THE REVIEWS ....
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REVIEWS:
AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH (5/1970 ) Back To The Top
(Ashford and Simpson). Arranged by Paul Riser. Produced by Nickolas Ashford & Valerire Simpson. (Motown 1169)
As if rehearsing for 'Lady Sings the Blues,' Diana Ross swept through her role in "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" with all the drama and majesty befitting the queen of Motown. Just months earlier, Motown's king, Berry Gordy, had put his most skilled artisians to work. "Berry thought we would be the most innovative with her solo album," explains Nick Ashford, who wrote and produced it with partner Valerie Simpson. "We were trying to think of directions to take her. At that time, lengthy records were starting to come out: six, seven minutes.
"We didn't have any songs like that, but we wanted Diana to feel she was into new things. We thought to stretch 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough,' and we thought how sexy and silky her voice was..." Simpson interrupts: "You thought about how sexy her voice was..."
Berry Gordy's trust in the couple was well-placed. The New Yorkers had crafted urban pop ballads to perfection for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell...and since they met through a Harlem church choir, it was no surprise to hear that background in their work.
Despite Gordy's wide-screen ambitions for Diana Ross after she left the Supremes, he gave Simpson and Ashford relative independece in the recording sessions. "I must say from the time we started producing, you had total control," Simpson states. "They restricted you in terms of how long you had (to record), but as long as you stayed within those guidelines, they let you do what you wanted to do."
Ashford does remember Ross questioning the choice of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," which had been a hit three years earlier. "She just kind of raised her eyebrows, and said, 'Marvin and Tammi already did that.' We said, This is especially for you.' She said, 'OK,' and just gave it all she had."
Arranger Paul Riser framed the record like a three-act play, with the singer occasionally offstage. "We cut the rhythm track in Detroit," says Riser. "The strings and horns were a little too sophisticated for the players there, so we went to New York to do it, to get the best possible performance." Simpson played piano; she and Ashford also handled backing vocals, joined by their earlier songwriting partner, Jo Armstead.
Breaking the rules of hook-conscious Motown, the finished production of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was inverted--the climactic chorus consumed the last two minutes of its six-minute, running time.
"When we took it to Berry," recalls Ashford, "he says, 'I think it sounds good, but you're gonna have to take the back and put it up in the front.'"
Ashford and Simpson were not pleased. "Berry wouldn't release that song (as a single)," Ashford contends. "We refused to change it, and he refused to release it. He didn't release it--the disc jockeys did. They picked it up all over the country."
ANTHOLOGY - DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES (1986) Excerpts.... The Music
Every decade has its musical phenomenon it seems, and the 60's had Motown and Motown had The Supremes. Both have since become enduring institutions. The three little girls from Detroit burst into the national consciousness and became the darlings of an era. Diana Ross and The Supremes were the most sought after performers of that time in addition to their overwhelming record sales...12 number 1 chart singles, over 50 million records. Never before had a black singing group so completely transcended all cultural barriers. Suddenly The Supremes were everywhere...the top supper clubs, Las Vegas, national television, royal command performances abroad, their talents appreciated by all factions of the population.....Heading into the middle Sixties, with all the culture shock attendant thereto, the girls somehow made a mark on all sides of the vaious "generation gaps." A perfect balance of sweetness and energy projected their sexy-vulnerable image through the tinniest of transistor radios. The demand for "the Motown sound" increased in direct relation to The Supremes' hits, becoming a potent AM-radio force...and paving the way for many others. Quite unfairly, The Supremes were occasionally branded as having an "overly pop sound." This may have been because they were the first to crack the "white market" in a big way; or perhaps, because the lushness of their sound made no apologies for its flirtation with "pop.".......The Supremes certainly lived up the their name, and the music presented here proves how much. They were, and always will be...Supreme.
Back In My Arms Again The Song
Just five records transformed Motown between August 1964 and June 1965. Each one - "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love" "Come See About Me," Stop! In the Name of Love," and "Back in My Arms Again - bore the same machine-stamped name from the Motor City: the Supremes.
Five consecutive Number One hits. The music industry knew that Berry Gordy's company already had some pop chart credentials. It recognized that the Supremes' records were an innovative, intoxicating blend of rhythm & blues and pop. And it realized that the group's sound--and look--represented a strikingly new level of sophistication for black female singers.
But what really blew the industry off its feet, and what really sprinkled the magic dust over Gordy's two-story bungalow at 2648 West Grand Boulevard was the sheer audacity of that achievement: five consecutive Number One hits.
"You have to remember that we did not know what we were doing," declares Lamont Dozier, one of the alchemists responsible for Motown's explosive development. "We were just going on pure instinct and feeling. There were really no rule books."
"Back In My Arms Again" was the fifth specll cast by Dozier and the Halland brothers, Eddie and Brian, for the Supremes. Eddie wrote the song's central theme of romance repossessed, but Dozier claims credit for the girl-talk touch where lead vocalist Diana Ross discusses the advice dispensed by Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. "That was my line," he says, "and Eddie surrounded the rest of the story with his lyrics."
The Supremes laid down their vocals in Detroit on the first day of December 1964. The instrumental track was propelled by James Jamerson's thunderous bass, Mike Terry's guttural saxophone, and James Gitten's ringing vibes. The studio was disarmingly small. "We did a lot of tracking, mainly because there wasn't enough space," said Earl Van Dyke, the late Motown bandleader. For one Holland/Dozier/Holland session, the room was jammed with musicians. 'They had to put the strings on a platform, up against the wall. That day, Berry father's told him he needed a larger studio."
Holland/Dozier/Holland's creative authority with the Supremes was in sharp contrast to the group's early, hitless years. Back in those days, the recording procvess brought the assorted singers and musicians together in the Motown studio. "By '63 and early '64, we were pretty much doing it to tracks," says Mary Wilson. "Sometimes it would be just a piano, it wouldn't be a full track. They had just started over-dubbing at that time, just come out of recording with the full band."
That was significant change, which vested more power with the producers - especially Holland/Dozier Holland - and helped advance Motown towards the big breakthrough. In 1964 and 1965, however, Berry Gordy's original family spirit still shone through.
"It was such a small community," explains Wilson, "that when a song was finished and the producers felt really great about it, they'd run around and call everybody in the studio. You'd have the Temps and Marvin Gaye and the Supremes and the Marvelettes all in the studio listening to it, and we'd take the records home and pass them out around the projects."
BEST OF THE SUPREMES AND FOUR TOPS (1991)
The late sixties saw Diana Ross and the Supremes being teamed with the Temptations on record and on television. In the 70's, after Diana left the Supremes, Motown gave the new grouping - Mary Wilson, Jean Terrell and Cindy Birdsong - the opportunity to join the Four Tops - Levi Stubbs, Duke Fakir, Obie Benson and Lawrence Payton for three album projects. Miss Terrell, who replaced Diana Ross, was a marvelous singer whose voice perfectly complimented that of Four Tops' leader Levi Stubbs. While her sound was sensitive and delicate, his was bold and powerful. Combined with the terrific background vocals, the result was a perfect, harmonic blend. Though the original material the two groups recorded was always exciting to listen to, their unique renditions of pop and soul standards were also lots of fun. They brought new meaning and intimacy to a number of songs we had heard before, including Ike and Tina Turner's "River Deep-Mountain Hight." Enjoy listening to the magnificent seven...together, they made such sweet music.
On Monday 24 February 1997, Earls Court in west London played host to the Brit Awards show, featuring all that's best in British music.
Jamiroquai were nominated for two awards, and also highlighted the show with a duet of Upside Down featuring Jay Kay and Diana Ross! Upside Down (now known an an 'anthem') was one of the most popular releases from Ross' album Diana which was released in 1980, 36 years after her birth. Diana Ross is a true superstar, with 18 number one singles to her name.
Diana Ross said: "I did a show in Rome and Jay Kay was on and we got chatting. I was being like his mom and checking he was okay and eating properly and that sort of thing. He obviously liked me because it was his idea to do the duet, Upside Down. They called me up in New York and asked me to do it. My first response was I didn't have a babysitter but I got one sorted fairly quickly and flew over to be with Jay and the rest of the band on the night." ....more
DIANA ROSS JOIN THE TEMPTATIONS & THE SUPREMES (1968) The Music
It has always been a pleasure to me to bring little known but talented artists and our TV audiences together. Never was there a better opportunity for this than when I first introduced Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Temptations to the U.S. and Canadian viewers of our show. Both The Supremes and The Temptations had already established their styles and in each instance, they electrified our millions of viewers in a world highlighted by literally hundres of "groups" they stand alone. In this album, Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Temptations complement each other beautifully. The Supremes--three lovely girls--and The Temptations, five talented young men, somehow belong in the same album. The idea of combining them was a happy inspiration. The Supremes have a fantastic history of putting five consective records on the No. 1 best-selling charts. In less than two years they racked up seven gold records, including "Where Did Our Love Go," Back In My Arms Again," "I Hear A Symphony" and "You Can't Hurry Love." The Temptations represent a combination of superb natural singing voices plished by arduous and intelligent practice. They delight the eye as well as the ear. Their singing arrangements are subtle and vibrant, and their harmonies go back to the headwaters of religious music. They've sold millions of records, but they've never been afflicted with hardening of the musical arteries. They retain their style while bringing a freshness and new luster to everything they touch musically. Introducing them together on this album has been as great a thrill to me as bringing them together for the first time on our television show.
Ed Sullivan
In an interview with Brandy on Entertainment Tonight, she talks about working with one of her idols:
ET: What's it like working with Diana Ross?
Brandy: She's a legend. I've looked up to her for a long time. She's really nice and professional, and that's what I love about her the most. I'm just waiting for her to give me advice. She says she doesn't do that, but I can't wait for her to give me advice. I'll choke it out of her (laughs), hopefully she'll do it.
ET: Have you asked her for any advice yet?
Brandy: No, not yet. I'm sort of nervous, but I will, because there is a lot that I want to know about this business -- especially concerning longevity.
ET: You both are musical artists, were you inspired by her at all?
Brandy: Yes definitely. I've always been inspired by her -- more so because she's opened a lot of doors for people like WHITNEY HOUSTON, MARIAH CAREY, and for me. She's really set this business on fire, and I'm glad I get a chance to work with her.
ET: Any unforgettable moments with her so far?
Brandy: There's a scene where I have to be really mean to her, and the way she looked at me in one of the shots just made me want to cry. I walked over to her and said, "I'm just doing my job... I don't mean to talk to you like this..." After that, she gave me a big hug -- so, that was cool.
