Now The Bitter, Now the Sweet

This song came up in the Diana and Smokey thread. I've been meaning to post about it and Rob and Lucky's comments inspired me to finally do it.

Admittedly I didn't care for this song for a long time. Only in recent years have I found some appreciation for it. But only recently have I really begun to like it. So I was listening to it not long ago and I started to wonder how well it would have done as a single. It's a smooth groove. The vocals are on point. Of course it would have to be edited down a bit. I wonder if the orchestration could have been increased? As is, it's a nice soulful ditty. Probably would have done pretty well R&B, but not sure about pop.

On one of the "Now the Bitter, Now the Sweet" videos, the response to it is overwhelmingly positive among commenters. Someone there also suggested that it should have followed "Wonderful Sweet" as a single.

Anyway, thoughts? Love the song? Hate the song? What do you think of it as a single? What do you think about its inclusion on the FJ album?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pBgRMw85z4

it was good until they started singing.

I was a sophomore in high school when this album came out. I loved "Now The Bitter.." When I played the album for my friends they thought it was the really "cool" song on the album and asked why it wasn't being played on the radio. It was different and would have been taking a chance but who knows? I think if it got airplay and caught on it could have been big. And there are shorter and longer versions of this song that are unreleased. In fact as we found out with "Automatically Sunshine" many of the songs were longer and had fuller orchestrations that were somewhat muted and made more subtle for the release. Would love to remix the whole album!

I like the song and it's my fav track on the album

Bitter was about the only song on that album I sort of liked. But a single? No way. What is this song even about?

I think it should have been Jeans voice alone out front as the synchronised voices come across as being rather twee. Slightly underwhelming, but an ok album track.

I like it....a bit different than anything else on the LP...a tad psych...Floy Joy is 1 of only 2 Supremes LP's I like every track on....the other is High Energy...despite my hating Time and Love with a passion, TOUCH is my fav Supremes LP.

What I didn’t like was the spoken - Bitterrrr, Sweet; it sounded too staged, too unreal

But I should listen again - it’s been a long time

Gman I think you and I are brothers, separated at birth. I HATE Time and Love!!! Every person currently living at the time recorded it, but nobody seemed to like it.

To me Now The Bitter is the weakest song on an otherwise mediocre album. It seemed to just plod along with extended instrumentations and my thought at first hearing it was just that Smokey was going psychedelic three years too late. A single? I did an edit of it and it didn't work then and wouldn't now.

The entire Floy Joy lp strikes me as a budget release. Supposedly the last or one of the last Motown lps featuring the Funk Bros. Marv Tarplin's guitar is featured everywhere but unlike most Motown releases of its time, the selections were not fleshed out with the Detroit Symphony, the strings, the woodwinds, etc. Smokey did this with one of his last Miracles singles, the glorious "Satisfaction" just before this lp was thrown together...and it does sound thrown together. Jean could have been great on "Satisfaction."

Tracks like Automatically Sunshine and A Heart Like Mine could have benefited from the Detroit strings

LOVE this whole album, Now The Bitter Now The Sweet, could have been a hit, with a remix, i wish Somkey had produced their follow up album, A Hart Like Mine, Over And Over, Oh Be My Love, Great Album.

I’ve always liked the FJ album and this track was always a fun one. If Auto Sun had been a bit hit I think Bitter would have worked as a follow up. It is a little late in 72 to be doing psychedelic but it could have worked.

Over And Over is another song that could have been a single

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BayouMotownMan

To me Now The Bitter is the weakest song on an otherwise mediocre album. It seemed to just plod along with extended instrumentations and my thought at first hearing it was just that Smokey was going psychedelic three years too late. A single? I did an edit of it and it didn't work then and wouldn't now.

The entire Floy Joy lp strikes me as a budget release. Supposedly the last or one of the last Motown lps featuring the Funk Bros. Marv Tarplin's guitar is featured everywhere but unlike most Motown releases of its time, the selections were not fleshed out with the Detroit Symphony, the strings, the woodwinds, etc. Smokey did this with one of his last Miracles singles, the glorious "Satisfaction" just before this lp was thrown together...and it does sound thrown together. Jean could have been great on "Satisfaction."

Tracks like Automatically Sunshine and A Heart Like Mine could have benefited from the Detroit strings

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Bayou here’s what might have been. I love this and wish they’d release their take on the full song. I do agree a fuller sound might have benefited. But the Frank albums had a LOT going on. One could argue some tunes border on over produced. So I think the FJ set is a refreshing change

https://youtu.be/acDSoknXSks?si=4sWVj6uzlw8qVe4Y

I think it's a decent album track and fits well with the overall laid back vibe of the album.

