Gladys Knight & The Pips - Ultimate Collection CD

Ultimate Collection buy CD music Missing in action for much of the 1990s, Stevie Wonder is a living legend whose consistent creative output is sorely missed. THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION provides a snapshot overview of Wonder's stellar legacy starting back in 1963 as a teen musical prodigy with the exuberant "Fingertips Part 2." This jubilant tune, showcasing Wonder's much-touted facility on the chromatic harmonica, is a powerful harbinger of things to come. Along the way are classics that find this Michigan native going from being a one-man Motown hit machine to a young artist whose vision eschewed singles-based sensibilities for album-long artistic statements. Wonder's '60s gems include "I Was Made to Love Her," "For Once in My Life," and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours." Of course, his '70s work is just as stunning, particularly socially conscious numbers like "Higher Ground" and "Living for the City." Equally stellar if less political are this legend's tributes to Duke Ellington ("Sir Duke"), Bob Marley ("Master Blaster [Jammin']"), and Caribbean music in general ("Boogie on Reggae Woman"). THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION is an excellent primer for both die-hard fan and passing admirer of Stevie Wonder's genius. Compact selection of great early hits from the former boy wonder of the keyboard and resident genius of Berry Gordy's Motown Records. Recorded between 1963 & 1985. Includes liner notes by Scott Regan. Compilation producers: Harry Weinger, Jeff Moskow. Personnel: Stevie Wonder (vocals, harmonica, piano, keyboards, programming); Malcolm Cecil, Robert Margouleff (Moog synthesizer, programming); Charles Brewer, John Fischbach (programming); Gloria Barley, Jim Gilstrap, Lani Groves (background vocals). Liner Note Authors: Scott Regen; Harry Weinger; Scott Regan. Arrangers: Clarence Paul; Stevie Wonder. Personnel includes: Stevie Wonder (vocals, various instruments); Luther Vandross (vocals); Malcolm Cecil, Robert Margouleff (programming); Gloria Barley, Lani Groves, Jim Gilstrap, The Jackson 5 (background vocals). Producers include: Berry Gordy, Henry Cosby, Clarence Paul, Stevie Wonder, William "Mickey" Stevenson.

