With a couple of exceptions, the showroom- and talk-show-ready Temptations of In a Mellow Mood (1967) are handed the most impersonal, clichéd sort of standards. "Hello Young Lovers," "Try to Remember," and too many others here go through the motions of connecting with listeners but are so haplessly written that the reined-in quintet is hard-pressed to fill them with more than a thimbleful of sweat. "Somewhere" is a foolproof melody that might have made a fine change of pace on a record like With a Lot o' Soul, but this version of "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" has none of the redeeming qualities of Dionne Warwick's. Paradoxically blessed with little of the class the group normally commanded, Mellow Mood stands as an expression of Berry Gordy's worst aesthetic impulses. --Rickey Wright
In A Mellow Mood,The Temptations,Mca Special Products,Motown,Oldies,Pop,R&B,Soul,Soul/Reggae/Rhythm & Blues
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In A Mellow Mood
The Temptations Manufacturer: Umvd Special Markets ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00000DBYC Release Date: 2003-02-25 |
Tracks:
- Hello Young Lovers
- A Taste Of Honey
- For Once In My Life
- Somewhere
- Ol' Man River
- I'm Ready For Love
- Try To Remember
- Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)
- What Now My Love
- That's Life
- With These Hands
- The Impossible Dream
Amazon.com
With a couple of exceptions, the showroom- and talk-show-ready Temptations of In a Mellow Mood (1967) are handed the most impersonal, clichéd sort of standards. "Hello Young Lovers," "Try to Remember," and too many others here go through the motions of connecting with listeners but are so haplessly written that the reined-in quintet is hard-pressed to fill them with more than a thimbleful of sweat. "Somewhere" is a foolproof melody that might have made a fine change of pace on a record like With a Lot o' Soul, but this version of "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" has none of the redeeming qualities of Dionne Warwick's. Paradoxically blessed with little of the class the group normally commanded, Mellow Mood stands as an expression of Berry Gordy's worst aesthetic impulses. --Rickey WrightCustomer Reviews:
Tempting Temptations.......2007-07-19
breaths new life into mostly Broadway standards..........2007-04-26
P.S. See also the outstanding Temptations Christmas record.
In A Mellow Mood.......2007-03-29
in amellow mood.......2007-02-13
If I Could Give It More Than 5 Stars I Would!!!.......2006-09-14
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In a Mellow Mood
Acker Bilk Manufacturer: Castle Pulse ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00000854R Release Date: 1998-02-05 |
Tracks:
- Evergreen
- Slip Slidin` Away
- You`re My Best Friend
- These Foolish Things
- Don`t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
- Can`t Smile Without You
- Raining In My Heart
- Just The Way You Are
- Nobody Does It Better
- Way We Were, The
- Talking In Your Sleep
- I`ll Put You Together Again
- Forever Autumn
- My Sweet Lord
- Sweet Caroline
- Too Much Heaven
- Walk In Love
- Song For Guy
- Touch Me In The Morning
- Didn`t We?
- Goodnight Tonight
- Sometimes When We Touch
- September Song
- Georgia On My Mind
- Emotion
Album Details
Tracks Include: Evergreen, Raining in My Heart, the Way We Were, Talking in Your SLEEP, Georgia on My Mind, Nobody Does it Better and More.
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Wish It Would Rain/In a Mellow Mood
The Temptations Manufacturer: Umvd Import ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00004WZ5U Release Date: 2001-01-16 |
Tracks:
- I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)
- Cindy
- I Wish It Would Rain
- Please Return Your Love to Me
- Fan the Flame
- He Who Picks a Rose
- Why Did You Leave Me Darling
- I Truly, Truly Believe
- This Is My Beloved
- Gonna Give Her All the Love I've Got
- I've Passed This Way Before
- No Man Can Love Her Like I Do
- Hello, Young Lovers
- Taste of Honey
- For Once in My Life
- Somewhere
- Ol' Man River
- I'm Ready for Love
- Try to Remember
- Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)
- What Now My Love?
- That's Life
- With These Hands
- Impossible Dream
Album Description
UK version of Motown's '2 Classic Albums On 1 CD Series'. Reissue of 2 of the male vocal groups 60's era albums, 'Wish It Would Rain' (1968) and 'In a Mellow Mood' together on 1 CD. Packaged in a full color slipcase with original artwork and 8 page booklet. 2000 release. Slimline double jewel case. Both LPs reached #13; the former is unavailable in the U.S.; the latter is available in the U.S. with a $9.97 suggested list.Album Details
Digitally Remastered 2-On-1 CD of Two of the Temps Most Beloved LP'S.Customer Reviews:
deliciously tempting.......2005-05-15
Odd Coupling.......2005-03-28
Like its follow up, I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You), also with one of David Ruffin's most heartfelt vocals, the lyric to I Wish It Would Rain was written by Roger Penzabene, who was vividly experiencing the emotions he wrote about in his songs for the Temptations and Gladys Knight and the Pips (End Of Our Road) from this time, and who was to commit suicide before he could benefit from their success.
