Recommendations for best CDs to get for motown groups/girl groups?

Individual albums:

Smokey and the Miracles: Going to a go go

Four Tops: On Top and Reach Out (they are on the same CD)

I'd also look for the Isley Brothers.

Almost all Shangri-Las collections are very similar indeed (I have three different comps, on record, cassette and CD, and there's little to choose). You can't have too much of the Temptations and Four Tops - the former particularly made some great individual albums. There are some great twofers out there, of which Psychedelic Shack and All Directions is particularly vital. The best Smokey/Miracles collection is probably Anthology.

Last year Motown put out a really great anthology of the Supremes' '70s work (post-Diana Ross). That was an era when it was common practice to put out one or two albums a year -- and during the '70s, I believe the Supremes put out something like eleven albums. Thowe records are long-deleted (I've found a few at yard sales), but the anthology covers that ground pretty well.

If you really become a mentalist, I'd recommend the ongoing Where the Girls Are series on Ace; each volume is packed to gills will g.g. rarities. Also off the beaten path is Joe Meek's Girls which I love, on RPM.

The best girl group LP (as opposed to comp) is LLLLLittle Eva!. There's a super reissue on West Side with a zillion bonus tracks, most of them ace (esp. "I'm Just a Little Girl").

I agree that for the Phil Spector stuff, just get Back to Mono. If you find that's not enough, you can search vinyl reissues of the original Ronettes, etc. LPs.

The best Shangri-Las comp is I think The Best of the Shangri-Las on Mercury, but Myrmidons of Melodrama on RPM is fine too.

I'm really into the other Red Bird stuff too (that was Leiber and Stoller's label), things like the Jellybeans, Dixie Cups. There's a 4-CD box set called The Red Bird Story that's great, but also a single disc The Girl Group Sound which will suffice.

I haven't been keeping up with the recent spate of Motown reissues. Apparently all the original albums by the major artists or now on CD two-fers, and there are new double-disc and single-disc compilations that are newly remastered, etc. Check out Dusty Groove they usually have such things for very low prices.

etc. etc. etc.

Absolutely get all the individual Temptations albums, don't mess with comps in their case. You really can't go wrong with any of them up until about '75, and certain ones like Psychedelic Shack and Masterpiece are essential.

Personally I always reckoned the Marvelettes were far, far superior to the Supremes, and Gladys Horton as a singer whupped DRoss' ass.

There are two Hitsville 4CD box sets available - the first far better than the second, obv - and while I have all the stuff on the old Chartbusters compilations (Vol 3 was one of the first records I ever had, with the silver cover and Alan Freeman sleevenote) it's worth a punt if you've got some Xmas tokens burning a hole in yr pocket.

There doesn't seem to be a compact Spector one-CD compilation, so you'd have to go for Back To Mono. I dunno - I've had the vinyl version for about a dozen years and have hardly ever played it; there's something (or perhaps nothing) running deep through Spector that makes him very resistant to me. Apparently the CD version is considerably inferior in sound quality to the vinyl original; but as a public service, I should point out that all of Back to Mono and both the Hitsville USA boxsets are available for download at:

http://www.esss.com.br/~rodrigo

thanks to the Belgian lass for tipping me off! ;-)

this is a great recent Motown comp - not least because the sound quality is far far better than on a lot of earlier Motown 60s re-issues.

(On the same label there are a couple of great Sun Records 3-Cd sets that you can pick up for the same price - very highly recommended though very off-thread.)

THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE!

MARTHA AND THE FUCKING VANDELLAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND WHEN YOU ARE DONE THERE, GET SOME JUNIOR WALKER AND THE ALL STARS!

I dont know about cd's, but the vinyl motown anthologies are an absolute must. Really, Martha and the Vandellas are the most unsung motown girl group, and it is a shame because they were absolutely brilliant and essential.

Best Motown/girl group song ever is The Elgins 'Heaven must have sent you'. If you get a Motown comp, make sure that's on it.

Anyways, I'd recommend the Chartbusters series over the two Hitsville box sets. There's some dodgy stuff past volume 6 or so, but you do get R. Dean Taylor's "Gotta See Jane" and "There's a Ghost in My House" (both covered memorably by The Fall).

I also completely adore the '60s-era Supremes.

The Temptations had very solid albums once Norman Whitfield started working with them, so get a 60s comp with My Girl and Ain't Too Proud to Beg, and try to get any of their Whitfield stuff in totality. The Psychedelic Soul comp is the best though, if you're really looking for comps. Or the Emperors of Soul 5-CD set covers about everything.

The best box set for the Four Tops is "Fourever". Covers post Motown stuff as well. If you decide to buy these box sets, get them used...easily save %40 at least.

Something you ought to get:

https://i.postimg.cc/vDwBVx0p/girl.jpg

There are a few new copies left on Amazon. I paid $15 in Canada; it's $10 in the States.

A couple of cons. 1) Weird configuration. On the first CD, you get the Shirelles and Angels albums, half of the Marvelettes, and bonus songs by the Teen Queens, Bobbettes, and Chantels. The second CD is the other half of the Marvelettes, the Crystals and Orlons LPs, and bonus songs by the Paris Sisters and Chains. Why split the Marvelettes LP? Put that on one CD and all the bonus songs on the other. 2) The Angels LP, their first, isn't much--no "My Boyfriend's Back," a couple of lame supper-club covers.

All the rest is great. Lots of hits: "Tonight's the Night," "Boys," "Playboy," "Beechwood 4-5789," "Uptown," "Mashed Potato Time," "The Wah-Watusi," plus all the bonus stuff. The Crystals album has two lesser known songs that are among their best" "Please Hurt Me" and "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" (already had them on a B-sides/rarities collection). The Orlons are underappreciated--start-to-finish, their LP might be the best. There's a booklet with the original liner notes for all five albums.

The inclusion of the Marvelettes is a little surprising from a licensing standpoint.

If it's from '62-back, it's public domain in the UK, which leads to a lot of wacky, affordable comps.

I've bought 14 CDs from this one particular company. Mostly blues (Lightnin' Hopkins, Gary Davis, Howlin' Wolf), some inner-circle founders (Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly), plus this.

Just checked, and the Playboy album was from '62. It was their third album, so there might even be a cheapy set of those plus some other rando stuff out in the wild somewhere.