This is what Christmas is about to me........
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfiuMFNEeIY
This is what Christmas is about to me........
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfiuMFNEeIY
Every time I listen to this, I can hear so plainly the trepidation in her voice. There's a hesitancy there. I suspect she was nervous, as by this time she almost always was, when she had a lead or a solo to do — unlike a few years before when she wasn't so beaten down.
It's rather sad to hear how her otherwise amazing voice was tempered by what could only be a lack of self-confidence here. Even though she hit all those high notes beautifully, you can hear this apprehension if you listen.
I can see why her two Xmas tracks didn't make the final cut. Not only would it have confused listeners used to hearing only Diane out in front, but it would also probably have done Florence a disservice [[although I imagine that had no particular bearing on the decision to leave her leads off the album).
They were crazy to leave those two songs off. Everyone at that time in 1965 knew they were a group. They may or may not have known their individual names, but they were always known as a group and as such you would expect to hear the others sing the lead from time to time. There was some serious mess going on at Motown at that time and I knew it the first time I heard Flo's "Silent Night" during Christmas 1995 some 30 years after she recorded it at Motown!
Simply magnificent. When she hit the final night Devine I thought it was Aretha. Motown should be ashamed of themselves for not releasing this. Who produced it? I forget.
I don't think Florence had gone sour in 1965 already did she?
I love her on this, but it is waaayyyy too slow. In the time it took to get out one verse she could have gotten two in. Still, she shines!
Why would it have confused listeners who had most likely bought "We Remember Sam Cooke" just months before? That version that was posted is a "mix" of the two vocal takes. The second vocal take just released last week is more polished and confident all the way through.
It sure makes her frustration sooo understandable.
It was totally understandable which is why people still talk about her today. Her story , her life has influenced a lot of people. I was a teenager when she died [[I'll never forget that night it came over the local Detroit news...). In school it felt like a relative had died to everyone.
It was left out because Berry Gordy wanted Diana to lead on all the tracks. By this time his focus was purely on Diana. It could not have been left off because it wasn't strong enough to be included. Even the most deluded Diana fan would have to acknowledge that.
By all accounts, she was starting to have difficulty even then. The 1965 "People" issue seemed to be the beginning. Much has been written about this. Some accounts say that she was not feeling well and felt her voice wouldn't hold up for the lead; others say that she was flat-out scared that she'd mess up and thus declined to do it for that reason. Still other accounts maintain that the lead was simply taken from her for the run of the gig. [[When I saw them in '66, she was again doing the lead on two verses and the coda at the end.) In any event, something happened and apparently served to chip away at her self-confidence as early as 1965.
The company destroyed her self-confidence, "they"destroyed it on purpose and you know what I mean! They were doing it to Mary too by telling her she couldn't sing! This is not a mystery. What was happening to Florence? It was done on purpose to keep her in line, in the background and her in place!
Marv - We have been known to have the odd disagreement in the past but I am with you all the way on this one. It doesn't matter how we try to sweeten this bitter pill that's the way it was. I am not saying that Florence was totally blameless but greater powers were at work to ensure she stayed in the background and that is a fact.
https://youtu.be/OUcReuw-mwA NAAAAAAAAAAAAA This is what xmas about, the Florence effort would have some people grab the noose give me Bobby Vinton's version anytime,Merry Christmas folks.
Exactly. They just could have been kinder and given Flo and Mary occasional leads. Would have meant the world to them. So unfortunate.
Really, not many complete Supremes albums to listen to these days now that it has been disclosed mainly Diana Ross and the Andantes recordings ,cheers love this xmas song from the grouping take a listen https://youtu.be/Kbn2xYP1OIQ
It is possible that these songs were not originally on the album, because they didn't sound like "The Motown Sound". When you heard a Christmas song by Diana Ross, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, etc. it sounded like a Motown record. Although Florence sounded lovely, there was nothing about the arrangement of the song, or her vocals that sounded the "Sound of young America".
I find the Diana and andantes stuff much less listenable. Sounds like a thousand other songs...no distinctiveness Flo and Mary were 2/3 of the Supremes with their very distinctive voices and harmonies. Didn't Berry say groups are the sum of its parts?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8b9UqZlZxxs Silent Night. What an amaIngly pure voice she had.
Just in case you want to listen to this gem right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b9UqZlZxxs&app=desktop
I'm not even getting into any of this... not again..
but Ross , obviously with the girls blessings, did the leads on the no hits Meet the Supremes album , and the leads on the Where Did Our love Go album, before anyone knew how big that album would become , and I don't remember stories of in fighting..only after the Ross hits kept coming did the other stuff start apparently, and either way, what's done is done and IT'S TIME TO MOVE ON!
Thank Giod we have a few recordings that showcase Florence. Never heard a backup singer sing like this!!
Wow - that is one of the best Motown Christmas versions ever. Magnificent from Florence.
It sure would have elevated the XMAS album.
Me neither. I wonder what Motown would have done if she opted to stay with Motown ala David Ruffin. Hard to believe they would have done anything.
if she had stayed, chances are they wouldn't have needed Jean Terrell... the hard reality is that the successful image of The Supremes was not 'soulful', but very 'show bizzy' which apparently many folks [[including me) LIKED! I don't know that FLo had that element in her
enough to carry an entire show, and we now know that Jean was not about that at all.. Mary does have that component, God Bless her, but was not in the right space yet to step up.
It is truly wild about this LP because no matter what store I go in these days it seems to be playing. Silver Bells as strange as it may seems seems to be the favorite.