Chairmen Of The Board - In Session (1970)

From The Lost Record Covers Club When the Holland brothers and their partner Lamont Dozier left Motown everyone held their breath.  Would Motown survive? - Yes of course, the depth of talent was able to carry the roster through the loss of it's greatest hit makers.  But what would H-D-H do next?  They formed Invictus, a new label, signing a large number of artists the best of which were Chairmen Of The Board and Freda Payne.  This is the Chairmen's first album and features a range - pop singles "Pay To The Piper" and Bluesy anthems "Chairmen Of The Board"; a passable version of the now standard "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Was this a nod to Gordy's plan to always incoporate all styles to appeal to a wdier audience? perhaps.  Here was a band in development who would write and deliver a number of hits over the next few years - always supplemented by the H-D-H production magic.  This is a good introduction to the band and i recommend this and the later, superior "Bittersweet".  another album "Skin I'm In" is worth a listen but for me was patchy with the title track and the wonderful "Finder's Keepers" the standouts. Invictus (via EMI) SVT 1003