ET: Now, are you producing this along with your mom?
Brandy: Yes, my mom more so than me. She's executive producing it. I'm just glad I'm getting a chance to learn how it works -- all the behind-the-scenes action of what producers do. I get to look at the dailies, and that's fun.
ET: Diana plays your mom in this film that's not always there for you. How does that compare to your relationship with your real mom?
Brandy: I can't even imagine my mom not being around me. If she's gone for two or three days, I just go crazy because I feel like I need her. She's my right hand, so I can't even imagine. That's why, when I'm rehearsing my scenes, I imagine my mom not being there -- and it gets me really upset.
ENDLESS LOVE (1981) Back To The Top
(Lionel Ritchie) Arranged by Gene Page. Produced by Lionel Ritchie. Solo version: Produced by Diana Ross. Arranged by Ray Chew. (Motown 1519 - #1 R&B hit (7 weeks); #1 Adult Contemporary (3 weeks))
Duet w/LIONEL RICHIE The Song
Long after people have forgotten the film 'Endless Love,' starring Brooke Shields - a point that perhaps has already been reached - they will still recall the romantic ballad from the film, which paired up two of Motown's most popular artists in one of the most successful duets ever recorded.
Actually, Diana Ross was no longer a Motown artist when she recorded "Endless Love" with LIONEL RICHIE. She had already split from Berry Gordy's label when film director Franco Zeffirelli suggested that Richie record his title song with a female artist, namely Diana. The former lead singer of the Supremes had signed with RCA Records for North America and hadn't recorded any material for her new bosses, but they graciously consented to let her record one last time for her former label.
Richie had not yet departed the Commodores for a solo career when he was asked to meet with Zeffirelli and producer Jon Peters. They asked the Motown star if he would compose an instrumental theme for Endless Love, something on the order of Francis Lai's music for 'Love Story.' Lionel played them some music that hadn't yet been recorded by the Commodores. Then the director changed his mind and decided he wanted a title theme with lyrics. Lionel agreed to write some, and then Zeffirelli mad ethe request for Lionel to team up with Diana Ross.
Two busy stars with too busy schedules - it didn't look like Richie and Ross would ever be together in the same room to record the song. Lionel was occupied recording the next Commodores album and producing Kenny Rogers in Los Angeles and Diana's schedule didn't bring her near Southern California. A compromise was reached when Diana was booked to appear in a hotel located on the Californ/Nevada border in Lake Tahoe. Richie agreed to meet her in Reno, about an hour away by car. Time was booked at a recording studio at three in the morning, giving Diana time to drive there after her late show at 1:00 a.m. and Lionel time to get there after a recording session.
Diana was given the molody prior to the recording session, but not the lyrics. Lionel said he would bring them with him. Recording commenced at 3:30 in the morning, and by 5:00 a.m. "Endless Love" was committed to tape.
The superstar duet gave Motown one of the biggest hits in the company's history. "Endless Love" was Number One for seven weeks, matching "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by MARVIN GAYE. At the time of "Endless Love," only "I Can't Help Myself" by the FOUR TOPS (nine weeks) and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" by THE TEMPTATIONS (eight weeks) had been Number One longer.
Diana and Lionel never had a follow-up to "Endless Love," although the soundtrack featured another duet by the two artists. "Dreamin' of You" was a more upbeat song and remains available only on the soundtrack album.
Legendary Motown recording songstress, DIANA ROSS, is slated to release EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY on Tuesday, May 4, her first CD since 1994's critically-acclaimed "Take Me Higher."
EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY was executive produced by Diana Ross and indeed her signature soulful style is etched into every groove. Working with Diana on this exuberant CD are a veritable who's who of songwriters and producers, among them Eric Carmen, Denise Rich, Ric Wake, Diane Warren, Malik Pendelton, Daryl Simmons, Chuckii Booker, and Arif Marden.
From the soaring South African rhythms of "He Lives In You," to the hopeful, heartfelt anthem "Until We Meet Again," to the playful cat and mouse of "Sugar Free," EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY is Diana Ross at her artistic peak. On this grounbreaking album, she delivers gorgeous songs that are compassionate, conscious, and musically expansive.
Along with the aforementioned tracks, which Diana considers "some of the best material I've had the chance to sing in a long time," EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY features four songs that also appear in the TV movie "Double Platinum," which airs Sunday, May 16. The movie, which Diana also executive produced, marks her first TV-movie star turn since her critically acclaimed dramatic television debut, "Out of Darkness" (1994). "Double Platinum," which was produced by the team behind 1998's successful "Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderalla," pairs the Oscar nominated Diana Ross with singer/actress Brandy in a compelling saga of mother/daughter relationships set against a backdrop of the music industry.
For this new Supremes album, producer Smokey Robinson has not only adapted himself to the group's established lighter-than-air style but perfected it, whipping up a batch of songs that you can tumble into like a cloud of cotton candy: pastel fluff, pure sugar, yet rarely sticky. Like Bacharach-David's recent work with Dionne Warwicke -- and Dionne and Floy Joy are much alike -- there is little "substance" here, but who expects cotton candy to be anything but sweet?
Smokey has captured the essence of the Supremes' sweetness, zeroed in on it and cut out everything else. Those sexy, whispery voices (Marilyn Monroe sang that way) are given a depth that is at times dizzying. People don't sound like that in real life, but then the Supremes are pop mythic figures and Smokey has created perhaps the ultimate expression of that myth through the sort of distillation and perfection of their style that would have been impossible while that style was still developing. He has summed the group up in an album that is neither as great nor as dismal as they've ever been, but catches them at some irresistable dead center only Smokey could have sustained for two whole sides.
The material, all of it by Robinson, is very like the song he wrote for the Supremes back in 1963, "Breathtaking Guy" (the chorus: "Are you just a breathtaking/earth-,side-, soul - shaking/ one night love-making/next day heart-breaking - guy?") Light - weight, clever, unashamedly pop. Only now, inevitably, everyone's a little more self-conscious and, the old, unpretentious "Breathtaking Guy" has become a forced, too-cute "Floy Joy".
"Floy Joy" is the only really dull song here, but I sing it to myself on the street, so it's gotten to me in spite of my critical self. The Supremes have always managed to bypass my Better Judgment and I love them for it -- don't the best pop groups shoot right through critical barriers and intellectual defenses? That still doesn't make "Floy Joy" a good song, only a catchy, enjoyable one and since everything here is to one degree or another catchy and enjoyable, "Floy Joy" can be discarded for the moment in favor of the other, better cuts.
"A Heart Like Mine" in spite of the electronic jiggles in the present production, sounds like classic Motown or at least classic Smokey Robinson: mournful but sweet, uncomplicated and full of girls going oooo-oooo in the background. In fact, the song was included on the Miracles first album (Hi! We're the Miracles) and even in this stylish version probably wouldn't have been out of place on the Supremes debut LP.
"Precious Little Things" also has a timeless feel and a sound reminiscent of the Shirelles as well as the early Supremes. Jean Terrell sings with a dreamy sort of beauty and Cindy Birdsong and Mary Wilson echo her in voices so soft and tender, they're like a breeze blowing between Jean and the musicians whose work is just as lovely.
The production throughout is luscious but not syrupy and some of the finest work Robinson has done recently. It's a nice, satisfying combination, Smokey and the Supremes, but writing about it is like criticizing a hot fudge sundae. This is one of the best I've ever had. A social note:" Cindy Birdsong has left the Supremes to have a child and although I assume she performed on Floy Joy, her replacement, Lynda Lawrence, formerly with Stevie Wonder, has already usurped Cindy's place on the cover. Sic transit, etc.
GREATEST HITS AND RARE CLASSICS - THE SUPREMES 70'S The Music
When Diana Ross left the Supremes in 1970, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong continued with versatile Jean Terrell in the lead spot. The group was off to a supreme start with their first four lp's producing gold singles. Their top hits are included here as well as selections from their critically acclaimed, Jimmy Webb-produced lp. This was to be Miss Terrell's final and favorite album with the group before recording "I Had To Fall In Love" as a soloist for A&M records. Dynamic Scherrie Payne, took over lead vocals and the group continued topping the national dance charts with each release. Short term members included Lynda Lawrence and Susaye Greene who both subbed for Miss Birdsong before the group disbanded in 1977.
LADY SINGS THE BLUES Soundtrack The Film
"Better than any other black screen actress, Ross has captured this indefinable ghetto-girl thrust for attention and a place in the scheme of things. She understands it. And in a sense, parts of Lady Sings the Blues (and Mahogany) are movies within movies: snippets of docume ntary about the struggles and tenacity of Diana Ross herself."
Donald Bogle "Blacks in American Films and Television"
"Individual opinion about Lady Sings the Blues may vary markedly, depending on a person's age, knowledge of jazz tradition and feeling for it, and how one wishes to regard Billie Holiday as both a force and victim of her times. However for the bluk of today's general audiences, the film serves as a very good screen debut vehicle for Diana Ross..."
Variety
A dram of brandy, a splash of vodka, and--presto!--Hal Davis mixed Diana Ross's most successful R&B cocktail since "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
Motown producer Hal Davis was thirsting for a hit as 1975 drew to a close. "I needed a smash right away," he recalls, "because the Jacksons had left and everybody said, Well, it's over, Hal doesn't have the group, what's he going to do?"
Hearing a demo of "Love Hangover" in a colleague's office, Davis learned that Marilyn McLeod was its co-author. "I called Marilyn and said, 'Hey, I like the tune, I want to cut it tonight.'"
Davis recorded the track at the Paramount studios in Los Angeles. "I went in, two o'clock in the morning, and bought everyone a shot of Remy Martin," he says. Shaking (not stirring) the twin-tempo groove were Joe Sample on keyboards, James Gadson on drums, and Henry Davis on bass. Dave Blumberg and Clay Drayton handled the arrangement.
Even so, some of the musicians didn't tast the spirit. "They didn't want to up-tempo it, I had to fight," Davis contends. "Joe didn't like the idea when I broke it up with the vamp there and went into the disco thing." The distinctive guitar run that pumped the tune's up-tempo segment was overdubbed later by Art Wright, who would perform similar services on a later Hal Davis project...Don't Leave Me This Way".
