Book Read Free

Diana Ross: A Biography

Page 59

by J. Randy Taraborrelli


  Also, see—“‘Class will turn the heads of kings and queens’” in Part Two.

  With the Supremes now America’s hottest vocal group, Motown released five albums for the group in less than a year! This one was the first of many “concept albums”—records with a specific theme—and on it the girls paid tribute to the male groups that had become popular at the time as a result of the so-called British Invasion. Gordy even threw in a few tributes to some of the girls’ label mates at the company, which didn’t make much sense except that he probably wanted to include some of his own company’s publishing holdings on the record. In the end, it’s a fun album with full group harmonies and capable leads by Diana. The group appeared on the popular 1960s USA TV program Hullabaloo performing the Beatles’ hits “You Can’t Do That” and “Eight Days a Week” (the latter not included on the LP).

  This album was released in the UK with the title With Love from Us to You.

  THE SUPREMES SING COUNTRY WESTERN & POP – 20/3/65

  —Pop #79

  Also, see—“‘Why are they singing leads?’” in Part One.

  Most of the tracks for this album were recorded before the group hit big with their Holland-Dozier-Holland compositions. Motown also reached back and included the group’s fourth single, “My Heart Can’t Take It No More”—Pop #129. Like the Liverpool album, this was a concept album, the point of which was to expose the group to an audience broader than just the fans of Motown’s music. Once again, the group’s harmonies were tight with Diana’s leads showcasing a sweet, yearning quality that seemed perfectly suited to the country material. “It Makes No Difference Now” was the first release that featured all three girls singing a lead verse.

  More Trivia

  —– This album was eventually released on CD in mono, making the stereo master a very rare find. The stereo mixes of “My Heart Can’t Take It No More” and “You Didn’t Care” actually feature an alternate lead vocal by Diana.

  —– There is a mono mix of “Funny How Time Slips Away” with an alternate lead by Diana, as well as an unreleased mono mix of “It Makes No Difference Now,” with alternate leads by all three girls. Both remain in Motown’s vaults awaiting discovery by the public.

  —– Oddly, on the back cover of this album Diana is billed as Diane Ross.

  WE REMEMBER SAM COOKE – 8/5/65—Pop #75 and R&B #5

  Also, see—“‘Class will turn the heads of kings and queens’” in Part Two.

  At about this time, Motown’s “theme albums” included Marvin Gaye’s recorded tribute to Nat “King” Cole and “Little” Stevie Wonder’s homage to Ray Charles. The Supremes now offered this excellent salute to Sam Cooke. Diana’s vocals were superb throughout and Florence recorded what many fans still believe to be her finest lead vocal, on “(Ain’t That) Good News.” A medley of Sam Cooke songs soon became a highlight of the group’s stage act.

  This LP continues to be a much-sought-after fan favorite.

  More Trivia

  —– The mono mix of “(What A) Wonderful World” features an alternate lead vocal by Diana. Also, there is an extended mono mix of “Cupid” that was released only in Europe on a five-LP box set.

  MORE HITS BY THE SUPREMES – 21/8/65—Pop #6 and R&B #2

  Also, see—“1965: a banner year” in Part Two.

  With the Motown sound now in full swing, the company released More Hits, the first LP produced entirely by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier.

  “Stop! In the Name Of Love”—Pop #1, R&B #2 and UK #7 (and another Grammy nominee)—and “Back in My Arms Again”—Pop #1, R&B #1, and UK #40—both soared to the top of the charts, making the Supremes the first recording act in history to have five number-one singles within a twelve-month period. It’s a record they continue to hold to this day!

  For the next single, Motown chose “Nothing But Heartaches”—Pop #11 and R&B #6. Though its chart position was respectable, it was still disappointing following five number ones. Actually it had been a toss-up for Motown between “Nothing But Heartaches” and “Mother Dear.” Both were given the same singles’ catalog number (1080) and the girls sang “Mother Dear” on a television show, testing the public’s reaction to it.

  More Trivia

  —– Many fans questioned the inclusion of “Ask Any Girl” on this LP, a song which had already appeared on Where Did Our Love Go. As it happened, Motown thought the track was strong enough to possibly issue as a single, even though it had already been the B-side of “Baby Love.” Though this never happened, the track is a fan favorite and often included on greatest-hits collections.

