I'm So Glad I Got Somebody Like You Around

To me this one was wasted as a b-side. Why relegate it to a b-side and then release "The Composer" as an a-side? To my ears "I'm So Glad" is contemporary Motown. Was it #1 hit material? I don't think so. Top 10? Sure. I'd be interesting in learning if there are any different mixes prepared at the time, or what kind of mix the EE guys could come up with, because I do think it would need a different mix as a single.

This was never a favorite of mine. It's increasingly becoming a song I make a point to play these days. Really starting to love it.

Thoughts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvDBR6uofxk

I remember this recording as being amongst the 45s that my folks bought for my first record player. I always liked it but as I grew older, I found Diana's voice on it to be strained and not in a good way, like on STORMY.

I'm not certain that it's really A-side material. It is memorable, but it is more interesting than commercial to my ears.

This definitely wasn't A-side material. It plods along without going anywhere. Motown was releasing the wrong songs as singles for a lot of their artists around this time. Supremes, Four Tops, Vandellas all suffered from wrong songs being selected and the good material getting canned or thrown onto an album as filler. Motown could have lifted a few songs from the Love Child album in place of "The Composer" and "No Matter What Sign You Are." "You Gave Me Love," "He's My Sunny Boy," "I'll Set You Free," "How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone" all would have fared better chart-wise as singles.

It's one of the few songs I like from the LTSI album.
I would have saved it for Cream.
Nice album track

i think this is a good song but agree it might be a tough A side. maybe needs a bit looser of an approach. there are parts where Diana just says Glad about 100x. If they'd actually used M and C on this, you could easily adjust a few things to give them some one-liners or call outs. or give the song a "break down" where they drop the instrumentation and add it back in. make it more interesting

I think Discover Me is a strong option for a single. a #1 like Love Child - no. but heck 10X better than The Composer.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bradsupremes

This definitely wasn't A-side material. It plods along without going anywhere. Motown was releasing the wrong songs as singles for a lot of their artists around this time. Supremes, Four Tops, Vandellas all suffered from wrong songs being selected and the good material getting canned or thrown onto an album as filler. Motown could have lifted a few songs from the Love Child album in place of "The Composer" and "No Matter What Sign You Are." "You Gave Me Love," "He's My Sunny Boy," "I'll Set You Free," "How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone" all would have fared better chart-wise as singles.

---

makes you wonder a bit of QC was sort of on the fritz here. maybe everyone was so out of sorts with HDH gone, like they lost their bravado. but you're right, especially with the Vandellas. some of the songs selected as A's were questionable.

with the Tops i really like Don't Let Him Take. it fits the Tops and is fresh and contemporary.

here's my list of singles:

Love child
I'm gonna make you love me [[with the temps)
How long evening train
Discover me
Why must we fall in love [[with the temps)
Someday

other songs i think are strong are: I'll Set You Free, Can't you see it's me, you gave me love. Also i wonder about Till Johnny Comes. it's a gorgeous track and superb vocals [[shame M and C aren't on it). as a ballad, it's lovely and also powerful.

What about Keep An Eye? it's a great song but would it have been successful as a single?

Am I right in thinking that, back in the late 60s, radio stations were good at picking up album tracks and B-sides for radio play and that this led to hit singles that hadn't been spotted by the record labels?

An obvious example is Marvin's version of "Grapevine". Wasn't "My Cherie Amour" another example?

If so, then wouldn't radio stations have picked up on any serious Supremes contenders in this respect?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sup_fan

here's my list of singles:

Love child
I'm gonna make you love me [[with the temps)
How long evening train
Discover me
Why must we fall in love [[with the temps)
Someday

other songs i think are strong are: I'll Set You Free, Can't you see it's me, you gave me love. Also i wonder about Till Johnny Comes. it's a gorgeous track and superb vocals [[shame M and C aren't on it). as a ballad, it's lovely and also powerful.

What about Keep An Eye? it's a great song but would it have been successful as a single?

---

As regards potential singles, there really was no shortage of prime candidates during the late 60’s.
Judging by the amount of retakes, “I’ll Set You Free” almost made it, with “Can’t You See”, “You Gave Me Love” and “Evening Train” being so good it almost feels as if they had been hits.
Diana’s vocal on “Till Johnny” is exceptional, and quite a departure from the groups normal sound. With enough airplay the song just might have caught on.
”Keep An Eye” for me lacks the drama and punch of Diana’s solo version. A little to sedate me thinks to have caused much of a splash.

