Supremes on Shindig. The worst? You Can't Do That

[luke]

I've never seen this performance and other than Flo having near mic mishap I find it very boring. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nolBQ1E3m7A

[BigAl]

Shindig was a very spontaneously prepared show, and I imagine there was very little rehearsal time.

In addition, when perched on those narrow risers, with a mike and an umbrella to have to contend with, there wasn't much choreography that could be done, especially with performers who really were not dancers. A lot of shimmying and stepping could easily have resulted in an injury. I think the vocals sound fine.

This was the most lacquered and shellacked that I can ever remember seeing Diane. It was a really severe look!

[marv2]

I remember Shindig coming on twice a week. Early in the evenings. I can't remember, but I think it aired on Thurs. and Sat. nights.

[luke]

I think this shows how much their individual personalities needed to come thru. This was totally flat

[BigAl]

This was totally flat
For me, the same could be said about the whole A Bit of Liverpool album which contained this number. Alongside Sing & Perform Funny Girl, I consider it their least inspired recorded effort. This performance sort of bears that out. I don't think any of them particularly enjoyed doing the material, not to mention doing it in those hokey outfits.

[lockhartgary]

For me, the same could be said about the whole A Bit of Liverpool album which contained this number. Alongside Sing & Perform Funny Girl, I consider it their least inspired recorded effort. This performance sort of bears that out. I don't think any of them particularly enjoyed doing the material, not to mention doing it in those hokey outfits.

What were the main reasons for doing those 2 albums? Was is to make inroads in England and appeal to an older, white audience, respectively? Or were there other reasons altogether? Show versatility, perhaps?

[RanRan79]

What were the main reasons for doing those 2 albums? Was is to make inroads in England and appeal to an older, white audience, respectively? Or were there other reasons altogether? Show versatility, perhaps?

My guess would be killing two birds with one stone: capitalizing on the British Invasion and introducing the world to the fact that the Supremes were more well rounded than a first glance r&b group. And of course the Sam Cooke and Country Western albums would further that agenda in the coming months.

[sup_fan]

While it's certainly not the most exciting Sup clip I wouldn't say it's the worst.

This is when the girls literally exploded on the scene. From when Where climbed the charts in aug 64 to when Back In Arms dropped out of top slot the girls were in the Billboard Top 5 for over 30 weeks!! Think about it - we aren't even talking about a full years span of time and 30 weeks in the top 5.

Obviously Liverpool is meant to cash in on the moment. By no means is it a high point of artistry. But they do actually do a pretty good job of just having fun w the material. The Beatles were even bigger at this point and so it's just a great marketing ploy.

Frankly I think some of Di's hiccup live vocals are worse. At least here's she's right in tune and the harmonies are strong

[longtimefan]

It's not their vocal performance that is dull, but rather the design, direction, and production of the segment. The girls themselves did not direct and produce this number, but rather someone who oversaw the segment thought it was clever for them to stand very still and do motions with umbrellas instead of performing their usual fluid choreography. We all know that their live performances from this period were animated and exciting.

[sup_fan]

True. The tapping of the hands was fine at first but they def could have done a bit more

[johnjeb]

I thought this performance, and the Eight Days A Week performance, were very good. The Supremes were just becoming household names and faces when this aired on February 24, 1965.

Shindig was a relatively new show and had minimal production and sets. I always remember it appearing so dark. I don't recall watching too many of the shows but I did happen to catch them when they sang Eight Days A Week. I think I was just walking in from my after-school job and was quite surprised to see them. I think that was probably when I decided I needed to study the TV Guide, rather than Algebra or Latin, every week, so that I wouldn't be caught off-guard and miss them again.

I enjoy the Liverpool album more now than I did when I bought it in 1966. I realize now that the production on that album is similar to the early garage band sound of 1964 - rather than the emerging Motown Sound - so I appreciate it for that. I love 6 of the songs and like a couple of others and dislike 1 or 2.

[luke]

There is absolutely no animation or feeling in their performance for whatever reason. Singing is supposed to convey feeling. It seems like someone had the idea for them to deadpan it.

[longtimefan]

There is absolutely no animation or feeling in their performance for whatever reason. Singing is supposed to convey feeling. It seems like someone had the idea for them to deadpan it.

Yes, that's what I was trying to convey above. "Someone" [[producer, director, etc.) thought this was a unique idea. In fact, it came off quite bland and did not present The Supremes in the way we all were familiar with seeing.