It was Motown capo Berry Gordy who thought "Love Hangover" was suitable for Diana Ross, but she was cool. "She said she didn't want to do it, she didn't like disco," remembers Davis. "She had just had her baby, she came in moody, and didn't really want to get into anything. So we got her a little taste of vodka--she's a vodka drinker, and she sat back, kicked her shoes off, and said, "Well, I'll go out and give it a try.'"
Earlier, Davis had instructed engineer Russ Terrana to set up a strobe light in the studio. "You see, I play with the mind, set the mood. Diana got in there, started singing. She said, "It sounds pretty good.'
She got into it: Her eyes were flashing, the strobe was flashing, the vodka was tasting better, the engineer was popping. There were only three of us sitting there but you would have sworn there was a party going on! That's why it was a smash.
But only after the discos--and a cover version by the 5th Dimension--forced Motown's hand. The label was promoting another track from the singer's DIANA ROSS album, and Berry Gordy wanted to stay the course. Then the 5th Dimension single hit the market. Gordy capitulated, his staff scrambled--one executive remembers the hastily called Saturday promotion meeting--and the Ross single was rush-released, quickly drowning the competition.
Billboard Book of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits by Adam Whie and Fred Bronson Credits
"..."But a lot of credit must go to Suzanne de Passe, our creative head,' said Hal Davis, "I heard the tune totally disco, but she said, why not give them two records? Begin slow and sultry--where Diana comes form the majority of the time--and then make the last half disco. My way would have been big, but not it will be a classic..."
But Motown higher-ups evidently did not share Davis's enthusiasm. While his single-edited version of the song sat in the vaults, "I Thought It Took A Little Time" was released. Enter Fifth Dimension producer Marc Gordon, a former general manager at Motown.
"It was obvious that 'Love Hangover' was the best choice for a single," Gordon says, So when he saw "It Took A Little Time" moving up the charts, he thought it "advantageous" to record "Hangover" himself and beat Motown to the disco punch. One week after informing Davis he would record the song, ABC Records released the song as a single. Two days later, Motown released "Love Hangover." The race was on.
Both versions debuted on Billboard's April 3rd Hot 100--but while there was little difference between the productions (Gordon: "I admired Hal's track so much I didn't want to chang it. I definitely capitalized on his creativity"), Diana's hustled up the chart to Number One in nine weeks, while the Fifth Dimension's did a slow bump to 80 (though it still sold 200,000).
"Mark's is a very good record," says Davis. "They just fell in the category of being seconds, because her thing is so much suerior. She has personality in the song."
Davis says Ross had felt no reticence in recording a disco tune and, in fact, "had a ball in the studio. You can hear her start laughing. She's quite a dancer too...."
Production notes: Davis refused to use string synthesizers on the ballad part, explaining, "Her look is sophistication, man...when she walks in I hear nothing but strings...." Davis on the congas propelling the transition into disco: "Diana loves congas. When she did that Afro dance on her TV special a few years back, there was nothing but congas. I never did forget it."
Rolling Stone
Love Is Here and Now Your Gone The Song
Long before transplanting its heart to Los Angeles from Detroit, Motown was active in California. Producers Hal Davis and Marc Gordon had opened a West Coast office for the company in the early '60s, recruiting and recording a number of acts there. One of them was Brenda Holloway; another would have been the 5th Dimension (then known as the Versatiles), but for Berry Gordy's turndown.
The Supremes went Hollywood in 1966, going on '67. The trio recorded the title song of an Anthony Quinn movie called "The Happening," which put Holland/Dozier/Holland into collaboration with composer Frank DeVol.
The crack Motown writing/production team worked on the track in Los Angeles, according to Dozier. "We did it at the Columbia studios, the big room on Sunset (Boulevard) where they used to do film scores," he recalls.
Dozier believes the session also yielded "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone." He says, "We had about 60 musicians, so we made sure we had four songs. The whole thing was a totally different sound for us." The orchestrations were handled by arranger Gene Page, who frequently worked on the West Coast.
Shipped as a single on January 11, 1967, "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" certainly sounded like Diana Ross in Hollywood. It featured dramatic, semi-spoken segments which could have been torn from the soundtrack of a Hepburn or Bacall movie. That same month, by coincidence, Ross and the Supremes recorded material for a never-released album of songs associated with Walt Disney films.
As producers verging on directors, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland helped make Diana Ross resemble the actress she would become. "I liked to cut her beneath her key," Dozier says, "because she got more of a sultry thing than nasal." They also recorded Ross's lead vocals fast, to keep an edge to her sound before she knew the song too well.
"You can call it 'edge'," advised the late Earl Van Dyke, leader of the Motown studio crew known as the Funk Brothers, "but she never liked to do a lot of takes. She had that prima donna shit going then. You know how that is."
Comments Dozier, "Diana was always a thorough professinal. If she heard something (wrong), you wouldn't have to stop her, she'd stop herself and say, 'I'll do that again.' Once she was into it, she like to go from beginning to end without stopping. She may have felt it wasn't necessary to do it over. She would do it if you pressed the issue, but we found out that it was - like Earl said - best to get it over with, rather than cause yourself a lot of headaches."
"...with Ross and Williams, though, both of whom were born to be black movie stars, high-powered gloss and glow are on proud display. Because the script, lacking the wit and cohesiveness of lady Sings the Blues, failed to provide them with characters to play, the two rely on their images instead--as the archetypal narcissistic dream queen and king from who nothing is demanded except their extraordinary presence. To their credit, they are charming enough to pull the picture off. But more importantly, in its celebration of stardom, Mahogany clearly touched on the mood of the period and now stands as a quintessential film of the mid-1970's."
Donald Bogle "Blacks in American Films and Television"
"...What Mahogany does so fascinatingly and sometimes hilariously is to pilfer certain stock cliches of '50s Hollywood and adapt them to a black milieu....and ifyou think Ross and Williams don't have audiences eating out of their hands, then you saw the movie with the wrong audience."
Molly Haskell "Village Voice"
MISSING YOU (1985) Back To The Top
(LIONEL RICHIE) Produced by LIONEL RICHIE and James Anthony Carmichael (RCA 13966 - #1 R&B/3 weeks)
The late Jay Lasker, only weeks after his November 1980 appointment as president of Motown Records, was called into a meeting with Berry Gordy and Diana Ross. The subject was her Motown contract, which was about to expire.
"Berry tried to orchestrate it like a movie," Lasker recalled of the discussions. "But Diana was no slouch. She curled up in Berry's chair and played her recording of 'It's My Turn' - prophetic, I thought."
Then Gordy took Ross's hand, according to Lasker, "and lured her into a slow, slow dance - smack in the middle of this meeting - to the chagrin of Diana's adviser, who paled at the idea of her blowing his whole big deal for sentimental reasons."
Diana's head evidently overruled her heart, because she quit Gordy's company for RCA Records in 1981. Yet in her music, the past was often present: for instance, the singer's only Number One for RCA, 'Missing You,' involved three legends of Motown - MARVIN GAYE, SMOKEY ROBINSON and LIONEL RICHIE - not long after Gaye's death in April 1984.
"It actually came out of a conversation that Smokey Robinson and I had one evening about how we were missing Marvin," Ross later explained, "and what he meant to us, as well as to music. Then Lionel and I got to talking about how we need to tell people that we love them while they're still alive. Lionel used all this to write that beautiful and special song."
Richie and Ross ahd collaborated before, of course (Endless Love) and the result was the biggest-selling single in Motown's history. Lionel had also gained insights into diana's work through observing Berry Gordy, who let him into the studio while he oversaw the 'Diana & Marvin' album. (Later, Richie confirmed that the two stars didn't cut their vocals together.)
Diana recorded "Missing You" in mid-1984 for her fourth RCA album, 'Swept Away,' released that September. Richie played keyboards on the session, arranging and producing the song with James Carmichael, his longtime Commodores collaborator.
The promotional video clip for 'Missing You' maintained Ross's links with her past. It not only featured footage of Marvin Gaye, but also images of other fallen stars of Motown, including the Supreme's Florence Ballard and the Temptations' Paul Williams.
The death of Marvin Gaye affected many musicians and performers. Lionel Richie's former colleague in the COMMODORES , Walter Orange, was moved to song (Nightshift). So was STEVIE WONDER, who sang "Lighting Up the Candles" at Gaye's funeral on April 5 1984, and later included it in his 'Jungle Fever' album....
MOTOWN 25: YESTERDAY, TODAY, FOREVER (1983)
MOTOWN 40 (1998) Soundtrack
(EXCERPTS)
When Berry Gordy started Motown, all T.V's were black & white, and so were all water fountains in the South. When Berry Gordy started Motown, Detroit was an economic lynch pin of America and there was no devil's night celebration of looting in that struggling mid-western metropolis. When Berry Gordy started Motown, the concepts of crossover and muti-culturalism hadn't been created. America was still working fitfully to integrate. When Berry Gordy statred Motown, rhythm & blues was Pop by accident, black music was as segregated as our schools, and African-American ownership of its own culture was discouraged when it wasn't ridiculed. When Berry Gordy started Motown (and Tamla and Jobete) 40 years ago, the biggest black businesses tended to be insurance companies, newspapers and funeral parlos, and none of them had any white customers. When Berry Gordy started Motown, state of the art technology was the 45 rpm seven inch single, not 8 track, audio cassette, CD or DAT. Yet in all these formats, and in those yet to come, Motown represents the highest standards in Pop music. When Berry Gordy started Motown, America was a very different place than it is at the beginning of a new century and, in some important ways, that change can be attributed to the beautiful music in your hands...
...This anthology pays tribute to the enduring music Motown has made in its march down through time and those musicians, writers, producers and performers who dreamed their way onto History's pages....
...As the music of Motown rushes headlong into the 21st century, it is still fueled by the visions of music makers. Some hopefuls come to stand ont eh street in front of the tiny studio-turned-museum in Detroit and marvel. What dreams stand with them? Soemthing to do with music, magic and memories, no doubt.
MOTOWN STORY, THE: THE FIRST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS (1985) Soundtrack
... The Motown Story, a five record, 58 cut set of that company's big hits from the beginning, may not be that definitive collection, but it does contain a rather stunning series of jukebox spirituals, scripture to dance to, expressions of the emotional life black music has always been most concerned with.
Usually this means expressions of love and the problems of love, an aesthetic shared most closely with love comic books ("I make one little mistake--and I lose the only man I ever loved!") simply because they represent one of the last stands of high romantic ideals. But it's love carried beyond its own absurdities into a pure, spiritual realm so that the best of these songs are not just about emotion, they ARE emotion, ARE life. Listened to closely enough, "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" is a revelation. That's what black music is about: life, love, and transcending the content through the form.
