Love this album cover photograph and the back cover photograph. I didn't notice Diana Ross' gown missing any beads.
These photos are grand.
Harry Langdon, photographer. He also photographed Donna Summer
on The Jukebox!
Love this album cover photograph and the back cover photograph. I didn't notice Diana Ross' gown missing any beads.
These photos are grand.
Harry Langdon, photographer. He also photographed Donna Summer
on The Jukebox!
I believe Harry Langdon, who was still active through the 90s and well beyond in the Los Angeles area, was the son of the silent screen comedian with the same name. The first Harry Langdon was a Chaplin/Keaton type who was very talented and famous in his own right. I had a cousin who was working as a model in the 90s and she had her head shots done by Langdon the son, and they were really stunning.
my question on Everything cover is do we know the date of that photo session? was it new?
reason i ask is because Diana is wearing the outfit from Everything's Coming Up Roses from GIT Leading Lady medley. simply without the feather boas. same hair too in the unreleased version. the album version uses her good-ole DR wig with the part
another similar image is the one from the Surrender where she's wearing a dark gown with metallic daisies on it. that's a Sup era dress - in the rehearsal video from the Tennessee Ernie Ford special she, Cindy and Mary are testing gowns, each in a different one. Diana is wearing this one.
so were these two photo shoots done in the late, late 60s when she was a supreme but the shoot was solo? or did she repurpose older outfits in 71 or so?
I was told by a very reliable source that the cover shots were taken whilst Ms Ross was still an active member of the Supremes circa 1969.Quote:
Originally Posted by sup_fan
i like the images but they do look like Diana in 69. they're great pics but they definitely aren't as current or cutting edge as the cover of her debut lp. or the afro look for SurrenderQuote:
Originally Posted by Bluebrock
I love this stuff. Thank you.
Everything is Everything was kind of rushed out when Reach out and Touch and the debut album performed less than expected. It is perfectly understandable that a new photo session was not arranged. That would cost time and money, and Berry was not prepared to wait.Quote:
Originally Posted by sup_fan
Once Remember Me was released then this album showed up and the timing of it was/is so annoying. The only good song on it is My Place. Surrender should have been next. Reach Out I'll Be There was another bad move for a single. Just my opinion folks, don't have a cow. ;)
mooooooooooooQuote:
Originally Posted by nathanj06
lol
see i think Surrender should have been the follow up to Mountain. it whips itself up into a hysteria too but really a totally different sound and approach than Mountain [[unlike Reach Out, I'll Be There).Quote:
Originally Posted by nathanj06
then Remember Me follows Surrender. along with the album
and then, if you want, release I'm Still Waiting and EIE. Waiting might have found better success follow up a song like Remember.
I have always liked the “everything is everything” album in spite of it being rush released. I thought the material was more interesting and varied than the soundalike tracks on “remember me“. I’ve always admired Ashford and Simpson, but to me beyond the first couple hits they wrote for Diana Ross, I don’t think they really challenged her or stretched her that much from what had already become kind of a familiar sound. It also bothered me a bit that even on songs like “ain’t no mountain high enough“ Diane didn’t seem to do that much singing, the serious vocalizing seems to all be in the background.
Anyway I know “everything“ is not a popular album but I still love it a lot and play it much more than any of her other early solo releases.
Really!!. I would say A&S along with Masser were the two producers who really encouraged Diana to stretch her vocal wings. The Surrender And Boss albums being prime examples.Quote:
Originally Posted by kenneth
EE is mostly an easy listening affair. Other then the final part of “ Close To You”, i don’t hear anything that might be considered vocally challenging.
Agree with you on this one Ollie. Nick and Val knew exactly what to do with Diana's voice. The trio of albums they did together are wonderful examples of how a producer should know the strengths and weakness's of their artist.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ollie9
EE is a pleasant album for the most part, but it is rather disjointed and inconsistent. You can tell it was a rushed project. It lacks the polish and sheer class of Diana Ross70 and Surrender.
I've always liked the EIE album also. I honestly prefer it to the debut. But it is a thrown together set, and it's so obvious. But Diana gives some excellent vocal performances on it.Quote:
Originally Posted by kenneth
I recall you making that comment about "Mountain" before, but I've never understood it. Most of the song is definitely Diana speaking, which is the centerpiece of the song, but vocally she's still killing that song. The Blackberries are tearing it up, and I think that allows Diana to compete and she gives it everything. Love the version someone did where you only hear Diana without any background accompaniment.
Anyway, I play the EIE much more than I do the debut album.
