Customer Reviews

The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book will appeal to Supremes' fans, but may not go over too well with those who favor Diana Ross. It will also appeal to those who heard about Flo through "Dreamgirls," yet it will disapppoint Supremes fans who know details and facts and accurate information about the group and its' members and who yearn for truth... This book is spell-binding and a very easy read, yet it lacks accuracy and details. There are numerous little things in the book that are just not quite true, which I, as a real Supremes fan, find very annoying. For example, Benjamin states that Diana, Mary, and Cindy went into the studio and recorded "Someday We'll Be Together." Supremes fans know that Diana recorded that song without the other Supremes. Furthermore, as he writes about an event in Flo's life in the early 70's, he states that as this was happening "Reflections" had just been released, a song Flo had sang on. The chronology is all wrong: "Reflections" came out several years before. Additionally, Benjamin repeatedly talks about how the Supremes had sunk deeper and deeper after Flo left the group and refers to them as the "no hit Supremes" between 1967 and 1970. This is not accurate. True they had less hits, yet their songs still placed in the top 40, and several made the top 10 and higher. As I said, for a Supremes fan, the book is spell-binding and a must-read, but errors like these I have mentioned give it a lack of credibility and a gossipy feel. It's a shame, too. This book has been highly anticipated and could have been so much more.

I intend to buy the book after all this book has been in the making for many years.
I remember an article written in the Daily News many years ago about Peter writing this book it was around 1994 or 95 where it was mentioned that he interviewed Flo and that the title of the book was going to be called "Lost Supreme" and I mentioned it at a Supremes convention in DC where Flo's daughters were present. I think we deserve to know what Flo had to say in his interview of her especially if the tapes are going to be soon available. And Flo certainly got a raw deal through her days up to and after her dismissal from the Supremes and up to her death. Here is a chance for others to judge for themselves what this book has to say. I enjoyed Maxines's book but I felt a lot was not revealed from that book that fans want more insight into and deserve to know more about. I am sure I will come back after reading this book with a better review (this approaching the 32nd anniversary of her death) stay tuned.

What you will like about this book is hearing "Flo" tell of some interesting experiences like when performing for a crowd of 100,000 on a Barbados Pier that went amok,The Supremes and Berry Gordy had to jump to safety on fishing boats. And also the significance of her performance of Silent Night. As a journalist Peter Benjaminson has done a fine job in researching the Ballard family tree; naming Flo's rapist and how deeply that effected her for the rest of her life, the litigations after leaving Motown and her final days. What the book does lack is a level of objectivity because rather than dig into to the myths surrounding her life Benjaminson accepts them. For example as the Primettes the groups only single features lead vocals by Diana Ross on the A Side and Mary Wilson the B Side. So if Flo was always the lead singer before recording for Motown why not on that recording? Furthermore the choice of the book's sub-title and constant reference to Diana by her given name Diane, seem to indicate he is following Mary Wilson's writing style. That is also supported by the fact he does not question Mary's loyality to Flo as she was aware of the impending firing and rehearsing with Cindy Birdsong. Nor does he tell of how Diana offered to pay Flo's mortgage off and also set up trust funds for her daughters after Flo's death. The 20 pages of legal excrepts are incomplete and essentially filler. The discography is a bit confusing as it includes the Supremes singles after Flo's departure and does not list any of the recently unreleased albums she is on. However, every Supremes fan should purchase this book because now we know Flo's story, her way.

I totally agree with "A.M. Smith," who says that the book's author was obviously just trying to cash in on the success of the "Dreamgirls" film. 95% of what's in here is in other Motown books, especially Mary Wilson's. The only new stuff is a few interesting quotes from Flo, plus a lot of tedious detail about her various failed attempts to sue Motown and others. There are maybe three photos I haven't seen before. Save your money.

THE LOST SUPREME is a biography of Florence Ballard loosely based on taped interviews author Peter Benjamin conducted with the subject months before her untimely death. While it's good to use Ballard's quotes in this biography, Benjamin's work reads more like a well-researched thesis rather than a real book. However, it deserves an "A" for effort because of the fact that it does put one of rock's greatest tragedies into the limelight.

I love the Supremes. I am a devotee of their music and history. I wanted to read this book to get the real deal about Flo after leaving the internationally known, iconic group. What I recieved was some info that appeared to be factual and much information that was myth adn some lies; told by Florence herself. I say that knowing it will alienate some.

