THE SUPREMES Your Wonderful Sweet, Sweet Love [[ALT)

[marv2]

They pushed the background vocals up further in the mix and added another bridge and it all sounds glorious! Check it out:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYuQszrFdZs

[REDHOT]

This is the jam,i'd love to hear a dance mix on this,Love The Supremes Mary Cindy and Jean from the 70s,they're The Best.

[marv2]

This is the jam,i'd love to hear a dance mix on this,Love The Supremes Mary Cindy and Jean from the 70s,they're The Best.

This was one of their more soulful outings on record. If it were remixed, it would be just as danceable today.

[luke]

I could swear I hear a male voice back there at times when they repeat the title...?

[sup_fan]

Nice. I always thought smokeys vocal on this track was a mistake. didn't sound anything like a Sups record.

[marv2]

I could swear I hear a male voice back there at times when they repeat the title...?


That synthesized male voice you hear in the background is none other than Smokey Robinson.

[luke]

Thanks Marv. Love the louder background vocals.

[marv2]

Thanks Marv. Love the louder background vocals.

Smokey wanted to get Mary Wilson's vocals out front as much as possible on this album. That was his mission.

[Mark Desjardines]

This track is "smokin'" HOT! Many thanks for sharing!

[marv2]

This track is "smokin'" HOT! Many thanks for sharing!

It sure is and you are most welcome@!

[Bluebrock]

I could never understand why this song flopped in the UK. It followed two top 10 pop hits yet it stalled at no.52. In truth I thought the album as a whole was weaker than it's predecessors but I adore this line up and could never be too harsh where JMC are concerned. Thanks for posting.

[gordy_hunk]

I could never understand why this song flopped in the UK. It followed two top 10 pop hits yet it stalled at no.52. In truth I thought the album as a whole was weaker than it's predecessors but I adore this line up and could never be too harsh where JMC are concerned. Thanks for posting.

I too thought the LP was much weaker than the previous two [[Right On, New Ways But Love Stays), even though the singles from here - Automatically Sunshine, Floy Joy, and this one, were so very good.

Interestingly, I can't find in my Guinness Book of Hit Singles, that this single even made the charts - so I'm glad that it did - even if it only made 52.

[marv2]

It went to #59 on the Billboard Pop Chart and # 22 on the R&B Chart. They performed it on two of America's most popular programs at the time, The Sonny & Cher Show and The Flip Wilson Show. It was well received on Soul Train:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxUTOgfAMvQ

[Bluebrock]

I too thought the LP was much weaker than the previous two [[Right On, New Ways But Love Stays), even though the singles from here - Automatically Sunshine, Floy Joy, and this one, were so very good.

Interestingly, I can't find in my Guinness Book of Hit Singles, that this single even made the charts - so I'm glad that it did - even if it only made 52.

In the 70's only the official top 50 UK chart was published. "ywssl" was classed as a chart breaker for 2 weeks where it peaked at 52.
There was also the "touch" album which preceeded "floy joy". All 3 albums were stronger efforts. I suspect by this time Motown had begun to lose interest in the Supremes despite the presence of Smokey.

[gordy_hunk]

Thanks for the reminder that Touch was before Floy Joy - I don't know how I had forgotten that - it was a much better LP - and Jean does a superb job on the opening track "This is the story" ...

[Bluebrock]

Thanks for the reminder that Touch was before Floy Joy - I don't know how I had forgotten that - it was a much better LP - and Jean does a superb job on the opening track "This is the story" ...
She most certainly does. Those initial 3 albums were generally excellent. It all began to go downhill after that. Little wonder Jean got disillusioned. I always thought "I wish I were your mirror" should have followed " Nathan jones" or even "this is the story". There was NO way "touch" was ever going to be a major hit single. Momentum was lost after that which was never recovered. I still get annoyed by what might have been.........

[detmotownguy]

She most certainly does. Those initial 3 albums were generally excellent. It all began to go downhill after that. Little wonder Jean got disillusioned. I always thought "I wish I were your mirror" should have followed " Nathan jones" or even "this is the story". There was NO way "touch" was ever going to be a major hit single. Momentum was lost after that which was never recovered. I still get annoyed by what might have been.........

your last sentence still pains me to this day!!!!!

