Elemental Music starts off 2025 with more Smokey, Supremes and Pips Motown classics
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By TONE Scott
Goldmine kicks off 2025 with continuing to highlight Elemental Music's highly regarded Motown Records reissue campaign. The series was conceived and launched by the renowned and iconic Elemental Music record company in late spring of 2024, and we have dedicated our platform to revealing and presenting an overview of each new set of these reissued releases. We are providing our readers the best coverage of quite arguably some of the most well produced soul music reissues in the history of these Motown releases.
This month Elemental Music launches its 23rd, 24th, and 25th installments in this series of almost 30 vinyl LPs, of which will be released in full, March of 2025. Each set of new albums include three of Motown's, Tamla's and/or Gordy's greatest early historical records. To date, the label has experienced great success with the series. Through this reissue series, many fans and collectors (including many of our readers) have been given the opportunity to experience these legendary bodies of work in pristine condition, without breaking the bank to acquire top-quality original pressings. As each new set-of-three reissues are made available, Goldmine is committed to continue presenting them to you for your consideration, all for the joy of feeding your music collection three square meals.
Here is what Elemental Music has done to make it possible for collectors to obtain the absolute best reimagined copies of these original pressings: First and foremost, the label has not reproduced these vinyl records with heavy weight audiophile variants as part of their mission. As opposed to modern 180-gram weight modern pressings, they have resolved to not stray away from the original 140-gram standard weight pressings on which these classic releases were originally manufactured. As well, the label is not looking to change or reimagine the visual aspects beyond what the originals were presented with. These are straight ahead, virtually carbon copy reissues by the way of mimicry both visually and physically, all from the original master tapes — a repress if you will — with original cover and back cover artwork, and (most of the time) the original side label layouts. Imagine transporting back to the classic era of Soul, and acquiring one of these original pressings at your local record shop — this is essentially what you will experience when you partake in Elemental's Motown reissue series — (the following album's available January 17, 2025).
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Smokey Robinson — Pure Smokey
Originally released March 15, 1974, Tamla/Motown Records (cat# T6-331S1) Stereo
Elemental Music reissue, January 17, 2025 (cat# 620931)
After leaving The Miracles in 1972, Smokey Robinson set his solo career ablaze with his debut, Smokey, encompassing a turn toward the more deeply-soulful, Afrocentric ideology of the early decade (a credit to producer Willie Hutch), with a slightly and commercially acceptable eclectic tinge (some refer to as minimally psychedelic). As the follow up, his 1974 sophomore effort, Pure Smokey (once again, a Hutch production), acquired some of the previous album's sonic character, yet shown an increase in funkier deep rhythms and more complicated arrangements and fuller orchestrations. The albums wields the hit single, "Virgin Man," and was, all encompassing, a bigger commercial success than his solo debut. It was the album that solidified his place as a true solo recording artist. The Elemental Music reissue comes through as not only a perfect homage to this amazing album, but enhances the experience with a perfect modern-day remastering straight from the original master tapes, greatly enhancing the audio without losing its classic sonic quality.
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Gladys Knight & the Pips — Nitty Gritty
Originally released September 25, 1969, Soul/Motown Records (cat# SS713) Stereo
Elemental Music reissue, January 17, 2025 (cat# 620932)
Coming into play in 1969 as Gladys Knight & the Pips' fifth studio album, Nitty Gritty is without dispute, the 'cusp album' which ushered in a change in their sound, embracing this transitional era where '60's soul groups were adhering to the heightened Afrocentric cultural movement of that time, with regard to their musical identities. The group performed this change of direction seamlessly, as the album's core sound still retained an even balance of the classic 'Motown sound,' truly making Nitty Gritty a bona fide transitional record. This was a Grammy Award nominated production for Knight and The Pips, and though it was not their most commercially successful release in juxtaposition to the surrounding years (both previously and ahead), it contained three singles which charted with Billboard, very high on the U.S. Pop and R&B charts while the album itself ranked in the Top 100 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, and almost in the top 10 on the Hot Soul LP chart. Elemental did an incredible job bringing Nitty Gritty back to life with, without a doubt, the best remastered reissue that I have experienced since the turn of the millennium, and as always, all from the original master tapes.
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Diana Ross and the Supremes — Reflections
Originally released March 25, 1968, Motown Records (cat# S 737L) Stereo
Elemental Music reissue, January 17, 2025 (cat# 620933)
Arguably the 17th studio recording by Diana Ross and the Supremes (the first of which Diana Ross was billed separately with regard to the group's name), Reflections was an incredibly accoladed album of that time, and remains that way to this day. Just as it was for the aforementioned albums in this article, Reflections was greatly a transitional project for The Supremes. With regard to name, image, sound and songs, it would just slightly predate (referring to the group's album chronology), the period where they would also adhere to a less 'pop soul' Motown feel, and blatantly more toward Afrocentric identity and style (as it was even more with their same-year follow up, Love Child). The title song, "Reflections," was a monumental hit for Diana Ross and the Supremes, being one of the final Holland-Dozier-Holland produced records for the group. It would ultimately fall only one position short of being a No. 1 Billboard single in the U.S., yet would attain that very accolade in the U.K. and Canada. Elemental Music has resurrected this album 'to the nines.' While all of this month's classic Motown reissues resonate back with utter perfection, Reflections is truly the pinnacle record of Elemental's Motown campaign for the month, however, all three releases are beyond highly recommended.
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Goldmine also recommends that you revisit the inaugural article which commenced our reviews of this series when it launched. There you will find a more in-depth backstory, including an interview with Elemental Music — Elemental Music strikes big deal with Motown for an amazing run of Classic Soul reissues (May 31, 2024). Also, you are privy to read all of Goldmine's subsequent articles (below) that have continued to journal each set of releases from Elemental Music's Motown reissue campaign:
More Classic Motown revival from Elemental Music (July 29, 2024)
Elemental Music and classic Motown—the love affair continues (August 9, 2024)
Elemental Music's Motown explosion continues with more Marvin, The Supremes, and the Tempts (September 17, 2024)
Another trio of Motown gold from Elemental Music (October 31, 2024)
Elemental Music continues into the holidays with more classic Motown cheer (November 25, 2024).
Elemental Music and Motown end the year with three more Soul Classics (December 5, 2024). ⌘
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Contact TONE Scott at GoldmineMagazine@GoldmineMag.com. Please put The TONE of Soul (Elemental / Motown series January 2025) in the subject line.
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