As you sated "for whatever reason....". Well, I guess we have to remember that it was 1965 and a show like this had several guest stars and limited experience in crafting multiple productions for each show.

[luke]

Yep. So weird to see them presented like that and missing their distinct and charismatic personalities

[RanRan79]

I enjoy the Liverpool album more now than I did when I bought it in 1966. I realize now that the production on that album is similar to the early garage band sound of 1964 - rather than the emerging Motown Sound - so I appreciate it for that. I love 6 of the songs and like a couple of others and dislike 1 or 2.

It does have a garage band sound, which sets it apart from any of the girls' other work. And I think it's that departure from sound that initially turned me off, but now maybe the reason why I appreciate the album a bit more than I once did. The girls do sound great throughout. Speaking of "You Can't Do That", it's my favorite Diana lead vocal on the album, and Flo is murdering the background on several songs. "You Can't Do That" and "Because" are probably the only two songs I consistently play from this album.

[thommg]

I enjoy the Liverpool album more now than I did when I bought it in 1966. I realize now that the production on that album is similar to the early garage band sound of 1964 - rather than the emerging Motown Sound - so I appreciate it for that.

Thanks for that thought, johnjeb. I've always been on the fence with this album and only liked a couple of the arrangements. Now that you put this thought into my head, I think I might enjoy the effort a bit more. I'm going to re-listen with different ears.

[BigAl]

The Supremes' themed albums were, conceptually, much more cohesive than those which contained their hits, but, sadly, they were a little lackluster and most don't embody the Motown Sound. Of course, that was the point: to demonstrate the group's versatility, but the effort wasn't very successful.

The Country Western & Pop album contained songs which weren't really country-western other than a few having been written and recorded previously by country-western performers, so "pop" was added to the title. They were just the batch of tracks which Clarence Paul produced in an attempt to snag a hit for the group. Many have mentioned that, with the success of Ray Charles' soul-country hybridization at that time, perhaps it was thought that this might prove successful for a virtually unknown girl group. That plan didn't work, but the songs were in the can, so in the first flush of success for the group, I suppose they were just dug out and released while the getting was good.

We Remember Sam Cooke was nice in that I don't believe there were any singers but Supremes on it, and some of the tracks are quite good, but, again, no Motown Sound. In a way, it was a little tasteless, coming so quickly on the heels of Cooke's murder.

At the Copa showed what they could do in a cabaret setting [[although the arrangements of their hits still make me cringe).

Merry Christmas featured Andantes rather than Supremes, and I still wonder why on earth that insipid "Children's Christmas Song" was chosen as a single. What were they thinking?

The Sing Rodger & Hart album, however, was nicely done, with a few Hitsville touches added to the mix, and, again, no Andantes To my ears, it was the most successful of the themed albums.

Sing & Perform Funny Girl remains the only Supremes [[well, DRATS) album which I never purchased, and which still I don't care to listen to.

But I digress.

Liverpool was, to me, just a shameless attempt to make a few bucks off a musical trend, and not very successfully, either. The Shindig performance was actually in line with the theme of that week's segment. All the acts performed Beatles' tunes. None did it very well.

[RanRan79]

In regards to the country album, most of the album was recorded during the same time period as Liverpool. My guess is that Motown picked up early on that the Supremes were the kind of group that could sing just about anything and pull it off, thus they were handed to Clarence Paul to attempt what Ray Charles was able to do so well. When "My Heart Can't Take It No More" did absolutely nothing to attract the public to the Supremes [[although my guess is if it the group had recorded the song in a non country vein, like their live performance at the Apollo, it would have gone over much better) whatever they had already recorded with Clarence was shelved, the project abandoned and they were returned to Smokey's hands, briefly. When "Where Did Our Love Go" and "Baby Love" sent the group into orbit and Gordy saw the group as the needed piece to his conquering of the racial barriers Black artists often faced, he greenlit the Liverpool session for the reasons I stated earlier, and then he decided having the girls re-record the country tracks from 1963 and recording new ones now in late 1964 was the next step in furthering his agenda.

I can live with the Liverpool and Country Western sets not having the typical Motown sound, but one of the few negative critiques I have of the Sam Cooke album is that the Motown Sound wasn't utilized. I think the album would've gone over much better if the tracks were Funk Brothers tracks. Vocally they were good as usual, though I would not have Diana singing "A Change Gonna Come". I think Florence was better suited for it.

But there's no question that each "specialty" album from Liverpool to Rodgers and Hart showcased the complexity of the Supremes' abilities as vocalists. They were at home singing more than r&b and pop.