Former regular producer Smokey Robinson contributes two songs; Cindy, which could easily have been a single had Norman Whitfield allowed it, and the cheerier up-tempo Fan The Flame. Gonna Give Her All The Love I've Got is their version of the song Norman Whitfield had already given Jimmy Ruffin a hit with. He Who Picks A Rose was later covered by the Carstairs and Rare Earth, and by Edwin Starr on the B-side of his hit War. The Henry Cosby-produced I Truly Truly Believe was led by Melvin Franklyn and was an R&B hit in its own right after appearing as the B-side of I Wish It Would Rain. The album closer had a classic Motown sound and groove. No Man Can Love Her Like A Do had a rare composer credit for Eddie Kendricks and was co-written with Norman Whitfield and Motown-mainstay Eddie Holland.
This was to be the last album in the classic Temptations style as the next release debuted their new acid soul sound. This was even more startling given that the album that had preceded this one was a selection of Broadway standards.
Berry Gordy, the label boss, always had one business foot in the more sophisticated (i.e. square) adult (particularly white adult) mainstream market, and a number of his acts found themselves recording live albums at the Talk Of The Town or the Copa, or in the studio for a glitzy collection of jazzed-up standards, and the Temptations were no exception.
In A Mellow Mood is an odd coupling as it was full of show tunes like Hello, Young Lovers (from The King and I), Somewhere (from West Side Story), Try to Remember (from The Fantasticks) (perhaps inspiring Gladys Knight), Who Can I Turn To (from The Roar Of The Greasepaint, The Roar Of The Crowd) and Ol' Man River (from Showboat).
On Ol' Man River, for which Melvin Franklyn sings a bass lead, they wisely use the less racist lyric revision by Paul Robeson, who originally sang it. The Frank Sinatra song book is raided for That's Life, For Once in My Life and The Impossible Dream (the latter from Man Of La Mancha), and Gilbert Bécaud's popular What Now My Love? is aired along with several others.
The oddest track is a reworking of the Holland-Dozier-Holland tune I'm Ready For Love, a hit for Martha and the Vandellas the year before. It retains its traditional bass line and tempo but a jazz element has been added. This sits uncomfortably at first both with memories of the original and with the rest of this album, but becomes addictive after a couple of listens and then seems far too short. The Motown house band does an absolutely fantastic job throughout, showing they can be play in any style with ease, whilst the Temptations show that they are equally adept in the harmony department, though one does wonder what these outings did for their credibility and positioning as spokesmen for the hip radical left
A few more tastes of honey before the grit took over!.......2001-08-16
1968's WISH IT WOULD RAIN was just like any other album from a Motown group, one that basically followed a single or three, with some pleasant filler in between. But this album I think was one of the Tempts lesser-known hits, which is why I'm reviewing it before all the others. The title track opens with a gospel-sounding piano that eventually gives way to the rough-but-honey-sweet vocal of David Ruffin on a song that in fact managed to top the R&B charts and peak at #4 pop. Once again, the high position belies the fact that this song isn't one of the Tempts' better-known classics. Probably because it doesn't get more requests than "My Girl". The album's other two hit singles deserve some attention. "I Could Never Love Another [After Loving You]" contains the stately strings that so defined Motown's golden age, also with another great lead from David Ruffin, who would leave the Tempts shortly after this album. This song topped R&B again, but missed the pop top 10. It's a shame, because it really deserved to do better. But with Ruffin's days numbered in the Tempts, the last hit single from WISH IT WOULD RAIN, "Please Return Your Love To Me", had the boyish falsetto of Eddie Kendricks singing it. Of course, this was one of those good-but-not-great songs, but the fact that it made only #26 pop shows that either radio thought it wasn't a surefire seller, or that Motown thought the same & decided not to promote it vigourously. If you thought Eddie sounded good on "Just My Imagination", his vocal on "Please Return" is not far behind. Elsewhere, the album contains some lesser-known songs that whether or not they're good depends on the listener themselves. But some are notable, however. The Tempts' former producer Smokey Robinson returns to write & produce two great-as-expected songs, "Cindy" & "Fan The Flame". While "Get Ready"'s failure to become a big hit lead to the end of the Tempts' working with Smokey, those two songs prove the old magic hadn't been lost in the meantime. "I Truly, Truly Believe" should be noted for it being sung by Melvin Franklin, the bass voice of the Temptations. Most often, bass singers are relegated to the background, but that song proves Franklin should have been given more leads like this. The only thing wrong with "This Is My Beloved" is that it barely lasts two minutes long & could have paid to be fleshed out a bit more. Finally, the closing "No Man Can Love Her Like I Do" was co-written by Eddie Kendricks, which is strange considering Motown's legendary Svengali-like attitude toward its acts. Most often, the singers sang & the writers wrote, but not necessarily both. A song like this proves maybe there were times when Motown allowed a little more creative freedom for its acts.