  —– An alternate vocal version of “Stop! In the Name of Love” was released on the Supremes’ box set in 2000.

  —– There is an unreleased mono mix of “Whisper You Love Me Boy,” with a different lead by Diana and alternate backups by Mary and Florence. There is also an unreleased lead vocal on “Back in My Arms Again.” Both remain in Motown’s vaults. “He Holds His Own” is available only in mono.

  THE SUPREMES AT THE COPA – 13/11/65—Pop #11 and R&B #2

  Also, see—“‘Class will turn the heads of kings and queens,’” “‘Are you mad because I’m the lead singer?’” and “The Supremes at the Copa” in Part Two.

  After the Supremes’ stage act was polished to perfection for their debut at New York’s famous Copacabana, it was only fitting that the event be recorded for posterity. Sammy Davis Jr. wrote the liner notes for the LP, becoming the first of many celebrities who would write endorsements for Supremes’ albums. Collectors are aware that The Supremes at the Copa had two different back covers.

  More Trivia

  —– At the Copa was remixed and its lineup altered before its release. The original lineup did not include “I Am Woman.” It did, however, feature “Where Did Our Love Go,” “Nothing But Heartaches,” and a pop standard called “Enjoy Yourself” (with Mary singing lead on one verse). These three deleted performances were then included on another live LP that was scheduled for release the following year—but it, too, was ultimately cancelled.

  —– For this album, Diana overdubbed all of her lead vocals because of inferior sound quality on the original recordings made at the Copa. So, in a sense, her leads are not solely live—they were rerecorded in the studio. Amazingly, she matched her live performance note for note—and her voice even sounds doubled on some of the songs!

  —– The cover photo on this album was actually taken at the Copa on opening night.

  MERRY CHRISTMAS – 11/12/65—Christmas LP Chart #6

  Also, see—“Deconstruction” in Part Three.

  Diana, alone, recorded this album. Though Mary and Florence later added vocals to a few of the tracks, most of what is heard in the background is courtesy of session singers.

  This very popular LP continues to be reissued each year. In 1999, an expanded CD edition of it was released with four more tracks including “The First Noel.” Another version of this album was rereleased in 2003 as a 20th Century Masters CD called The Best of The Supremes: The Christmas Collection, with a new cover.

  “Just a Lonely, Lonely Christmas” and a full version of “Silent Night” featuring Florence were issued on the Motown Christmas compilation Christmas In The City.

  “The Christmas Song” first appeared in 1987 on The Never-Before-Released Masters.

  Not included on this album were two more unreleased songs, “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” and “O Holy Night” (featuring only Florence and no backing vocals), which were later included on A Motown Christmas Carol and A Motown Christmas Volume Two, respectively.

  More Trivia

  —– A double-sided single was released from this album, with both tunes charting on Billboard’s Christmas Singles Chart: “Children’s Christmas Song”—#7 and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Me”—#5.

  —– The mono mixes of “My Christmas Tree” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Me” have alternate leads by Diana. The mono mix of “Silver Bells” contains no backup vo
cals.

  —– Another version of “Silent Night,” with an unfinished lead vocal by Diana, remains unreleased in the Motown vaults.

  I HEAR A SYMPHONY – 19/3/66—Pop #8 and R&B #1

  Once again, Motown attempted to bridge the generation gap by mixing the Motown Sound with more mellow, pop standards such as “Stranger in Paradise” and “With a Song in My Heart.” The resulting album was another big seller for the girls and featured two more hits: “I Hear a Symphony”—Pop #1, R&B #2 and UK #39—and “My World Is Empty Without You”—Pop #5 and R&B #10. The group performed a medley of tunes from this LP on The Ed Sullivan Show, and an altered version of that medley would remain in their stage show for the next three years.

  More Trivia

  —– The mono mix of “Wonderful, Wonderful” has an alternate lead by Diana.

  —– The original stereo mix of “I Hear a Symphony,” has a different vocal. This version is available on: The Best of Diana Ross and the Supremes: 20th Century Masters.