I always thought "He's My Sunny Boy" would have made a great single. A simple song with a street, soulful sound reflective of what Stax was putting out. It may not have gone to number one but given the push and promotion that it was a Supremes/Smokey collaboration it very well could have placed it in the top 10. It would have done much better than "The Composer."

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bradsupremes

This definitely wasn't A-side material. It plods along without going anywhere. Motown was releasing the wrong songs as singles for a lot of their artists around this time. Supremes, Four Tops, Vandellas all suffered from wrong songs being selected and the good material getting canned or thrown onto an album as filler. Motown could have lifted a few songs from the Love Child album in place of "The Composer" and "No Matter What Sign You Are." "You Gave Me Love," "He's My Sunny Boy," "I'll Set You Free," "How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone" all would have fared better chart-wise as singles.

---

I disagree. "So Glad" sounds like the kind of stuff Marvin was doing. "Sunny Boy" wouldn't have gone anywhere. It's a great album track, but I don't think it would have competed with any of the stuff out there. "I'll Set You Free", I think could have worked, particularly with a different mix. "Evening Train" seems to be popular as a possible single but the more time passes by, the less I believe in it. Great album track, but I'm not sure it jumps out at all.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sup_fan

i think this is a good song but agree it might be a tough A side. maybe needs a bit looser of an approach. there are parts where Diana just says Glad about 100x. If they'd actually used M and C on this, you could easily adjust a few things to give them some one-liners or call outs. or give the song a "break down" where they drop the instrumentation and add it back in. make it more interesting

I think Discover Me is a strong option for a single. a #1 like Love Child - no. but heck 10X better than The Composer.

---

With a different mix, "Discover Me" could have definitely been a hit single.

see i just can't stand Sunny Boy lolol y'all know about how i sometimes go off on Smokey's lyrics. this is one of the worst culprits for that lol. Mohair and Idado IMO are as idiotic of lyrics as the noxious fumes that overcame mama while making her homemade jam when she should have been on a weekend trip to Spain lol

Smokey's tunes usually had a great backing track though so Sunny Boy SOUNDS good but it's just dumb

also keeping on Smokey, wasn't Tears of a Clown buried on an album and then discovered by djs later?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sotosound

Am I right in thinking that, back in the late 60s, radio stations were good at picking up album tracks and B-sides for radio play and that this led to hit singles that hadn't been spotted by the record labels?

An obvious example is Marvin's version of "Grapevine". Wasn't "My Cherie Amour" another example?

If so, then wouldn't radio stations have picked up on any serious Supremes contenders in this respect?

---

"Grapevine" was an album track and djs started playing it. "Cherie" was a b side that djs picked up on. I think when you consider all the great songs that made up b sides for any number of artists that djs never turned into hits, we can't use that as a barometer for what should have/could have been. The one b side of the Supremes to chart was "The Young Folks". I really like the song, but would anyone rank that as the best Supremes b-side ever? I certainly wouldn't.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sup_fan

see i just can't stand Sunny Boy lolol y'all know about how i sometimes go off on Smokey's lyrics. this is one of the worst culprits for that lol. Mohair and Idado IMO are as idiotic of lyrics as the noxious fumes that overcame mama while making her homemade jam when she should have been on a weekend trip to Spain lol

Smokey's tunes usually had a great backing track though so Sunny Boy SOUNDS good but it's just dumb

also keeping on Smokey, wasn't Tears of a Clown buried on an album and then discovered by djs later?

---

Legend has it that it was found by Karen Spreadbury of the UK Tamla Motown office at EMI.

In 1970, Tamla Motown UK was hot, hot, hot, based in part upon the successful reissue of a number of classic tracks that hadn't done so well in the UK first time around, and also based in part upon a very canny selection of single A-side releases for tracks that Motown in the USA had deemed only worthy of a B-side.

They had recently had the very successful reissue of "The Tracks Of My Tears" and were looking for a follow-up at a time when Smokey wasn't releasing anything new and all that was available was back catalogue. So they trawled through the back catalogue and happened upon "Tears Of A Clown". They believed that it had number one potential so they released it as a single, and the rest is history.

