Contours , The

This essential LP edition includes The Contours’ magnificent debut LP, Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance), which was originally released in 1962 on Motown’s subsidiary label Gordy Records* (in fact it was the first long play released on that label). It’s one of the all-time cornerstones of R&B and early Detroit soul, and shows what a formidable force the group was. The album’s lesser known numbers, such as “Whole Lotta Woman”, “The Stretch”, and “You Better Get in Line”, are as exciting as the celebrated title track. Most of the tunes here are set to a beat sure to send you straight to the dance floor. The songs combined raunchy R&B with impassioned, scorched soul-singing, sometimes backed by joyous horns and always with vocal chants that sounded like a rocked-up revival meeting. It’s a house party revelry that shakes your body with powerful vocals and up-tempo beats. That engaging and infectious combination made The Contours one of the most consistently entertaining vocal groups ever.

THE CONTOURS:
Billy Gordon (lead vocals)
Billy Hoggs (lead and backing vocals)
Hubert Johnson, Joe Billingslea, and Sylvester Potts (backing vocals and handclaps),
Huey Davis (electric guitar, except side 1, tracks 4 & 6 / side 2, tracks 4 & 5).

Plus: The Funk Brothers: probable personnel:
James Jamerson (b), Richard “Popcorn” Wylie or Joe Hunter (p), Earl Van Dyke (org),
Benny Benjamin (d), Eddie “Bongo” Brown (perc), Norris Patterson (sax),
Herbie Williams or Russell Conway (tp), Paul Riser or George Bohanon (tb).

Recorded at Hitsville USA, Detroit, Michigan, between 1961 and 1962.

SIDE 1

01 DO YOU LOVE ME
02 SHAKE SHERRIE
03 YOU BETTER GET IN LINE
04 THE STRETCH
05 IT MUST BE LOVE
06 WHOLE LOTTA’ WOMAN
07 DON’T LET HER BE YOUR BABY
08 YOU GET UGLY

SIDE 2

01 CLAUDIA
02 SO GRATEFUL
03 THE OLD MINER
04 FUNNY
05 MOVE MR. MAN)
06 PA, I NEED A CAR
07 CAN YOU DO IT