Dave Hamilton's Detroit Dancers, Vol. 2

by Dave Hamilton

Overview

Dave Hamilton was a producer, session musician, and songwriter on the Detroit soul scene starting in the 1960s. You can't really tell that from the liner notes, which basically say nothing about Hamilton's role in this music other than that the CD was compiled from his collection of tapes. It can be presumed, though, that Hamilton was involved in all of these records in some capacity, and he does have songwriter and production credits on some of the tracks. Most of them date from the mid- to late '60s, although some were done as late as the early '80s; some were unreleased demo-type tracks, and several came out on the Topper and TCB labels, indicating that Hamilton might have been involved with those companies. So, the music? It's acceptable, and not exceptional, period Detroit soul. As was the case with several small Detroit-area soul labels of the time, it often sounds like a minor-league Motown (indeed, Hamilton played on some Motown sessions himself). Motown is a good model, but nonetheless, adhering to a role model does not, in fact almost always does not, mean the resultant product stands up to the prototype, and that's the case here. Sometimes the micro-model is obvious; Tobi Lark's "Challenge My Love" sounds a lot like a Mary Wells song, "Ain't That Groovy" (an instrumental by the Dave Hamilton Band) like a Marvin Gaye backing track, Dottie and Millie like an amalgam of the Marvelettes and early Supremes -- you get the picture. It's not bad, but there's the nagging feeling that the musicians involved were just below the standard good enough to get involved with Motown itself. As is the case with several Kent/Ace compilations, the decision to sprinkle in a few disco- and urban contemporary-influenced cuts from a decade or later than the end of the 1960s disrupts the groove as surely as a hoseful of cold water in the face. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	12/14/1999
Label:	Kent
UPC:	0029667217729
Rank:	163477

Tracks

1. Spoken Intro to the Two of Us  - Danny Cobus
2. The Two of Us  - Danny Cobus
3. Who Are You Trying to Fool  -  Little Ann
4. You Got Me Turned Around  - O.C. Tolbert
5. Challenge My Love  - Tobi Lark
6. I'll Give You My Love  - Sue Ann Jones
7. We're in Love  -  Additions
8. Ain't That Groovy  -  Hamilton
9. Falling in Love  -  Tokays
10. Talkin' About My Baby  -  Dottie  -  Millie
11. My Sweet Baby  -  Mark-Keys
12. I'm Going Back Home  -  J T Rhythm
13. I'm Me Just Me  - Gil Billingsley
14. Tammie  - Richard Coombs
15. That's Enough  - O.C. Tolbert
16. Just a Mistake  -  Barrino Brothers
17. One Way Street  -  Little Ann
18. Pisces Pace  - Dave Hamilton
19. Who  - Jackie Dee
20. The Smile on Your Face  -  Little Ann
21. Give It to Glory  - O.C. Tolbert
22. All I Want Is You  -  J T Rhythm
23. No One Can Take the Place of You  -  Ravins
24. Tears Running and Falling From My Eyes  - James Lately
25. That's All She Wrote  - O.C. Tolbert

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Dave Hamilton   Primary Artist
Millie   Primary Artist
The Dave Hamilton Band   Primary Artist
Dottie   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
Richard Coombs   Primary Artist
O.C. Tolbert   Primary Artist
The Ravins   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
Sue Ann Jones   Primary Artist
J T Rhythm   Primary Artist
James Lately   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
Jackie Dee   Primary Artist
The Mark-Keys   Primary Artist
Tokays   Primary Artist
Gil Billingsley   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
Tobi Lark   Primary Artist
Little Ann   Primary Artist
Barrino Brothers   Primary Artist
The Additions   Primary Artist
Danny Cobus   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
Dave Hamilton Band   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Barrino Brothers   Performer,Composer
James Lately   Composer
Thelma Jones   Composer
Dave Hamilton   Composer,Performer
Rony Darrell   Composer
Little Ann   Performer
Tokays   Performer
Dottie   Performer
Ady Croasdell   Research
Millie   Performer