All in all, WISH IT WOULD RAIN was a good album from the time when the Tempts were still making music easily palatable by pop music fans as much as soul. With Sly & The Family Stone coming into their own, they probably realized they needed to keep up with the times, so either they or at least Whitfield & Strong decided to steer the Tempts in a more modernized direction from then on. While the music would soon be more ambitious & cutting edge, WISH IT WOULD RAIN is a good last gasp for the smoother brand of R&B that had brought the Temptations their first acclaim.
P.S. Check my review of IN A MELLOW MOOD on the remastered version of that album. I reviewed WISH IT WOULD RAIN here because it doesn't seem to be available anymore in the U.S.
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Soft Lights/In a Mellow Mood
Bobby Hackett Manufacturer: Collector's Choice ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000059LF7 Release Date: 2001-03-13 |
Tracks:
- Soft Lights And Sweet Music
- Bobby's Blues
- I Cried For You (Now It's Your Turn To Cry Over Me)
- You Turned The Tables On Me
- Under A Blanket Of Blue
- How About You?
- Easy To Love
- That Old Black Magic
- Someday You'll Be Sorry
- The Song Is You
- It's All Right With Me
- Sleep
- Serenade In Blue
- Deep Night
- In A Sentimental Mood
- Lazy River
- Carefree
- Mood Indigo
- Get Out Of Town
- All Through The Night
- Stars In My Eyes
- Rain
- Flamingo
- You're My Thrill
Customer Reviews:
Bobby Hackett's Masterpiece in Circulation Again !!!!!.......2004-10-13
A college friend of mine ( Hi, Paul ! ) got me into pre-Bop jazz, Big Band, and Swing...
As a fledgling trumpeter I wanted an example to follow,
of how to put across a melody- simply, but vitally...My friend
loaned me an old, scratched-up turquoise-label copy of IN A MELLOW MOOD.
I was tantalized enough to locate another copy in a second-hand shop.
We "pooled" both copies; we HAD to, in order to get a listenable version of each side...
And I learned about melody.
Song and mood... and a Goldilock's-porridge-"just right" mixture of
poetry and swing...Some tracks with full band accompaniment, some with a
George Shearing Quintet-style backup. The results are
very nearly too good...The kind of music
that "Muzak" often tried to imitate, sans success...This is it. "Carefree" is just that,
leaving wistfulness and sassiness in its wake. And in Webster's Dictionary, the entry for "lyricism" should read: SEE BOBBY HACKETT'S "Serenade in Blue," "Deep Night," "Mood Indigo," and "Flamingo." Not to mention "You're My Thrill" and the perfect "Rain" (track 22); just listen to Bobby's last, long-held note -
how, through sheer beauty of tone, he holds your interest and caps the tune
with just a touch of non-chalance.
One of the most beautiful "mood" albums in the history of jazz or pop.
(This album is both, like it or not.)
I understand the joy of other reviewers here- the ones
who grew up with this music and have come upon it again after so long.
SOFT LIGHTS is a more up-tempo album, perfect in its own way.
But IN A MELLOW MOOD is Bobby Hackett's masterpiece.
It doesn't get much better than this...
Buy it for your friends, your loved ones, your enemies,
BUY IT.
The Mellowest of Hackett.......What a Horn!.......2002-07-23
Bobby was certainly the most sophisticated and stylishly lyrical cornet player I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. I have other works of his (still on vinyl) but this is certainly his best of the light swing and romantic approach.
If you like standards, jazz, Bobby Hackett, the best lyrical horn to be heard, the romantic approach, light swing.......in any of or all of those combinations.......this IS a must!
More Mellower, Please.......2001-07-01
SO GOOD TO HEAR THIS MUSIC AGAIN.......2001-03-24
I wonder if there's any chance of getting another of Bobby's albums released. It's called "Dream Awhile" on columbia It's Bobby at his best with pipe organ. A Great Album!!!
