubbs, a baritone, as their lead singer, whereas most other male and mixed vocal groups of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conga
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). Congas were originally used in Afro-Cuban music genres such as conga (hence their name) and rumba, where each drummer would play a single drum. Following numerous innovations in conga drumming and construction during the mid-20th century, as well as its internationalization, it became increasingly common for drummers to play two or three drums. Congas have become a popular instrument in many forms of Latin music such as son (when played by conjuntos), descarga, Afro-Cuban jazz, salsa, songo, merengue and Latin rock. Although the exact origins of the conga drum are unknown, researchers agree that it was developed by Cuban people of African descent during the late 19th century or early 20th century. Its direct ancestors are thou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1972 Albums
Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * February 19 – Battle of Lugdunum: Emperor Septimius Severus defeats the self-proclaimed emperor Clodius Albinus at Lugdunum (modern Lyon). Albinus commits suicide; legionaries sack the town. * Septimius Severus returns to Rome and has about 30 of Albinus's supporters in the Senate executed. After his victory he declares himself the adopted son of the late Marcus Aurelius. * Septimius Severus forms new naval units, manning all the triremes in Italy with heavily armed troops for war in the East. His soldiers embark on an artificial canal between the Tigris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Van De Pitte
David J. Van De Pitte (October 28, 1941 – August 9, 2009) was an American music arranger and bass player. He is best known for his work at Motown Records during the 1960s and early 1970s, when he was responsible for arranging many of the best known and most successful of the company's records, including those by Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and many others. Life and career He was born in Detroit, Michigan, and studied music at the Westlake College of Music in Los Angeles, becoming proficient in classical, jazz and pop music. His main instrument was the bass, but he also played trombone and other instruments. In the early 1960s he began playing in Johnny Trudell's orchestra, and came to know many of the musicians who, then and later, worked at Motown, including bass player James Jamerson who sometimes substituted for him in Trudell's band. He began working for Motown in 1968, and was responsible for arranging ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mastering Engineer
Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the Audio mixing (recorded music), final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source from which all copies will be produced (via methods such as pressing, duplication or Replication (optical media), replication). In recent years, digital masters have become usual, although analog masters—such as audio tapes—are still being used by the manufacturing industry, particularly by a few engineers who specialize in analog mastering. Mastering requires critical listening; however, software tools exist to facilitate the process. Results depend upon the intent of the engineer, their skills, the accuracy of the speaker monitors, and the listening environment. Mastering engineers often apply Equalization (audio), equalization and dynamic range compression in order to optimize sound translation on all playback systems. It is standar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Audio Engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, and reinforcement of sound. Audio engineers work on the "technical aspect of recording—the placing of microphones, pre-amp knobs, the setting of levels. The physical recording of any project is done by an engineer…" Sound engineering is increasingly viewed as a creative profession and art form, where musical instruments and technology are used to produce sound for film, radio, television, music and video games. Audio engineers also set up, sound check and do live sound mixing using a mixing console and a sound reinforcement system for music concerts, theatre, sports games and corporate events. Alternatively, ''audio engineer'' can refer to a scientist or professional engineer who holds an engineering degree and designs, deve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cal Harris (engineer)
