The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal [Paperback]

Mark Ribowsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2010

The Supremes is a sprawling tale of unforgettable music, cutthroat ambition, and heartbreaking betrayal. Mark Ribowsky explodes Dreamgirl fantasies by taking the reader behind the closed doors of Motown to witness the rise of group leader Diana Ross, the creation of timeless classics like “Where Did Our Love Go?,” and the dramatic power struggles within Detroit’s fabled music factory. Drawing on firsthand, intimate recollections from knowledgeable sources such as the Temptations’s Otis Williams and other Motown contemporaries—many never before interviewed—The Supremes is “a comprehensive look at the tumultuous relationships within the Supremes as well as among others at the Motown label” (Library Journal).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Biographer of Phil Spector (He's a Rebel), among others, Ribowsky takes a dishy, insider look at Berry Gordy's making of the Supremes, with some nasty swipes at Diana Ross while elevating Flo Ballard as the trio's martyr. In his detailed look at how Berry engineered his Motown empire, thanks to his smart sisters and a lot of luck and fortuitous pairing of talent, Ribowsky nicely intersperses some hindsight reflections by the main players, such as the brothers Brian and Eddie Holland of the legendary songwriting team with Lamont Dozier, with comparative accounts by Mary Wilson, Ross and others in order to sift the truth from the legend. While the author constantly snipes at Ross for her popping eyes and naked ambition, it was largely her single-minded drive that garnered attention to the trio's early incarnation as the Primettes, and her high girl-woman singing voice that established the Supremes' distinctive sound. Moreover, Ross's influence on Gordy (and his faith in her future solo stardom) motivated him to keep pushing the group into the limelight, in spite of other girl groups that had a bigger top hit following, such as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. In this engaging, vivacious account, Ribowsky energetically and thoroughly underscores the Supremes' significance as one of the first crossover successes. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Music Media Monthly, 5/10/10
“If you cherish the memory of songs like ‘Stop! In the Name of Love,’ ‘Baby Love’ and ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On,’ you’ll want to read all about the back story and intrigues that made The Supremes the best of Motown’s R&B and Soul groups of its day…A great read.”

Barnstable Patriot, 6/4/10
“[A] saga of supremely talented, yet sordid, lives. This is a dishy, dirty look at Berry Gordy and the trio of ghetto girls who he made stars…A tale as harrowing as it is nasty, this roller-coaster ride will finally tell you exactly where the love went.”

The TMR Zoo, 6/15/10
“A much needed 440 page book on one of the greatest ‘girl groups’ of all time…Ribowsky—very wisely—keeps the history front and center…What the author has done here is no small achievement. He’s managed to put a solid document together of this incredible hit machine, and bring the humanity of each individual involved to center stage…Ribowsky handles all of the bad and the good with objectivity and diplomacy…Highly recommended.”

 

Neworld Review, August 2010

“This book outlines in detail why the Detroit legend was so important to the history of American music and why it can never be duplicated.”

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306818736
• ISBN-13: 978-0306818738
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,082,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Disparging Missive In Need of Editing, July 5, 2009

By 

James A. Najjar "Jim Najjar" (Annapolis, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal (Hardcover)

Mr.Ribowsky's deserves credit in his approach of reconstructing the very early days of The Supremes history and his ability to tie in all the persons and events that led to them becoming the most successful female vocal group in American musical history. In his original approach he sought the assistance of Florence Ballard's cousin Ray Gibson and other sources other biographers did not. Often he relies on and quotes from the other biographers and compares/disputes their findings. At times he allows his superb writing skills to soar, but often he is vulgar in his dishing the trio. Diana...spreading her legs,Mary...performs like a mannequin...Florence...had psychiatric problems. Other asperisons are credited to The Marvelettes, The Vandellas and The Velvelettes and one feels like this is tabloid fodder. Worse are the numerous editorial flaws including a word for word comment that at one point in both the Motortown Revue and Dick Clark Caravan of Stars Tour two police cars helped prevent a potential racially motivated attack on the stars. Others include:
1) The unrealeased There's A Place For Us album was never released; yet it was and he mentions so in the discography.
2) He refrers to biographer Tony Turner as Tony Tucker, then correctly in the Biblography; perhaps because he is confused as he refers to Turner as a flunky, a go-fer and even a drag queen.
3) Diana's incorporating part of the Miracles routine into the Supremes act was during the Motortown Revue, not after the first Ed Sullivan Show appearance.
4) Yes, Florence is in the picture with Hubert Humprhey however she had already left the group in 1968.
5) Diana was 21 years old in 1965, when the Motortown Revue was recorded in Paris.
6) The Copa album also includes Back In My Arms Again;The We Remember Sam Cooke album doesn't include Twisting The Night Away and Funny Girl is not on Live At London's Talk Of The Town. (Yet all the correct tracks are shown in the discography!)
7) The venue The Supremes played in D.C. was The Carter Barron Amphitheater; also the same venue Smokey Robinson and The Miracles performed and recorded their Farewell Concert for release on a 2 LP set.
8) Motown claimed Tammi Terrell wasn't related to Jean Terrell, therefore she could not have been married to Ernie Terrell.
9) Ribowsky refers to Jim Brown as Tim and Jim.
10) Touch Me In The Morning Wasn't the Oscar Nominated song, Theme From "Mahogany" (Do You Know Where You're Going To)was.
11)I'm Coming Out wasn't released as the follow up to Love Hangover.
12)Happy Is A Bumpy Road is the B side of Nathan Jones; Precious Little Things is the B side of Automatically Sunshine and This Is The Story is the B side of Floy Joy, but each is credited as the A side in the narrative.
13) The Young Folks is not showing in the discography as a charted song.
14) The Reflections album doesn't list Reflections as a cut.
If there are further editions of this novel, hopefully these errors can be corrected.The author also missed the irony of using Time Changes Things as the B side of Forever Came Today as it was also the B side of the first-Let Me Go The Right Way and (last) charting single with the original trio. This book is a must for fans of The Supremes and The Motown Sound. The author's epilogue will make you realize despite the ups and downs why the Supremes are still Supreme.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Symphonic Heartache In 2/4 Time, July 17, 2009

