To be fair by 1968 the Andantes were doing the majority of the backing vocals for The Velvelettes, The Vandellas, The Marvelettes, and The Supremes so it's not a stretch to question why Mary & Cindy were not on the recording.
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I recall in the case if Somethings.... Valerie Simpson said said they didn’t have time to teach Mary and Cindy the bg parts and it was quicker to do it themselves.
I don't buy that reason. The background parts to "Somethings You Never Get Used To" are not complicated. It's a basic call out and response arrangement and generally repeating a word or phrase the lead has sung. An accomplished background singer could sing it in their sleep.
Also remember, Mary and Cindy were living in LA by 1968. Motown was still doing the majority of it's recording back in Detroit.
I don't buy this either because so was Diana. They flew all over the country not to mention the world.
Flying out the lead to do the recording in Detroit was a whole hell of a lot cheaper than flying all three of them. IMO, Gordy just didn't want to be bothered, by this time any sense of a group dynamic did not exist - anyone in the background would do at this point.The public couldn't tell the difference anyway. From 1968 on the public was basically purchasing what were technically Diana Ross solo recordings that were labeled as "Diana Ross & the Supremes" recordings.
Frank Wilson had said it was supposed to have been Mary, Cindy and the Andantes on the record. Now here is the question I always had on my mind. Did Mary take off for LA before it was written or was the song ready for recording when she left. That part of the story was never pointed out.
Calling you out marv, Cindy was in Detroit during the recording and hadn’t moved to LA yet. Mary was closing on her house that week that’s why she wasn’t there and then went to Mexico.
I agree, which is why I'm not buying that he ever wanted Mary and Cindy on the recording. I also agree about a worthy follow up. I really don't like "I'm Livin In Shame". "Keep An Eye" would have been a more worthy follow up if they wanted to stick to message songs. I think "Keep An Eye" could've been a hit.
Right, but that's the issue with the story Mary tells of Gordy wanting her to stick around to be on the record instead of going on vacation. At this point all of the label's big name girl groups were the Andantes and a lead singer on record, so why be so concerned about Mary going on vacation?
A couple of observations. First, this is one of my favorite performances, vocally and visually, of Diana on the Sullivan show. No, I am not crazy about the pant suits, nor is the song one of my favorites. It's just something about the presentation itself. Diana appears, as Midnight stated, so cool. There's a certain maturity in the way she is carrying herself.
Regarding the single itself and who is and is not singing the background vocals...It sounds like to me that Diana herself is singing along with the background vocals on the phrase right leading up to the climatic "ah." Just my ears, I guess. That "ah" is so distinctive.
In reading the stories from Deke about Martha and doing I Can't Dance To The Music You're Playing, it sheds some interesting light on the whole issue of scheduling recording dates. as he continued to work on that song, QC would issue various required edits and changes. and in doing so, he needed to quickly finish up the track if it was going to align with the release schedules. He says he begged for money to fly out to wherever MRATV were playing but was declined. So he tried using Syretta and making it work
the points i'm making are:
1. just like any business, Motown was interested in containing costs. maybe some of the problem with I Can't Dance was that Martha wasn't selling as strongly as she had a few years before. and therefore when they forecasted the potential revenue of that song, adding several $100s more to do remote recording and plane tickets just wasn't in the budget
2. it seems very clear that recording and performing operated as two totally separate divisions of the company. the groups had to bounce between them both. The record releases were most certainly NOT going to be at the whim of the recording schedules. Therefore producers had to make things work. the Deke and Martha example is an extreme, and frankly one that wasn't all that successful. But by doing the backgrounds with the Andantes, a far greater level of efficiency was achieved.
3. backgrounds are usually much more than going ooo and ahhhh. if you've ever isolated the bgs and listen to what they sing, they often quite complex. and with lots of intricate jumps and harmonies. so for something like Somethings you never get used to, the bg work complexity might have been too much for them to schedule time to rehearse M and C and coordinate when they could get into the studios.
remember - we're all fans and lovers of this music. the producers, arrangers, singers, musicians, etc were EMPLOYEES of a company that was in the business of making money. schedules, budgets, tough corporate decisions, etc are all part of that
Unrelated, but somehow I suppose related: does anyone know the general cost of an airline ticket in the 60's?
I've heard stories [[as also confirmed in posts above) about the cost of flying in Mary or Cindy or Martha or whomever for a recording; but truly, was it really that expensive for a million dollar company? Especially related to recording what could be a hit record?
the price of tickets in the 60s was considerably higher [[in adjusted dollars) than today. an average ticket across the country ran in the hundreds of dollars and that's in 60s money. a $400 ticket in 67 would cost over $3000 today.
remember, they bought very large and lovely homes for only $30,000. HUGE money to people then but imagine what kind of nasty-ass crack house you'd get today for only that amount lol