[detmotownguy]

Thanks Marv! Another great contribution.

[Bluebrock]

your last sentence still pains me to this day!!!!!

I share your pain brother!

[marv2]

Thanks Marv! Another great contribution.

DET, you are welcome!!!

[luke]

I agree with gordy. Frank Wilson knew what to do with them. Why he never produced them again is beyond me.

[Bluebrock]

I agree with gordy. Frank Wilson knew what to do with them. Why he never produced them again is beyond me.

My only beef with Frank Wilson was that he sometimes left Mary and Cindy's vocals too far back in the mix."everbodys got the right to love" being a prime example of this. That apart he worked very well with the girls and his body of work stands up far better than Smokeys or Jimmy webb.

[marv2]

My only beef with Frank Wilson was that he sometimes left Mary and Cindy's vocals too far back in the mix."everbodys got the right to love" being a prime example of this. That apart he worked very well with the girls and his body of work stands up far better than Smokeys or Jimmy webb.

But on a positive note, he also gave Mary and Cindy more solo lines in songs than they ever had previously. I loved Smokey's work with them. "Now the Bitter, Now the Sweet" stands up to anything Frank Wilson produced on the ladies.

[jobeterob]

Here is part of the Rolling Stone Review for the album Touch.

They were very kind to Jean Terrell.


20 R&B Albums Rolling Stone Loved in the 1970s You Never Heard
We praised them 40 years ago — and you should listen to them today!

BACK TO TOP
The Supremes, 'Touch'
the supremes
You might have stopped paying attention to the Supremes after Diana Ross went solo in 1970, but although they were no longer a steady source of Number One hits, they had eight Top 40 singles in the Seventies after her departure. And working with various Motown second-stringers, they made some of their strangest, most memorable music. We said Touch, the third Supremes album with Jean Terrell on lead vocals, was "an unqualified success and the final proof that the Supremes will continue without Diana Ross." Which they did — until 1977.

What We Said Then: "New lead singer Jean Terrell proves too smart to imitate her predecessor and in the space of only a year and a half has succeeded in making the group over in her own image. Gone is the cooingly adolescent sexuality of Miss Ross and in its place is a fuller and more adult approach to both music and life. The hallmark of Miss Terrell's style, like that of so many of the best Motown artists, is an enormous sense of dignity, pride, and class." — Jon Landau, RS 87 [[July 22nd, 1971)



Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/20-r-b-albums-rolling-stone-loved-in-the-1970s-you-never-heard-20150625/the-supremes-touch-20150625#ixzz3sY4x8hCK
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

[marv2]

Kim Weston had an earlier version of "Your Wonderful, Sweet, Sweet Love" that was also quite good.

[marv2]

This was the first time I had heard the song [[I bought the single "floy joy" earlier in the year. I bought the album later....) when they appeared on the Sonny & Cher Show in 1972. It took me at least a minute to realize that the lady with Mary and Jean was not Cindy Birdsong.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmceb_0bOtU

[detmotownguy]

I agree with gordy. Frank Wilson knew what to do with them. Why he never produced them again is beyond me.
Heck Luke the Sups [[Jean Mary Cindy) could have hosted their own variety show. I wonder if it would have been less stress on the group instead of traveling all the time just thinking.

[sup_fan]

i think YWSSL would have been a stronger Sup single if 1) smokey's voice was removed and 2) it was just a little faster. that would have given it more life. it was a funky number and a departure from the standard Sup sound. which is why smokey's voice just shouldn't have been on it. other than Jean it doesn't sound anything like a Sups record. in it's released form, i think Over and Over would have been a better single than YSWWL. or a single edit of Bitter Sweet

i do like the Floy Joy album. the harmonies are great. the production is strong, as are the songs. it's a simpler lp. not as heavily [[or some might say over) produced as the Frank lps. again i love those too. but that's a pretty heavy handed version of Bridge over Troubled Water. tons going on with that track. i like it but it also would have been amazing to do something simply - no fog horns or rain, simple guitars and strings. perhaps a backing track more like I Guess I'll Miss The Man. then let MJC just soar vocally over it

so many What If's with the 70s Sups! :)

[marv2]

Heck Luke the Sups [[Jean Mary Cindy) could have hosted their own variety show. I wonder if it would have been less stress on the group instead of traveling all the time just thinking.

