This is the Story, from Hip-O Select
Diana Ross and The Supremes went their separate ways in 1970: Miss Ross embarked on her solo career, while the remaining Supremes – Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong – carried on with Jean Terrell as their new lead singer. The “new Supremes” immediately hit the top ten with “Up The Ladder To The Roof”; the hits kept coming, including “Stoned Love,” “Nathan Jones,” “Floy Joy,” et al. Finally, after many requests from fans worldwide, the complete non-duet Supremes recordings featuring Jean Terrell singing lead is collected on This Is The Story: The 70s Albums Vol. 1 - 1970-1973. A beautifully packaged set, Story collects the group’s five studio albums across three CDs, adding several stray tracks and 13 unreleased songs from what is now known as the “Promises Kept” sessions.
This Is The Story brings back into print the long-unavailable original five albums – Right On, New Ways But Love Stays, Touch, Floy Joy and Produced And Arranged By Jimmy Webb; the latter is now available on CD for the first time. Producers across these albums include Frank Wilson, who produced their first hits without Miss Ross, plus Johnny Bristol, Henry Cosby, Clay McMurray, and Smokey Robinson [[their earliest supporter at Motown, Smokey did the entire Floy Joy LP). Legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb, of course, delivered his own album, which remains a huge cult favorite. For this set, Webb wrote a personal recollection of the album sessions.
“We had a ball making that record,” says Webb. “It was a practical exercise in two cultures coming together, doing something together, and getting along… They were ready to do something new and different, and we did it.”
Additional released tracks in this collection are “May His Love Shine Forever,” from Motown’s Rock Gospel album; the Stevie Wonder-produced single “Bad Weather” [[with Lynda Laurence replacing Cindy Birdsong) and the cover of the O’Jays’ “Love Train” – the latter two from the group’s At Their Best LP.
In 1971, the J-M-C Supremes began recording a new album after the release of Touch. Producers from McMurray to Bobby Taylor, Cosby to Ashford & Simpson, toiled on several classic tracks – but that album release was cancelled and most of the tracks were never even mixed for review. While a few tracks were included on the Supremes’ 70s Anthology, many of them have never been heard since. Among the many highlights are covers of The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” and Carole King’s “It’s Too Late”; the oft-bootlegged “Tears Left Over”; “Take A Look Inside,” and much more. Box set producer Andrew Skurow adds an overview of the sessions in the deluxe booklet.
And what a booklet: other essays include a lively overview by Billboard magazine’s Fred Bronson, which features quotes from Supremes Terrell, Wilson and Birdsong, and producers Wilson, Wonder and McMurray. Original Touch liner notes by Elton John are also included. As usual with lavish hip-oselect.com releases, each track has detailed recording and release information.
The newly remastered music and the text are encased in a beautiful hardcover “book” package, which also features rare, stunning photographs from the Motown Records Archives. It’s a fitting presentation for one of the classiest groups from the era.