Lies: Flo is the founding member of the Supremes: Florence did not start the Supremes; her future brother-in-law did, Milton Jenkins. He was a pimp and a fledgling manager and wanted to create a girl group as a counter part to a group he managed called the Primes. Flo heard of his intention and approached him and said: "I'll sing in your group, Mister!" She then recruited Mary Wilson. Paul Williams (of the Primes/Temptations) recruited Diane Ross and the other singer in he group to be called the Primettes. Flo's dominant personality made her the Leader of the group but not the sole lead singer.

Lies: Flo was the lead singer when they came to Motown and Berry Gordy dropped her and made Diana the lead: On the Lupine Label as the Primettes Diana sang lead on the A side of the record and Mary on the B side. If Flo was the lead singer why wasn't she on either side? This is also a myth. Maxine Ballard wrote in her story of her sister Flo, that FLo was not the lead singer. Flo was considered by Mary to have the best voice of the group. Diana has said Flo was regal, beautiful and a big voice; too big for Supremes songs. Ross never felt that Flo was the best. Others who heard the group and many Motown artists preferred Flo's voice and approach to a song. The general feeling was that Flo was being stifled and placed in the background unfairly. Mary has written that they all sang lead on songs in the genre that fit their voices best. The initial record by the Primettes would lend much credibility to Mary's assertion.

Lies: Flo named the group: Florence was handed a group of names by a Motown employee within which was the name, The Supremes. Flo chose the name from that list. Berry Gordy told them they'd have to change the name before they were signed. Neither Mary or Diana liked the name initially. It is possible that Gordy had a list of names he owned so as to ensure control of that name when and if the group succeeded. Eventually that did happen; not even May who was with the group until its demise was able to use the name Supremes without facing litigation. The myth is that Flo was the lead singer of a groups she statrted and came to Motown as the lead singer and was demoted to background. People who know the Supreme's story via Dreamgirls would buy it.

Florence was an alcoholic. She blamed airplanes, stress, Gordy and Ross, etc. but she abused alcohol and so did her father. Florence's rape history and accompanying trauma were never dealt with in a clinically professional manner. This was very common amongst African Americans of that time. Her disappointment regarding lessening vocal significance in the group also lent to stress which led her to drink.

Motown did rob Flo of her money she rightfully earned. THey also financially raped Mary and Diana (along with many other Motown groups). Gordy's unscrupulous practices robbed, witers, producers and performers. Ross has said that when she left Motown and took complete control of her finaces and accounts she only had a "few hundred thousand in the bank. Gordy gave her a Rolls Royce for Lady Sings. When she left the company it was repossessed as the car was only leased and Diana didn't own it. Florence never got was was rightfully hers, financially. She wa`s taken advantage of by a crooked lawyer. She married her fiance; a limo driver and subsequently made him her manager. A terribly bad decision. He did not help her career.
Flo's recordings for ABC records were not properly pushed by the company and she was dropped after the one year contract.

Myth: Florence Ballard was a phenomenal singer with a voice that was similar to Aretha Franklin's own (according to Mary Wilson). Well her CD whic had circulated ungerground for many years was released and there is no real evidence of Flo's great hidden talent. We hear a singer who is struggling to find her own sound. Her voice is strong and full but not uniquely distinct.

Florence was in a domestically violent marriage, her bio family helped her spend her dwindling funds and she lived with depression. Her story is tragic, sad and ended too early. Bejaminson's book adds additional info to the growing lexicon of books on The Supremes. I wish he'd been a little more objective and done additional research into the entire saga. I wish it were he that was discerning lies from myths and giving us the truth. Enjoyed reading it but it left me frustrated.

The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard is a down to earth, tell it like it is book. Flo was indeed the best singer of the Supremes, but Diane always was and always will be the girl who forgot where she came from. Flo was so misunderstood, it was a shame that she ended up the way she did. She was a real Detroit girl and she deserved better than what she was given. Mary never wanted to get caught in the middle, and I hope that both Diane and Mary will understand someday that yes, you can lose everything as well, and end up being a nobody, living back in the ghetto of Detroit where people don't care who you used to be.

The Iconic Supremes! Bugle beads, wigs, gowns, a beat you had to dance to and lyrics you couldn't stop singing. It was the 60's and before there was the British Invasion, The Stones or anyone else there was the Motown Sound ... and no one did it better than Diana, Mary and Flo. The Dream Girls NOT.