  —– Most of the tracks on this album are mono mixes—even on the stereo LP master!

  —– This album cover was actually proposed as the cover of an album called There’s a Place For Us in 1965. The record’s release was ultimately cancelled, and the photo then ended up on I Hear a Symphony. When “There’s a Place for Us” was finally unearthed and issued by Motown Select in 2004, another shot from the same photo session was used as its jacket.

  THE SUPREMES À GO-GO – 24/9/66—Pop #1 and R&B #1

  The first new Supremes album in six months was aimed directly at the young record-buying public, and the result was the group’s biggest album yet. Every track (with the exception of the two single releases from it) was a cover version of songs ranging from smash hits like the Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself” and Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walking” to the more obscure Elgins’ song, “Put Yourself in My Place.” The album cover art displayed the usually glamorous Supremes dancing in contemporary street clothes, subtly reminding the public that these sophisticated superstars were really still in their very early twenties!

  “Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart”—Pop #9 and R&B #7—was the Supremes’ most irresistible dance record yet.

  Motown’s studio musicians, the Funk Brothers, outdid themselves with the track to “You Can’t Hurry Love”—Pop #1, R&B #1 and UK #3. Diana’s urgent vocal spoke to every young heart looking for that perfect mate.

  The Supremes were hotter than ever with this release—a single and album that both topped the pop and R&B charts.

  More Trivia

  —– The mono mix of “I Can’t Help Myself” has an extended fade.

  —– This LP went through many song lineups before its final release. Some of the songs mixed for this album but ultimately deleted from it were the Miracles’ “Mickey’s Monkey,” Tom Jones’s “It’s Not Unusual,” the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction,” Stevie Wonder’s “Uptight (Everything’s Alright),” Marvin Gaye’s “Can I Get a Witness?” and Martha and the Vandellas’ “In My Lonely Room.” The latter three eventually appeared on the Motown CD Motown Sings Motown Treasures. There is also an unreleased mono mix in the vaults of “This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak for You)” with an alternate lead vocal by Diana.

  —– The original stereo version of this LP contains a mix of “Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart” featuring a kazoo. The song was remixed in 1967 for Greatest Hits and then mixed again in 2002 for Anthology. There remain in the vaults multiple unreleased mixes of this tune. The original recording of it had to fade out where it does because Diana became discouraged during the recording session when her headphones malfunctioned. She can actually be heard complaining about it on the studio chatter included on the CD deluxe edition of Standing in The Shadows of Motown, which featured the instrumental track of “Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart.”

  —– On the familiar single mix of “You Can’t Hurry Love” the song fades out one second before Diana trips over the lyric and laughs to producer Brian Holland, “You better fade!” Forty years later, when the song was remixed with an extended fade for a Supremes’ compilation called The #1s, an alternate, unreleased vocal had to be punched in at that exact moment in order to manufacture a “cleaner” extended fade.

  THE SUPREMES SING HOLLAND-DOZIER-HOLLAND – 18/2/67

  —Pop #6 and R&B #1

  This album was a well-deserved tribute to Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland, the hottest writing trio not just at Motown but arguably in the entire music industry at the time. They wrote and produced hits for virtually every Motown act, including Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye and the Four Tops. But there’s little doubt that H-D-H and the Supremes benefited from each others’ talents more than any other act in music history.

  Unlike The Supremes à Go-Go, this LP not only contained enjoyable cover versions but also classic album tracks intended exclusively for the Supremes. There was no mistaking that “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”—Pop #1, R&B #1 and UK #8—with its Morse-code-like guitar riff, was a number-one record. “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone”—Pop #1, R&B #1 and UK #17—with its soulful, spoken passages by Diana also topped the charts, continuing another number-one run that would almost equal the trio’s success two years earlier.

  This album was released in the UK with a different album cover and titled The Supremes Sing Motown.

  More Trivia

  —– The mono mix of “Love Is in Our Hearts” has an alternate lead vocal by Diana. This tune—along with “You’re Gone (But Always in My Heart)” and “Remove This Doubt”—was recorded years earlier, in 1964!

  —– Once again, “Can I Get a Witness?” was scheduled for this album but pulled at the last minute.

