Supremes Collections & Compilations

So I decided to organize my collection of CD Supreme collections [see pics below - that’s most of them] and it got me thinking - which ones are people’s favorites and why? For me, sometimes it’s because of the mastering, sometimes it’s because of the artwork/packaging, sometimes it’s the song selection/sequence, sometimes it’s because it has unique versions - and sometimes it’s all of those! For instance, the US release of Playlist Plus has great mastering, song selection/sequence, unique versions, and the packaging is very nice but, alas, no booklet - that’s ok, the glossy digipak has beautiful photos.

More than honorable mentions include The Story of The Supremes, Soul Legends, Gold, Greatest Hits & Rare Classics, 25th Anniversary, The Ultimate Collection, and Sequins & Smiles. Still, there’s usually something to appreciate about each of them, no matter how small. And I’m sure this isn’t even close to all of them, especially worldwide.

I deliberately left out the Box Set, The 50th Anniversary Singles Collection, This Is The Story, and Let Yourself Go as they’re all in a class by themselves!

What Supremes compilations do you all favor and why?

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Nice post! Thanks for sharing those photos as well.

The 1995 2 CD Anthology Series set holds a special place in my heart, because it was my first Supremes album that I owned. The tracklisting is very unique, being a mix of early songs, rarities and even extending into the 70's era. You really get a bit of everything with that compilation, including all of the hits. I also love the 70's Anthology. It brings me back to a special and exciting time as a younger fan. There was a lot of buzz with that particular release at the time, with the special signing event in LA. It also has a great tracklisting and a handful of awesome rarities and previously unreleased tracks. It brought some renewed interest to the 70's era of The Supremes at that time.

Lately, I've found myself going back to those earlier CD comps from the 80's, like Greatest Hits Vol's I & II, 25th Anniversary and Compact Command Performances. There's something to be said about the purity of the uncompressed sound on those comps, being that they were virtually direct transfers from the analogue masters to CD. The sound was much more dynamic compared to the later comps, such as the overly compressed and ''brickwalled' Ultimate Collection CD. I love the tracklisting on that one...all of the big 60's singles on one CD. However, like many modern releases, it tends to be a bit sharp on my ears.

oh this is an interesting thread!! here are a few of mine

Great Songs and Performances from Motown 25 - this was my first album i bought of the group [[actually was the cassette). I had my mom's copy of WDOLG but this was were it all started

Never Before Released Masters/Tied with 25 Anniversary - the fabulous unreleased tracks, especially from the concept albums like R&H and Disney and There's a place

Greatest Hits and Rare Classics - the 70s were so under represented for so long. this collection was just wonderful

70s Anthology - to finally have a cd version of Let Yourself Go

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Originally Posted by carlo

Nice post! Thanks for sharing those photos as well.

The 1995 2 CD Anthology Series set holds a special place in my heart, because it was my first Supremes album that I owned. The tracklisting is very unique, being a mix of early songs, rarities and even extending into the 70's era. You really get a bit of everything with that compilation, including all of the hits. I also love the 70's Anthology. It brings me back to a special and exciting time as a younger fan. There was a lot of buzz with that particular release at the time, with the special signing event in LA. It also has a great tracklisting and a handful of awesome rarities and previously unreleased tracks. It brought some renewed interest to the 70's era of The Supremes at that time.

Lately, I've found myself going back to those earlier CD comps from the 80's, like Greatest Hits Vol's I & II, 25th Anniversary and Compact Command Performances. There's something to be said about the purity of the uncompressed sound on those comps, being that they were virtually direct transfers from the analogue masters to CD. The sound was much more dynamic compared to the later comps, such as the overly compressed and ''brickwalled' Ultimate Collection CD. I love the tracklisting on that one...all of the big 60's singles on one CD. However, like many modern releases, it tends to be a bit sharp on my ears.

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I forgot to include my Anthologies! I’ve got all the versions together and just overlooked getting them out - they are great! I think the first one was one of my first Supremes CDs, too…

Loved your thoughts!

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

oh this is an interesting thread!! here are a few of mine

Great Songs and Performances from Motown 25 - this was my first album i bought of the group [[actually was the cassette). I had my mom's copy of WDOLG but this was were it all started

Never Before Released Masters/Tied with 25 Anniversary - the fabulous unreleased tracks, especially from the concept albums like R&H and Disney and There's a place

Greatest Hits and Rare Classics - the 70s were so under represented for so long. this collection was just wonderful

70s Anthology - to finally have a cd version of Let Yourself Go

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Yes - a big shout out to the Anthologies!

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Originally Posted by ejluther

I forgot to include my Anthologies! I’ve got all the versions together and just overlooked getting them out - they are great! I think the first one was one of my first Supremes CDs, too…

Loved your thoughts!

