Cindys most powerful performance

[luke]

I think this has been posted before , a long time ago but I came across it again and it gave me a lift during this challenging time. And a very powerful interview with Ms Birdsong. She is in my prayers https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mKNKb0apCJ8

[marv2]

It is a very uplifting performance. Cindy Birdsong is a very good singer. Why Motown did not use her talent to the fullest extent, I will never know.

[waynesville]

It is a very uplifting performance. Cindy Birdsong is a very good singer. Why Motown did not use her talent to the fullest extent, I will never know. There were quite a few stars that Motown dropped the ball with, for one reason or another. Carolyn Crawford and Brenda Holloway come to mind. They weren't the only ones of course. When Atlantic - who should have known better -signed Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles they weighed them down with far too many mediocre middle-of-the road tracks rather than let them sing properly 9 as they did on I'm still Waiting, Dreamer, and all or Nothing)

[marv2]

There were quite a few stars that Motown dropped the ball with, for one reason or another. Carolyn Crawford and Brenda Holloway come to mind. They weren't the only ones of course. When Atlantic - who should have known better -signed Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles they weighed them down with far too many mediocre middle-of-the road tracks rather than let them sing properly 9 as they did on I'm still Waiting, Dreamer, and all or Nothing)

I agree especially with Carolyn and Brenda. Both could handle the "Motown Sound" with ease and so much more. The songs Patti & the Bluebelles were recording just did not make sense to me. Excellent vocals,but what segment of the market were they geared towards...."You'll Never Walk Alone", "Down the Aisle", etc.

[franjoy56]

Cindys best vocal work as a supreme to me were bah bah bah. Hes my sunny boy , ill set u free, let the sunshine in live. Solo from t farewell. Stoned love now the bitter now the sweet and i wish i wwre your mirror

[luke]

Patti and Bluebelles, Mary Wells were all put on hold at Atlantic for Queen Aretha. And the Bluebelles excelled at live performance

[marv2]

Patti and Bluebelles, Mary Wells were all put on hold at Atlantic for Queen Aretha. And the Bluebelles excelled at live performance

Which was also a huge waste of talent. Atlantic was a big company and could have supported more than just a handful of artists. That's just my opinion.

[luke]

I agree! I think Dee Dee Sharp suffered as well!

[BigAl]

Patti and Bluebelles, Mary Wells were all put on hold at Atlantic for Queen Aretha. And the Bluebelles excelled at live performance

Jerry Wexler insisted that he just couldn't do anything with Mary Wells, but I think the problem was more due to the fact that, for her singles, they were just handing her tepid material that sounded like poor imitations of Hitsville stuff. That stragegy having failed at 20th Century, you'd think they might have tried something of a different direction for her singles. I agree that she & Patti/Bluebelles probably were glossed over in favor of the powerhouse that was Aretha, but they could have been promoted as well instead of being regarded as also-rans.

Patti & the 'Bells, did some excellent work at Atlantic: "Over the Rainbow," "All or Nothing," "Tender Words," "Dreamer," and, my favorite: a glorious cover of the Evie Sands' chestnut, "Take Me for a Little While" [[in my opinion, the best version ever of this song). While they were Cameo-Parkway before that they were inexplicably given show tunes and pop standards which never really worked with their style, although they did them justice in live performance. I suppose that's why thy were given "Over the Rainbow" when they first got to Atlantic, but that strategy didn't last long. Cindy didn't get heard much, however, because Sarah, as first soprano, was a big belter, and Patti once said that, often, Cindy and Sarah would "double," thus they would be singing the same notes together and Sarah was just so much louder. Then when recruited for The Supremes, she was miked down so you really didn't hear her much then, either. Hearing Cindy on the PTL clip demonstrates that she was more than adequate.

[luke]

Do you think Mary was also miked down or just Cindy and/ or more so? If so I wonder why. And as she said in this interview she had lost her confidence. I do think she really knocked it out on Stoned Love. Dear Lover which I loved. almost hit big. I wonder if Atlantic got behind it.

[waynesville]

Patti and Bluebelles, Mary Wells were all put on hold at Atlantic for Queen Aretha. And the Bluebelles excelled at live performance

They had signed for Atlantic a couple of years before Aretha arrived though, I think in 1965, and their two Atlantic LPs came out in 1966 and 1967. So I still think Atlantic should have done better by them

[luke]

Patti and the ladies were a force of nature. Considering the changing times it probably made some sense to change their image and music which is where Nona wanted to go and it separated them from other girl groups ; and kind of like the Temptations evolving with Norman Whitfield

[BigAl]

Do you think Mary was also miked down or just Cindy and/ or more so? If so I wonder why.
When I saw them in August of '68, both Mary and Cindy were miked way, way down — Cindy maybe a bit more than Mary. At many points during the show, I could not hear them at all; they were just up there with their lips moving. This was about a year after the group became DRATS and Cindy was hired. I assumed this maneuver was to demonstrate that the show was mostly about Diana Ross. When they appeared in Miami the same year, a reviewer also noted being unable to hear Mary and Cindy on many numbers, and predicted that within a year Ross would be solo. He wasn't far off the mark.

[luke]

Thanks for info Al

[luke]

There's an interesting/funny story in one of Motown books about the Supremes rehearsing and Diana wants Mary and Cindys mics turned down as she says they are too loud and Cindy says thats ridiculous as they are singing to already taped vocals and Diana says regardless they are too loud and Mary says their mics are fine maybe the lead singer's mic is too loud and then has enough of it and tells Diana to chill out and she and CIndy head to the bathroom with Diana yelling at them to come back. Later Diana's mother tells her to be nicer to them.

[motownlover1964]

A good example of Mary and Flo nearly drowning out Diana's vocals is when they did "Nothing But Heartaches" on Hullabaloo. Wasn't too much later that they were miked way down on record and on TV because the two of them simply overpowered her. And, yes, I know it was her voice that propelled them all to stardom so not wanting to start WWIII on the board as I only offered an observation.

[luke]

Never noticed that but nice they were way up front for a change!

[marv2]

A good example of Mary and Flo nearly drowning out Diana's vocals is when they did "Nothing But Heartaches" on Hullabaloo. Wasn't too much later that they were miked way down on record and on TV because the two of them simply overpowered her. And, yes, I know it was her voice that propelled them all to stardom so not wanting to start WWIII on the board as I only offered an observation.

They did the same thing on the Sammy Davis Jr. Show while performing "My World Is Empty Without You". Diane looked like she wanted to cry. At the end of the performance she makes a point of standing directly in front of Florence Ballard. LOL!!!

They nearly drowned her out on the "Ready Steady Go" performance of "Stop In the Name of Love".

[rod_rick]

Life Beats, Love The One Your With [[Live) and Love Train from the Live In Japan 1974 are some of Cindy's best work with he Supremes. On her own I really enjoy Ready For You and Dancing Room.