Who says you can't swing with strings?.......2001-03-16
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In a Mellow Mood
Stan Kenton Manufacturer: Total Recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B00008FWV1 Release Date: 1995-04-16 |
Tracks:
- I'm Glad There Is You
- All of You
- So in Love
- You Turned the Tables on Me
- We Laughed at Love
- When Your Lover Has Gone
- Love Is Here to Stay
- Memories of You
- Desiderata
- Harlem Nocturne
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Songs in a Mellow Mood
Ella Fitzgerald Manufacturer: Decca ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000666TNU Release Date: 2004-12-06 |
Tracks:
- I'm Glad There Is You
- What Is There to Say?
- People Will Say We're in Love
- Please Be Kind
- Until the Real Thing Comes Along
- Makin' Whoopee
- Imagination
- Stardust
- My Heart Belongs to Daddy
- You Leave Me Breathless
- Baby, What Else Can I Do?
- Nice Work If You Can Get It
Album Description
Japanese 24-bit remastered reissue, packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve. Details TBA. Universal. 2004.Album Details
24bit Digitally Remastered Japanese Limited Edition in an LP-STYLE Slipcase.
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Complete In a Mellow Mood & Soft Lights Sessions
Bobby Hackett Manufacturer: Lone Hill Jazz ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0001QNOD8 Release Date: 2004-06-28 |
Tracks:
- That Old Black Magic
- Song Is You
- You Turned the Tables on Me
- Someday You'll Be Sorry
- Easy to Love
- Soft Light and Sweet Music
- I Cried for You
- Bobby's Blues
- Deep Night
- Mood Indigo
- All Through the Night
- Flamingo
- Rain
- Serenade in Blue
- Lazy River
- Get Out of Town
- Carefree
- You're My Thrill
- Stars in My Eyes
- In a Sentimental Mood
- How About You?
- Under a Blanket of Blues
- Sleep
- It's All Right with Me
Album Description
Full title - Complete In A Mellow Mood & Soft Lights Sessions. Remastered reissue features 24 tracks, with guest musicians Lou Stein, Denzil Best, & Billy Bauer. Lonehill Jazz. 2004.Album Details
Two Albums on One CD. Personel on Tracks Include Lou Stein, Billy Bauer, Arnold Fishkind and Denzil Best.
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Dream Dancing IV: In the Mellow Mood
Ray Anthony & His Orchestra Manufacturer: Aero Space Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00005IC2I Release Date: 2001-06-26 |
Tracks:
- You Don't Know What Love Is
- You've Changed
- Rockin' Chair
- I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
- Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me
- Mood Indigo
- Angel Eyes
- We'll Be Together Again
- Imagination
- Mean To Me
- I'm Glad There Is You
- How Long Has This Been Going On
- A Time For Love
- This Is All I Ask
- One For My Baby And One More For The Road
Customer Reviews:
A little on the sad side for dance music.......2002-01-14
blue jazz style. Interesting to listen to, but if you want
dance music, buy Dream Dancing II. It's the band and Ray at
their very best.
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Smooth Jazz in a Mellow Mood
Various Artists Manufacturer: St. Clair Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B00007L7E6 Release Date: 2002-12-24 |
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In a Mellow Mood
Acker Bilk Manufacturer: Castle ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B0000088LB Release Date: 1998-02-18 |
Tracks:
- Stranger on the Shore
- Makin Whoopee
- Amazing Grace
- I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)
- Someone to Watch over Me
- This Guy's in Love With You
- Folks Who Love on the Hill
- What Are You Doing for the Rest of Your Life
- Travellin' On
- South Rampart Street Parade
- Wandering
- Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
- Burgundy Street
- Without You
- Sweet Georgia Brown
- Bridge over Troubled Water
- Going Home
- Auf Wiederseh'n, My Dear
Album Details
Tracks Include: Stranger on the Shore, Makin'whoopee, Amazing Grace, Someone to Watch Over Me, this Guy's in Love with You, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Going Home and More.Christian Music:
- Jagged Little Thrill
- Jesus Walks [CD-single] [Enhanced] [Import]
- Just Got Paid
- KW
- Lawdy! (+ Bonus Tracks)
- Libra [Import]
- LSG 2 [Enhanced]
- Mars/Venus [Explicit Lyrics]
- Men In Black: The Album [Soundtrack]
- Mo'hogany [Explicit Lyrics]
Christian Music
Thirteen Masks [Extra tracks] [Original recording remastered]
I'm A Country Girl In A City Woman
Ooh La La [CD-single] [Import]
Music from the Award-Winners and Nominees 0405 [Import]
My Generation: The Very Best of the Who