I recall Mary wrote in Supreme Faith that the Floy Joy album was an excellent showcase for what JMC could do vocally and Robinson does a fine job throughout the album of utilizing Jean, Mary and Cindy [[as well as the Andantes) in the vocal arrangements. And the album makes a nice break in the disocgraphy as the previous two albums [[NWBLS and Touch) and the Webb album can both be bombastic at times with the production. The Floy Joy album is smooth and laid back.

The Andantes are all over the Floy Joy lp, especially on Now The Bitter. They are being used in parts are in full. The only track I don't hear them on is Precious Little Things.

Even on Floy Joy they are prominent. Mary and Cindy sing How much joy do I get from you unadorned, but that is the only part of the song.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by George Solomon

I was a sophomore in high school when this album came out. I loved "Now The Bitter.." When I played the album for my friends they thought it was the really "cool" song on the album and asked why it wasn't being played on the radio. It was different and would have been taking a chance but who knows? I think if it got airplay and caught on it could have been big. And there are shorter and longer versions of this song that are unreleased. In fact as we found out with "Automatically Sunshine" many of the songs were longer and had fuller orchestrations that were somewhat muted and made more subtle for the release. Would love to remix the whole album!

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That's interesting George. Gives some insight into how well the song might have been received by the teen crowd at the time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jobeterob

What I didn’t like was the spoken - Bitterrrr, Sweet; it sounded too staged, too unreal

But I should listen again - it’s been a long time

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I agree here. They could have kept that part. It was unnecessary.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BayouMotownMan

To me Now The Bitter is the weakest song on an otherwise mediocre album. It seemed to just plod along with extended instrumentations and my thought at first hearing it was just that Smokey was going psychedelic three years too late. A single? I did an edit of it and it didn't work then and wouldn't now.

The entire Floy Joy lp strikes me as a budget release. Supposedly the last or one of the last Motown lps featuring the Funk Bros. Marv Tarplin's guitar is featured everywhere but unlike most Motown releases of its time, the selections were not fleshed out with the Detroit Symphony, the strings, the woodwinds, etc. Smokey did this with one of his last Miracles singles, the glorious "Satisfaction" just before this lp was thrown together...and it does sound thrown together. Jean could have been great on "Satisfaction."

Tracks like Automatically Sunshine and A Heart Like Mine could have benefited from the Detroit strings

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It was a bit of a departure in sound, but I think the point was to scale back, make things more mellow. Perhaps this was a kind of precursor to Smokey's quiet storm style. The FJ album is probably my fav 70s Supremes album [[maybe tied with Touch) because it doesn't do too much. The vocals and the lyrics mostly take center stage.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BayouMotownMan

The Andantes are all over the Floy Joy lp, especially on Now The Bitter. They are being used in parts are in full. The only track I don't hear them on is Precious Little Things.

Even on Floy Joy they are prominent. Mary and Cindy sing How much joy do I get from you unadorned, but that is the only part of the song.

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you can sort of decipher between M and C versus the As when you listen to the different stereo channels.

mary talks about the amazing harmonies that smokey arranged on FJ and Auto Sun. but the question is how much of the harmonies are the As doing while M and C are mostly doing unison singing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RanRan79

It was a bit of a departure in sound, but I think the point was to scale back, make things more mellow. Perhaps this was a kind of precursor to Smokey's quiet storm style. The FJ album is probably my fav 70s Supremes album [[maybe tied with Touch) because it doesn't do too much. The vocals and the lyrics mostly take center stage.

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i agree. something new needed to be done just to keep things fresh. Frank might have taken them into a funkier sound - Tears Left Over was a driving tune. and his work with Eddie was more so too and perhaps that might have been what he would have done with the girls.

I do think the album could have used a little more variety. YSWWL is the only really fast dance track and IMO it was marred by the weird, mechanical Smokey vocals being added. so the album could have used something more up beat and quicker paced. An actual duet with Smokey [[kind of like how Jimmy and Jean did Once in the Morning) would have been a lovely addition

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

you can sort of decipher between M and C versus the As when you listen to the different stereo channels.

mary talks about the amazing harmonies that smokey arranged on FJ and Auto Sun. but the question is how much of the harmonies are the As doing while M and C are mostly doing unison singing.

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It didn't appear to me that Mary realized the Andantes were all over that lp when she wrote the book. And she probably didn't, as Mary often said she never listened to her recordings. She likely started listening to them when she began writing her memoirs