Linda Griner - Envious - Motown M1037

$

68

Selling off a part of my collection, this time Rare Motown

Linda Griner - Envious / GoodBy Cruel Love - Motown M1037

Linda Griner, who went on to have a long and successful recording career away from Motown as “Lyn Roman”, only ever released a pair of sides during her time at Hitsville – but plenty of other artists might be “envious”  of her short Motown stint, as she was taken under the wing of Smokey Robinson, who supposedly wrote and produced an entire album’s worth of material for Linda.

Both sides of this single are a pleasant surprise. This showy ballad is an almost completely overlooked piece in Smokey’s oeuvre, but it’s a fine bit of work, pitched somewhere between Mary Wells’ enormous Strange Love, Little Anthony & the Imperials’ Tears On My Pillow, and just a touch of Patsy Cline’s then-recent hit version of Crazy, all blended together, run through the filter of Smokey Robinson the tunesmith, sanded to a fine gloss, and then treated to a finishing touch courtesy of Smokey Robinson the lyricist.

There’s no reason this couldn’t have done well in 1963 as an A-side, but the single sank without trace and so radio never really got the chance to flip the record over and find it. Originally the A side was in fact Goodbye Cruel Love, A pity; between this and the topside, this is a fine single that really deserved better.

Extremely hard to find.

Disc' I am grading this as VG even though there are noticeable abrasions, it plays great, all the Motown bass and highs are present. The label definitely shows wear but this is a rare one!

How I Grade Condition Of Discs

I am no longer a dealer only selling my own collection and some purchased from various record shows in my area, so I grade according to how I graded when I was a major record importer from the world into North America

Mint - This means I have owned it from new or purchased from a distributors warehouse, basically it means absolutely new shape, never been played or out of its dust cover. In the case of LP's, a North American album will have to be factory sealed (anyone can reseal an album!) Take Note: European and Japaneses albums were never shrink wrapped!

Note: Being mint does not guarantee it's free of pops and clicks, many pressings especially from the US were made with very poor vinyl and in a hurry which means often there are imperfections in the pressing. As a former importer, we were often given back brand new albums due to clicks heard in the playback.

Mint Minus - No such thing, it's either mint or not.

Excellent - A disc is super clean, probably unplayed with no visible marks whatsover, Excellent Plus, means it's probably mint but can't be proven by me. Excellent minus, is a disc that is excellent except it may have some very faint markings that do not show up in the playing

VG - A disc that is in good shape, may have some small scuffs or scratches, not in excellent shape but well worth owning. VG + and ++, a disc that is that much better than VG.

VG minus, just a smidgen below VG

Good - A disc that can be played, has obvious ware but is worth owning, a DJ copy of a rare early Motown for instance or a rare Doo-Wop or Northern Soul which could still be worth a fortune, Good Minus & Good Plus is a step above or below Good. In most cases I will not offer a disc in this condition unless it's rare and hard to find.

LABELS

Labels do not alter the grading of vinyl, many records are Excelent, looked after by the previous owner but still has their initials or markings on the label. A DJ copy will often have markings to show which side to be plugged, or the length of the intro. Many labels and covers in the US have been punched, that was done by the record company to show the disc was deleted and shipped out to mass retailers to sell cheap and could not be returned for a credit, this does not impeed the value, many records eg Swan and VJ Beatles were done like that (try finding an original album!)

Finally, I have sometimes graded a record in my opinion that might differ from a buyer, please let me know so we can work it out

Will ship World Wide once funds received. and will bundle if more than 1 selection purchsed.

Look out for my other auctions, I'm selling off my collection.