There was talk of that, but it was with the Mary, Cindy and Scherrie line up in the mid 70s.

[marv2]

i think YWSSL would have been a stronger Sup single if 1) smokey's voice was removed and 2) it was just a little faster. that would have given it more life. it was a funky number and a departure from the standard Sup sound. which is why smokey's voice just shouldn't have been on it. other than Jean it doesn't sound anything like a Sups record. in it's released form, i think Over and Over would have been a better single than YSWWL. or a single edit of Bitter Sweet

i do like the Floy Joy album. the harmonies are great. the production is strong, as are the songs. it's a simpler lp. not as heavily [[or some might say over) produced as the Frank lps. again i love those too. but that's a pretty heavy handed version of Bridge over Troubled Water. tons going on with that track. i like it but it also would have been amazing to do something simply - no fog horns or rain, simple guitars and strings. perhaps a backing track more like I Guess I'll Miss The Man. then let MJC just soar vocally over it

so many What If's with the 70s Sups! :)

Great points and observations. I often wondered what a complete Norman Whitfield produced album would have sounded like on the Supremes. I think Smokey took a trick from Johnny Bristol when he decided to include himself on the song with the ladies. It happened again later on with "Sweet Dream Machine" and the male voice along with Mary, Scherrie & Susaye but it was more effective.

Oh yeah Jimmy Webb got in on the act as well with Jean, Mary and Lynda on "Once In the Morning".

[jobeterob]

Interesting that Rolling Stone that Jean Terrell made the group over in her own image.

From the point of view of the general fans, what really matters now is the 60's grouping and what has really stuck with the hardcore fans, especially our SD group is that Mary persevered and survived [[with Scherrie and Lynda to a lesser extent) while Jean retired.

[marv2]

Interesting that Rolling Stone that Jean Terrell made the group over in her own image.

From the point of view of the general fans, what really matters now is the 60's grouping and what has really stuck with the hardcore fans, especially our SD group is that Mary persevered and survived [[with Scherrie and Lynda to a lesser extent) while Jean retired.


Rolling Stone did not know what they were talking about then and they don't now especially when it comes to Soul music.

[Bluebrock]

i think YWSSL would have been a stronger Sup single if 1) smokey's voice was removed and 2) it was just a little faster. that would have given it more life. it was a funky number and a departure from the standard Sup sound. which is why smokey's voice just shouldn't have been on it. other than Jean it doesn't sound anything like a Sups record. in it's released form, i think Over and Over would have been a better single than YSWWL. or a single edit of Bitter Sweet

i do like the Floy Joy album. the harmonies are great. the production is strong, as are the songs. it's a simpler lp. not as heavily [[or some might say over) produced as the Frank lps. again i love those too. but that's a pretty heavy handed version of Bridge over Troubled Water. tons going on with that track. i like it but it also would have been amazing to do something simply - no fog horns or rain, simple guitars and strings. perhaps a backing track more like I Guess I'll Miss The Man. then let MJC just soar vocally over it

so many What If's with the 70s Sups! :)

I gave the album another listen last night and I'm afraid I still regard it as the 2nd weakest 70's Supremes album [[after the Jimmy Webb album), but it is not an unpleasant listen. Great to hear that other Supremes fans have got more out of it than I have. That is what this forum is all about.

[detmotownguy]

Bluerock: Are you saying the album was weakest in terms of the quality/selection of songs or vocals?
Thanks!

[Bluebrock]

Bluerock: Are you saying the album was weakest in terms of the quality/selection of songs or vocals?
Thanks!
Song choice detmotownguy. Nothing at all wrong with the ladies vocals. It sounds to me like a bunch of outtakes . I love the first 3 Jean led albums and I found this to be a let down after loving those 3 albums. I agree it is personal choice and I am not attempting to ram my opinions down other peoples throats. If you love this album then good for you. I do love the album cover where the girls look so chic but for me the album is inconsistent at best and I don't even care much for Smokey's production. It was also the start of the groups decline in fortune especially in the USA so it looks like I was not alone in my opinion. Hope that helps.