Ultimate Collection CD music Additional personnel includes: Bobby Martin, Bert DeCoteaux, Teddy Randazzo (arrangers); James Mack (arranger, piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano); Norman Harris, Bobby Eli, Roland Chambers, Byron Gregory, Ira Siegel, Keith Henderson, Danny Leake (guitar); Chris Cioe (saxophone); Ron Kersey, Theodis Rodgers (piano); Larry Pakula (organ); Lloyd Landesman (keyboards, synthesizer, programming); Terry Fryer (keyboards); Ed Tossing (synthesizer); Steve Goldman (synthesizer, percussion); Vince Montana (vibraphone); Ronnie Baker, Paul Richmond, Russell Keating (bass); Earl Young, Morris Jennings, Jr. (drums); Larry Washington (conga); Bobby Christian (percussion); Morrie Brown (programming); Don Renaldo. This is part of Legacy's Rhythm And Soul series. Recorded at Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Total Experience Sound Studios, Hollywood, California; Universal Studios, Chicago, Illinois; Celestial Sounds and Columbia Recording Studios, New York. Includes liner notes by Virginia Millicent Prescott. Producers: Bobby Martin, The Manhattans (tracks 1-7, 9-12, 19); Bert DeCoteaux, The Manhattans (track 8); Leo Graham (tracks 13-16); Leo Graham, Morrie Brown, Joe McEwen (track 17); Morrie Brown (track 18). Compilation producer: Leo Sacks. Engineers: Kenny Present (tracks 1-2, 7); Don Meehan (track 8); Bob Hughs (tracks 11-12, 19); Stuart Walder (tracks 14-16); Stuart Walder, Mike Ferraro, Steve Goldman, Steve Addabbo (track 17); Steve Goldman (track 18). Personnel: Edward "Sonny" Bivins, George "Smitty" Smith, Gerald Alston, Kenneth "Wally" Kelly, Richard Taylor , Winfred "Blue" Lovett (vocals); Danny Leake, Ira Siegel, Byron Gregory, Keith Henderson, Norman Harris, Roland Chambers, Bobby Eli (guitar); Don Renaldo (strings, horns); Chris Cioe (saxophone); James Mack (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, synthesizer); Theodis Rodgers, Theodis Rogers, Ron Kersey (piano); Terry Fryer (Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards); Lenny Pakula (organ); Lloyd Landesman (keyboards, synthesizer, drum programming); Steve Goldman (synthesizer, percussion); Ed Tossing (synthesizer); Vince Montana (vibraphone); Morris Brown (drums, drum programming); Earl Young, Morris Jennings (drums); Larry Washington (congas); Bobby Christian (percussion). Recording information: Celestial Sounds Recording Studio, New York, NY; Celestial Sounds, NY; Columbia Recording Studio, New York, NY; Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia, PA; Total Experience Sound Studios, Hollywood, CA; Universal Studios, Chicago, IL. Director: Adam Block . Arrangers: James Mack; Bobby Martin ; Teddy Randazzo; Bert de Coteaux. The Best of the Manhattans: Kiss and Say Goodbye is a terrific, 19-song overview of the Manhattans' recordings for Columbia in the '70s. All but two of the group's Top Ten R&B hits for the label are featured -- there's no "We Never Danced to a Love Song" or "Crazy," but "There's No Me Without You," "Don't Take Your Love," "Hurt," "Kiss and Say Goodbye," "I Kinda Miss You," "It Feels So Good to Be Loved So Bad," "Am I Losing You," and "Shining Star" are all present -- and several fine lesser-known singles and album tracks are added for good measure. Although the collection might be a bit too extensive for casual fans, it's the definitive overview of the Manhattans' time as a smooth soul group, illustrating how they helped develop the quiet storm subgenre. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine The Manhattans: Winfred "Blue" Lovett, Gerald "Smut" Alston, Abdul Rashid Talhah [Richard Taylor], Kenneth "Wally" Kelly, Edward "Sonny" Bivins, (vocals).

Ultimate Collection songs Although Barbra Streisand has recorded for the same company, Columbia Records, throughout her career, her work has not been particularly well represented on compilations. Four single-disc best-ofs dot her discography, but the listener who wanted to do something as simple as purchase an album containing the original studio recordings of both her first Top Ten hit, "People," and her first number one, "The Way We Were," without plumping for the four-CD box set Just for the Record , was out of luck. Complicating the compiling of her career highlights is her position as essentially an album artist, despite having scattered 11 Top Ten pop hits across 32 years. The ideal collection would have to do justice to her popular early albums of the '60s, her mid-career singles hits of the '70s, and her renewed album success in the '80s and '90s. Here it is. At a CD-busting length of over two and a half hours, this 40-track double-disc set encapsulates Streisand's recording career in chronological order from her 1963 debut album to 1999. (Two previously unreleased tracks sound like outtakes from her later album projects. "Someday My Prince Will Come" probably got left off of A Love Like Ours, while the gospel-tinged "You'll Never Walk Alone" must have been intended for Higher Ground.) Intelligently picking signature performances from her best and most popular albums, it largely eschews a raft of singles that got into the bottom half of the Top 40, but leaves out only one Top Ten hit, "What Kind of Fool." The singer's versatility and her ability to impose her immediately identifiable vocal style on a variety of material are emphasized in recordings that range from Broadway show tunes to disco. A collection like this has been needed for a long time as a gateway to Streisand's bountiful, indeed overwhelming, catalog. ~ William Ruhlmann All tracks have been digitally remastered. Personnel includes: Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, Donna Summer, Bryan Adams, Barry Gibb. Producers include: Barbra Streisand, Barry Gibb, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Richard Baskin, Richard Perry.