While Diana's rise is well chronicled and debated, Florence Ballard's unenviable "not so happy" ending is not. Peter Benjaminison lets you hear that story by recreating the era and giving you the backdrop to hear Flo's voice. A strong woman with a strong voice who fell victim to a "hit machine" and then couldn't find the strength or catch the break that would allow her to overcome what fate dealt her.

In the sixties and the toast of the town was broke and on welfare. It could have been a tearjerker but instead it's a fatalists biography. Flo had it, made it and then lost it. Simple plot filled with palace intrigue that while known to some, remains the untold story for most of us who just always wondered "Whatever happened to....?" An object lesson about trust, naivete, betrayal, lies, opportunists, users and all the rest of their ilk. Peter Benjaminson lays it out in a "read" that happens way too fast.

Get the book, relive the years, hear her speak and then do what I did. Go out and find that album she made and listen to the voice that Motown couldn't quash, couldn't get us to forget... the voice of the Lost Supreme who has come home to my record collection at last.

Richard Benjamin's book, "The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard," was absolutely fascinating. Because much of this book was comprised of Florence's actual recorded words, there was a certain intimacy designed by the author that made me feel as if I were experiencing the events of her life as I read about them.

I thought I knew everything about the rise (11 chart-topping recordings penned by the songwriting team of Holland, Dozier, and Holland) and fall (depressed welfare mom admitted twice to a mental institution) of Florence Ballard, but soon after I began reading this book, I realized there was much I did not know about this soulful songstress. Ironically, it was Florence's expulsion from this glamorous, world renown singing trio that spawned the creation of the hit Broadway musical and movie, "Dreamgirls," and many best-selling books about the original Supremes -- Florence Ballard, Diana Ross, and Mary Wilson.

While I once harboured resentment about how poorly Florence had been treated, after reading Benjamin's book, "The Lost Supreme," I concluded that rather than focus on the collapse of one individual, I could redirect my attention to the people who were clever enough to use the success of the Supremes as a means to an end -- Diana Ross and Berry Gordy (founder of Motown, the Supremes' recording company). Diana was so ambitious, in fact, that during the ascent of the Supremes, she had an affair with Gordy and bore his child, something she admitted finally during an interview by Oprah Winfrey on Oprah's popular television program.

At the time of the release of Benjamin's book about the lost Supreme, the Guinness Book of World Records listed Diana Ross as the most successful female performer of all time. Billboard Magazine named her Entertainer of the Century. What a contrast to the fate of Florence Ballard, founder of the Supremes, who ended up desperately poor and virtually forgotten due to one misguided, naive, uneducated decision after another. It's true what "they" say, "Only the strong survive."

I enjoyed reading Perter Benjaminson's book THE LOST SUPREME: THE LIFE OF DREAMGIRL FLORENCE BALLARD. It's an intriguing book that gives the reader a glimpse at the behind the scenes of one the world's most famous singing group and arguably the one that put Motown on the map.

The book covers, briefly, the formation of the Supremes and the rise up the chart. It also covers the break up and downward spiral of ex-Supreme Flo Ballard. And although I found the book an interesting read, most of the information seems to be put together in piecemeal format. It jumps around a lot, and I understand that Benjaminson was using a tape recorded interview that he had conducted with Ballard back in 1975-76, when he worked for the "Detroit Free Press," as well as public records to put this book together.

I was expecting more details, especially of Ballard's life after the Supremes, along the lines of Mary Wilson's book Dreamgirl & Supreme Faith, Updated Edition: My Life as a Supreme but this book falls short. It does give some account of the sad life and struggle that Ballard had after Motown and The Supremes, so at least it sheds some light.

There were a couple of errors in the book that makes me say read everything with a grain of salt. One problem, that Supreme fans would catch, is the author implying that when the Supremes became "Diana Ross and the Supremes" they no longer cared about their appearance and performed "Love Child" on the Ed Sullivan show in their street clothes. Well, that's not true. The group was changing their image to a more urban look to fit in with the turbulent 60s and the changing times, hence the song.

Another small problem, the author makes the comparison between the Supremes and "Dreamgirls." He lists the show stopping number sung by the character "Effie," which is patterned after Ballard, as "I Tell You I'm Not Going." Anyone who knows anything about musical theater or has listened to this song, either from the Broadway musical or recent movie, knows the title is "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." Yes, this is nitpicking but you don't paraphrase a proper title. My guess is: Benjaminson ran to the theater and saw the movie once and mistakenly thought the title was as he wrote it.

Other than that, I found it a fun read. There are pictures in the book but nothing that I haven't seen before.