This sort of total expression is the heart of Motown Records. Over the years they have been interested in nothing so much as success (Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" was an early clue)--and their formula for achieving that success became increasingly more slick and predictable--but Motown never lost touch with the real lives of people who bought records. Berry Gordy knew the psychology of the car radio and the transistor and the jukebox; his records slipped through these media and into people's heads and daily lives so quickly they were almost subliminal. The Motown Sound had an insistence that went right past being irresistible.
Early on, Gordy realized that production was the subliminal factor. Motown created a Sound that mixed with your bloodstream and heartbeat before you even listened to it. The Sound had infinite variations, it evolved, it changed, it retained the ability to surprise, but it was always the same and the fact that it remained instantly recognizable was another key to its success. All of Motown's energies were concentrated in the production of flawless 45s--they didn't learn until recently the finely-balanced craft of album production--but the formula, once established, worked so beautifully that there is a touch of genius even on the lowliest B-side. In fact, Motown flip sides are almost always worthwhile; many of my most treasured Motown songs were B-sides: the Miracles' "Fork in the Road," "Whatever Makes You Happy" and "Such Is Love, Such Is Life"; Martha and the Vandellas' "Motoring"; Stevie Wonder's "I'm More Than Happy (I'm Satisfied)"; Mary Wells' "Operator."
In the full-color booklet which accompanies this boxed set of records, Motown describes itself this way: "Now entering its second decade, after ten years of phenomenal growth and corporate development, Motown continues to reflect the cultural complexities and social changes of an era in which its music has gained international repute as a stylized reflection of Afro-American tradition." Whew. They key words there are "corporate development" and "stylized reflection." A brief history:
Motown Records (incorporating the labels Tamla, Motown, Gordy and later Soul, V.I.P. and Rare Earth) began officially in 1959 with Berry Gordy and $800. In the early years, Gordy's products hadn't yet achieved the stylistic identity that later became know as the Motown Sound. But they didn't merely blend in with the already popular music of the Shirelles, the Drifters, Little Eva or the Chiffons. Both The Marvelettes and Martha and the Vandellas had a toughness and energy which set them apart and quickly established Motown as THE dance sound; if the company was every funky, it was because of these girls.
The Marvelettes are represented on the Story album by their first two releases, the wonderfully raucous "Please Mr. Postman" and "Playboy." Unforgivably, subsequent releases are ignored and their part in the official history ends there; after a long period of inactivity, the group has now apparently disbanded. "Come And Get These Memories," "Heat Wave" and "Dancing in the Street" (all included here) are early high marks for Martha and the Vandellas and Motown. "Heat Wave," produced and written by the team of Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland (who also provided near-identical follow-ups in "Quicksand" and "Live Wire"), was the first step toward a "Sound" with which the whole company could be identified. Anyone who didn't hear "Heat Wave" in the summer of 1963 had to be buried underground; the super-charged sound--maintained at an energy peak by a frantic, repetitive chorus and drums, often with handclaps, on every beat--jumped from the airways like sparks from a wire.
William (Smokey) Robinson, songwriter, producer and lead singer for the Miracles (Miracles! Stop for a moment and absorb these names and their aspirations), was perhaps the most important force which set Motown apart from the mainstream of rhythm & blues. Producing his own group as well as Mary Wells, the early Temptations and later Marvelettes, ' records sounded only slightly softer than the work done by the Marvelettes. A whole album (Meet the Supremes, which is probably now regarded as an unfortunate part of the past, like once being a whore) and several singles in this smooth, nasty style were released before H-D-H hit on The Formula with "Where Did Our Love Go" (1964); breathy, sexy, sweet, repetitive, using a blended background characterized by a constant, unavoidable BEAT. "Baby Love" followed and "Come See About Me," "Stop in the Name of Love," "Back in my Arms Again,' etc. etc.--they continued to perfect the Formula for years.
And in the process built the Motown Sound, defining a break with the music of their early years. Just compare "Playboy" (1962) with "Baby Love" (1964)--the rawness and grit of the early vocals, especially the stridency of the backing chorus, have disappeared; the sparseness and simplicity of the instrumentation gives way to a layered, denser sound which makes increasing use of studio effects. A certain height was reached with "You Keep Me Hangin On" (1966) adding incessant electronic bleeps to the drum beat and letting Diana step out for a quick, striking spoken phrase (this last used to even greater effect in the follow-up, "Love Is Here And Now You're Gone")--an overstylized song whose brilliance lies in its precise, restrained production--they knew just exactly how far to push it.
Holland-Dozier-Holland accomplished the popularization of the Supremes with such subtlety and assurance that you hardly noticed the energy draining off. In her introduction to one of the group's last H-D-H hits, "Reflections" (1967), Diana Ross tells us (it was actually Mary Wilson, he (the reviewer) made a mistake here), "This is when Holland-Dozier-Holland decided to go more mechanical"--right on, Diana. She meant "electronic" but "mechanical" is more appropriate to this vapid melange. The team was losing its touch. The Tops also declined: "Bernadette" and "Seven Rooms of Gloom" only seemed more mediocre when set against the perfection of "Reach Out I'll Be There."
The concept of "stylized reflection" had become more closely identified with "corporate development" and the Supremes with Holland-Dozier-Holland were the ideal catalysts, although they hardly came out of the process unscathed. Whatever rough edges they had were polished off as the girls were carefully molded into America's Number One Female Group. Somewhere along the line Gordy & Co. decided the Motown Sound was The Sound of Young America and that was another clue: mere success was not enough. No longer satisfied with breaking across the established rhythm & blues charts--they had done that with awesome consistency--they now wanted the very hearts and minds of The People (including the white market) by any means necessary. The Supremes were sacrificed without much trouble; everyone learned to do minstrel shows at the Copa.
When Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown, things seemed to fall apart for a while. Without the support of their compositions and arrangements, the Supremes suddenly sounded weak and shallow; artistically, they never quite recovered. Until very recently, the Four Tops seemed to have disappeared into one nightclub or another. End of another Motown era.
The new Motown period is more diversified, but the key producer here is Norman Whitfield whose work with both the Temptations and Gladys Knight and the Pips set the dominant sound in recent years. Again, the important figure is the songwriter-producer. Neither Robinson, H-D-H nor Whitfield could succeed without genuinely brilliant artists, but the producer's guiding hand is all-powerful at Motown, notorious for its tight control over performers. As Smokey Robinson put it elsewhere, "The artists--they don't really have anything to do with it. The producer is doing the tune so they just go and they sing it and fortunately for us, we have artists who do not bitch about their songs."
But some performers are more malleable than others. Whitfield made his first breakthrough with "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," written and produced for Gladys Knight and her group in 1967. (We now also know this is incorrect!) One of the all-time great singles, certainly one of Motown's own top ten, "Grapevine" signaled the return of high-energy to Motown, a revival of sweet grittiness, in carefully controlled doses.
But like Martha Reeves, Gladys Knight will constantly shoot beyond the material she performs and it's her artistic free-flight that makes her great. So Whitfield had to wait for a group who would yield more readily to his restyling and work with him toward the development of the next installment of the on-going Motown Sound.
The Temptations were perfect. After their strongest vocalist, David Ruffin, left in a flurry of accusations and counter-accusations, the group found itself in need of a production sound that would make the very most of what remained. With a little borrowing, some synthesis and a good deal of genius, Whitfield whipped up a post-Sly Stone sound that broke out with maximum effect in "Cloud Nine" (1968)--the start of the Temp's boom boom period. Whitfield added layers of electronic business, wah-wah shit, gave emphasis to the separate voices, broke the old ground sound wide open. Although a lot of us had reservations about this move, the novelty and excitement of the new style were hard to resist.
The content of these new songs, the majority of them written by Whitfield and Barrett Strong, represented another shift in direction--The Greening of Motown, perhaps. Never exactly the social conscience of the music industry, Motown had confined itself to a few isolated "current affairs" songs. Among them:
"Dancing in the Streets" which Martha Reeves acknowledges was related to the black ghetto rebellions ("We were just starting to have different confusions in different cities--the riots and what have you," she says; the intention of the song was to "get people to dance and be happy in the streets instead of rioting," although many saw it as a metaphor for more direct action); Stevie Wonder's "Blowing in the Wind"; the Miracles' far from inspired "Abraham Martin and John" and the Supremes' two rather dreary attempt at relevance, "Love Child" (included here) and "Living in Shame".
But "Cloud Nine" and the songs that followed it reflected a more serious concern with "conditions"--a little late in coming but important nevertheless. "Ball of Confusion" may be of questionable value, but "War" and the powerful "Message from a Black Man" (both album cuts are not included in the collection) are giant steps for the Temptations and Motown. How "committed" the company is remains to be seen: one of their strongest anti-war songs, Martha and the Vandellas' "I Should Be Proud," was reportedly withdrawn in embarrassment before it could catch on, but if relevance sells, Motown will market it--yes, The Greening of Motown.
If my history leaves out two of Motown's finest artists, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, and another favorite, Junior Walker, it's only because they don't fit into the major producer scheme--which is to their credit. Their independence of the producer-originated trends has caused them to flounder at times, but more often freed them to be constantly surprising and inventive, as evidenced more recently by the totally new direction Gaye had taken with his current, self produced single, "What's Going On."
Both Gaye and Wonder are well-represented in this collection, although, for purely sentimental reasons, I would have appreciated another one of the Marvin Gaye-Tammi Terrell love songs (the obvious choice, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is here) and I can't understand the exclusion of both "My Cherie Amour" and "Signed, Sealed and Delivered."
OK, THE MOTOWN STORY, one of the most ambitious, slick promotion packages ever marketed, is an attempt to document this history in 58 cuts, each with its own short introduction by the artist. Motown has always had a certain genius for re-packaging its hits, making a collection of this sort inevitable. To take it point by point:
1. It's clearly a collector's item, not for the casual listener, and priced that way: about $25 (which means that even with a discount, it's not something you can rush out and buy with your pocket change).
2. The "24 page illustrated book" enclosed is of minimal interest except for a few tasty pictures from the early years (Martha and the Vandellas in the classic hands-on-hips pose, Smokey holding up the "HI" sign from the cover of the Miracles' first album, the Temptations in jive grins and processes). I mean, I don't mind seeing another pin-up of the Jackson 5, but I would appreciate a more serious effort to provide historical information. At the least we could have been given the release date of each song. as usual, no credit is given to Motown's excellent musicians--always the unsung heroes.
