ADAM BEST "WALL OF SOUND" (1970)

«...the "Wall of Sound" Adam Best created may well prove to be the most significant musical event of the '70s...»

[from the liner notes of "Wall of Sound"]



...well, that is - of course - an overstatement, an hyperbole used to create a strong impression in the people flipping through the vinyls stacked in record shops in those glorious days during the early '70s... But it's undeniable that the mysterious Adam Best - or anyone who has chosen to hide behind that name for some unknown reason - has crafted a little groovy record that can still make a good impression more than forty years later.

So, who was Adam Best? According to Mista Tibbz, «...there is strong suspicions of his relations to Music De Wolfe sound libraries due the similarity in certain library records and this one, but nothing is proved...».

Some people discussing in an Internet forum - here - link Adam Best to Barry Stoller, a composer of Library Music who is better known for the theme he created for "Match of the Day", the popular BBC's football television programme. It seems that Meatball's "Atomic Butterly" features a backing track identical to one of those contained on "Wall of Sound" with different solos over the top... Uhm, I would be quite curious to listen to that record...

Anyway, the only certainty I can offer is that the album liner notes mention veteran composer and director Harold Geller's involvement in the making of the record. Then we have the fact that the original six compositions on "Wall of Sound" - the other six are covers of famous tunes - are signed by Hugh Cortley and a certain Supran. Well, I guess I should write five originals and seven covers since one of the originals seems to be a plagiarism... More on this if you continue to read below.

I wasn't able to find anything relevant about Supran, but Cortley is often associated with Musi Silvio, another Library Music composer. Their tune entitled "Export" (...available here...) is very similar to the material contained on "Wall of Sound"; it is included on the album "New Generation" credited to The Laurence Stephen Orchestra...



Here's a complete transcription of the original liner notes that appear on the back cover of "Wall of Sound":

«Once in a while a person or group of people comes along with a style of music which surpasses anything done before. They are usually self-centred ruthless people - they don't get results unless they are - who know to the letter what they want, and nothing is allowed to stand in their way. Such a man is Adam Best. 24 year old Adam Best studied electronics at college, and music at the Royal Academy. He has been playing guitar, bass and drums on the pop scene for a number of years, but it was not until 14 months ago that he gave up playing in public to concentrate full-time on his own project. He was aided by one Harold Geller, one of London's most successful music directors and publishers, who recognised that his ideas were valid, and encouraged him to begin work on the new sound. Electronic music is not in itself new. People have been making musical sounds with electronics for years, but the great majority of it can hardly be called music, for it lacks - for want of a better word - soul. For the first time a musician entered the field, with the knowledge of electronics and the knowledge and ability of musician. The sound he has manufactured successfully fills the gap between vocal and instrumental music, based on the solid rhythm foundation played by Adam, augmented by section work by electronics. Just over a year ago Adam began work in a North London coal cellar to build by hand the machines he needed to complete his work. The things he required were not commercially manufactured so everything had to be designed and constructed by him. What little spare time was available was spent in discotheques up and down the country listening and learning from the types of music that were popular. The idea was to provide music that was danceable, and at the same time made pleasant listening. This was achieved by many hours of sessions between Harold Geller and Adam Best and many long involved telephone calls at all odd hours of the day and night when one would think of an idea which would immediately have to be put down in sound. They both laughingly refer to their nocturnal sound effects with neighbours thinking that a crime has been committed when they hear the weird noises emanating from their various houses in the still of the night. However, on reflection, they both feel that it was all very worthwhile. How well he succeeded can be gauged from the reactions of Philips Records. On hearing the first tracks played to them by Adam and Harold Geller, they immediately asked that they were given the opportunity to release all forthcoming material. The first complete Album "Wall of Sound" was presented to them in January, and was immediately scheduled for rush-release. Adam's dream had at last proved worthwhile. The first album is just the beginning for Adam; the sound can only get better. There are no limits on the medium, it is as much or as little as he chooses to make it, and the "Wall of Sound" Adam Best created may well prove to be the most significant musical event of the '70s.»