[sup_fan]

i think if they'd done it differently, it might have been more effective. on Jimmy, he clearly takes a verse and it's obvious it's a duet. on Sweet Dream, its just used as effect on the fade. on YWSSl it's completely on top of the choruses and obscures the girls. it might have been better if it was more ad libs on a track or else more of a duet.

also probably best to only do on an album track and not a single

[marv2]

Bluerock: Are you saying the album was weakest in terms of the quality/selection of songs or vocals?
Thanks!


I didn't see as weak at all. I like every one of the songs:

1. "Your Wonderful, Sweet Sweet Love"
2. "Floy Joy"
3. "A Heart Like Mine"
4. "Over and Over"
5. "Now The Bitter, Now The Sweet"
6. "Automatically Sunshine"
7. "The Wisdom of Time"
8. "Oh Be My Love"
9. "Precious Little Things"

The only song in the bunch I didn't care for was the Wisdom of Time. All the rest were really top notched in my opinion.

[marv2]

Bluerock: Are you saying the album was weakest in terms of the quality/selection of songs or vocals?
Thanks!


The weakest album in terms of public appeal was the '"Produced by Jimmy Webb" album.

[marv2]

She most certainly does. Those initial 3 albums were generally excellent. It all began to go downhill after that. Little wonder Jean got disillusioned. I always thought "I wish I were your mirror" should have followed " Nathan jones" or even "this is the story". There was NO way "touch" was ever going to be a major hit single. Momentum was lost after that which was never recovered. I still get annoyed by what might have been.........

The momentum was lost because Motown did not release the album until 7 months after the hit single "Floy Joy". It should have been released the same or very next month.

[markdtiller]

Floy Joy is my favourite Jean Terrell led album. I just love the mellow production and vocals. All the tracks work together. I also think "Jimmy Webb" is seriously under-rated, if un-commerical.

[marv2]

Floy Joy is my favourite Jean Terrell led album. I just love the mellow production and vocals. All the tracks work together. I also think "Jimmy Webb" is seriously under-rated, if un-commerical.


I agree Mark.

[detmotownguy]

Floy Joy is my favourite Jean Terrell led album. I just love the mellow production and vocals. All the tracks work together. I also think "Jimmy Webb" is seriously under-rated, if un-commerical.

Hi Mark: good post. Just because a product is a commercial success, doesn't necessarily equate to a quality product. So much of the Sups material is under rated.
Thanks

[marv2]

They pushed the background vocals up further in the mix and added another bridge and it all sounds glorious! Check it out:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYuQszrFdZs

This may been that last Motown record that used the tambourines so prominently.

[Bluebrock]

Kim Weston had an earlier version of "Your Wonderful, Sweet, Sweet Love" that was also quite good.

I had forgotten about this. A decent version for sure but I will stick with the Supremes version.
Thanks for the reminder.

[REDHOT]

I really love the Floy Joy album,i can hear Mary Cindy and Jean really clear,i wish Smokey Robinson had produced a second album on The Supremes,loved his production on the ladies.

[Bluebrock]

The momentum was lost because Motown did not release the album until 7 months after the hit single "Floy Joy". It should have been released the same or very next month.
So why did they leave it so long to release the album? It was an awfully long time to wait and as you say any momentum would have been lost. I know you rated the album but maybe Motown had little or no faith in it? Whatever the reason Motown clearly did not prioritise this album and as such got the returns their paltry efforts deserved.

[marv2]

So why did they leave it so long to release the album? It was an awfully long time to wait and as you say any momentum would have been lost. I know you rated the album but maybe Motown had little or no faith in it? Whatever the reason Motown clearly did not prioritise this album and as such got the returns their paltry efforts deserved.

I think it had something to do with Cindy leaving and the time [[March / April 1972) it took for Mary and Jean to audition, select and hire Lynda Laurence. The artwork could not be completed until after that process which may have been the reason for the delay in releasing the finished product.

[marv2]

So why did they leave it so long to release the album? It was an awfully long time to wait and as you say any momentum would have been lost. I know you rated the album but maybe Motown had little or no faith in it? Whatever the reason Motown clearly did not prioritise this album and as such got the returns their paltry efforts deserved.