Agree about A&S and Masser. Disagree about EIE. Diana rips "My Place" and "Aint No Sad Song" and "Doobe". I'm not a fan of the song by anyone, but if memory serves me she has some great moments on "Come Together" also.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ollie9
She does some belting right at the fade of DOOBE that makes we want an extended version just to hear where she went with it.Quote:
Originally Posted by RanRan79
i don't know that i think EIE is thrown together so much. had i not read the EE booklet with Deke's comments i wouldn't have necessarily guessed it was a rush job. rather just a "typical motown job" where they just cobbled together an album. very similar to Cream of the Crop.
whereas Ross 78 is a rush job to me. the supposed "remixing" those older tunes. whatever. they're barely any audible differences. the whole package just screams laziness to me. even the art. the front graphic was fine enough. not magical but not terrible. but then 0 imagination on the back cover
Thats why I said mostly. “My Place” is rousing as opposed to vocally challenging. “Doobee” is for the most part pretty laid back. I think A&S and Masser were the best at getting the drama out of her voice.Quote:
Originally Posted by RanRan79
I do love “The Boss,” but my favorite Motown producer for Ross is definitely Masser.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ollie9
I'll be darn, sup went and had one. Remember Me and Surrender are great songs. They should have kept her second album with Ashford & Simpson. They had Ross down with their magic.Quote:
Originally Posted by sup_fan
Row 18, beads 34 and 35 are missing.Quote:
Originally Posted by TNSUN
Same here! Fingers crossed that the rest of the vocal exists without the fade.Quote:
Originally Posted by reese
Not rushed, but thrown together. It is very much like the latter DRATS albums, where random tracks were packaged for a quick product. Ross 78 was just absolutely lazy work. Shouldn't even be in the same conversation as EIE.Quote:
Originally Posted by sup_fan
Sup I'm surprised you're not a fan of the cover of Ross 78. To me it's frammable, it's just that beautiful.
i don't hate the front image. it's certainly better than Working Overtime. my gripe is with the back cover and how they simply repeat the front image. even if the front image was truly amazing there's no excuse to just dropping a smaller version on the back. that's just lazy shoddy work.
I always thought it a very tacky cover.Quote:
Originally Posted by sup_fan
Ms Ross gave up smoking around this time and she became embarassed by this cover almost immediately. She regarded this album as a major mistake, but she had to shoulder some of the blame following her fall out with Berry over the proposed disco album that was originally planned around this time. As it turned out a small handful of excellent songs were buried under an avalanche of mediocrity, and to add insult to injury Berry cancelled the photo shoot and used this ghastly drawing.
Things were never the same again between them.
IMO Diana is just too gorgeous and sexy for a drawing to work perfectly as cover art. There's Ross 78, All The Great Hits, Diana's Duets. I don't think any are bad drawings but let's face it!! you have one of the more glamorous, beautiful black women and a drawing just cannot quite capture that.
and it isn't just that Diana is beautiful. there are lots of beautiful women. that's not really uncommon. but diana has "IT" and no - not a creepy clown living in a sewer lololol. Diana just knows how to take a picture.
one could argue that Lynda or Mary might be the "prettiest" supremes ever. but man - no one can take a picture like Diana. or at least how she seems to ALWAYS take these intriguing captivating pictures. whether it's her eyes, her glamour, her presence in the pic, all of it. there's just "something" about her that is simply mesmerizing
no drawing can perfectly capture that as well as a photo
Quote:
Originally Posted by sup_fan
So well said and so true.
I think it applies to her vocal abilities as well. There are many "better" singers technically but she can put over almost any song and make it her own, as they say. A huge talent with that "it" factor, surely. Which is not to say all her albums are worthy. Her body of work is certainly uneven to say the least. But she has had an amazing number of personal and professional successes in her career. I always think of how young she was when she was first famous. Thrust into the position [[whether she craved it or not) of being the standard bearer for all "girl groups," she achieved incredible heights in her career.
whether diana is the prettiest, the best signer, the this or that...
IMO one of the things Diana IS the best at is interpretation. one of her gifts is her ability to somehow immerse herself into whatever storyline or lyrics she's singing. and of course there are times when she sounds like she's not focused or just going through the motions - maybe she's having a bad day or stressed or whatever. that's natural
but whether it was Little Girl Blue, But Beautiful, The Boss, You Can't Hurry Love, I Never Loved A man Before, Mountain, All The Befores, The Music That Makes Me Dance, After You, Breathtaking Guy and on and on and on
she was able to adapt to so many styles and STILL dive into those lyrics like nobody's business
some people may not care for the tone of her voice, maybe some people don't care for this or that. but i don't think anyone can argue that she was an amazing interpreter of a song and melody.
When i was introduced to Ms Ross way back in 1988 i was immediately struck by her natural beauty. I felt like i had just been in the company of a Goddess. I am very rarely intimidated. I have fought other men in the ring, i have met the Queen of England and i have spoken in front of a 60,000 crowd in a stadium, but nothing prepared me for meeting Diana Ross. She had this aura about her that i had never experienced before or since. It took all my resolve not to appear in any way nervous or uncomfortable. The point i am trying to make is that no photo can do justice to Ms Diana Ross, and if no photo can do justice to her then what hope does a tacky drawing have of doing so?Quote:
Originally Posted by sup_fan
You are quite correct. There is indeed something about her that is quite mesmerizing.