3. There is a narrator with one of those raceless, radio announcer voices which constantly comes as a shock. He usually confines himself to a few words by way of introduction to the performers ("from the neighborhoods of Detroit to Superstardom--Miss Diana Ross") and, like TV commercials, manages to sound one or two levels louder than everything else.
Most of the artist's intros are to the point and reasonably articulate. I could listen to Smokey Robinson talk for hours. Michael Jackson really sounds like a little kid. Otis Williams of the Temptations stumbles around a lot and tries to convince us that "Cloud Nine" had nothing to do with "getting high"--the allusion is merely to "a state of being."
C'mon Otis. Diana Ross talks about enjoying music in a dentist's office and I believe it. Actually, Diana does a lot of talking here. In one segment, she describes her early job at Motown as secretary to Berry Gordy--"I only worked the summer and I think he paid me about $20"; later she says something about "trying to find where my head is." Far out.
My favorite stories are the confessional ones, especially if they involve the performer's feelings about a particular song. Before "My Baby Loves Me," Martha reveals she was on the verge of breaking up with her boyfriend but the song brought them back together: "In the studio I had a chance to express a feeling inside." Jimmy Ruffin did "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" at a low point in his career--"I was hungry, in a depressed mood"--and pulled another Motown classic out of his despair.
Glimpses of the private lives of the stars. But no matter how revealing or funny or instructive, after the first one or two hearings, the prefaces become annoying commercial interruptions. Also, inexcusably, the commentaries frequently overlap the instrumental lead-in to a song or lop off the end of the previous cut, in the worst AM radio tradition.
4. As is often the case, Motown album cuts have a tendency to sound slightly different from the 45 versions. In a number of instances, the sound is markedly thinner than you will remember from the radio, the result of inferior stereo mixing or merely a new mix. "I Want You Back" suffers most from this practice, and why f**k with a work of art? In some cases, there are other minor discrepancies as well (e.g. a noticeably longer sax break in "Heat Wave", which also fades out about 20 seconds too soon.) One cut, "Someday We'll Be Together," is a live version taken from the Supremes' Farewell album (Diana Ross urges "bringing our boys home from Vietnam" in a conveniently open-ended way: "today, tomorrow or in the coming year").
5. On Motown's first re-packaging effort, the volumes of 16 Original Hits, the company managed to squeeze eight songs to a side for a tight little collection. Here, due to the intros, we have at the most seven cuts to a side, more often, five or six. Obviously, this limitation on the number of selections makes each cut carry more weight as a piece of Motown's history.
A breakdown of the selections by performer will give you an idea of where the emphasis lies: The Supremes, 17 cuts; Marvin Gaye, 7; Temptations, 6; Four Tops, Smokey and the Miracles, Martha and the Vandellas, 5 each; Stevie Wonder, 4. Marvelettes, Jr. Walker and the AllStars, 2 each; Gladys Knight, the Originals, Jimmy Ruffin, Mary Wells, Barrett Strong, and my boys the Jackson 5, only one each. (I bet he regrets that "my boys" line now!!!) As far as I'm concerned, Mary Wells did some of the finest stuff Motown will ever know and the fact that she's represented by ONE SONG ("My Guy") is ridiculous. But Miss Wells did leave the company, and at Motown defectors from the ranks can't expect much.
The Isley Brothers, who did some great things while they were with Motown--"This Old Heart of Mine", for one -- are ignored completely. For both Smokey and the Miracles and the Temptations the selection is much too spotty. What about "Ooo Baby Baby," "More Love," "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage," "Who's Loving You," and "Way Over There"? The early Temps are held down to just one song, the very beautiful "My Girl," but why not "Since I Lost My Baby" as well? And how can they ignore one of my personal favorites, "You're My Everything"?
Thing is, everyone will approach this with their own list of vital songs and find the official selection lacking. I would gladly do without four or five of those Supremes numbers in order to have "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game," "Shake Me, Wake Me," "Two Lovers," "Road Runner," "ABC," and "You Met Your Match." But then that half-dozen wouldn't be very typical of Motown (remember "corporate development"). For better or for worse, the Supremes epitomize Motown, and their musical history, such as it is, is perhaps the best indication of where Motown has been. Just as, right, now, the Temptations seem to be most into where the company is going.
So the history is, of course, on Motown's terms. There are things included here that could easily be dropped to make room for better or more significant cuts. I wouldn't miss "Bernadette," "Jimmy Mack," "Reflections," "Mickey's Monkey," "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," "Love Child," "Baby I'm For Real," or "Psychedelic Shack." But how can you argue with "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (in both Gladys' and Marvin Gaye's versions), "The Tracks of my Tears," "Dancing in the Streets," "I Want You Back," "My Girl," "Baby Love," "Reach Out I'll Be There," "Fingertips," (STILL unbelievable), "Stubborn Kind of Fellow," oh shit, it would fill the next page--beautiful, splendid, metaphysical 45s. I used to feel that if I could only have one record album, it would have to be The Miracles Greatest Hits From The Beginning, their two record set. Now, although I might complain a lot, I'd choose The Motown Story and expect to get by just fine, thank you.
All this aside, The Motown Story is an extraordinary collection to me because it's not just the history of a record company but a collection of pieces from my life. More than any other influence (more than Robbe-Grillet, Warhol, Aretha Franklin, Genet, Godard or Susan Sontag), Motown has changed the way I live. I must have dropped out mentally for a few years before I heard Mary Wells and "You Beat Me To The Punch" (summer '62) but the song astonished me. The absolute perfection and completeness of such a simple thing knocked me out; and Mary Wells' voice was endlessly pleasing.
Then I discovered Smokey Robinson whose "You Really Got A Hold On Me" was a sort of on-going religious experience. Smokey is still my man. His songs were poetic suggestions as to how to conduct your emotional life. They wouldn't tell you exactly what to do, but, like the I Ching, they could be referred to as sources of guidance, confirmations or merely indications of a direction for the future. For instance, there is the obviously instructive "Fork in the Road"--"Although I may be just a stranger/Lovers, let me warn you there's the danger/Of a fork in love's road."
The songs were experiences I could learn from, expressions of someone's life that became very much entangled with my own. But Smokey's singing has a way of cutting through the bullshit and getting to pure expression--an overwhelming emotional content that I began to discover in other black music but continued to enjoy most in Motown's particular stylization of urban R & B. The Marvelettes and Temptations and Martha and the Vandellas and Mary Wells and Stevie Wonder and the Supremes--all of them--taught me the same way Smokey did. And hey, it's not just about love, being in love, getting hurt, you know, it's ABOUT BEING ALIVE.
Because Motown is so prolific and such a consistent hitmaker its sound is everywhere; impossible not be become somehow intimate with it. Sometimes in spite of itself, Motown remains vital and REAL. After all, it is dance music, body music, express yourself music--communicating through the beat, through your body, as surely as through words.
I can't help myself. The music is playing and you're involved before you realize it. Before you KNOW it. You don't need to know it.
Vince Aletti's All Time Top Ten Motown Singles
This is a personal list. It's not meant to be definitive of Motown's Ten Most Important Records. It's not even definitive for me (I left out "Fork in the road," "Strange I Know," "My Girl", "Hitchhike," "I'll Try Something New,"--getting carried away again--and I might have a whole different list next week). "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game is something of a minor Motown gem but I chose it because I had once dedicated it to George Crowell on a radio station in Dayton, Ohio.
Gladstone, West Grand, Woodward. The Detroit streets which housed Motown Records during its vrious stages of evolution offer in their names no hint of the enterprise, vision, creativity and innovation for which Berry Gordy Jr. and his compatriots were responsible. Nor do words written here easily convey Motown's contribution to, and influence upon, popular music and musicians during this past quarter-century.
Berry himself had the right idea when inscribing "It's what's in the grooves that count" into the logo of one of the company's subsidiary labels. Music is to be heard, he knew.
That the music of Motown would be heard and enjoyed-even revered-around the globe, and that it would give birth to the largest and most successful black-owned business in America, must have been more difficult for Berry to imagine. Even so, his sister Esther Gordy Edwards, for one, never doubted that he would prevail. He had a job shining shoes in downtown Detroit, where he would often be run off the street by older and larger competitors. But the positiveness of him made me want to hlep the force along, whatever he wanted to do." What Berry wanted to do, after an unspectacular excursion into boxing, was create music. In pursuing tht goal, he assembled nothing less thant he rock era's most remarkable roster of artists, musicians, songwriters and producers, who folowing recollections of Motown - together with those of Berry himself - speak almost as eloquently as their music. Almost, but not quite. It's what's in the grooves that count.
REFLECTIONS (1968) The Music
Reflections of the way life used to be...When I look into the mirror of my life of not so long ago, I see how music and lyrics have led me to warm friends and deep love. While just a child in a disadvantaged section of Detroit, the air I breathed was filled with music. My heartbeat was like the throbbing of drums. I knew even then that the road up was a touch one. But at least for me, it would be paved with song. Reflections of the way life used to be....What I didn't know in those early days was that I was destined to meet and work with some of the most wonderful people anywhere: that great producing and writing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, who are responsible for this album; the one man, Berry Gordy, Jr., founder and president of Motown without whom we could never have made it; and most of all, the kids around the country who never let us down....Reflections of the way life used to be...When I was 12 and singing in my church choir, I dared to dream that when I was 22, I would still be singing...that I would be fortunate enough to feel the warmth of your acceptance, the thrill of your applause, the fulfillment of my desires. I never dreamt how much I would love my work now how much easier this would be with Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, a part of the team. Yes, my childhood dream has come true and I sincerely hope yours does too....Reflections of the way life used to be...Just eight words, eight words from the title song of this album. Eight little words that make me think what might have been if I were not so fortunate.
Diana Ross
RETURN OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
The Return reached # 154 Billboard Top 200
The Return of the Magnificent Seven, a new joint effort by the Supremes and the Four Tops. The selection of material is much more pop to begin with and as if to compensate for the greater number of vocalists, the strings and horns have escalated in importance to the point where they dominate many of the arrangements. The Return has all the earmarks of a Motown nightclub, middle of the road, production.