"Wall of Sound" contains the following tracks:

01. Wall of Sound (5:21)
02. I Can't Go On Without You (2:09)
03. I Guess I'll Always Love You (2:46)
04. Twenty Five Miles (3:09)
05. Lana's Past (2:32)
06. Gimme, Gimme Good Lovin' (1:57)
07. I'm a Man (3:06)
08. Walk Away Renée (2:39)
09. High In Grass (3:21)
10. When You're Young and In Love (2:33)
11. You Shouldn't Say (2:36)
12. Spread Out (3:02)

All tracks were remastered from the original vinyl in May 2013 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files. Both formats include complete printable artwork as PDF files. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.



So, let's explore this Funky / Easy Listening little gem... The album opens with the title track; clocking at over five minutes, "Wall of Sound" is the longest number and probably the coolest original composition too: sustained by forceful guitars and a raw rhythm section, keyboards (...Hammonds? Moogs?) are the undisputed leaders here, as on the rest of the record.

"I Can't Go On Without You" is another original composition, a short Easy Listening number with a more polished sound. It is followed by "I Guess I'll Always Love You", a cover of a 1966 Motown hit by The Isley Brothers which was also recorded by The Supremes. The Isleys' version was reissued in the U.K. in 1969 and became a hit there, hence probably the inclusion on this early 1970 album.

In 1968 "Twenty Five Miles" was a huge hit for Edwin Starr, who co-wrote the song along with Johnny Bristol and Harvey Fuqua. This instrumental version begins with a short break and keeps in line with the hectic nature of the original uptempo beat; one of the best tracks on the album.

"Lana's Past" is another original mellow tune written by the Cortley / Supran team that remains in an Easy Listening territory which doesn't add much to the album's recipe... Side One finishes with "Gimme, Gimme Good Lovin'", a cover of a 1969 hit by Crazy Elephant, a short-lived American Bubblegum Pop band.



Side Two opens with a great cover of "I'm a Man", a 1967 Hammond organ-driven Blues Rock single by The Spencer Davis Group written by Steve Winwood and Jimmy Miller. This song was sampled by DJ Format on his album "Music For the Mature B-Boy" in 2003. It is followed by the cover of another tune taken from the immense Motown catalogue: originally made popular by The Left Banke in 1966, "Walk Away Renée" became a hit for the Four Tops in 1968.

"High In Grass" is a track signed by Cortley / Supran which sound very similar - if not a plain plagiarism - to "Cold Sweat" by James Brown... "When You're Young and In Love" was written by Van McCoy and brought to success by Ruby & The Romantics in 1964, and later also by The Marvelettes in 1967; during the '70s it was covered by many other artists.

"You Shouldn't Say" is another high-quality original composition; I'm quite sure that its breakbeat has been sampled and used by someone during the '90s, probably Beck or Imani Coppola, I will investigate and update the post at a later date if I'm successfull.

The album ends with "Spread Out", an average track which doesn't affect the album as a whole: a nice combination of Funk / Soul and Easy Listening with some real standouts!

The only available picture of the mysterious Adam Best...

The following videos offer a preview of the remastered album: enjoy "Wall of Sound", "Twenty Five Miles", "I'm a Man" and "You Shouldn't Say"!

A few more information about "Wall of Sound" and related people is available here:

http://taukojalka.com/mrtibbz/2011/02/05/adam-best-wall-of-sound/

http://www.whosampled.com/sample/view/196954/DJ%20Format-English%20Lesson%20%28Remix%29_Adam%20Best-I%27m%20a%20Man/

http://www.turnipnet.com/mom/haroldgeller.htm

http://www.verygoodplus.co.uk/showthread.php/1411-Barry-stoller

http://www.librarymusicinfo.com/?s=barry+stoller&searchsubmit=

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Barry+Stoller

http://www.discogs.com/Meatball-Atomic-Butterfly/release/1814004

http://www.librarymusicinfo.com/1043/new-generation-dwlp-3160/

If you have any other useful information about Adam Best and "Wall of Sound" - especially corrections and improvements to this post - or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

FOUR TOPS "NATURE PLANNED IT" (1972)

Baby, don't fight it, I'm comin' baby

Do you know how long I'm dreamin' of a reason it grows?
You may ask me all these questions but darling, no one knows
It should be clear, I really love you, don't ask me why, I just do
Do you ask the Lord who loves you why he makes the sky clear blue?