Wouldn't that time frame be when Gordy was researching the start for the Billie Holliday film? EIE does seem like something thrown together but this was the wrong move even for Gordy. Remember Me was a moderate hit but probably could have done better had they released the Surrender album which was much more cohesive with Ross' debut. Look at everything she did up until A & S came back with The Boss. What a difference. Then Ross 1976 with 2 huge hits and all those weak tracks was way off. As far as Ross 1978, I read in a magazine Diana stating she wanted an album cover with her name spelled out in cigarette smoke. I had imagined at the time it would be an actual photo, not that horrible cheap looking cartoon photo. Plus the content in this album, well, we've already discussed that. A few really great songs with some very unnecessary inclusions. What were they thinking? Diana Ross was going to be huge regardless and was/is.
...but I Can't Get Started With You....Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluebrock
the story goes that EIE was released because Gordy was getting scared that there was a pop mega hit from her debut album. and it's true and Reach out and touch didn't go all that high and, quite frankly, the album itself performed moderately on the charts
Reach out only hit #20 on Billboard
DR 70 [[like some of the Sup albums) had a bit of an unusual chart record:
released June 19 and entered the Top 200 on July 11. It entered at 71 which is a pretty solid entry spot. Week 2 it catapulted to 37!! great movement. then it stalled. it inchwormed up from 37-34-31-28-23-21
then it dropped back to 29
then back UP to 24 21 and then peaking at 20.
one this is did do well was longevity - it lasted 28 weeks on the charts, which for an album that peaked at 20 is pretty impressive.
the album peaked around the time Mountain entered the charts [[the single was released 7/16 and entered top 100 on 8/8). so it's almost like the single of mountain pulled sales from the album?!!? i don't know that i actually believe that's the cause but anyway.
by early Sept Mountain was in the top 5. any doubts about Diana's solo career were gone at this point.
EIE wasn't released until early November, just 1 month before they released Remember Me.
so it might be true that Gordy was nervous in the summer and rushed Deke into the studio. but there was ample time to cancel the release after Mountain smashed
my theory on EIE is:
Gordy was scared in summer 70. the debut single and album are only creeping into the top 30 and they're doing tons of marketing around it. so he hits up Deke for a more pop album and Deke and Hal work on their songs [[as Deke mentions in the EIE EE booklet)
the only dates i can find in the EIE EE is Baby It's Love which had some recording dates in July. guessing the other songs are around this time too
Mountain releases in Aug and is a smash that fall
Gordy frankly doesn't give a shit about albums and it super focused on the followup single, which he goes with Remember Me
But he DOES want a fresh lp in stores for Christmas. the new A&S content isn't ready yet but the Deke stuff is.
and that's that lol
I was under the impression Surrender was going to follow Diana Ross70 as her 2nd solo album, but due to the initial disappointment at the performance of Diana Ross70, he rushed her into the studio to record EIE and then rush released it much to Ms Ross's dismay who felt it was an inferior product that was not good enough. However, when Mountain hit no.1 he went back to A&S to complete Surrender.Quote:
Originally Posted by sup_fan
I do agree he had sufficient time to pull or delay EIE, but chose not to.
As we know only too well Motown's release schedule for Ms Ross and the 70's Supremes was all over the place. He had the midas touch in the 60's, but as albums began to take on more importance he seemed to lose his way. Perhaps he had his fingers in too many pies and had one eye on her planned acting career. He certainly did her few favours with the crazy scheduling.
i like EIE i think "[[I Love You) Call Me" deserved the grammy nod it gained..the "Patchwork" approach of multi producers on her solo and Supremes albums dosent bother me much you get a texture of different styles..having said that full produced albums "Eaten Alive" & "The Boss" are among my favourites...the cover of EIE is one of my favourites its rare to get Miss Ross smiling on a cover album !
he [[and by that i really mean berry and ALL of motown) failed to really adapt and evolve with the trends in popular music post Woodstock. the irony is that they were SO on trend in the early and mid 60s.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluebrock
motown was hopelessly stuck in their dated "supper club" image. and when they did have occasional success outside of the primary genre [[like Edwin Star's War or Undisputed Truth Smiling Faces) they just don't really build on it.
also motown was never successful in branching out into other genres such as rock and roll. and frankly even the Soul label never really reached the successes of other more 'black' labels like Atlantic.
That is hysterical!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by thanxal
Good. The only intent was to lighten the mood. Have some fun. Things have been so sad lately with the passing of various forum members and Mary and other Motown friends.Quote:
Originally Posted by nathanj06