When
the Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman” climbed to the top of the pop charts in 1961, it was not only a hit record, it was the crossover hit an ambitious and feisty little independent label out of Detroit, Motown Records, needed. The rest is history --
Marvin Gaye,
the Temptations,
the Supremes,
the Four Tops,
Smokey Robinson -- the Motown catalog is an endless treasure, and not the least of these is the wonderful recording legacy of the Marvelettes. Somehow the public wasn’t drawn to this fine singing trio quite as much as it was to
the Supremes, but the quality and consistency of the Marvelettes' work at Motown proves that they were way more than just an opening act for the Diana Ross caravan. This four-CD set, the second multi-disc set in a series documenting the Marvelettes history at Motown (the first, 2009’s Forever: The Complete Motown Albums, Vol. 1, covered 1961 to 1965 and collected the group’s first six albums, plus singles, B-sides and rarities), compiles the group’s final four albums (1967’s The Marvelettes, 1968’s Sophisticated Soul, 1969’s In Full Bloom, and 1970’s The Return of the Marvelettes), along with non-LP singles, B-sides, and other rarities from the same time period, and documents the last chapter in this fine singing group’s Motown legacy -- a legacy that stands with any at the label. Without the Marvelettes, who knows what the history of Motown Records would have been like? Luckily, we don’t have to worry about it. Here’s why. ~ Steve Leggett