It's the way, it's the way nature planned it
We were meant, we were meant to stay together
It's just the way, it's the way nature planned it
Oh, don't ask me how long I'll love you

When you're gone, my heart aches, I'll never, never leave you
Girl, all my life, for you I'd wait 'cause it's the way
It's the way, it's the way nature planned it
We were meant, we were meant to stay together
It's the way, it's the way nature planned it

Don't fight it, baby, I'm coming, girl

It should be clear, I really love you, don't ask me why, I just do
'cause it's the way It's the way, it's the way mother nature planned it
Like the stars and the sky and the beautiful heaven

It's the way, it's the way nature planned it
We were meant, we were meant to stay together

Do you know why it rains? It's the way, it's the way nature planned it
Something that no-one can explain, we were meant
We were meant to stay together

Why does a flower grow? It's the way, it's the way nature planned it
Why does the river flow? It's the way, it's the way nature planned it
We were meant, we were meant, we were meant
We were meant to stay together
Why does it rain? It's the way, it's the way nature planned it
Why do I feel this pain? It's the way, it's the way nature planned it

[from the lyrics of "(It's the Way) Nature Planned It"]



One of Motown's most consistent hitmakers and its longest lived lineup (over four decades), the Four Tops were the most stable vocal groups to emerge from the label in the '60s, charting with scores of upbeat love songs featuring Levi Stubbs' rough hewn lead vocals.

The Four Tops were a product of Detroit's North End: Levi Stubbs and Abdul "Duke" Fakir sang together in a group while attending Pershing High School. Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton were boyhood friends and attended Northern High together in Detroit too. At the insistence of their friends, they performed at a local birthday party and decided to remain together christening themselves The Four Aims.

Roquel "Billy" Davis, who was Lawrence Payton's cousin and sometimes sang with the group as the fifth Aim, sent a demo tape to Chess Records in Chicago. They were sent bus tickets and invited to audition.

It seems that Chess was more interested in Davis' writing skill than the group. However Davis' persistence ended up with them being signed to Chess Records. In 1956 they changed their name to Four Tops to avoid confusion with the The Ames Brothers, another well-estabilished vocal group.

Over the next seven years, the Tops endured unsuccessful tenures at Chess, Red Top, Riverside Records and Columbia Records. Without any hit records to their name, they toured frequently, developing a polished stage presence and an experienced supper club act. In 1963, Berry Gordy, Jr., who had worked with Roquel Davis as a songwriter in the late '50s, convinced the Tops to join the roster of his growing Motown record company.



Gordy had them record "Breaking Through" for his experimental Workshop Jazz subsidiary. Later that year they were finally directed toward contemporary soul. Under the wing of Motown's top production and recording team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, the Four Tops were launched with "Baby I Need Your Loving", which went to #11 in 1964.

Over the next eight years The Four Tops appeared on the charts almost thirty times, and Levi Stubbs became an international star and an influence on singers from the Sixties to the present time.

After scoring their first #1 hit, the often-recorded and revived "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" in June 1965, the Four Tops began a long series of successful hit singles. Among the first wave of these hits were the Top 10 "It's the Same Old Song", "Something About You", "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)", and "Loving You is Sweeter Than Ever".

Like many other Motown acts, the Four Tops became popular in major nightclubs around the world. In 1967 they had hits with "Bernadette", "7-Rooms of Gloom" and "You Keep Running Away". By now, the Tops were the most successful male Motown act in the U.K. (...in the United States, they were second to The Temptations...), and began experimenting with more mainstream pop hits.

They scored hits with their versions of "If I Were a Carpenter" and "Walk Away Renée". These singles and the original "I'm In a Different World" were their last hits produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, who left Motown in 1967.

"Nature Planned It" original innersleeve shows many Motown goodies...

