https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuGjzu__Vd4&t=2420s
Wow--now that's rare! Thanks for posting. Ticket prices seem pretty high for that time period.
Okay I have only heard We've Only Just Begun" so far and have to ask why in the hell did they feel the need to speed so many songs up so much? The girls barely have enough time to spit out the words.
Now I'm at Early Morning Love. It is so sped up that poor Mary sounds frantic trying to Keep up.
Okay, The Way We Were sounds great. Man this group was so good, vocally.
Mary sounds superior here IMO
unfortunately most of their shows were at a breakneck pace. that was just how they did it.
I do agree that for the most part, they sound really quite good here. It's interesting to hear this and then the bootleg from the Manchester UK show. basically the same except Mercedes Benz is cut from the UK.
and glad that by this time they were at least including a few more songs from their lp. would have loved if they included some more - especially Can't stop a girl or Color my world. but mary isn't lead on either of those
did anyone else notice in the ad that Pedro is credited as the show's producer ;) lol
Gotta say Body Heat really wins this one for me. MSC could handle this song effortlessly. Make you wonder what would have happened had they gotten a song this strong to record.
I do agree that Body Heat was very good. Some of the songs were too fast but they Were sounding Great.
Is that Cindy hitting that note at the end of My world is empty? I've never been a fan of when the Supremes, doesn't matter which line up, rushed through their hits in a medley. Thanks for sharing btw!
Sup_fan I noticed that immediately! "Produced by Pedro Ferrar" my azz. What did he do here, exactly? This whole format, well most of it, is WRONG especially the tempos. So sad that these talented singers went down the drain because no competent "producer" could get to them, or were not allowed to. Tragic. I hear fans all the time saying this one or that one "couldn't sing." I am not hearing "non singers" here. At all
Wow that was real manic and only about an hour long. If theyd have slowed it down it wouldve been about 90 minutes LOL.
Thanks for sharing. Kinda fast paced.would liked more of their own material.
I usually don't like way we were but hear it sounds good.
Just don't get the frantic show.
Scherrie sounds great
Obviously this recording is playing faster than real time. That's not to say that sometimes songs weren't sped up a little too much, but you can easily hear from the tone of their voices, the higher keys of the more familiar songs that this recording is definitely playing fast.
i didn't notice too much that the recording was simply playing faster than real time. there have been some bootlegs like that. and it's possible that it had warped a bit over time
In Sup Faith, Mary mentions that when they took this show to the UK, they really got hit by the critics for being too "Vegas-y" and that is more than evident here. the intro with Tonight and We've Only Just Begun is cheese personified lolol. not only is it too fast, but it's just too vegas-y. This is pretty much the embodiment of how the group was not evolving in the 70s. They did a version of Tonight back in their Copa debut.
Within a 60 min show they did 3 of their tunes plus a 60s medley. by the mid 70s that simply wasn't acceptable any more.
As for the dream sequence, i'm torn. On one hand, it's great to hear each girl and it's a fun segment. But on the other hand, it's just not contemporary. If it was the only point in the show where they dove into Vegas, then it could have worked well. But after Tonight, We've only just, Maybe this time, the way we were, it was just getting too much.
they'd just released Sup 75 and were desperately trying to re-establish themselves as a contemporary presence in the music industry. The design, format and strategy of this show was not conducive to that.
I think you are right, Sup_fan. You can get strangled by your own past.
There was a review in the LA TIMES the next day that seemed to agree with some of the opinions in this thread. The reviewer liked the new Supreme Sherrie Payne but that she was bottled up in this Las Vegas styled show and the reviewer said that Mary and Cindy were competent background singers who were too prominent in this act.
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I’ve seen that review and it seems he wanted them to revert to more of a Drats version [[presentation wise). I would have changed the opening, cut the dream sequence, added a few more album cuts and maybe add Stoned Love or do a something that was on the charts at that time [[maybe Shame Shame Shame or Rocking Chair) and it would have been a better show
Diana Ross was in the audience that night. Mary acknowledged her from the stage. I bet this is when Ross got the idea of wanting to play Josephine Baker. Less than 2 years later she gave it her first public try on her television special in 1977.
Marv drop it. Don’t start assuming stuff you don’t know.Quote:
Originally Posted by marv2
Because Diana had no idea of who Josephine was prior to this? Never mind the fact that Diana attended a performance by Josephine and interacted with her. LMAO.Quote:
Originally Posted by marv2
I have an opinion and I can state it! I am starting to get tired of you telling me, what I can and cannot say! I am a grown-ass man!Quote:
Originally Posted by blackguy69
The only two new songs I hear are Early Morning Love and Hes My man...
No Stoned love
No bad weather
No color my world blue...
Glad I wasn't their mgr.i would be fired.
Who let this show go on
That review was brutal.