And yet it too has its moments. You Gotta Have Love in Your Heart is so fine that it almost makes up for the lackluster quality of the rest of the record, while Jean Terrell's singing on I Can't Believe You Love Me (listen to her sing just the word "sincerity") is beyond belief. Levi Stubbs is in fine voice throughout which just makes me hungry for the great Four Tops album Motown is going to put out one of these days. Regrettably, the material, arrangements, and alas, the concept itself, doom the rest of the album to Motown mediocrity.
The best thing to do is to forget about The Return and pick up on Touch. For that album marks the arrival of a whole new Supremes and a beautiful singer who, hopefully, will be with us for a long time to come, namely, Miss Jean Terrell.
Jon Landau ( who went on to produce Bruce Springsteen)
RODGERS & HART COLLECTION (1987) The Music
In August of 1966, ABC taped a television special entitled "Rodgers and Hart Today." The show aired on May 11, 1967 and featured the music of the legendary composers sung by top pop artists - The Mamas and Papas; Petula Clark, Bobby Darin and America's #1 vocal group, Diana Ross & The Supremes. This special inspired Berry Gordy to have the girls record an entire album of Rodges and Hart standards. "The Supremes Sing Rodgers and Hart" was scheduled to be a double LP, however when the album was trimmed to a single disc, 12 tunes went into the Motown vaults. Now for the first time, some of these tunes have been digitally remixed and remastered to become 'The Rodgers and Hart Collection.'
In today's market where pop stars are turning to standards for hit LP's, it's a credit to the girls' versatility that they employed this technique from the earliest stages of their career. Through the years, Diana Ross has continued to record standards on her solo albums. As the tempo of this collection winds upward, you'll hear a 22-year old Diana Ross beginning to mature into the great artist she has become today. Ross has a ball belting out "The Lady is a Tramp" with a musical comedy style that is light years away from "Baby Love," while her renditions of "My Funny Valentine" and "It Never Entered My Mind" are delicate, yet poignant.
Although this project is a showcase for Diana Ross, the contributions of Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard should not be overlooked. Mary solos on 'Falling In Love With Love," while Flo shares Diana's lead on 'Manhattan."
Producers Berry Gordy and Gil Askey were careful to maintain the true feel of these great standards while giving Supremes fans a sprinkling of tunes with the Motown sound. This collection is truly a tribute to the legend of Rodgers and Hart and the artistry of Diana Ross and the Supremes.
George Solomon
Someday We'll Be Together The Song
The swan song of Diana Ross and the Supremes was composed a lifetime away from the showbiz glitz of Las Vegas, where the group performed their last concert together at the Frontier Hotel in January 1970.
Johnny Bristol and Jackey Beavers were young Southerners, criss-crossing the Midwest in search of success--not to mention an income--as the 50's met the 60's. "We were traveling in Jackey's car throughout various parts of Indiana and Michigan and Ohio," says Bristol, "just singing in different places in our little red bow ties. If you saw a picture, you'd die."
Billed as Johnny and Jackey, they were on the road a lot. "As a matter of fact, 'Someday We'll Be Together' was written mostly in the car as we were driving," Bristol explains. "We just remembered the melody, we wrote it a cappella, and got back (home) and finished it up."
Beavers and Bristol had become acquainted in the air force, stationed outside Detroit. "We would sing at various local clubs and stuff. Jackie and I took it a little more seriously than the other guys--they needed half a gallon of wine. We were just young guys who wanted to sing."
The two recorded their original version of "Someday We'll Be Together" in 1961 for Harvey Fuqua, who ran tiny Tri-Phi Records in Detroit with Gwen Gordy, Berry's sister. Soon afterwards, the label was merged into Motown, where Bristol became a key member of the company's cadre of songwriters and producers.
Towards the end of the '60s, Bristol thought about reviving his act with Beavers--at least on record--and he cut a new version of "Someday We'll Be Together." Hearing the song, Berry Gordy thought it ideal for Diana Ross. "At the time," says Bristol, "you didn't argue with him. The idea was a producer's dream, so I said, 'Sure, great,' and he and I went into the studio with Diana."
Yet Ross's lead--on top of harmony vocals by the Waters--didn't go smoothly. "Diana wasn't in the greatest of moods, and we weren't getting the right feeling from her," relates Bristol. "I suggested to Mr. Gordy that I go in the other booth and just sing along with her, just a little soulful thing to kind of help. He said, "OK, great, go ahead."
"We started off, then he stopped the tape and said, "I've got to start over, I made a mistake." And unbeknownst to myself and Diana, he recorded everything I did, and said, "I'm gonna keep this, it's a smash.' And he was absolutely right.
Bristol's supportive, soulful accompaniment (over an instrumental track arranged by Wade Marcus) was the kicker to lyrics perfectly suited for a superstar act on the eve of fracture. "Someday We'll Be Together" was shipped as a single on October 14, 1969--and three weeks later, Motown announced that Diana Ross would be leaving the Supremes.
Stoned Love (1970)
"Stoned Love" could just as easily have been titled "Rock of Ages." Composer Kenny Thomas was striving for a message of permanence in the lyrics of his song, written at a time of seismic social change.
"We had civil rights issues going on in this country," he says. "Vietnam, drugs, 'make love, not war.' But stones are forever--they don't break or come apart. Love will be here forever. It's not importan about color and things of that nature.
Berry Gordy wasn't impressed. "I remember that he hated that record," says producer Frank Wilson. "He called it garbage." The Motown chieftain relented only when senior executive Barney Ales promised that every radio station in the influential RKO chain would play "Stoned Love" if Motown shipped it as a single.
Ales delivered: The release became the Supremes' biggest R&B and pop success since the departure of Diana Ross. Its graceful, uplifting lead vocals were those of Jean Terrell, whom Berry Gordy had first seen performing in Miami in 1968 and who officially succeeded Ross in January 1970.
Kenny Thomas was 17 when Frank Wilson heard his material on WJLB Detroit, during a teen talent contest hosted by the station's "Frantic" Ernie Durham. Wilson visited the teenager's home. "He came by and had me play several of the songs I played at the contest," says Thomas, "He asked me if I had anything else, and I said, 'Yes, there's this song I'm working on right now, that I haven't actually performed yet.' And I played Stoned Love.'"
Wilson was impressed, subsequently inviting Thomas to meet a member of the Supremes, on a Sunday in 1970 etched vividly in his memory. "In comes Mary Wilson--and I die," tells Thomas. "He introduces us, and she asks, 'Gee, Frank, this is a baby, what does he have?' Frank says, 'Go get him a 7-Up, he'll play it.'"
The Supreme soon shared the producer's enthusiasm, and arranger David Van DePitte was recruited. "We went down in the basement and this kid, Kenny Thomas, gets out a guitar," remembers Van DeP:itte. "There were only two strings, and this kid had worked out a system of binary chords that he could plunk along to, and he was singing "Stoned Love.'"
When the track was recorded, Thomas, was present. "It was at Motown on West Grand Boulevard, in a basement almost as big as a football field," he says. "David hits the baton on the podium, and the musicians play--maybe a 50-piece orchestra, strings and everything, I cried."
Jean Terrell, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong cut their vocal parts later in New York according to Thomas, who says he flew from Detroit for the session. "Jean had to do the whole thing right about the first time, with the exception of a couple of cute riffs that were added.
When released in October 1970, "Stoned Love" had Wilson and an enigmatic Y Samoht as authors. "Frank added about four lines (to the song) for continuity," explains Thomas, who altered his name for fun in the manner of Stevie Wonder's "Eivets Rednow." It also hinted at one of his influences, Nina Simone. "Ynnek Samoht sounds a bit like that--the Simone part, anyway--and it became my personal tribute to her."
SUPREMES, THE (1975)
To our Friends
I am often asked, "How the Supremes have been able to achieve and maintain their position as the number one female group for over fifteen years." Skyrocketing to the top in our youth was a far easier accomplishment than being able to maintain for such a long period of time; however, the Supremes, throughout our long and successful history have been blessed with loyal and devoted fans. To us you are much more than fans, you are our dear friends. Your love and devotion has given new life to the Supremes and enabled Cindy, Scherrie and Me to share this album with you, for which you have patiently waited. "Touch"
SUPREMES, THE: 1963 - 1969 (1987) Excerpts... The Music
In the beginning--before they embodied the Motown sound, before they took girl-group rock to its esthetic and commerical apex, before Diana Ross became DIANA ROSS!, before they unwittingly provided the models for the Broadway hit 'Dreamgirls', before they became icons of a nostalgic 'Big Chill' generation --the Supremes were Florence Ballard's group.....The classic Supremes/H-D-H singles are often criticized for sounding alike, a charge that ignores such distinct individual glories as the easy gait of You Can't Hurry Love, the urgent command to Stop! In the Name of Love or Diana's genuinely pained vocal on You Keep Me Hanging On. H-D-H's innovations wer conservative but effective--consider the ominous oscillator (a forerunner of the modern synthesizer) on Reflections. There was pop magic in these tracks, though it lasted only as long as the three men and the three women worked together.....Diana Ross is now famous as much for being famous as for anything she sang or acted. Mary Wilson is a journeywoman singer with a lot of good memories. Berry Gordy, who moved Motown to L.A. around the time Diana went solo, is a wealthy and respected entertainment mogul, though Motown is nolonger the musical force it once was. As this collection confirms, the heyday of Motown and the Supremes was no fluke. Rather, it was a product of their time and place, vision and talent.
John Morthland, music critic
SUPREMES AT THE COPA, THE (1965) The Music
I have been asked by the people who have brought the famed Supremes to the Copacabana to say a few well-chosen words in terms of liner notes. Well let me simply say this. As a performer I admire them more than words can possibly describe. It would have been comparatively easy for the Supremes, and through the sort of ingenious things that have happened with them, in terms of the people who select the music for them to record, Motown Records, and their sort of insight into what is "really happening baby" they could have just rested on their laurels on the usual sort of things that happen with people who cature the hearts and the minds of the teenagers who supply the beat that we all sort-of-dig. But they did more than that. As a guy who's been in show business some 30 years or so, I have come to deeply respect those performers who never sort of reach the end of trying to learn, of trying to grow, as an artist and as a human being. Having worked with the girls on a couple of occasions, I can hosestly say that they are not only magnificient performers who have created a trend and who have captured the hearts and the musical taste of not only America but internationally as well. But they happen to be marvelous ladies. To see this kind of talent displayed by snayone so young or any group of people so young is amazing indeed for me....for all you people who couldn't make the Copacabana on opening night, like I did with a party of friends that included some of the biggest names in show business, to come to cheer the Supremes, here they are...live at the Copacabana. It seems only fitting because the Copa is the last night club in the world, and the best night club in the world, and they presented the best of the new world of music. In short, they presented the Supremes. It was a night that will long be remembered. i am glad I was there....
