The Temptations “The Little Drummer Boy”

If there’s ever been a style of pop music that lent itself to Christmas music, it’s got to be 60’s Motown. Maybe Phil Spector’s girl groups/wall of sound would be up there too, but for my sake, I’m going all Berry Gordy. Think about it: Motown’s assembly line style of music production cranked out hit after hit during that decade, not unlike Santa’s elves slaving away on those xBox 360s for 37 cents an hour.

Even excluding Gordy’s whip-cracking management style, though, the Motown sound is what’s most important–the voices of Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson channeling angels on high, the omnipresent chains jingling in the background while Martha Reeves sings, the ever-present hope and yearning contained in the shouts of the Four Tops. The Temptations were always one of a kind within the Motown system, though–managing, with a few line-up changes, to survive and thrive within psychedelia (the kind shown on this album cover) before succumbing to the same ignominious fates (Ruffin and Kendricks) as so many great soul crooners.

And I’m not talking about the live album with Hall and Oates, either. Their version of “Little Drummer Boy” (mp3), though, is the highlight of A Motown Christmas. Those drums (obviously) are what does it–I don’t know if they’ve been sampled yet, but they need to be. They sound like they were lifted from rival soul hut Stax, or maybe even Hi Records. The record–originally issued in 1973–is great, despite subsequent remasters that unnecessarily burden it with tracks from Shanice and Jermaine Jackson.Buy A Motown Christmas here.

Filed under: Berry Gordy  Motown  The Temptations  Xmas