Shake N' Vibrate Takes On A "Whole Lotta Woman"

This is the fourth installment on Shake N’ Vibrate, a monthly vinyl series at Cafe Nine led by musician, DJ, and filmmaker Brendan Toller. To get the full taste of Shake N’ Vibrate, New Haveners still have to go to the events themselves. But here, readers can get a glimpse—or a listen—into some of what they’re in for. The next Shake N' Vibrate is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. For more information on the event, click here.

Let's pop 2019 off with a rocker. Perhaps with the greatest 45 record of them all—The Contours "Whole Lotta Woman." New York Night Train/Soul Clap DJ-extraordinaire, and dear Shake 'N' Vibrate comrade Jonathan Toubin has said of the track, "If you were to stick your index finger in the air and proclaim this the best record of all time I probably wouldn’t argue with you ... one of the few that has never escaped my party box."

And yes, I wouldn't argue either.

The opening piano riff, sleazy sax, and ramshackle tambourine give way to Billy Gordon's bellowing cries of love-ridden decrees: 

Oh well, uh, you're my baby with the pretty eyes
With a pretty face and, uh, pretty size
And your so nice, and your sos weet
And your sweepin' me right off, uh, my feet 

Owwww! This track just really has it all—the murky, funky, human production, the sound of the street electrified, and a whole lotta begging. A mighty lover's siren call. It's an undeniable way to get any party started. 

I'm not alone on my love for the song. The fine folks at Motown Junkies have said of the song that "Billy Gordon’s superb, screamed lead vocal could strip paint from the walls."

"When he delivers the title of the song, with unprecedented violence, it makes your own throat hurt in sympathy for his battered larynx."

The Contours have a string of other well-known hits: "Do You Love Me," the hilarious money-grubbing "First I Look At The Purse," and jerk dance-crazer "Can You Jerk Like Me?" Their impressive stage shows were characterized by wild acrobatics splits, flips. No surprise that they were in the pocket of Berry Gordy, the legendary founder of Detroit's TAMLA/Motown Records and it's many subsidiary labels including Miracle, Gordy, Mel-O-Dy, Soul, and V.I.P.

According to Motown legend, the Contours—originally the Blenders—were rejected by Gordy on first audition. They had to call their cousin and soul legend Jackie Wilson (obvious Shake 'N' Vibrate Hall of Famer with 1963's "Baby Workout") for a second chance. The Contours claimed they performed the exact same material, that on second-take, earned them a seven-year contract.

"Whole Lotta Woman" had its origins in a ballad called "Gloria With The Pretty Eyes." Groovefully reworked, penned by Smokey Robinson and the Contours Billy Hoggs and Billy Gordon, "Whole Lotta Woman" was the Contours first single in 1961.

And yet, it failed to chart. I blame distribution. Or the fact that there were two versions—possibly even a third—of this jammer released at the same time. A track that some have dubbed a "regional version" stands more in the vein of the Motown sound with heavy-reverberating drums, echo chambers, and polished vocals. It's still raw, but slick. The "national version" is the bopper I've come to love. Why it didn't connect with the masses in 1961 is anyone's guess.

After mediocre sales of "Whole Lotta Woman," Gordy wanted to axe the Contours, but, ever a band to prove themselves on second chances, the Contours struck gold with their second single "Do You Love Me." A million seller, peaking again in 1988 with Dirty Dancing. 

The Contours had a bit of a revolving door of members and seemed to serve as a Motown farm group for future singers. Contour-crooner Billy Gordon said Sylvester Potts was replaced by Leroy Fair in between the two different recordings of "Whole Lotta Woman," because he couldn't cut a rug as good as the rest of the Contours (perhaps this scene served as inspiration for the You broke my heart cuz I couldn't dance intro in "Do You Love Me?").

In the 1960s Levi Stubbs' brother Joe had a stint in the Contours as did Dennis Edwards, who replaced David Ruffin in the Temptations in 1968. That revolving door of members kept turning: the Contours were still a touring act until 2017. Joe Billingslea remained the constant through almost 60 years of showbiz, but even he took a few sabbaticals.

A band is, perhaps, more of a conceptual element greater than its members. It's an actualized philosophy taken out in song, style, aesthetic, and image. It offers us an imagined utopian alternate universe extended through the ages—right? Well, "Whole Lotta Woman" is mine.