jobeterob
10-01-2012, 01:36 AM
The Diana Ross Project
Album-by-album…track-by-track…The Boss & her music
Tagged with First Time I Saw Him [[2007) … Sep 30 2012
First Time I Saw Him [[Released 2007)
“So no matter how long you have to stay…still the feel the same way about you as I did yesterday…”
It’s probably not hyperbole to say that during the first half of the 1970s, Diana Ross was the hardest working person in showbiz. Between filming her debut movie, Lady Sings The Blues, in 1972 and its follow-up, Mahogany, in 1975, she released three studio albums, one live album, and recorded enough material for several others [[including the shelved Blue and To The Baby, both released decades later). Oh, and she was also married and raising a family and flying around the world for her live shows. Miss Ross has commented several times in later years that she was constantly recording in those days, working with several producers and never quite sure what songs would be released and on what albums they’d appear. This explains why an album like 1973′s Last Time I Saw Him feels like a stylistically varied collection of songs rather than a cohesive and themed set; many of the songs included probably weren’t recorded for any specific album at all.
What is not explained is how the songs that ended up on her albums were chosen, and why so many others were left languishing in the vaults. In 2007, when reissue label Hip-O Select finally gave Last Time I Saw Him a proper CD release, it expanded the original release with a second disc of seven previously unreleased songs and alternate versions of two lesser-known tracks, not to mention a longer, “unedited” version of the song “Last Time I Saw Him,” which had been a top 20 hit for Diana in ’73. Hip-O cleverly titled this disc First Time I Saw Him, and it’s fitting that the unreleased bonus tracks get a collective title, given that they basically make up an entire new album. The tracks are handled by a variety of producers, including Johnny Bristol [[“Someday We’ll Be Together”), Frank Wilson [[who was simultaneously working with the Jean Terrell-led Supremes), and Ron Miller [[“Touch Me In The Morning”). Some of the titles are familiar; “Let Me Be The One” was a hit for The Carpenters, and “Since I Don’t Have You” is a doo-wop classic made famous by The Skyliners in the late 1950s.
Common sense would hold that tracks left behind in the Motown vaults are of a lesser quality than those released on LPs, hence why they were never released. However, fans collecting the expanded editions of Diana Ross’s catalog — not to mention anyone who bought the sublime Blue in 2006 — know that’s not necessary the case. Many of the previously unreleased Diana Ross performances that have now been unearthed are as good as anything she ever took to #1; there are recordings here on First Time… that are among the best of her mid-70s output. Placed together, they form a bluesy, down-home disc that could have been a concept LP on its own. So why haven’t we heard them until now? It’s probably a case of sheer volume; Diana Ross was recording so much material that it likely just wasn’t possible to fit it all onto albums. But…one decade’s loss is another’s gain, and listening to the collection of songs known as First Time I Saw Him today is to once again be reminded of just how strong the material given to Diana Ross was at her commercial peak.
***
1. I’ll Be Here [[When You Get Home): A song worked up by Johnny Bristol, who’d given Diana both the #1 smash ”Someday We’ll Be Together” and “These Things Will Keep Me Loving You” from her debut album, this song will sound awfully familiar to Motown fans; Gladys Knight & The Pips recorded a version using the same track for the 1973 release All I Need Is Time. At first listen, the song sounds far better suited to Ms. Knight; this is a low-key, folksy blues number that’s not unlike much of the material she recorded during her last few years at Motown. That said, Diana Ross proves once again how adept she is at taking in a melody and lyric and making a song hers; this is a near-perfect interpretation and a real standout among this collection of tunes. The entire tone of the song is set with her opening “Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm,” a four-note hum very reminiscent of her opening to “Someday We’ll Be Together” — it’s clear that Miss Ross is feeling this one, and the rest of her performance bears that out. This is the work of a mature, soulful woman; listen to her powerful wail at 2:56, leading to a passionate reading of the lyrics, “So let you mind be free…baby, don’t worry about me…just do what you gotta do…” and some serious ad-libbing on the ensuing chorus — she sounds totally assured and comfortable in her vocal ability. Because much of Diana Ross’s work in the wake of Lady Sings The Blues was restrained and toned down, it’s nice to hear her looser and willing to push herself here; not only was this song worthy of a release at the time it was recorded, it also could have been pulled as a single. This is not only a standout of this collection, it’s also one of the best Diana Ross recordings from this period of her career.
2. Why Play Games: An energetic, uptempo light soul number produced by Frank Wilson, the man who was busy in the early 70s guiding the sound of the “new” Supremes, led by Jean Terrell [[the group had four top 20 hits under Wilson’s musical direction). “Why Play Games” actually sounds like it could have been written for Miss Terrell and the group; there’s an earthy, folksy quality to the production similar to that favored on 70s Supremes albums like New Ways But Love Stays. While the song overall isn’t quite as appealing or memorable as the previous track, this is still a good fit for Miss Ross; she sounds assured and invested singing the song, taking a few chances to return to the rawer sound of her earliest solo work. Listen to her glorious, throaty “Woah!” at 1:41; the scratchy, imperfect sound is something she really hadn’t done since a few songs on 1971’s Surrender. As on “I’ll Be Here [[When You Get Home),” it’s nice to hear Diana sounding loose and soulful in this way, since the songs getting released around this time were so glossy by comparison. The song is extremely brief, running under three minutes, but it’s a well-produced and performed song that is better than much of the filler Motown was releasing on Diana Ross LPs at the time.