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I was starting to worry that you were living an anthology-less life, ejluther! "I'm livin in shame!" ;)

Thank you! Yes, we love our anthologies, don't we? Lol.

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Originally Posted by carlo

I was starting to worry that you were living an anthology-less life, ejluther! "I'm livin in shame!" ;)

Thank you! Yes, we love our anthologies, don't we? Lol.

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Remove this doubt you have - I have the anthologies! ;)

Like you, I'll leave out the big box sets simply because they're so obvious. My favs are 25th Anniversary, Greatest Hits and Rare Classics, Never Before Released Masters, the 1995 Anthology set.

GHRC was my officialy introduction to the 70s Supremes. [[My mother had a 45 of "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking" when I was a kid, which I would play sometimes, believing that "Heart" was Flo on lead and correctly assuming that Mary was on lead on "Early Morning Love" because I knew neither voice was Diana. This was years before I ever heard Flo and Mary's lead singing voices or knew that there were Supremes after Diana Ross.) I fell in love with Jean's voice and I felt Mary's pain, as written in her second book, that much of the 70s Supremes' period was spent with more losses than wins. I recall being most impressed, at the time, with "Touch", "Bad Weather" and "Let Yourself Go".

I still remember purchasing the 25th Anniversary on cassette in October 1993. My grandmother gave me the money. Funny the things we recall, right? I was so impressed with the unreleased cuts, since I already had all of the hits elsewhere. It's so funny to look back on myself at that time, during the fall and winter of 93 and 94. I was wearing out Domino's "Getto Jam", Jodeci's Diary of a Mad Band, Wu Tang's 36 Chambers, Xscape's Hummin Comin at Cha, R Kelly's 12 Play, Snoop's Doggystyle, and alongside of all of that "Someday My Prince Will Come", "Manhattan", "Those DJ Shows", "Send Me No Flowers". Lol It was a weird transition of music sometimes.

I bought the 95 Anthology from Borders Books and Music. It was an instant fav because it included songs that had been previously unreleased at one point but I didn't have because I hadn't yet found a copy of the compilation it was included on. Same with some album cuts. I recall "Mother Dear" being on the album and it would be some more years before I purchased More Hits.

Never Before Released Masters, another fan made me a copy of this and I played it out. So glad to have some Flo and Mary leads interspersed among the Diana leads. I remember playing "Save Me A Star", "Davy Crockett", "Our Day Will Come", "Don't Let True Love Die" and "A Little Breeze" a lot.

Oh, can't forget the Lost and Found. Such a well done set. The Supremes phone call with Scott Regan was worth the price alone.

Btw, imagine my level of pissed off when, in recent years, I've discovered that the 25th Anniversary and the GHRC cds had more songs than my cassette sets. One of these days I'll track them down just to have both albums in both formats.

I love how this is bring up memories for many of us - buying/getting the music can be almost as memorable as the music itself! And the nostalgia can be quite powerful...

"Btw, imagine my level of pissed off when, in recent years, I've discovered that the 25th Anniversary and the GHRC cds had more songs than my cassette sets. One of these days I'll track them down just to have both albums in both formats. "

As for GHRC, I don't think there's more songs but there are different ones/mixes [[I learned that here on these forums from George, IIRC). Does the 25th cassette have different versions than the CD [[like GHRC), or does the CD just have more?

FYI - here's the info I mentioned upthread:
https://soulfuldetroit.com/archive/i...p/t-11673.html

EVERYBODY'S GOT THE RIGHT TO LOVE - The CD had an alternate mono mix with a completely different lead vocal by Jean. The cassette version had yet another mono mix with the released vocal. The cassette version can now be found on "The Supremes 70's Anthology". I feel both of these mono single mixes were superior to the one that was released. This record could have been much bigger.
There is still yet another mono single mix of this song in the vaults that combines both of Jean's vocals.

TOUCH - The cassette included an alternate mono single mix. Listen for Cindy's alternate "Oh baby" after the first verse. Also, Cindy's "Talk to me, talk to me" was eliminated from this mix and Jean's vocal was punched out at the fade. This mix is still unavailable any place else. I personally didn't like any of the mono single mixes of "Touch". This was another great record that I think failed because of an inferior single mix and edit.

AUTOMATICALLY SUNSHINE - I believe I used the released LP mix on the cassette. The CD had an alternate mono extended mix. The full stereo alternate mix can be found on "The 70's Anthology".

IT'S ALL BEEN SAID BEFORE & WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE - Both were on the cassette but not on the CD. Both were the LP mixes. The single mix of "Where Do I Go From Here" is still unavailable on CD and there is an alternate lead vocal by Scherrie on "It's All Been Said Before" still in the vaults.