Sorry I loved "Glad I Found Someone" and "Discover Me" and the DJ's played the h%^% out of it. I kept waiting but Motown never pulled it. I still think that Motown/Berry was focused on Movies and Hollywood and a lot of talent, and musical history suffered but honestly no one else was doing what Gordy was doing. So, in reality we got a lot of talent that could have been overlooked elsewhere. Just an opinion.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sup_fan

see i just can't stand Sunny Boy lolol y'all know about how i sometimes go off on Smokey's lyrics. this is one of the worst culprits for that lol. Mohair and Idado IMO are as idiotic of lyrics as the noxious fumes that overcame mama while making her homemade jam when she should have been on a weekend trip to Spain lol

Smokey's tunes usually had a great backing track though so Sunny Boy SOUNDS good but it's just dumb

also keeping on Smokey, wasn't Tears of a Clown buried on an album and then discovered by djs later?

---

Yes, the lyrics are a bit corny but it’s not dumb. Considering the ridiculous songs that were hitting the charts at the time like “Yummy Yummy Yummy” and “Sugar Sugar,” I don’t think the lyrics would have played one bit in the song’s charting. Sound wise it was more street for them and it could have served them well considering the backlash they were getting for not being “black enough” at the time.

Motown did prepare a mono mix of “Shadows Of Society;” hinting at a possible single release. It’s an interesting choice but I don’t see the song performing any better than “The Composer” or “No Matter What Sign You Are” did. Motown certainly has its choice of songs to pull but went with songs with the least hit potential. The other questionable choice was Motown going with “The Weight” as the lead single off the Supremes/Temptations Together album. While the track is great it isn’t a single worthy. Motown dropped the ball not issuing “Why [[Must We Fall In Love).” By the time the Tamla Motown crew in the UK got around to issuing it in 1970, it was too late. Diana was out of the group, Jean was introduced to the world, “Up The Ladder” was just released, “Reach Out And Touch” was about to drop stateside, the ship sailed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bradsupremes

Yes, the lyrics are a bit corny but it’s not dumb. Considering the ridiculous songs that were hitting the charts at the time like “Yummy Yummy Yummy” and “Sugar Sugar,” I don’t think the lyrics would have played one bit in the song’s charting. Sound wise it was more street for them and it could have served them well considering the backlash they were getting for not being “black enough” at the time.

---

this is another case where i like the track but not the lyrics. i agree that the backing track is strong and exciting. and it's not about having silly lyrics. Sugar Pie Honey Bunch is a silly line but it's clearly a term of endearment. that gives it a warmth as everyone knows about having a loved one use a goofy term like that to be cute and funny. there's a wink in the eye.

and of course some times a song has an awkward lyric in order to make a rhyme. Precious Little Things on the FJ album has the "stopper in life tub" line which is a bit odd. but one the rest of the song holds up.

i just find too many of those oddities in Sunny Boy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bradsupremes

Motown did prepare a mono mix of “Shadows Of Society;” hinting at a possible single release. It’s an interesting choice but I don’t see the song performing any better than “The Composer” or “No Matter What Sign You Are” did. Motown certainly has its choice of songs to pull but went with songs with the least hit potential. The other questionable choice was Motown going with “The Weight” as the lead single off the Supremes/Temptations Together album. While the track is great it isn’t a single worthy. Motown dropped the ball not issuing “Why [[Must We Fall In Love).” By the time the Tamla Motown crew in the UK got around to issuing it in 1970, it was too late. Diana was out of the group, Jean was introduced to the world, “Up The Ladder” was just released, “Reach Out And Touch” was about to drop stateside, the ship sailed.

---

haha this is another with odd lyrics. they're trying to be socially relevant here but the lyrics are quite complex and the song lacks a real story here to follow. the lyric are too ambiguous to really convey the message.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RanRan79

To me this one was wasted as a b-side. Why relegate it to a b-side and then release "The Composer" as an a-side? To my ears "I'm So Glad" is contemporary Motown. Was it #1 hit material? I don't think so. Top 10? Sure. I'd be interesting in learning if there are any different mixes prepared at the time, or what kind of mix the EE guys could come up with, because I do think it would need a different mix as a single.

This was never a favorite of mine. It's increasingly becoming a song I make a point to play these days. Really starting to love it.

Thoughts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvDBR6uofxk

---

Listening to it now for the first time in years.

It would have done well in the Soul charts if it had been released on Stax because it's actually more Stax than Motown.

In the late 60s, Stax was a big musical influence and even Motown felt it. Smokey's "I Second That Emotion" wouldn't have been what it was if Stax hadn't been such a huge influence.

Brad, totally agree, Why Must We Fall In Love was the high lite of that album.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by daviddh

Brad, totally agree, Why Must We Fall In Love was the high lite of that album.

---

Released at the right time, the song could have reached the top ten on both sides of the pond. Diana in particular at her emotional best on this one. ;)