I would not say that the returns Motown received on this album were paltry. "Floy Joy" the single was a #16 Billboard Pop Hit, that went as high as #9 in the UK and #5 Billboard R&B. Overall the album produced two Top 40 hits, three Top 40 R&B hits. The album itself went as high as #12 Billboard R&B and #54 Billboard Pop. Not bad, not bad at all for a group already in their 12th year by that point.

[sup_fan]

I too think Cindy's departure played heavily into the impact of the lp and the singles. FJ the single did well upon release in Dec 71. they spent Jan and Feb recording with Smokey and the lp was ready by March or April. but with Cindy's departure, they had to wait. that also resulted in less tv appearances which I think is heavily responsible for Auto Sunshine not doing all that well in the states. it got 0 promotion. by fall of 72 when YWSSL was released, the momentum was gone and the odd sounding backgrounds with Smokey's vocal and the more funky song just made it too out of sorts with the general Sup base.

[marv2]

I too think Cindy's departure played heavily into the impact of the lp and the singles. FJ the single did well upon release in Dec 71. they spent Jan and Feb recording with Smokey and the lp was ready by March or April. but with Cindy's departure, they had to wait. that also resulted in less tv appearances which I think is heavily responsible for Auto Sunshine not doing all that well in the states. it got 0 promotion. by fall of 72 when YWSSL was released, the momentum was gone and the odd sounding backgrounds with Smokey's vocal and the more funky song just made it too out of sorts with the general Sup base.

"Floy Joy" was on the radio all the time for about a month or two. They performed it once with Cindy on the Merv Griffin Show in January 1972 [[so much for the theory that Lynda joined in '71). The did not perform it on Soul Train until March 1973!

[johnny_raven]

I sped up YWSSL to make it sound more like how they performed it on The Flip Wilson Show. I raised the tempo, but kept the pitch as if it were magic. I did the same with I Guess I'll Miss The Man, but the results were so tragic! :)

Enjoy ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0P7EdJ1bUQ

[marv2]

I sped up YWSSL to make it sound more like how they performed it on The Flip Wilson Show. I raised the tempo, but kept the pitch as if it were magic. I did the same with I Guess I'll Miss The Man, but the results were so tragic! :)

Enjoy ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0P7EdJ1bUQ

Not bad, not bad at all.

[johnny_raven]

Thanks, Marv! :)

[marv2]

Johnny, can you do this with "Bad Weather"?

[johnny_raven]

I don't know if I have that song ...


Kidding, here it is ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EopD_8MGMRc

[marv2]

I don't know if I have that song ...


Kidding, here it is ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EopD_8MGMRc

Get down Johnny! LOL! Thank you!

[marv2]

How are you able to do that without screwing up the voices?

[johnny_raven]

I have the girls re-recording it in my living room.

[marv2]

I have the girls re-recording it in my living room.

Will tell Jean I said hi and where is my pie she promised?

[ron]

As much as I love this song, I still cannot understand how the mix left the 'terrible' [sorry, my opinion] lisping 'sweet, sweet' in the released recording. The more I hear the song, the more it grates. That's the human mind for you - it concentrates on the strangest of things sometimes!
This helps to endorse my view that the Kim Weston is better, which of course is purely subjective. We all hear things differently and all have differing personal preferences. To me, Kim's original is a clearer, crisper less 'busy' version. Oh, and lacks the lisp! I'm surprised it took so long for it to see the light of day.

[Bluebrock]

As much as I love this song, I still cannot understand how the mix left the 'terrible' [sorry, my opinion] lisping 'sweet, sweet' in the released recording. The more I hear the song, the more it grates. That's the human mind for you - it concentrates on the strangest of things sometimes!
This helps to endorse my view that the Kim Weston is better, which of course is purely subjective. We all hear things differently and all have differing personal preferences. To me, Kim's original is a clearer, crisper less 'busy' version. Oh, and lacks the lisp! I'm surprised it took so long for it to see the light of day.

It will never be one of my favourite Supremes songs but I have to say I prefer it over Kim's version simply because it is far more familiar to me, and I love Jean dearly.

[daviddh]

I like the faster version of YWSSL here, great job. always thought this was kinda funky

[daviddh]

Bad Weather is gone???

[johnny_raven]

Thanks, David!

Bad Weather was blocked just minutes after I posted it. I also slowed down "Eleanor Rigby" and it's much more pleasurable to my ears.