Lol. But it was high praise for Scherrie! I was a college student in 1975 so I couldn't and didn't pay much attention to concerts and reviews. The ticket prices do seem high for that time. The Shubert was in Century City, though, an upscale section of Los Angeles.Quote:
Originally Posted by khansperac
The Supremes 1975 album was just out and I was disappointed and discouraged. I was impressed, though, by Scherrie and thought It's All Been Said Before was the one standout track and should have been the lead single.
side 2 of Sup 75 is a much better experience than side 1. which is odd that the back half of an lp would be loaded with the higher quality material
I've said it before. Ivey and Woodford were the strongest producers on this lp. even better than the Holland material. And i bet the critic in the article would agree - this was heavily because they focus on Scherrie's voice and made her center stage. She delivers knockout performances. and you can compare a few of the tracks when Mary or the group did the lead and they pale when compared to the scherrie leads.
LOLOLOLOLOLOL. All that one hears in its head all day is Diane Diane Diane Diane Diane Diane Diane Diane Diane Diane Diane DianeQuote:
Originally Posted by khansperac
I almost feel sorry for the obsessed old B**ch. Almost. LOL
But sometimes you act like a little child with some of your post. With that being said, I do like your input and what you contribute on here. But please leave that Diana hatred alone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marv2
of the Dream sequence, the highlight has always been Scherrie's stunning version of You've Been A Good Old Wagon. damn!!! she's so gifted
and not only goes she sing it beautifully, but she's not playing for comic relief. Both Cindy and Mary do their segments with too much silliness.
A year or two later, Diana incorporated a "working girl's" segment into her show but she did it like scherrie - respectfully. She built the segment up to be an homage to these great woman.
Marilyn, Josephine and Bessie all deserved similar treatment. By adding too many silly comedy bits into the routine, they made it less of an homage and more a joke. The intro Dream song is nicely done and what they could have done is skip the genie and talk about how each of them idolized these famous women and always "dreamed" of being like them. then go into each song
They did This is Why I believe in YouQuote:
Originally Posted by daviddh
according to the ad, Pedro was the producer of the show. Geoffrey Holder came up with the concept and staging. He's a marvelously talented person - great pedigree in theater and dance. But i think he brought too much Broadway and MOR to the option and IMO the girls needed to be more inline with the contemporary scene.Quote:
Originally Posted by daviddh
now if the Supremes had landed another ongoing gig or residency in Vegas, then this show would have been fine. and perhaps they really needed 2 show formats. A cabaret act and then one for general public that would want hit after hit.
I don't hate Diane. She has become a joke to me. They want this woman to be important enough to be hated? Not here!Quote:
Originally Posted by blackguy69
A $10 ticket is worth approx $50 in today’s dollars. A $100 ticket is worth approx $500 today.Quote:
Originally Posted by BobbyC
Sup fan
I agree with Supremes 75
Side two is good.
Scherrie rocks it
I believe it!
It was a benefit but still high priced for a manic show.Quote:
Originally Posted by BobbyC
This show is even called "An Evening With The Supremes"! Diana Ross calls her TV special "An Evening with Diana Ross". Cindy Birdsong plays a "Marilyn Monroe" character in this show. Diana Ross does the same thing on her TV special when she does a number called "T&A". Scherrie Payne plays "Bessie Smith", Diana Ross plays "Bessie Smith" on her TV special, and of course, Mary Wilson plays "Josephine Baker" and Diana Ross winds up doing the same thing on her special! My, the similarities are uncanny! LOL!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by blackguy69
Isn’t there a way to slow the speed down? I swear I have seen that option in the past. I am pretty much alone on my opinion, but thought the band was pretty good and the ladies sounded great. But yes, the speed is an issue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by detmotownguy
This was a benefit and that is why the ticket prices were what they were.
The review was brutal but it was spot on. I’ve mentioned many times on this forum how much I disliked that show. The dream sequence was imaginative but the material was beyond the abilities of Mary Sherry and Cindy to carry it off properly and they look like amateurs drowning in material they didn’t understand. It was cringe worthy …… And while I am definitely a fan of Mary’s ballads and think that they should have been featured in a different and better way, giving Mary and Cindy more spotlight than they have the talent to hold was very hurtful to the group. Way too often on stage, after Sherry joined, all three of them acted like they were trying to take attention away from the others. That isn’t what they were trying to do, but it appeared that way - like they were just trying to win over the audience by being us over the top as possible but it came across horribly and they often look like three children trying to get the attention of their parents. So often people have said that after Diana left it was a group again and each member got to shine more blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, the problem with that is, just because the spotlight is on them doesn’t mean they are going to shine. Anyone who knows Cindy will tell you she’s the sweetest thing that Ever drew a breath, but in no way shape or form was she any kind of entertainer. She was a singer with a bland voice that was often eschewed in the studio or augmented. And that’s just a fact. She had no idea what to do with the comedy line, and Mary, sometimes good and sometimes couldn’t. They were singers they weren’t expected to be more than that except that their material demanded it, and then there shortcomings were in the spotlight and it really made the group look bad. They like to blame their demise on Motown, but a lot of it was just an foresight. This shows with Jean were 1000 times better.Quote:
Originally Posted by khansperac