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Syreeta Wright had been doing receptionist, secretarial, and demo vocalist work for Motown when she made her recorded debut, as Rita Wright, on her employer's Gordy subsidiary. "I Can't Give Back the Love I Gave You," an aching number written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson with Brian Holland, unfortunately went nowhere -- in a commercial sense -- upon its January 1968 release. It did reach Dusty Springfield, whose version was out in the U.K. by the end of November. Within a couple years, Wright co-wrote the Spinners' "It's a Shame" and gained more attention when she and fellow composer Stevie Wonder wed a few weeks after that smash began its chart ascent. As an artist, Wright remained in the shadows until 1972, when she released her Stevie-produced debut album. From 1967 through 1970, however, she recorded a high stack of shelved, frequently decent, occasionally excellent Motown material compiled here by the Kent label. According to Tony Rounce's liner notes, it includes everything Wright recorded that was mixed by a Motown engineer "at or close to the time of recording." "Love My Lovin' Man" alone was mixed later, in 2016. Only a quarter of the tracks were released previously, heard on the Cellarful of Motown series and Kent's Love and Affection: More Motown Girls, or via reissue on volume eight of The Complete Motown Singles. This shows that a lot of history remained. Take the demo of "Love Child." The day after Wright's vocal was recorded, Diana Ross' performance was overdubbed, and within two weeks, the official version was in shops, on its way to classic status. Most of the other songs have fascinating backgrounds detailed in the notes or track-by-track annotation. In some cases, the Henry Cosby/Sylvia Moy-written belter "(Touched) By the Hand of Love" especially, no illuminating context is required for enjoyment. That particular song easily surpasses "I Can't Give Back the Love I Gave You," which is here, along with its B-side, "Something on My Mind" (another Ashford & Simpson song), later recorded by Diana Ross for her self-titled solo album. Altogether, this completes the puzzle of a discography grown by a talent Motown concealed for too long.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
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NICKOLAS ASHFORD, ComposerLyricist - Valerie Simpson, ComposerLyricist - Lamont Dozier, Producer - Brian Holland, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 1968 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Don Hunter, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Stevie Wonder, Producer, ComposerLyricist - LULA HARDAWAY, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Jimmy Roach, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
NICKOLAS ASHFORD, ComposerLyricist - Valerie Simpson, ComposerLyricist - Lamont Dozier, Producer - Brian Holland, Producer - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 1968 UMG Recordings, Inc.
NICKOLAS ASHFORD, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Valerie Simpson, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2007 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Richard Morris, Producer - Bob Hamilton, Composer - Rita Wright, MainArtist - Joanne Bratton, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Berry Gordy Jr., ComposerLyricist - Chris Clark, ComposerLyricist - Hal Davis, Producer - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 UMG Recordings, Inc.
William Robinson, Jr., ComposerLyricist - Berry Gordy, ComposerLyricist - Hal Davis, Producer - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Jack Goga, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Walter Fields, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2015 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Pamela Sawyer, ComposerLyricist - Gloria Jones, ComposerLyricist - Hal Davis, Producer - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Pamela Sawyer, ComposerLyricist - Gloria Jones, ComposerLyricist - Hal Davis, Producer - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Ivy Jo Hunter, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Jack Goga, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Edith Wayne, ComposerLyricist - RONALD DUNBAR, ComposerLyricist - Hal Davis, Producer - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Ivy Jo Hunter, ComposerLyricist - Hal Davis, Producer - Jack Goga, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Bowden, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Laura Nyro, ComposerLyricist - Hal Davis, Producer - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Henry Cosby, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Joe Hinton, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Deke Richards, ComposerLyricist - Sherlie Matthews, ComposerLyricist - Hal Davis, Producer - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Pamela Sawyer, ComposerLyricist - Dennis Lussier, ComposerLyricist - Frank Wilson, ComposerLyricist - R. Dean Taylor, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, MainArtist - The Clan, Producer
℗ 2016 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Hal Davis, Producer - Rita Wright, MainArtist - Helen Mastor, ComposerLyricist - Kay Miller, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Edward Holland Jr., ComposerLyricist - Lamont Dozier, ComposerLyricist - Brian Holland, ComposerLyricist - Hal Davis, Producer - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Leonard Caston, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Stanley Ossman, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
William Weatherspoon, Producer, ComposerLyricist - James Dean, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Bowden, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2002 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Henry Cosby, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Sylvia Moy, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Henry Cosby, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Sylvia Moy, Producer - Joe Hinton, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Rita Wright, MainArtist
℗ 2016 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Album review
Syreeta Wright had been doing receptionist, secretarial, and demo vocalist work for Motown when she made her recorded debut, as Rita Wright, on her employer's Gordy subsidiary. "I Can't Give Back the Love I Gave You," an aching number written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson with Brian Holland, unfortunately went nowhere -- in a commercial sense -- upon its January 1968 release. It did reach Dusty Springfield, whose version was out in the U.K. by the end of November. Within a couple years, Wright co-wrote the Spinners' "It's a Shame" and gained more attention when she and fellow composer Stevie Wonder wed a few weeks after that smash began its chart ascent. As an artist, Wright remained in the shadows until 1972, when she released her Stevie-produced debut album. From 1967 through 1970, however, she recorded a high stack of shelved, frequently decent, occasionally excellent Motown material compiled here by the Kent label. According to Tony Rounce's liner notes, it includes everything Wright recorded that was mixed by a Motown engineer "at or close to the time of recording." "Love My Lovin' Man" alone was mixed later, in 2016. Only a quarter of the tracks were released previously, heard on the Cellarful of Motown series and Kent's Love and Affection: More Motown Girls, or via reissue on volume eight of The Complete Motown Singles. This shows that a lot of history remained. Take the demo of "Love Child." The day after Wright's vocal was recorded, Diana Ross' performance was overdubbed, and within two weeks, the official version was in shops, on its way to classic status. Most of the other songs have fascinating backgrounds detailed in the notes or track-by-track annotation. In some cases, the Henry Cosby/Sylvia Moy-written belter "(Touched) By the Hand of Love" especially, no illuminating context is required for enjoyment. That particular song easily surpasses "I Can't Give Back the Love I Gave You," which is here, along with its B-side, "Something on My Mind" (another Ashford & Simpson song), later recorded by Diana Ross for her self-titled solo album. Altogether, this completes the puzzle of a discography grown by a talent Motown concealed for too long.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 24 track(s)
- Total length: 01:08:51
- Main artists: Rita Wright
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: UNI - MOTOWN
- Genre: Soul/Funk/R&B R&B
© 2015 UMG Recordings, Inc. This Compilation ℗ 2015 UMG Recordings, Inc.
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