Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers (album)

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Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers
The band standing together, posing for the camera
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 26, 1968 (1968-08-26)
GenreRhythm and blues
Length35:49
LanguageEnglish
LabelGordy
Producer
Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers chronology
Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers
(1968)
Find My Way Back
(1990)

Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers is the sole studio album by Canadian rhythm and blues band Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, released by Gordy Records in 1968.

Reception[edit]

Editors at AllMusic Guide scored this album four out of five stars, with critic Andrew Hamilton calling it "a marvelous but underrated collection".[1]

Track listing[edit]

  1. "Does Your Mama Know About Me" (Tom Baird and Thomas Chong) – 2:59
  2. "So This Is Love" (Baird) – 2:59
  3. "I Am Your Man" (Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson) – 3:33
  4. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield) – 2:48
  5. "Malinda" (Alfred Cleveland, Terry "Buzzy" Johnson,β and William "Smokey" Robinson) – 2:49
  6. "Fading Away" (Robinson, Robert Rogers, and Warren Moore) – 3:03
  7. "You Gave Me Something (and Everything's Alright)" (William Garrett, Albert Hamilton, Ronnie Savoy, and Norma Toney) – 3:21
  8. "It's Growing" (Moore and Robinson) – 3:08
  9. "One Girl" (Baird) – 2:33
  10. "Try a Little Tenderness" (Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, and Harry M. Woods) – 3:00
  11. "Day by Day or Never" (Berry Gordy) – 2:50
  12. "If You Love Her" (Baird and Bobby Taylor) – 2:41

Personnel[edit]

Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers

  • Tommy Chong – guitar, backing vocals
  • Wes Henderson – guitar, backing vocals
  • Robbie King – organ
  • Ted Lewis – drums
  • Eddie Patterson – bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Bobby Taylor – vocals

Technical personnel

  • Al Cleveland – production on "Malinda"
  • Hal Davis – production on "It's Growing"
  • Berry Gordy, Jr. – production on "Does Your Mama Know About Me", "So This Is Love", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Fading Away", "You Gave Me Something (and Everything's Alright)", "One Girl", "Try a Little Tenderness", "Day by Day or Never", and "If You Love Her"
  • Dan Hersch – digital remastering on CD edition
  • Bill Inglot – digital remastering on CD edition
  • Terry "Buzzy" Johnson – production on "Malinda"
  • Lee Kaye – liner notes
  • Randy F. Kling – mastering
  • Motown GA, P. Bass – liner notes photography
  • Deke Richards – production on "It's Growing"
  • Smokey Robinson – production on "Malinda"
  • George Rodriquez – cover photography
  • Frank Wilson – production on "I Am Your Man" and "It's Growing"

Chart performance[edit]

Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers was a hit for Motown, reaching 20th place on the Billboard R&B charts.[2][3]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  • The original liner notes to this album only credit Berry Gordy, Jr., founder of Motown. as record producer. The single "Malinda"/"It's Growing" credits "Robinson, Johnson, Cleveland" as songwriters and producers for the A-side and "Richards, Davis, Wilson" as producers on the B-side. See the below note for controversy around the songwriting credit. This is corrected on the 1994 Motown compact disc release.
  • While most sources credit "Johnson" as being Terry Johnson, who was an established songwriter and producer at Motown by this time, Peter Benjaminson credits it to Rick James, born James Ambrose Johnson, Jr., who had recently begun his work at Motown.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hamilton, Andrew. "Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers – Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers". Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  2. ^ "Billboard Best Selling Rhythm & Blues LP's". Rhythm & Blues. Billboard. Vol. 80, no. 42. October 19, 1968. p. 46. ISSN 0006-2510.
  3. ^ a b Benjaminson, Peter (2017). Super Freak: The Life of Rick James. Chicago Review Press. pp. 11, 51–52. ISBN 9781613749609.

External links[edit]