3. I Don’t Care Where The Money Is: This song is the work of Michael Randall, who’d given Miss Ross two tracks on her Touch Me In The Morning album [[one of which, “All Of My Life,” was a hit in the UK). This is a much different than either of those songs; this is a funkier track, casting Diana in the role of a down-home diva who sings, “I don’t care about fancy things…just give me lots of room to roll.” Having such a glitzy superstar sing about “not having much to lose” isn’t exactly convincing, although Miss Ross certainly gives it her best. The song is brash and horn-driven, with quickly-paced lyrics and a melody that jumps all over the place; the production is bouncy and extremely enjoyable, kind of 70s take on a Bessie Smith tune. While Miss Ross sounds pretty good on the track, she’s a little too smooth here; digging a little deeper and giving it a more gritty delivery probably would have made the piece feel much more authentic. Diana spends the finals moments of the song repeating the line “Live my whole life!” – an exclamation that should have afforded her an opportunity to do some of the fiery vocal work she displayed on her work with Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Instead, she keeps the ad-libs pretty low-key, which doesn’t quite match the defiant feeling conveyed in the lyrics. That said, this is far from the worst track here; it’s still a nice listen and works well in the context of the two previous pieces on this collection.
4. Get It All Together: After three good R&B tunes, Miss Ross returns to glossy pop with “Get It All Together,” penned by Ron Miller [[of “Touch Me In The Morning” and “For Once In My Life.”) This is a full-on easy listening tune, with a spoken passage at the very top [[“Livin’ for tomorrow…is not my style…”) before Hollywood-esque strings sweep in and take the song into elevator-music territory. The arrangement here isn’t unlike “Touch Me In The Morning,” but this song has none of the emotional complexity and cool restraint of that #1 hit; the major-key arrangement and dated instrumental result in the song sounding like a television show theme [[maybe this could’ve worked for a “Love Boat” spin-off?). Miss Ross’s performance isn’t bad, but she’s singing very un-subtle lyrics and ends up a little too sugary and forced, especially compared to her excellent work on so many other songs on this disc. Miller and Ross, thankfully, gave the world some far-better works than this one; “Sleepin’” [[the second single off of 1973’s Last Time I Saw Him) probed emotional depths in such a stirring, authentic way that it really makes this seem like unnecessary fluff.
Album-by-album…track-by-track…The Boss & her music
Tagged with First Time I Saw Him [[2007) … Sep 30 2012
First Time I Saw Him [[Released 2007)
“So no matter how long you have to stay…still the feel the same way about you as I did yesterday…”
It’s probably not hyperbole to say that during the first half of the 1970s, Diana Ross was the hardest working person in showbiz. Between filming her debut movie, Lady Sings The Blues, in 1972 and its follow-up, Mahogany, in 1975, she released three studio albums, one live album, and recorded enough material for several others [[including the shelved Blue and To The Baby, both released decades later). Oh, and she was also married and raising a family and flying around the world for her live shows. Miss Ross has commented several times in later years that she was constantly recording in those days, working with several producers and never quite sure what songs would be released and on what albums they’d appear. This explains why an album like 1973′s Last Time I Saw Him feels like a stylistically varied collection of songs rather than a cohesive and themed set; many of the songs included probably weren’t recorded for any specific album at all.
What is not explained is how the songs that ended up on her albums were chosen, and why so many others were left languishing in the vaults. In 2007, when reissue label Hip-O Select finally gave Last Time I Saw Him a proper CD release, it expanded the original release with a second disc of seven previously unreleased songs and alternate versions of two lesser-known tracks, not to mention a longer, “unedited” version of the song “Last Time I Saw Him,” which had been a top 20 hit for Diana in ’73. Hip-O cleverly titled this disc First Time I Saw Him, and it’s fitting that the unreleased bonus tracks get a collective title, given that they basically make up an entire new album. The tracks are handled by a variety of producers, including Johnny Bristol [[“Someday We’ll Be Together”), Frank Wilson [[who was simultaneously working with the Jean Terrell-led Supremes), and Ron Miller [[“Touch Me In The Morning”). Some of the titles are familiar; “Let Me Be The One” was a hit for The Carpenters, and “Since I Don’t Have You” is a doo-wop classic made famous by The Skyliners in the late 1950s.
Common sense would hold that tracks left behind in the Motown vaults are of a lesser quality than those released on LPs, hence why they were never released. However, fans collecting the expanded editions of Diana Ross’s catalog — not to mention anyone who bought the sublime Blue in 2006 — know that’s not necessary the case. Many of the previously unreleased Diana Ross performances that have now been unearthed are as good as anything she ever took to #1; there are recordings here on First Time… that are among the best of her mid-70s output. Placed together, they form a bluesy, down-home disc that could have been a concept LP on its own. So why haven’t we heard them until now? It’s probably a case of sheer volume; Diana Ross was recording so much material that it likely just wasn’t possible to fit it all onto albums. But…one decade’s loss is another’s gain, and listening to the collection of songs known as First Time I Saw Him today is to once again be reminded of just how strong the material given to Diana Ross was at her commercial peak.
