Originally Posted by
bradsupremes
Mary Brewster,
Yes, Diana was beginning to record and prepare for her solo career in late 1969. I believe she was working with Bones Howe during this time with plans of doing an album on her, but Berry decided it was best to keep her with the classic Motown sound that she had be accustomed to so she began work with Ashford & Simpson. I know of one track that was originally intended for the Supremes as a possible follow-up single for "Someday We'll Be Together," but was later reassigned to Diana Ross and that was intended for her first solo single, yet was pulled for "Reach Out And Touch [[Somebody's Hand)" instead. The track I'm speaking about is "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You."
I think Jean was willing to stay with the group if they switched labels and changed their name. I think Jean was more unhappy with Motown and how things were being run and not the whole aspect of being apart of a group. I think if both Jean and Lynda convinced Mary to let go of the Supremes' name and sign with ABC Dunhill, I'm pretty sure she would have stayed with group as they started to explore something completely different as a group. However there was tension and friction within the group by this time. Things were just not working by 1973 and I tend to believe it was the low point of the Supremes career. They seemed to bounce back and transform into a different group when Scherrie and Cindy and later Susaye joined. As for the Jean-Mary-Lynda grouping, I don't think they were recording as much and if they were most of it still sits in the vaults. The material that was being released wasn't that great. The Jimmy Webb album would have been an incredible album, but it was just downright bad. I'm disappointed Jimmy Webb didn't bring better songs to the table. He had dozens of amazing songs that they could have recorded, but instead he gave them these crappy leftovers. The Stevie Wonder album that was planned could have done "wonders" for the group [[no pun intended), but Motown was not pushing "Bad Weather" and that did not help to get the project green-lighted. It's a shame because several songs on Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta were most likely written for the Supremes and they are top notch.
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