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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
FAIRLY UNSATISFYING DIANA SHOWCASES, April 29, 2005
To be clear, I am a huge Supremes fan and collector. Their legacy in American pop music is unmatched. However, in the canon of their work, the collection of music here--except for the hits and half a handful of other nice tunes--is a low point. For one thing, the group concept had been shattered at least 3 years prior; thus, there is no notable contribution from the other 2 group members [founding member Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard's replacement, Cindy Birdsong]. Sorry, but, in a vocal group, even one where the "star" has been singled out, I still expect the "other" group members to have the opportunity to contribute something of value. By this point, in many, many cases, the remaining Supremes were replaced by Motown session singers on recordings. Insulting to the group talent, and unfair to the consumer, and especially the fan. Next, Diana's voice sounds thin and tired on some of the non-hit Motown tunes, and uninspired on most of the covers. Thirdly, the group no longer had the attention of one ace songwriting and production team like Holland-Dozier- Holland. Additionally, there is no concept to tie these albums together.
Since you can find the hits on various compilations, you could easily skip this set unless you are a completist. Overall, not very satisfying.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Beginning Of The End, February 12, 2008
Both these albums come from a period in Motown history that were the matter of some contention regarding Diana Ross and the Supremes, and show a degree of disregard on the part of Motown for their signings and also for their audience. Brian and Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier had jumped ship, Florence Ballard had been sacked from the Supremes, the name of the group had been changed by Berry Gordy to Diana Ross and the Supremes and it was becoming nakedly obvious that Diana Ross was being groomed for a solo career, as Mary Wilson and newcomer Cindy Birdsong were increasingly relegated to the sidelines on the records.
There must have been a lot of hustling behind the scenes as new producers and writers were brought in to plug the gap left by Holland-Dozier-Holland. The Clan, Johnny Bristol, Pam Sawyer and Billie-Jean Brown were just some of the new blood employed on these two records (Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson are noticeably absent), and there were several new directions as a result, though these seemed to pull against each other, sometimes gritty, sometimes saccharine and show-biz. There was no shortage of hits as these albums contained I'm Living In Shame, The Composer, No Matter What Sign You Are, The Young Folks and Someday We'll Be Together, their last single with Diana Ross and a number one in the US. It is now common knowledge that Mary and Cindy did not appear on any of these singles, or on several of the other tracks recorded during 1968 or 1969, their places being taken by session singers, usually the Andantes.
Adding irony to irony, given its title, Someday We'll Be Together had been recorded as a Diana Ross solo record but at the last moment it was decided by Berry Gordy as being not up to par and put out as a Supremes swansong instead, where presumably it didn't matter. It features vocal interjections from producer Johnny Bristol, who had recorded the original of the song as Johnny and Jackey back in 1961 (with Jackey Beavers). On another track, The Beginning Of The End (previously a Chris Clark B-side), Diana Ross is backed by Syreeta Wright, who was being secretly groomed to be her replacement in the Supremes.
At least four of the tracks actually date from 1966, when they were just the Supremes, Flo was still among their ranks, and quality control had for some reason found them wanting. What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted, recorded just as Jimmy Ruffin's original was soaring up the charts, includes the spoken-word intro that had been dropped from his version, and comes from the Supremes A' Go-Go sessions. The same sessions produced With A Child's Heart, a re-make of a recent Stevie Wonder B-side, and Blowin' In The Wind, a rare excursion into Dylan territory. Let The Music Play, a cover of the Drifters, was an outtake from The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland sessions, perhaps because it wasn't by Dozier-Holland-Dozier.
None of this can have been too encouraging for Mary Wilson and, especially, Cindy Birdsong, though they did have a larger role to play in the re-launched Supremes when Jean Terrell joined. Diana Ross's vocals do demonstrate her versatility and fluidity and are on fine form throughout, and I have not intended to suggest that she was personally responsible for any of these circumstances.
Whilst these are not their most consistently strong albums, there are enough highlights to make this an enjoyable collection. A little more honesty as to what we are listening to would not have gone amiss.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not their best, but still interesting, August 31, 2002
The Supremes were going through a period of change around the time of these recordings. Florence had left in 1967, and Diana was about to leave. Also, as another reviewer pointed out, the songwriters who provided so many of their mid-sixties hits also left Motown. This forced Motown to look to others, who did write some good songs, but were not as good overall as Holland-Dozier-Holland had been.The later recordings were virtually Diana solo albums - you don't hear too much of Cindy (who replaced Florence) or Mary on most of these tracks. There are a few hits here, most notably Some day we'll be together (an interesting title considering the then-imminent departure of Diana), plus one that got away. Most people think that What becomes of the broken hearted was a Supremes cover of Jimmy Ruffin's hit. Wrong !!! Diana and the Supremes recorded it first, and it was intended to be a single for them. Jimmy heard it and begged Motown to allow him to record it, as he thought it would be a great song for him. Motown put the Supremes version on hold and allowed Jimmy to record it. They decided to go with Jimmy's version instead and the rest is history. The overall quality of this album therefore suffers by comparison with some of the Supremes' earlier music, but it's still wonderful music judged by most standards. So, this is not the CD with which to start a collection of Supremes music, but is a fascinating set to have if (like me) you've got most of their earlier music already.
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