  —– There were many photo sessions of the Supremes in mod 1960s wardrobe considered for this LP—see the full-page color photo in this book of them wearing gold lamé for an example of the session—but, in the end, Motown went with the now-classic, more serious portrait.

  —– An alternate vocal of “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone” was included on the Supremes box set released in 2000. Another alternate lead of this song was released in Japan on a quadraphonic Greatest Hits LP. On this version, after her first spoken passage, Miss Ross critiques her own performance by saying, “I don’t like that.” And it was left in the mix!

  THE SUPREMES SING RODGERS AND HART – 17/6/67

  —Pop #20 and R&B #3

  Also, see—“The die is cast” in Part Two.

  After they appeared on the network TV special Rodgers and Hart Today, Berry Gordy scheduled the Supremes in the studio to record twenty-five Rodgers and Hart compositions for what was intended to be a double LP. Gil Askey’s soulful arrangements combined with a swinging, big-band sound resulted in a new and delightful sound. Most Ross aficionados agree that she was at her best on this record. As a result of years of experience singing all sorts of songs, she had definitely matured as a vocalist, now sounding excited and comfortable with material that really was not of her hit-making genre.

  In the end, only twelve songs were ultimately selected for a final album, the double-album concept shelved at the last minute. Original liner notes were written by Gene Kelly.

  Twelve additional songs would be added to the package in 1986 for the Motown reissue CD The Rodgers and Hart Collection. All of these tracks were remixed by Deke Richards, with the exception of “My Romance” (because the original multitracks with vocals could not be found).

  In 2002, all twenty-five tracks recorded for the original double album were finally released as The Supremes Sing Rodgers and Hart: The Complete Recordings. The package also included an unreleased Copa performance of “The Lady Is a Tramp/Let’s Get Away From It All.”

  Diana would perform “The Lady Is a Tramp” in her stage show from 1967 to 1977. She would, again, revisit Rodgers and Hart in 1994 by singing “Little Girl Blue” and “There’s a Small Hotel” in her Stolen Moments concert f
or television.

  More Trivia

  —– Like The Supremes at The Copa, this LP had two different back covers.

  —– Diana also sang “Little Girl Blue” on the 1969 NBC special Diana Ross and The Supremes and the Temptations On Broadway, but the performance was deleted.

  —– On the mix of “Johnny One Note” Diana’s vocal is faded at the end while the instrumental track continues without her. This is because after a very long recording session, a weary-sounding Miss Ross stopped singing and sighed to producer Gil Askey, “I’m tired.”

  DIANA ROSS AND THE SUPREMES: GREATEST HITS VOLUMES 1 & 2 – 30/9/67—Pop #1 and R&B #1

  Also, see—“Deconstruction” in Part Three.

  Hot on the heels of the Supremes’ tenth number-one pop hit, “The Happening”—Pop #1, R&B #12 and UK #6—Motown planned an album it intended to title The Supremes and the Motown Sound, from Broadway to Hollywood. It was to include “The Happening.” That album release was ultimately cancelled, and this deluxe double-LP Greatest Hits compilation released in place of it.

  More Trivia

  —– The liner notes by Broadway star Carol Channing were originally written for the unreleased Broadway to Hollywood album.

  —– At the time of this album’s release “Reflections” was climbing the charts. It was scheduled to be track three on side four, but Motown pulled it at the last minute, deciding to save it for the next studio album. It was replaced with “Standing at the Crossroads of Love.”

  —– The eight-track cassette version of this album included two additional tracks, “Put Yourself in My Place” and “Remove This Doubt.”

  REFLECTIONS – 27/4/68—Pop #18 and R&B #3

  Also, see—“‘I’ll bet Diane just loves that marquee’” in Part Two.

  This was a transitional album of sorts in that it contains some tracks with Florence Ballard and some with her replacement, Cindy Birdsong.

  “Reflections”—Pop #2, R&B #4 and UK #5—took Diana Ross and the Supremes in a different musical direction. It would peak at number two and become one of the group’s most enduring hits. It was shut out of the number-one spot by Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe,” which held a lock on that position for four weeks. (Coincidentally, Diana’s cover version of that Gentry hit appears on this album.)

 

‹ Prev