HIGH ENERGY - This was a single edit of a mix that eventually came out in its entirety on "The 70's Anthology". The original lead vocal by Scherrie is still unreleased.

YOU'RE MY DRIVING WHEEL - I used the alternate promo lead vocal, which has since come out on CD on the Supremes Box and The Supremes Gold.

LET YOURSELF GO - This was an alternate [[and in my opinion) much better single edit than the released version.

FLY - Scherrie's solo single wasn't included on the CD. Instead I used "Another Life From Now".

I still stand by my decision to vary the CD and cassette and I think most of the fans were happy about it. The Motown execs were not! Even though they signed off on both versions [[I couldn't get anything released without a signature on the track list) they became upset when some retailers complained about the differences. I wasn't "fired" because I was never officially a Motown employee but in truth it did compromise my position. It was very difficult in the early 90's. [[I think Andy would agree it's still often difficult) to get things done exactly the way you know they should be.

My favorite Supremes collection, without a doubt, is the 1974 ANTHOLOGY.

I had seen an ad in Ebony promoting the anthologies of the Tempts, Miracles, and Pips. In smaller print was a notice that a set on other acts, including the Supremes, was forthcoming. That got me excited. Not long after, I went to my local record store [Skippy White's] and saw a copy. I must have held and stared at it for 10 minutes before having to leave. As someone who usually bought his albums out of the $1.99 cut-out bin, ANTHOLOGY's cost was much more than I could afford. Thank goodness my birthday was coming up soon. When it did, I had my mother drive me to the store and I finally had my own copy!

I still remember the thrill I had when I ripped off the shrink wrap. The silver packaging with the portraits of DMC was great. Even better was the color booklet. I think I went through the booklet a couple of times before playing the album.

For me, I can remember this was the first time I heard what Flo's voice sounded like. Her vocals really stuck out on some of the songs on Side 1, like A BREATH TAKING GUY and STANDING AT THE CROSSROADS OF LOVE. And of course, finally having my own copy of all of those great hits like BABY LOVE, LOVE IS LIKE AN ITCHING IN MY HEART, LOVE IS HERE AND NOW YOU'RE GONE..., too many to name.

I have liked some of the other collections like LOST AND FOUND and especially 25TH ANNIVERSARY [despite the great unreleased recordings, it loses points with me because of the black and white booklet]. But none of them come close to what ANTHOLOGY meant to me.

I only ever bought three Supremes compilations.

When I first got into Diana [[1980) I went out and bought both DR&S and DR '20 Golden Great' albums which were great collections of most of their greatest hits. I doubted I would ever need to buy another old album.

Of course, I was wrong. After seeing the Supremes performance on the TAMI show [[I bought the video) I came across 'Anthology' in a second-hand store. Although the collection was quite expensive, I couldn't miss the chance to get my own copy of 'Lovelight' and 'Run Run Run' as well as other songs I had never heard of.

When CDs took over from vinyl, I bought the 'Compact Command Performances' set. It was the only decent option at the time to get some DR&S cuts on CD as well as the top 3 singles from the 70s Supremes.

Ah yes...Reese, thank you for mentioning the Anthology from '74! Gotta say that's my all time favourite as well, since it was my Dad's copy of that vinyl comp that introduced me to the Supremes. I foolishly omitted it from my initial post above, as I was only thinking of CD compilations...but the Anthology from '74 definitely fits into this discussion topic. I really wish there was a CD version of it with the exact same silver packaging as the vinyl version, just for memories sake.

I think the 74 LP anthology was my first Supremes record, too, when I was 10 or so - I’m not sure how/where I got it, though - maybe at a garage sale? Or it might have been my parents…I also somehow had LPs of High Energy and Join The Temptations early on, too - what a mix!

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Originally Posted by ejluther

I love how this is bring up memories for many of us - buying/getting the music can be almost as memorable as the music itself! And the nostalgia can be quite powerful...

"Btw, imagine my level of pissed off when, in recent years, I've discovered that the 25th Anniversary and the GHRC cds had more songs than my cassette sets. One of these days I'll track them down just to have both albums in both formats. "

As for GHRC, I don't think there's more songs but there are different ones/mixes [[I learned that here on these forums from George, IIRC). Does the 25th cassette have different versions than the CD [[like GHRC), or does the CD just have more?

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Yes, you're right. It was the alternates that pissed me off about GHRC. I don't believe the 25th Anniversary set has alternates, but there are more unreleased songs on the cd version than the cassette.

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Originally Posted by reese

My favorite Supremes collection, without a doubt, is the 1974 ANTHOLOGY.