By 

R. M. Desjardins "R. Mark Desjardins" (Vancouver, B.C. Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal (Hardcover)

In the introduction of The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success and Betrayal, author Mark Ribowsky states his goal is to write the "first real biography of the group written from the perspective of an outsider with no personal investment in how events are told." Being the most recent chronologist to sort out the story of the Supremes, he has the advantage of being able to draw liberally from the many volumes written on the subject by the subjects, Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Berry Gordy themselves, plus the luxury of having the previously silent song writing team, Holland-Dozier-Holland as well as Florence Ballard's relatives add to the call and response chorus.
The story of the rise and fall of the Supremes is so old, and has been told in such minute detail in the past that it should, and in an indirect way as Dreamgirls on Broadway and on screen, have been set to music a long time ago. Ribowsky offers detailed new revelations on the fledging Primettes and their manager Milton Jenkins, who would eventually become Florence Ballard's brother in law. In short order, Jenkins is left behnd, the young quartet loses a member, and Berry Gordy's vision of a crossover act sets the stage for the morphing of the popular local group into what would become the world famous Supremes. All that remained to happen was getting that one evasive hit record. Gordy's maintained his faith in the appeal of Diana Ross through several lean years and when The Supremes finally hit the motherlode, everyone's wildest dreams were far exceeded.
Unfortunately, as the saga of the Supremes unfolds, factual errors, misspellings, and inconsistencies creep into Ribowsky's research, taking away from his masterful story telling. In an attempt to seduce the reader into thinking his investigative reporting is without peer, Ribowsky trots out every sexual indiscretion, groping and coupling that every occurred during the early days of the Motown Review and the endless sexual conquests grows tiresome quite quickly, with way too much intimate information smacking the reader in the face. In light of all the alleged hooking up that transpired among the Hitsville alumni, it's a wonder that "Love Child" wasn't conceived years earlier.
That Diana Ross is not a candidate to replace Mother Theresa for her charitable acts towards those in her firing range is no surprise, however Ribowsky's non stop accounts of Ross' misdeeds will make reader's head spin. Two thirds of the way through this biography a very dark and oppressive mood overcame this reviewer and though I knew the story could have no real happy ending for all involved, much like the lyrics of "My World Is Empty Without You" the walls came closing in and finishing the book proved to be challenging. According to Ribowsky many of the lyrics of the Supremes' biggest hits offered vague hints of the mistrust and reflected the growing angst that was seething behind the scenes.
In the sixties, Berry Gordy proudly proclaimed to reporters that the Motown Sound grew out of "Rats, Roaches and Love." A sense of humor, and pulling yourself up by your bootlaces was also an important aspect of this remarkable musical landscape. Unfortunately that aspect of collective pride and encouragement is sorely missing in Ribowsky's tome and his stellar research suffers for it.
Much of what is presented here has been rehashed several times before, and there may not be any further need of biographers to further document the rise and fall of the most popular female recording group of all time. The image of three beautiful young women capturing our collective imagination at a time we needed to believe in magic and love and unity may not have been entirely real, and no amount of begging on the part of fans will ever persuade the surviving members to regroup one more time for old times sake. As the Supremes once sang "Someday We'll Be Together" but in the reality of "Reflections," "Time Changes Things" and the memory, however tarnished, and based on fantasy, should be left alone. A solid three and a half stars, however with close attention to correcting numerous factual errors in a revised edition, this rating would be higher.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ribowsky Books Sets A New Example For Bad Writing, August 16, 2009

By 

Rick A. Bueche (New Orleans, LA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal (Hardcover)

In yet another belated attempt to cash-in on the Dreamgirls phenomenon, Mark Ribowsky quickly proves himself a second-rate writer with this horrifically inaccurate, details-bare accounting of the legend of the Supremes.

As expected, Diana Ross comes across as a cruel, manipulative, heartless shrew of a woman, while Florence Ballard is portrayed as misunderstood, misrepresented and tragic. Mary Wilson, for a bit of a change, and for whatever reason, reads as being clueless, cold and co-dependant. This book draws heavily from previous books by J. Randy Taraborrelli, Tony Turner (whom Mr. Ribowsky continually refers to as "Tucker")and Miss Wilson herself. There is virtually nothing new here but one easily recognizes Ribowsky's lack of attention to detail when he can't even get the names of the authors he is plagiarizing correctly.

There are literally dozens of misrepresented facts throughout the book. The discographies are painfully wrong, details of confrontations are re-told with no source indicated and numerous other allegations are easily disproven in this National Enquirer-like retelling of a story. In one such instance, Ribowsky claims the husband-abused body of Florence Ballard was laid out in a casket with bruises on her legs. There are photos everywhere showing Miss Ballard lying in repose in a floor-length choir robe...only her shoes were showing therefore refuting this tabloid allegation.

That is only one of many inaccuracies in this book. It is a cheap attempt to make a few bucks at the expense of the tragedy of Florence Ballard and the legacy of the most successful female group of all time. Not worth even the bargain-basement price.

RICK BUECHE