Sammy Davis, Jr.
SUPREMES SING COUNTRY, WESTERN & POP, THE (1965) The Music
Supremes sing country, western and pop...and how they sing it. It's to be expected that whatever the Supremes do, would be done in a way that is tops. These three girls, acknowledged to be "America's No. 1 Sweethearts," have built up a fabulous reputation - well deserved - and unparalleled in the record and entertainment world. Here and now they have partially turned their talents to a different mode, one which their growing legions of fans may not have had the opportunity to enjoy them in. It proves their true talent and versatility. Each of these girls, Diane, Mary and Florence adds to a whole and the result is a uniquely Supreme affair. Country and Western fans are sure to be enchanted. Fans of the Supremes undoubtedly will be delirous and lovers of just great entertainment will, with this album, be added to the never ending list of followers of these fabolous performers.
Collected here to receive the Supremes inimitable treatment and some of the all-time classics, dressed up and treated by the Supremes in their own renowned manner. You absolutely never heard "Tumbling Tubleweed" or "Lazy Bones" like these charmers do it here, and you surely haven't enjoyed them as much. Added to the collection are some originals, specially written and tailored to the Supremes, their styles and personalities. These tunes having now been touched with 'magic,' as only the Supremes can do, will soon be added to your list of all-time favorites.
If you like the Supremes, and who doesn't, if you like it Western, if you like it Prop, if you like a Country or if you just love to be enchanted, you are sure to find that everything the Supremes give you on this album will satisfy your desires.
THE SUPREMES: PRODUCED AND WRITTEN BY JIMMY WEBB
This is the first Supremes album in two years I haven't bought on first sight. And in the past I've been well rewarded for my impetuousness: no bad burns. The women just seem to keep giving this magnanimous Pavlovian an encouraging pat up top each and every time. But this -- Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb, the cover reads, like the hypothesis of an experiment -- this was putting a definite strain on my largesse.
But of course I was remembering the Jimmy Webb who in a more overachieving era ran folks like Richard Harris through their musical paces, MacArthur Park and all. It was flagrant disregard for the rave reviews of Webb's own more recent albums. I should have better taken some cues from the liner photos: images of this smiling, bespectacled freak, adjusting headphones with the last -- the classic -- embodiment of all the female groups. Would the audible results take the form of some sort of musical subversion, brought about by a young man, old enough to remember Baby Love, loose at last in those mythical studios?
I finally broke down. Bought the album. And while it won't cause a showdown with the CIA, the "subversion", for want of an alternate term, usually works just fine. Webb has applied his distinct musical orientation to his own conception of the Supremes. The songs, the definite majority that are on target, superbly fit the image they make for themselves. "5:30 Plane" strikes one immediately with its totally contemporary feel: The ambience of a young woman, very possibly a Supreme at that, and her on and off affair, played out in the serpentine milieus of freeway on-ramps, airport terminals, L.A. townhouses: "I don't know what you are gonna do/But I decided I can't make it on my own/I didn't want to be here, baby, when you got home/Sittin alone." Musically, it works like Bacharach's "Don't Make Me Over" did for Dionne Warwicke, with the steady R&B undercurrents effectively diluting the potentially deadly strings. Jean Terrell sounds much like Warwicke in her early days too: She sings with an unlearned authority. But when this balance by contrast wavers, as it does on most of the rest of the side, the over-wrought violins become boring. The effect is defused. That sort of miscalculation overpowers "When Can Brown Begin," complicating a good song full of Webb's succinct, accessible imagery, which cries out for simpler handling. Bobby Lewis' classic "Tossin and Turnin" easily accomplishes what "Brown" lacks. It's an inspired choice, outrageous, concisely executed, plainly soulful.
Side two is almost flawless. Joni Mitchell's "All I Want" is by far the best cut on the album. It's quintessential black rock, erasing those worried demarcation lines between two genres completely. Merry Clayton's approach comes to mind, but the fusion here is somehow more complete than that. Everything, the basic Motown drive, the fragile alliteration of Joni's phrasing, delivered scattily and speedily but intact, the horn riffs borrowed from "Up Up and Away" -- everything's just in place. Webb's "Once in the Morning" is almost as good, with its opener, "I was lying in state on my analyst's couch." It's taken in a country vein, with Webb copping a chorus or two, and there's not the least incongruity to it. Even Nilsson's ultra-romantic "Paradise", which sounds like a parody of a rosy-sunset flick theme, is masterful, lovely and a trifle tongue in cheek at the same time. The strings literally swirl and the background is some kind of gospel-opera.
This may be strange territory for unaware Supremes habitues. But for anyone who wants to see the barriers in modern popular music broken down, he needn't look further than this album. Be forewarned.
Mark Vining, Rolling Stone Magazine
TALK OF THE TOWN - LIVE AT LONDON'S (1968) The Music
Their impact is total, these three electrically beautiful girls called Diana Ross and The Supremes, who are being uproariously received at the Talk of the Town. They are the dynamic essence of what today's popular music is really about but often is not...The music, to whose rhythmic power tambourines and guitars are crucial, is only part of the game however. This is a song-and-dance act, though not in the soft-shoe sense. It is closer to ballet or belly-dance. The singers spin, undulate, weave their arms, strike attitudes. They are supple and graceful as tigresses. And still this is not all., They give themselves every second. Their delightfull outgoing personalities surged from the stage. Popular entertainment cannot offer an experience more formidable.
Derek Jewell, The Sunday Times
Last night Diana Ross and The Supremes made their debut at the Talk of the Town--and they were sensational. In anticipation of an exceptional evening, herds of pop people turned up to welcome the trio and were treated to a lesson in musical showmanship which, quite honestly, I have never seen bettered. As Paul McCartney commented after the performance, "It's the show business event of the year." For 55 minutes, and through 30 songs. Diana Ross, in a staggering display of energy and artistry, held the capacity audience in an almost continuous state of applause.
Ray Connolly, The Evening Standard
A Who's Who of British show business made most of the audience (not I didn't say sat in the audience; half of them were standing cheering) when Diana Ross and the Supremes sizzlingly made their cabaret debut at London's Talk of the Town. In the circumstances it hardly seems worth the effort to mention that the act came over with the impact of a sledgehammer. What I must say is that every professional, beautifully timed, sensuous, animal movement of the Supremes act deserved the incredible reaction it got. I can say no more other than this is the finest opening night I have ever witnessed at the Talk of the Town.
Alan Smith, New Musical Express
If you think it strange that I am writing liner notes for the Supremes' album, then all I can say is I am probably their original British fan. I bought their first single "Where did Our Love Go" in England in 1964 (and thought I had knew why the British Empire had fallen after this did not become an English hit; my homeland was restored in my eyes, however, as the Supremes subsequent records became huge successes). Since then, I have gotten every record they have ever made as soon as the British release was announced. When I left London, "Stoned Love" was still #1. Imagine my excitement when I not only received an advanced copy of this - their new album - but was also asked by Jean, Mary and cindy to write the notes. (I felt as if I had really 'made it'). Of course, I like this album very much and am really pleased to hear the Supremes sounding more exciting than ever and hopefully they will place me on their advance copy list forever.
Touch reached #85 Billboard Top 200
Touch is an unqualified success and the final proof that the Supremes will continue without Diana Ross. New lead singer Jean Terrell proves too smart to imitate her predecessor and in the space of only a year and a half has succeeded in making the group over in her own image. Gone is the cooingly adolescent sexuality of Miss Ross and in its place is a fuller and more adult approach to both music and life. The hallmark of Miss Terrell's style, like that of so many of the best Motown artists, is an enormous sense of dignity, pride, and class. While those qualities have been there from her first effort with the group, the superb Up The Ladder to the Roof, and came into full blossom on the powerful single Stoned Love, it is only with this new album that we come to expect no less from her, confident that she will deliver.
The album's highlight is Nathan Jones, an altogether remarkable single. The body of the song is a straight blues -- only the hook lines at the end of the verses differ from blues form. The song tells a very specific story about a very specific person -- another rarity for recent Motown records. And two thirds of the way through the cut, the song goes into a long, "psychedelic" mood piece that lasts until the fade-out and that by any logic at all, just shouldn't work. But it does and so does everything else about this song. When Jean sings, "The key that you're holding won't fit my door, And there's no room in my heart for you no more," she shows all the independence and sense of self a rock and roll lyric can stand: she sounds strong and she sounds beautiful.
When Jean took over for Diana it seems likely that Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong insisted that their role in the new Supremes by augmented to keep the group from ever turning into another "Diana Ross and the Supremes." Consequently, their roles on the album as a whole seem much larger than in the old albums and on a song like Nathan Jones, there are long stretches where the three women sing the lead together in beautiful harmony, with Jean's voice dominating only enough to give the song some tension and focus.
As good as Nathan Jones is, the best thing about Touch is that, unlike most Motown albums, it's good all the way through. There is hardly a bummer on the album and there are an amazing number of single quality cuts. This Is The Story, Have I Lost You, Touch, and Happy is a Bumpy Road are all superb, but the album's real gem is a number almost as off-beat as Nathan Jones, namely Love It Came To Me This Time. The entire song is based on a single descending chord progression and the arrangement is restrained for almost the entire song. Over this shimmering background Jean works out beautiful patterns, with Mary and Cindy answering her perfectly. Without ever going into a full blown crescendo the three of them create tremendous tension and feeling and the sheer power of some of Jean's vocal lines is one of the great things I've heard on record this year.
Frank Wilson's production is happily devoid of Motown nightclub flourishes (except for a fine pop version of Time and Love) but at the same time would never be mistaken for straight R & B. I call an album like Touch conventional rock. There are horns and there are strings but there is a sharp, tight, driving rhythm section to keep them in rein and to provide the music with the kind of force that can only be characterized as rock.
Jon Landau ( who went on to produce Bruce Springsteen), Rolling Stone Magazine
The major reason to catch "Boys Life 2," a compilation of four gay films opening today at the Castro, is the chance to see "Trevor," an Oscar-winning short by director Peggy Rajski and writer James Lecesne, about a 13-year old's first unrequited crush.