Without Holland-Dozier-Holland, the quality of the Four Tops' output began to decline, and hits became less frequent. The group worked with a wide array of Motown producers during the late 1960s, including Ivy Hunter, Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, Norman Whitfield and Johnny Bristol, without significant chart success.

Their first major hit in a long time came in the form of 1970's "It's All In the Game", produced by Frank Wilson. Wilson and the Tops began working on a number of innovative tracks and albums together, echoing Whitfield's psychedelic soul work with The Temptations.

Their 1970 album "Still Waters Run Deep" was an early ancestor to the concept album. It also served as an inspiration for Marvin Gaye's 1971 classic album "What's Going On", the title track of which was co-written by Obie Benson.

In addition to their own albums, the Tops were paired with The Supremes for a series of three albums: "The Magnificent Seven" was released in 1970, "The Return of the Magnificent Seven" and "Dynamite!" followed in 1971. While the albums themselves did not do well on the charts, "The Magnificent Seven" featured a Top 20 version of Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep - Mountain High", produced by Ashford & Simpson.

In early 1972 the Four Tops recorded "Nature Planned It" with producer Frank Wilson, it was their last Motown album for more than twenty years...

...and more goodies on the back!

The following short review of "Nature Planned It" was published on the 13th May 1972 issue of Billboard:

The Four Tops have always been in a class of supremacy and their latest collection of songs certainly bears out the point. Their Sensitive interpretations of the title cut and "Happy (Is a Bumpy Road)" are just two of the standout numbers. Other topnotch tracks include "I Can't Quit Your Love" (their newest single), "If You Let Me" and "I'll Never Change".

"Nature Planned It" contains the following tracks:

01. I Am Your Man (4:22)
02. (It's The Way) Nature Planned It (3:48)
03. I'll Never Change (2:49)
04. She's an Understanding Woman (3:03)
05. I Can't Quit Your Love (3:41)
06. Walk With Me, Talk With Me, Darling (2:41)
07. Medley: Hey Man / We Got To Get You a Woman (7:27)
08. You Got To Forget Him Darling (2:43)
09. If You Let Me (2:53)
10. Happy (Is a Bumpy Road) (3:02)
11. How Will I Forget You (2:47)

All tracks were remastered in August / September 2012, they are available as a single FLAC lossless format file or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 file. Both formats include complete printable artwork as PDF files.

Before you burn this album on CD-R using the provided CUE file you will need to convert the original files to WAV format using an appropriate software. Here's an option for FLAC to WAV conversion and one for MP3 to WAV conversion.

As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download links.

Note: most of the songs on the original vinyl album are interluded with small effected bits taken from the title track. These extra bits were omitted in the 1987 CD release (cat. number MD08046MD) in my possession. Furthermore, on this release the albums "Keeper of the Castle" and "Nature Planned It" have been squeezed on one CD and many songs were edited for time purpose. My remastering offers the most faithful representation of the original album using both vinyl and CD as sound sources.

"Nature Planned It" was released by Motown with catalogue number M748L in April 1972. The album was produced by veteran Frank Wilson, who since 1965 had been writing and producing hit records for many other Motown artists like Brenda Holloway, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations, Eddie Kendricks and more.

The album opens with "I Am Your Man", a mellow slow number composed by Ashford & Simpson that was also previously released on Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers' self-titled album in 1968. The ballad is sung in the distinctive Levi Stubbs' warm, emotive baritone.

The title track was written by Frank Wilson and Pam Sawyer (...who also worked with many other Motown artists...); it presents an engaging lead and Abdul Fakir, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo Benson's smooth harmonies at their best. The song was later covered in a Rocksteady/Reggae style by Ken Boothe in 1974 for Trojan Records, it was also more recently sampled by Austrian Hip-Hop producer Brenk.

"(It's the Way) Nature Planned It" was also released as a single in August 1972 backed with the more upbeat "I'll Never Change", a song written by Kathy Wakefield and Leonard Caston (...The Supremes, Diana Ross, The Temptations, Eddie Kendricks...) and sung by Stubbs near the top of his register, adding even more fuel to an already dynamic arrangement.