I had seen an ad in Ebony promoting the anthologies of the Tempts, Miracles, and Pips. In smaller print was a notice that a set on other acts, including the Supremes, was forthcoming. That got me excited. Not long after, I went to my local record store [Skippy White's] and saw a copy. I must have held and stared at it for 10 minutes before having to leave. As someone who usually bought his albums out of the $1.99 cut-out bin, ANTHOLOGY's cost was much more than I could afford. Thank goodness my birthday was coming up soon. When it did, I had my mother drive me to the store and I finally had my own copy!

I still remember the thrill I had when I ripped off the shrink wrap. The silver packaging with the portraits of DMC was great. Even better was the color booklet. I think I went through the booklet a couple of times before playing the album.

For me, I can remember this was the first time I heard what Flo's voice sounded like. Her vocals really stuck out on some of the songs on Side 1, like A BREATH TAKING GUY and STANDING AT THE CROSSROADS OF LOVE. And of course, finally having my own copy of all of those great hits like BABY LOVE, LOVE IS LIKE AN ITCHING IN MY HEART, LOVE IS HERE AND NOW YOU'RE GONE..., too many to name.

I have liked some of the other collections like LOST AND FOUND and especially 25TH ANNIVERSARY [despite the great unreleased recordings, it loses points with me because of the black and white booklet]. But none of them come close to what ANTHOLOGY meant to me.

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I forgot about the 1974 Anthology. I never owned a copy, but in the beginning of my Supremes fandom, I checked the cassette set out from the library. That was my intro to the DRATS period, aside from "Love Child" and "Someday We'll Be Together". Those were the days of renewing something once. Imagine my mother's horror when she discovered how much in fines I racked up because I kept the Anthology loooonnnngggg after my second renewal was up. Luckily the fines were forgiven. Still haven't bothered to get my own copy. One day I'll track down a set for collecting sake. There was no booklet in the library's cassette copy. Whether that's how the cassette version was produced or if someone tore the booklet out, I don't know. But a set is probably worth tracking down for the booklet alone.

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Originally Posted by RanRan79

I forgot about the 1974 Anthology. I never owned a copy, but in the beginning of my Supremes fandom, I checked the cassette set out from the library. That was my intro to the DRATS period, aside from "Love Child" and "Someday We'll Be Together". Those were the days of renewing something once. Imagine my mother's horror when she discovered how much in fines I racked up because I kept the Anthology loooonnnngggg after my second renewal was up. Luckily the fines were forgiven. Still haven't bothered to get my own copy. One day I'll track down a set for collecting sake. There was no booklet in the library's cassette copy. Whether that's how the cassette version was produced or if someone tore the booklet out, I don't know. But a set is probably worth tracking down for the booklet alone.

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Cute story. As a young kid I would drool over the 74 Anthology album in the record shop, dreaming of one day owning it. I was excited by the silver artwork and the prospect of hearing songs i didn't recognise.
I never did have the patience to save enough pocket money to buy it......Alas.
“Never Before Released Masters is probably my fave compilation. Sound quality not the best, but simply for rare tracks.

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Originally Posted by RanRan79

I forgot about the 1974 Anthology. I never owned a copy, but in the beginning of my Supremes fandom, I checked the cassette set out from the library. That was my intro to the DRATS period, aside from "Love Child" and "Someday We'll Be Together". Those were the days of renewing something once. Imagine my mother's horror when she discovered how much in fines I racked up because I kept the Anthology loooonnnngggg after my second renewal was up. Luckily the fines were forgiven. Still haven't bothered to get my own copy. One day I'll track down a set for collecting sake. There was no booklet in the library's cassette copy. Whether that's how the cassette version was produced or if someone tore the booklet out, I don't know. But a set is probably worth tracking down for the booklet alone.

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Great story! I’m not sure the cassette would have the booklet…

My first fav was 1974 Anthology.
Then 25thbAnniversary.
Never Before

Got 74 Anthology for Christmas .never understood why they included hard day's night or can't buy me love.
Hate them both.so many gems but I loved this collection especially funny girl medley

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Originally Posted by daviddh

Got 74 Anthology for Christmas .never understood why they included hard day's night or can't buy me love.
Hate them both.so many gems but I loved this collection especially funny girl medley

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I became a Diana Ross fan in late 1975 and began discovering her Supremes catalog soon after. Florence’s Ballard’s death was announced at a time when I did not know her name; I only knew of Cindy from the few albums I had at that time. My father surprised me with the Anthology album that same week. It remains my favorite collection because it was my initial glimpse into the history of the Supremes—their impact, the hits, television appearances and the specialty albums.