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Barrett Strong, ‘Money’ Singer and Motown Songwriter, Dies at 81
Billboard ^ | 1/29 | Gary Graff

Posted on 01/30/2023 5:34:43 PM PST by nickcarraway

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Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine

The Undisputed Truth - Smiling Faces Sometimes (1971)

Edwin Starr - War (Original Video - 1969)

The Temptations- "I Wish It Would Rain" [This ay be the first one released that he wrote with Whitfield]

The Temptations - Ball Of Confusion (Live)

I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)

The Temptations "I Can't Get Next To You" on The Ed Sullivan Show

The Temptations- "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" 1972

The Temptations "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" on The Ed Sullivan Show

Gladys Knight & The Pips - The End Of Our Road

Gladys Knight and The Pips "Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me" [This is the only one I know of that Whitfield isn't credited as a cowriter.]

I think this guy and Norman Whitfield may be the best songwriters of Motown, as good or better than Smokey Robinson and Holland Dozier Holland.

1 posted on 01/30/2023 5:34:43 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
Barrett Strong - Money (That's What I Want)

This was actually written by Motown founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford. I still hear DJs crediting it to the Beatles. SMH ]

2 posted on 01/30/2023 5:37:33 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

I heard “Money Can’t Buy Me Love”...but it can rent it for a few hours at a time.


3 posted on 01/30/2023 5:41:11 PM PST by newfreep ("There is no race problem...just a problem race")
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To: nickcarraway
>A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcfXWtI7ML0"> Love and Rockets - Ball Of Confusion.

This song was even covered by a British alternative/Gothic band. I always thought the lyrics of this song were pretty conservative.

4 posted on 01/30/2023 5:42:42 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Creedence Clearwater Revival turned in an 11-minute version of “Grapevine” on its 1970 album Cosmo’s Factory.

I’ll take that version. Thank You.


5 posted on 01/30/2023 5:47:55 PM PST by Revel
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To: nickcarraway

I did not realize the Baby’s version of money was a cover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnP9WrSitnQ


6 posted on 01/30/2023 5:49:18 PM PST by Revel
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To: Revel

But you had heard the Beatles version?


7 posted on 01/30/2023 5:51:15 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: Revel
Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Definitely a great version. Fogerty must have loved the song, and covered just a few years after it came out.
8 posted on 01/30/2023 5:53:44 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: Revel

Those were the days when the same song could be a hit 3 or 4 times with different artists.


9 posted on 01/30/2023 5:55:12 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: nickcarraway

Nope. And I just checked it out. No thanks. Even the old version you posted was better than the Beatles version. Tone and beat are wrong for the song.


10 posted on 01/30/2023 5:55:31 PM PST by Revel
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To: Revel
The Flying Lizards - Money

This New Wave/Art Rock version was the one I heard a DJ credit as, "a Beatles cover."

11 posted on 01/30/2023 5:56:02 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

God rest his soulful soul.


12 posted on 01/30/2023 5:57:53 PM PST by married21 (As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)
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To: Revel
I like the Barrett Strong version better, but I know many people know it from the Beatles version.

Think of it, the man who wrote this was an ex-boxer, who wrote some song for Jackie Wilson. He recorded this for the record label he founded, and it was the label's first hit in the summer of 1960. That label would go on to have more hits than any other record label in the 1960s. Amazing.

13 posted on 01/30/2023 5:59:43 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Yeah CCR didn’t just sing it. They made it into a timeless classic. A masterpiece.

The California Raisins had fun with it too.


14 posted on 01/30/2023 6:02:30 PM PST by Revel
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To: Revel

CCRs version was like 11 minutes long. The DJs would put it on, and then go outside and smoke a J, while it played.


15 posted on 01/30/2023 6:03:34 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: nickcarraway

WOW, just one of the greatest popular song writers ever! His credits are soundtrack of my life from the early 60’s to the present day. Rest in peace, sir, and thanks for the hundreds of memories.


16 posted on 01/30/2023 6:04:18 PM PST by fidelis (👈 Under no obligation to respond to rude, ignorant, abusive, bellicose, and obnoxious posts.)
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To: nickcarraway

The Barrett version isn’t bad at all.

Hard to believe the record companies didn’t want it. I have heard of many songs they rejected that became huge hits.


17 posted on 01/30/2023 6:04:52 PM PST by Revel
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To: dfwgator

When music was music


18 posted on 01/30/2023 6:12:38 PM PST by xp38
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To: nickcarraway

The groups often got it wrong too.

A piano ballad not typical of Kiss’ sound, this was released as the B-side of “Detroit Rock City,” which was the third single from the album, following “Shout It Out Loud” and “Flaming Youth.”

These three first single releases were hard-driving anthems in the style of Kiss’ previous hit “Rock And Roll All Nite,” but the song that got the most attention was “Beth.”

Radio stations began playing the song, and the record company responded by flipping the sides of the single, with “Beth” becoming the A-side about six weeks later. It became the biggest hit for Kiss, and their only song to get significant airplay on Top 40 radio and even - gasp - Adult Contemporary formats.


19 posted on 01/30/2023 6:13:22 PM PST by Revel
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To: nickcarraway; SaveFerris; PROCON

Edwin Starr - War (Original Video - 1969)

I wonder how that song would have done if Starr has stuck with his original title, “War and Peace”?


20 posted on 01/30/2023 6:20:05 PM PST by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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