Next comes the laid back groove of "She's an Understanding Woman", a composition by singer-songwriter Willie Hutch who is better known for the soundtracks to the cult blaxploitaion movies "The Mack" and "Foxy Brown".

"I Can't Quit Your Love", another strong uptempo number with a sparkling arrangement, was written by the Wakefield / Caston team. It was chosen as the first single from the album, backed by "Happy (Is a Bumpy Road)" on the domestic version and "I Am Your Man" on the U.K. release.

Side One ends with "Walk With Me, Talk With Me, Darling", composed by John Glover, Clay McMurray and James Dean. Originally this song was supposed to appear on "Promises Kept", an unreleased album recorded by The Supremes in 1971, which was shelved in favour of "Floy Joy", another album entirely produced and arranged by Smokey Robinson.



Side Two starts with a medley: "Hey Man", written by Frank Wilson, Leonard Caston and the Tops' own Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton, showcase a long instrumental intro and is flavoured with assorted Latin percussions and a sort of street corner talking probably played by Obie and Payton; the song merges with the Payton co-lead "We Got To Get You a Woman", a Todd Rundgren cover originally included on his debut album released in 1970. Both songs refer to a certain Leroy who seems to be in deep water... The closing part of "Hey Man" is largely instrumental and enhance the Latin feeling with a nice flute line played by an unknown session man.

"You Got To Forget Him Darling" was written by David Jones Jr., Johnny Bristol and Wade Brown Jr.; with its prominent piano, brass arrangement and background harmonies it breathes the old Motown climate.

The melodic "If You Let Me" features Lawrence Payton on lead vocals with female backing vocals. The song was written by Frank Wilson and was also recorded by Eddie Kendricks the same year. The Supremes also recorded a song with the same title in 1969; since it seems to be one of their lost recordings I'm not sure that it is the same song, it could be a completely different one.

"Happy (Is a Bumpy Road)", once again written by Frank Wilson and Pam Sawyer, is a cover of The Supremes original released on their album "Touch" in 1971.

The album closes with the excellent "How Will I Forget You", written by Al Cleveland (...co-author of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On"...) and Lorie Green along with Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton; strangely enough, a sitar seems to be featured among the instruments...

Here's the credits and personnel list of "Nature Planned It":

Produced by Frank Wilson

Mr. "Keys": Leonard Caston
Drums: Richard "Pistol" Allen, Andrew Smith
Percussionist: Jack Ashford
Conga and bongos: Eddie "Bongo" Brown
Guitars: Dennis Coffey, Eddie Willis, Mel Ragen
Bass (personified): James Jamerson

Recording engineer: Cal Harris
Mastering engineer: John Lewis

Arrangements by Jerry Long and David Van DePitte

All tunes published by Jobete Music Company Inc. BMI except "We Got To Get You a Woman", published by Earmark Music BMI

Four Tops in 1972: Lawrence Payton, Levi Stubbs, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Abdul "Duke" Fakir

More information about "Nature Planned It", Frank Wilson, The Funk Brothers and the Four Tops is available here:

http://www.soulstrut.com/index.php/reviews/indepth/Nature%20Planned%20It%20/

http://www.allmusic.com/album/nature-planned-it-mw0000201613

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/four_tops/nature_planned_it/

http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php?id=pp5ggwxxps

http://www.funkmysoul.gr/?cat=218

http://www.discogs.com/Four-Tops-Nature-Planned-It/master/256555

http://www.45cat.com/record/m1198f

http://www.45cat.com/record/m1210f

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Wilson_%28musician%29

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/frank-wilson-mn0001770585

http://www.frankwilson.co.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk_Brothers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Tops

http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Four%20Tops.html

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-four-tops-mn0000071812

http://rockhall.com/inductees/the-four-tops/bio/

http://www.soultracks.com/fourtops.htm

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-four-tops/biography

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/levi-stubbs-mn0000256831

If you have any other useful information about the Four Tops and "Nature Planned It" - especially corrections and improvements to this post - or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!