Beautifully portrayed by Brett Barsky, Trevor is a sissy boy on the cusp of sexual awareness: verbally clever, visually and musically sophisticated but marginalized by his differentness. If it wasn't for Diana Ross, whom he idolizes, and the rich fantasy life that he develops as a refuge from homophobia, Trevor would be bereft.
Rajski also won awards for "Trevor" at the Sundance, Berlin and Aspen film festivals and adapted the film from a monologue by Lecesne, a gay performance artist who developed Trevor in his one-man stage show, 'Word of Mouth.'
Most of "Trevor" takes place in the character's head, where Trevor speaks to his diary and confesses his infatuation with Pinky, a baseball jock who befriends Trevor but cuts him off once the "G" word enters the picture. It's a sweet story, sort of a gay-positive fable, with a not-so-hidden agenda: Rajski made the film as an antidote to gay teen suicide.
UPSIDE DOWN (1980) Back To The Top
(Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers) Produced by Edwards & Rodgers. (Motown 1494 - #1 R&B hit - 4 weeks)
"Upside Down" was Diana Ross's most successful single since leaving the Supremes, and she owed it partly to her children. Moreover, the song powered the singer's 'diana' album to number two on the pop charts, her first to reach the top since 1972's 'Lady Sings the Blues' soundtrack.
The team responsible for this success, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, were t their peak in 1979. Their own band, Chick, was hot with a gold single (good Times) and back-to-back platinum albums. And their Sister Sledge productions were hugely popular, too (He's The Greatest Dancer, We Are Family).
Rodgers remembers Ross showing up to see Chic at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California. "Diana couldn't believe the crowd reaction. She said, 'I haven't seen this since the Jackson 5.' She was backstage, dancing and into it. 'My kids made me come and see this show, all they were talking about was Chic, Chic, Chic. That's what I want my record to sound like.'"
Rodgers and Edwards accepted the challenge. "We went to visit her," Rodgers says, "and told what we always tell people: 'We'll just sit down and talk with you for a couple of hours, then go home and write the album.'"
Spending tht time with Ross, the pair learned she wanted nothing like her previous Motown records. "She said, 'I don't want this to sound like L.A. at all. I left California, I'm in New York, I've got a whole new life here.'"
The producers obliged, applying their rhythm-heavy Chic sound to the singer's sharp, angular voice. The album was largely done at New York's Power Station and Electric Lady studios, with Rodgers on guitar, Edwards on bass, Tony Thompson on drums, and Raymolnd Jones and Andy Schwartz on keyboards. Chic's Alfa Anderson and Luci Martin san background, and what Rodgers calls 'the funky Chic strings" wer played by Karen Milne, Cheryl Hong, and Valerie Heywood, under conertmaster Gene Orloff.
The lyrics of "Upside Down" personified the changes Ross was making to her life and career. "Only she knew this was her last record on Motown," says Rodgers. "We had no idea." Nor had they realized how much diplomacy was necessary. "We had to learn that with certain artists, if you tell them ty're singing flat, they might look at you and say 'What?'"
That happened during the making of 'diana' and the candor wasn't appreciated. "She went to the South of France for two or three months," says Rodgers, "but we worked it all out."
Well, perhaps not all of it. After finishing the album, the producers heard from Motown. "they called us up," explains Rodgers," and said, 'Guys, we really have a problem with the mix.' Then Diana calls us up and says, 'I don't know why you have my voice so low.' You know what the problem was? We had more bass than they ever had on records before!"
Ross and Motown engineer Russ Terrana remixed the album to the singer's taste, but they couldn't upstage the Chic groove--and 'diana' hit the album charts even before 'Upside Down" was shipped as a single.
"...the film version proved a significant setback for blacks in American movies....the movie was a soggy wet blanket that no large audience wanted to be bothered with. What really killed the movie was simply the fact that no longer were black hands in control. Instead the movie's most important creators--director Sidney Lumet and writer Joel Schumacher--were white artists, totally out of tune with the material...and the style of the performers......When the Wiz was released, there were complaints that leading lady Diana Ross (then 34 years old) was too old, also the wrong type for the naive, innocent Dorothy. What with the change in locale though, Ross might have been able to inject an urban sexiness into her character...but she's made far too wholesome and timid. In her first films Lady Sings The Blues and Mahogany, the great thing about Diana Ross was her portrait of the independed, aggressive, assertive, modern urban young black woman, a creature determined to get what she wanted, not always using her head, perhaps, but using her guts anyway. Audiences loved her maddening drive. Her movie persona was similar to the one she had as the lead singer with The Supremes. Here stood a black girl/woman who could do anything....Stripped of glitter makeup and her glitzy style, Ross herself strives hard for a sweetness, a softening of the previous bold, aggressive image, but she's pallid and how....Here she does seem far too old to be so sweetly naive. And curiously, partly because the script denies her a love interest, she's asexual as well."
"Hollywood didn't know what to do with her (Lena Horne) then, and they still can't figure out how to handle her in the late 1970's. But Horne sings "Believe In Yourself" with the conviction of a polished verteran and a true artist, bringing to it a gospel bravado and some anger--and yes, even a surprising sense of history. Lena's attitude here seems to be that if no one else in this movie knows what he's doing, she does. She personifies the perennial star who's been misused yet has learned how to wring every moment to get the best out of what otherwise might have been the worst....Horne is the film's high point."
"The one performer who is able to ride right over the messy carelessness is Nipsey Russell ...(he) understands that the roles are vaudeville-comedian turns. And though his tap dancing is unexciting, he shows here that all his years of playing the inoffensive black entertainer in front of white audiences haven't softened him as a performer; he has the true pro's integrity of style."
WHEN YOU DREAM Soundtrack The Book
You Can't Hurry Love - The Supremes
(Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland) Producers: Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier (Motown 1097)
As clar, compact and compelling a single as the Supremes would ever make, "You Can't Hurry Love" was their first R&B Number One in more than a year. Pumped full of hooks - James Jamerson's pounding bass line, Robert White's ringing guitar chords, the Supremes' tight, melodic harmonies on the chorus - the record was Berry Gordy's machine at it's commercial peak. "Berry was a great believer in hooks," understates Lamont Dozier, the song's co-writer with Eddie and Brian Hollnad.
"He would come into the studio, and everybody would feel a little anxiety. If (the recording) was unfinished, he would just smile and walk out. But the feeling that everyone got, I can remember. It was just like your old man coming in and checking your homework."
The Supremes probably taped their vocals for "You Can't Hurry Love" in Detroit on June 14, 1966, at a session sandwiched between concert engagements in San Francisco and Toronto. By this time, the group had been at the top of their game for two straight years; their itineraries were crammed with concert and television dates, personal appearances, and overseas tours.
Time in the Motown studios was at a premium, and Lamont Dozier recalls that instructing the trio in their harmony parts was time-consuming. "It wasn't as if you had so many tracks to lay different sets of vocals on," he says. "We put more emphasis on the music and the band, to make sure that was fat.
"Harmonywise, the reason (the Supremes) got started singing in unison most of the time is because it was just taking up a lot of time to teach them the parts. When they were on the road and had to come in and learn three or four songs, it would get very tedious. I came up with this system of just singing either very close two-part harmony or just unison, so you'd get the feeling of a haunting little thing in the background."
Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard evidently learned to work swiftly. "You usually got what you needed within two takes," says Dozier. "Those people were so talented and intuitive, they had a lot of that raw instinct about how to sell a song. I don't know where they learned it from, it was just natural talent. Having that natural talent made our job easier."
Motown's studio musicians made that job easier, too. The crew included Jamerson, White, drummer Benny Benjamin, and bandleader Earl Van Dyke, who usually played piano or organ. In Allan Slutsky's biography of Jamerson, Standing in the Shadows of Motown (Dr. Licks/Hal Leonard, 1989), Van Dyke said, "When Robert and I payed parts in unison, we played so close and tight that a lot of times, they would stop the session in the middle of a tune and say 'I can't hear the piano' or 'I can't hear the guitar,' because they couldn't separate us - like on 'You Can' Hurry Love.'"
You Keep Me Hangin' On (11/66) (#1 - 2 weeks)
(Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland, Jr.) Produced by Brian Holland & Lamont Dozier (Motown 1101)
Motown Records consripted nine singles for the tope of the R&B charts in 1966, from "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" in January to (I Know) I'm Losing You" in December. As "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" marched to Number One in the middle of the year, the Supremes were readying "You Keep Me Hangin' On" to capture the peak position in the fall (November 26, 1966).
The group added their vocals to the song's instrumental track during the last day of June that year. "We cut three or four of these songs at one time," says Lamont Dozier. "We didn't know, but later on, trying to remember, we found that we had cut several hit tunes at the same session."
Thus, it wasn't immediately obvious which would be the singles. "We had no idea," Dozier continues, we were just shooting from the hip, a gut reaction. If it relt good and it stood up and we could remember it a couple of days later, we figured that we'd done our job. almost all the time we cut the tracks first, because we didn't have the lyrics finished. I would collaborate with Edward on the lyric - he'd had something to start from - and Brian would give him melodies for the entire song."
The Supremes would often add lead and harmonies to an unsweetened, basic track, which only encouraged them further to fill the vacuum with their vocals. "That's correct," says Dozier. "But although it sounded sparse, there were quite a few instruments used as far as rhythm (was concerned). In several cases, we used to use three or four guitars, mainly because we wanted to fatten up the rhythm.
"We didn't have certain echo and sophistication we have today, wo we discovered that the more instruments - even if the guys only played units and all the same licks together - only enhanced the sound, gave us a more dynamic sound."
Arrangements were done with similar disregard for the rules. "They were basically head arrangements," says Dozier. "Most of the time, Hank Cosby just wrote what we played on the piano, wrote out the structure. He would look at what we were playing or take it from a tape of the song and the chords, and we would show him on the piano how we wanted the chords voiced so you would get the same sound. That was very important."
As their success rate snowballed, Holland/Dozier/Holland trew bolder. They made "You Keep Me Hangin' On" and "Reach Out I'll Be There" at around the same time - and both records pushed forward the team's creative boundaries. "We were trying to open up to different things, says Dozier. "That's why we loved what John (Lennon) and Paul (McCarney) were doing. There weren't too many people we really respected; we respected them because of their freeness."
The versatility of Motown's studio musicians underpinned the Holland/Dozier/Holland innovations. "Sometimes we would have a couple of basses in there: stand-up and electric," Dozier explains. "We tried all sorts of things; a lot were done manually, with hammers and nails, literally bringing chains that you pulled trucks and cars with into the session to get a certain sound."