***
1. I’ll Be Here [[When You Get Home): A song worked up by Johnny Bristol, who’d given Diana both the #1 smash ”Someday We’ll Be Together” and “These Things Will Keep Me Loving You” from her debut album, this song will sound awfully familiar to Motown fans; Gladys Knight & The Pips recorded a version using the same track for the 1973 release All I Need Is Time. At first listen, the song sounds far better suited to Ms. Knight; this is a low-key, folksy blues number that’s not unlike much of the material she recorded during her last few years at Motown. That said, Diana Ross proves once again how adept she is at taking in a melody and lyric and making a song hers; this is a near-perfect interpretation and a real standout among this collection of tunes. The entire tone of the song is set with her opening “Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm,” a four-note hum very reminiscent of her opening to “Someday We’ll Be Together” — it’s clear that Miss Ross is feeling this one, and the rest of her performance bears that out. This is the work of a mature, soulful woman; listen to her powerful wail at 2:56, leading to a passionate reading of the lyrics, “So let you mind be free…baby, don’t worry about me…just do what you gotta do…” and some serious ad-libbing on the ensuing chorus — she sounds totally assured and comfortable in her vocal ability. Because much of Diana Ross’s work in the wake of Lady Sings The Blues was restrained and toned down, it’s nice to hear her looser and willing to push herself here; not only was this song worthy of a release at the time it was recorded, it also could have been pulled as a single. This is not only a standout of this collection, it’s also one of the best Diana Ross recordings from this period of her career.
2. Why Play Games: An energetic, uptempo light soul number produced by Frank Wilson, the man who was busy in the early 70s guiding the sound of the “new” Supremes, led by Jean Terrell [[the group had four top 20 hits under Wilson’s musical direction). “Why Play Games” actually sounds like it could have been written for Miss Terrell and the group; there’s an earthy, folksy quality to the production similar to that favored on 70s Supremes albums like New Ways But Love Stays. While the song overall isn’t quite as appealing or memorable as the previous track, this is still a good fit for Miss Ross; she sounds assured and invested singing the song, taking a few chances to return to the rawer sound of her earliest solo work. Listen to her glorious, throaty “Woah!” at 1:41; the scratchy, imperfect sound is something she really hadn’t done since a few songs on 1971’s Surrender. As on “I’ll Be Here [[When You Get Home),” it’s nice to hear Diana sounding loose and soulful in this way, since the songs getting released around this time were so glossy by comparison. The song is extremely brief, running under three minutes, but it’s a well-produced and performed song that is better than much of the filler Motown was releasing on Diana Ross LPs at the time.
3. I Don’t Care Where The Money Is: This song is the work of Michael Randall, who’d given Miss Ross two tracks on her Touch Me In The Morning album [[one of which, “All Of My Life,” was a hit in the UK). This is a much different than either of those songs; this is a funkier track, casting Diana in the role of a down-home diva who sings, “I don’t care about fancy things…just give me lots of room to roll.” Having such a glitzy superstar sing about “not having much to lose” isn’t exactly convincing, although Miss Ross certainly gives it her best. The song is brash and horn-driven, with quickly-paced lyrics and a melody that jumps all over the place; the production is bouncy and extremely enjoyable, kind of 70s take on a Bessie Smith tune. While Miss Ross sounds pretty good on the track, she’s a little too smooth here; digging a little deeper and giving it a more gritty delivery probably would have made the piece feel much more authentic. Diana spends the finals moments of the song repeating the line “Live my whole life!” – an exclamation that should have afforded her an opportunity to do some of the fiery vocal work she displayed on her work with Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Instead, she keeps the ad-libs pretty low-key, which doesn’t quite match the defiant feeling conveyed in the lyrics. That said, this is far from the worst track here; it’s still a nice listen and works well in the context of the two previous pieces on this collection.
4. Get It All Together: After three good R&B tunes, Miss Ross returns to glossy pop with “Get It All Together,” penned by Ron Miller [[of “Touch Me In The Morning” and “For Once In My Life.”) This is a full-on easy listening tune, with a spoken passage at the very top [[“Livin’ for tomorrow…is not my style…”) before Hollywood-esque strings sweep in and take the song into elevator-music territory. The arrangement here isn’t unlike “Touch Me In The Morning,” but this song has none of the emotional complexity and cool restraint of that #1 hit; the major-key arrangement and dated instrumental result in the song sounding like a television show theme [[maybe this could’ve worked for a “Love Boat” spin-off?). Miss Ross’s performance isn’t bad, but she’s singing very un-subtle lyrics and ends up a little too sugary and forced, especially compared to her excellent work on so many other songs on this disc. Miller and Ross, thankfully, gave the world some far-better works than this one; “Sleepin’” [[the second single off of 1973’s Last Time I Saw Him) probed emotional depths in such a stirring, authentic way that it really makes this seem like unnecessary fluff.