Calvin Lawrence Harris was an American sound engineer and the head of the recording department at Motown. He worked on projects such as Marvin Gaye's hit album ''What's Going On'', The Beach Boys' single “ Good Vibrations”, and Lionel Richie's Grammy award-winning album ''Can't Slow Down''. He is the father of jazz musician Cal Harris Jr. and programmer/keyboard technician Eric Harris. Biography Cal Harris Sr. was born on August 9, 1941, in Marshall, Michigan. He began his musical career at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, as an intern for The Beach Boys. His work for at Gold Star gained him the recognition to get hired by Motown Records in the late 1960s. At Motown he became the head of the recording department. He died on August 14, 2017, in a California hospital due to natural causes. Working at Motown Records As the head of the recording department at Motown, Cal Harris Sr. was tasked with managing the team of sound engineers employed by Motown. As well as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Record Producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensuring artists deliver acceptable and quality performances, supervising the technical engineering of the recording, and coordinating the production team and process. The producer's involvement in a musical project can vary in depth and scope. Sometimes in popular genres the producer may create the recording's entire sound and structure. However, in classical music recording, for example, the producer serves as more of a liaison between the conductor and the engineering team. The role is often likened to that of a film director, though there are important differences. It is distinct from the role of an executive producer, who is mostly involved in the recording project on an administrative level, and from the audio engineer who operates the re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Jamerson
James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases until 1971), and is now regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bass players in modern music history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. As a session musician he played on twenty-three ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one hits, as well as fifty-six R&B number-one hits. In its special issue "The 100 Greatest Bass Players" in 2017, '' Bass Player'' magazine ranked Jamerson number one and called him the most important and influential bass guitarist. In 2020, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked Jamerson number one in its list of the 50 greatest bassists of all time. Early life A native of Edisto Island, South Carolina, he was born to James Jamerson Sr. and Elizabeth Bacon. He was raised in part by his grand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wah Wah Watson
Melvin M. Ragin (December 8, 1950 – October 24, 2018), known professionally as Wah Wah Watson, was an American guitarist who was a member of the Funk Brothers, the studio band for Motown Records. He also worked extensively as a session musician in a variety of genres from jazz and pop to R&B. Career Ragin was a native of Richmond, Virginia. His father, Robert Ragin, was a minister, and his mother, Cora (Brown) Ragin was an evangelist. She bought him his first guitar when he was 15. He moved to Detroit in the 1960s and eventually became a member of the Motown Records studio band the Funk Brothers, where he recorded with artists like The Temptations (his guitar work on "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is particularly notable), the Jackson 5, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and the Supremes. He played on numerous sessions in the 1970s and 1980s for many top soul, funk and disco acts, including Herbie Hancock; he both recorded and composed songs with the Pointer Sisters. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Willis
Eddie "Chank" Willis (June 3, 1936 – August 20, 2018) was an American soul musician. Willis played electric guitar and occasional electric sitar for Motown's in-house studio band, The Funk Brothers, during the 1960s and early 1970s. Career Born in Grenada, Mississippi, Willis was known for his signature style of muted guitar riffs which added a distinctive tone or "color" to the beat, often timed with the snare, of the hundreds of hit songs recorded at Hitsville U.S.A. for Motown artists. Among the recordings Willis performed on are " Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes, " The Way You Do the Things You Do" by The Temptations, "You Keep Me Hanging On" by The Supremes, and " I Was Made to Love Her" by Stevie Wonder. Influences for Willis included Chet Atkins, Wes Montgomery, and Albert King. He played a Gibson Firebird guitar on most of his early 1960s work, later moving on to use a Gibson ES-335. On recordings such as The Supremes' " No Matter What Sign You Are", Willis perf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Coffey
Dennis James Coffey (born November 11, 1940) is an American guitarist. He was a studio musician for many soul and R&B recordings, and is well known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single " Scorpio". Biography Coffey learned to play guitar at the age of thirteen, in the Michigan Upper Peninsula town of Copper City. In 1955, as a fifteen-year-old sophomore at Detroit's Mackenzie High School, Dennis played his first record session - backing Vic Gallon in "I'm Gone", on the Gondola record label. In the early 1960s he joined The Royaltones who had had hits with "Poor Boy" in 1958 and "Flamingo Express" in 1961. The Royaltones played sessions with other artists including Del Shannon. By the late 1960s as a member of the Funk Brothers studio band, Coffey played on dozens of recordings for Motown Records, and introduced a hard rock guitar sound to Motown record producer Norman Whitfield's recordings, including distortion, Echoplex tape-loop delay, and wah-wah: most notably heard o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
