Candidly I don't post a lot in the forum because I find my music to be one off, but I think some of you like to hear something a bit different. I wrote this song as a testament to the old soul groups of Motown and Philadelphia which I loved and grew up with like the Delfonics, Stylistics, Blue Magic, The Moments etc. So I found a decent pattern in BIAB that I could use as the rhythm section and built the song around that. The string arrangements were played by me through a MIDI controller and were the type of string lines that were instrumental to music of that era. For the video I thought I play around a bit and use my cell phone camera taking a gaff at myself. It is 30 seconds or so but I think it sets the song up nicely. This song has just started playing on all the major platforms and Pandora (of course without my foolishness in the intro) :-) so hopefully it will resonate with my existing fan base and grow it a bit more. Of course all vocals (lead and harmonies) were performed by me.

https://youtu.be/GHpjr8oHpaA

For this song I used:
Style: Texas Blues 12/8 w/Guitar Solo
Drums: Real Drums Southern Pop 12-8
Bass: 1922: Texas Blues Rock Slow
Guitar 1: 1923: Electric Blues Rock Slow
Guitar 2: 1924: Electric Rhythm Texas Blues Rock Slow
Guitar 3: 838: Electric Rhythm Pop Ballad Clean
Organ: 688: B3 Background Pop
Piano: 1576: Acoustic Rhythm Soul

Strings: Cakewalk SI MIDI String Synth
M-Audio KeyStudio MIDI Controller
Vocals: Shure PG-42 through Focusrite SOLO USB Interface

Hi Henry,

Wow - what a production!

Yes - you really have the Philadelphia/Motown feel down perfectly.

Vocals - top notch.

BV's - spot on.

Instrumentation - perfect.

All-round very professional song - congratulations.

Best Regards
Nigel

Oh yea. Mr. Nigel set it up perfectly. I'll add you were very accurate with the string arrangements.

Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Charlie

I was raised in south Jersey in the 60's and that was a very familiar sound on the radio out of Philly.

I think you nailed it perfectly. even got the Phil Spector wall of sound going on.

My only nit on this is the verb is heavy on the vox and the lead vox is kinda down there in the mix. The lead could stand to come up a few dB or so....

I had a really hard time understanding the lyrics.... in fact.... I didn't get very many of the words at all. Maybe it's just my gunshot and guitars ears... Ease off the verb and bump the lead vox a bit to let it set in the mix. Use Smokey Robinson as your guide on levels and verb.

And.... as far as not posting for one reason or another.... A lot of folks here are "one off" writers. If you got it, post it up. Personally, I like hearing the stuff you write. And this one is well done and worthy to be heard. Cool video editing job too.

Nigel is spot on!

All I can add is WOW this is fantastic.

To nitpick I also think that the vocal could come up a tad. You have a excellent and very versatile voice so showcase it more.

Also please post more often.

Henry,

as far as I'm concerned you should post a new song here every week - this one is a treat.

I've been a huge Motown fan ever since (spent months trying to find out how James Jamerson did what he did)- if Smokey had known this song he would definitely have recorded it. But your vocal is amazing, too.

The video is really nice, too - good fun.

Like everything from A to Z.

Take care and please return soon !

Stefan

You never fail to please, Henry!! Great voices and a terrific video. I want to say everything Stefan said. Man, this is song is soooo good, and, yes, Smokey would've been all over this. I'm right there with you on the Motown & Philly sounds, and you do it righteous justice, man. Thanks for posting it.

Henry

Lovely work on the song, beautifully sung and arranged.

I agree with Herb about the lead vocal processing, but overall an excellent job.

Peter

Whas'sup, Mr. Clark?

Though I agree with 'guitarhacker(s)' observation that the vocal track is kinda in the backfield and processed with a wee bit too much reverb, nonetheless your vocal harmonies are so heavenly and your string arrangement complements them so gorgeously that I couldn't help being swept-up by the song. It really took me a place that I'd love re-visit and remain in.

Cool video, too !

Henry, unbelievable!! What a production, reminds me of my favorite Motown group the Temptations!!

Love the genre, Henry, which you nailed. And your vocals are exceptionally good. Great song. Keep them coming.
Regards,
Leon

Thanks all for the kind comments. One thing is that once it's posted that means it's been released so it's gone. No tweaking the vocals, sound or anything. Regardless the song is doing fairly well. Almost 2k streams on Spotify (and growing daily), 500 on iTunes, some plays on Amazon, Deezer, Tidal, and a few other sites. It's grown my Pandora listener base by around 500% and 27 Thousand views on Facebook resulting in 71 shares and still growing. Thanks again for the kind comments and you guys continue composing the great music you are creating. Cheers !!

I don't have enough technical know-how to provide and in-depth critique, but I can tell you that I enjoyed this production from go to whoa. String and vocal arrangements were most impressive. Love the harmonies.

A double shot of Henry Clarke (The Henry Clarke Five)!!! WOW, you're making me nostalgic!!! Love the era and you have stayed beautifully true to it. SOOOO. SOOOOO. GOOOD!!! Take care. Greg