Previously-unheard recordings by Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Marvin Gaye and Jr. Walker & the All Stars, among many others, are featured in Motown Unreleased 1968, the latest entry in this popular digital series.
The music will be available on digital platforms in two editions: Motown Unreleased 1968: Part 1 (with 50 tracks) from December 14, and Motown Unreleased 1968: Part 2 (with 38 tracks) from December 21.
The first set contains six tracks by Wonder, including two recorded in concert at Detroit’s Fox Theatre on Dec. 28, 1968, when the star was performing in the annual Christmas run there of the Motortown Revue. Other material from the show was first issued by Motown on vinyl in 1969.
For Hitsville U.S.A. aficionados, the first part of Motown Unreleased 1968 features eight tracks by Blinky Williams – better known by her first name alone – including previously-unheard recordings of songs by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, Smokey Robinson and the Lewis Sisters.
Robinson and the Miracles also appear on Part 1 with an alternate take of their popular holiday tune, “Christmas Everyday.”
Among the many tracks on Motown Unreleased 1968: Part 2 are alternate versions of previously-released songs by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas (“I Can’t Dance To That Music You’re Playing”) and Tammi Terrell (“Tears At The End Of A Love Affair”). The newly-available Terrell recording is a duet with Marvin Gaye. There is also “I Can Feel The Pain,” one of David Ruffin’s first solo recordings after he left the Temptations earlier in 1968.