Ultimate Collection album for sale Recorded between 1964 & 1981. Includes liner notes by Brian Chin. Though not as critically revered as label-mates Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder, the Supremes were the most popular Motown act of the 1960s. Not only did the group rack up a string of #1 singles, that, in terms of frequency and quality often rivaled that of the Beatles, they were one of the first black combos in America to truly achieve mainstream white acceptance. In many ways, the Supremes' music represented the Motown sound distilled to its essence; Hitsville USA's throbbing bass, relentlessly danceable drum beats, and ingenious arrangements were never so purely and perfectly geared for maximum pop appeal as on early hits such as "Where Did Our Love Go" and "Stop! In the Name of Love." On later, edgier tracks, like "You Keep Me Hangin' On" and "Love Child," the Supremes managed to adapt to the changing times without losing fans. Of course, even the Supremes' massive success couldn't match the superstar status garnered by their lead singer Diana Ross, with her definitive pop-soul classics such as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Endless Love." THE #1'S comes as advertised, collecting all of the Diana Ross and the Supremes chart-toppers and delivering them with excellent sound and eye-pleasing packaging. Diana Ross & The Supremes made history: an unprecedented five No. 1 hits in a row, 12 in total in the Sixties. In the Seventies, the group and Miss Ross went their separate ways. The Supremes, with Jean Terrell in the lead, hit No. 1 with Stoned Love. Diana Ross claimed the top spot as a solo artist on various charts nine more times on Motown. In fact, Miss Ross has sung lead on 18 No. 1 Pop hits, second only to The Beatles at 20. The Guinness Book of World Records has also recognized Diana as the most successful female artist of all time, with more than 70 hit singles to date. This new collection of No. 1's covers the full range of Motown excitement, 24 songs spotlighting two of the most influential stars of two decades: Diana Ross and The Supremes! `Diana Ross & The Supremes: The No. 1's' features newly mastered mixes of the classic Supremes hits, direct from the Motown session tapes, for the best fidelity in any Supremes and/or Diana Ross collection ever! Producers include: Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Frank Wilson, Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson. Compilation producers: Harry Weinger, Andrew Skurow, Jeff Moskow. Personnel: Jean Terrell, Johnny Bristol (vocals). Audio Mixer: Suha Gur. Audio Remixer: Almighty Associates. Liner Note Author: Brian Chin . Recording information: Unit Four Productions, London, England. Editor: Suha Gur. Arrangers: David Blumberg; Gene Page; Clay Drayton; Lee Holdridge ; Michael Masser; Paul Riser; Tom Baird; Wade Marcus; David Van De Pitte. The Supremes: Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, Cindy Birdsong, Jean Terrell (vocals). Additional personnel: Lionel Richie, The Temptations (vocals); Nile Rodgers (guitar); Bernard Edwards (bass); Tony Thompson (drums); Johnny Bristol (background vocals).

Ultimate Collection CD music Motown's THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION series has been widely considered the best of their many compilation series, and The Four Tops entry perhaps the best within that. All their classic hits are represented, ("Reach Out I'll Be There," "Baby I Need your Loving," and "I Can't Help Myself") with an altogether winning mix of the group's many other charting singles. Twenty-five tracks in all are collected from this utterly essential Motown group. More than 70 minutes! Includes Reach Out I'll Be There; I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch); Bernadette; It's the Same Old Song; Standing in the Shadows of Love , plus B-sides, rare singles and collaborations, 25 tracks in all. Includes liner notes by Stu Hackel. This is part of Motown Records' Ultimate Collection series. Audio Remasterer: Kevin Reeves. Liner Note Author: Stu Hackel. Arrangers: Jerry Long; Jimmy Roach.

Ultimate Collection buy CD music Recorded between 1961 & 1973. Includes liner notes by Paul Grein. There have been many Gladys Knight & the Pips collections over the years, yet few have drawn from all periods of their career. Hip-O's 1999 compilation Essential Collection does, beginning with their first hit for Vee-Jay, "Every Beat of My Heart," and ending with their last R&B number one, 1987's "Love Overboard." It doesn't feature every hit they ever had, but it does provide a good chronology of their career by featuring their biggest hits: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "If I Were Your Woman," "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)," "Daddy Could Swear, I Declare," "Midnight Train to Georgia," "I've Got to Use My Imagination," "The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," "On and On," "Save the Overtime (For Me)," "Hero (Wind Beneath My Wings)." Anyone looking for a single disc covering the entire career of Gladys Knight & the Pips should turn ...