motown:: the spinners- i cross my heart

a dare to lock into the beat...

the spinners were one of motown's best-kept secrets...the group had a fine line-up with a vocal style that gave gloss and shine to "the motown sound." while many male vocal groups usually had a standard tenor-to-bass approach, the spinners had somewhat different sound...for starters, bobby smith had a smooth tenor-baritone lead style of singing- similar to ronald isley, jimmy ruffin and the monitors' richard street.

the group vocals, supplied by edgar edwards, henry fambrough, pervis jackson and billy henderson, had a incredibly thunderous sound thanks to vocals that covered mainly the baritone-to-bass range. the effect was a bit more emphasis on the lower range and gave those vocals the effect of hitting a brick wall doing 100 m.p.h.!

here, the group performs another ivy jo hunter wonder. is that a sitar that opens the track? whatever it is, its a very unique sound for a motown production. the most interesting aspect about this song is its lock-step, start-and-stop drum figure.

the beat is essentially the same as the supremes' "you can't hurry love," the temptations' "all i need" or martha and the vandellas' "i'm ready for love." however, instead of having the snare hit on the 2's and 4's the bass drum dominates the beat while the snare only accents every 4th beat. it creates a wicked sense of anticipation as you're constantly looking to hear something else take up that beat on the 2's.

that's handled at first by finger snaps (actually, the snaps are covering every beat- 1,2,3,4) but later in the song, ivy jo introduces hand claps that cover the beats that the snare is leaving behind. it's a clever technique that adds excitement to the track- almost as if the the handclaps make a statement and the snare answers back.

add a VERY unexpected key change at the end of the tune and you've got a very exciting production which is over before you're ready for it to be. ivy jo hunter. always challenging your ears...

written and produced by ivy jo hutner

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[MotownMaster]

My favorite Motown song by them, RIP Pervis,Billy and Chico

[tomovox]

@MotownMaster I really like that this is your favorite of the Motown songs the Spinners recorded- I like all of their work at Motown, but this one has to hold down the "favorite" spot on my list too.

[mrjoshjones1]

Shoot, who DON'T like the golden voice of Bobby Smith?

[tomovox]

@mrjoshjones1 I always thought Motown had a lock on some great Male vocalists- Bobby Smith, Ronald Isley and the Monitors' Richard Street had voices that were smooth as velvet, but could also be gritting when needed. Who knows why The Spinners were so continuously kept on the back burner?

Bobby Smith will ALWAYS be one of my favorites!

[simon4186]

I LOVE MOTOWN!

[tomovox]

@simon4186 Me Too!!!

[mrjoshjones1]

@tomovox Motown always treated them as an "acquisition" from Anna Records, as opposed to

part of the Motown "family", other than stealing GC away for big sister.

Phooey on Motown and their "sabotaging" of Spinners airplay on R&B stations, Bobby got

the last laugh with producers Thom Bell & Linda Creed....everything turned to Gold!

Bobby is the greatest.

[tomovox]

@hollidayevery The sad thing is that The Spinners really did some great work at Motown that got lost. This one is incredible because the producer, Ivy Jo Hunter, was always pushing the Motown Sound to new limits and directions, so his work was probably harder for the company to see as being "commercial." I also believe there was just so much talent at Motown, the Spinners never got the push they deserved. , I'm really glad you caught this and like it. Thanks for commenting too!

[hollidayevery]

A great song by the Spinners. One that I have never heard, and it's a great production...No wonder Thom Bell requested to work with them when they went to Atlantic Records...Thanks for the post!

[tomovox]

@MotownMaster So happy to have your comments on this song! I too would have to say this is pretty much at the top of my list of Spinners songs during their Motown years. Thanks for commenting!