Originally Posted by
BayouMotownMan
It was Motown who removed Frank Wilson from producing The Supremes.
Typically at Motown, when a producer got a hit on an act, that producer would continue working exclusively with that act until the hits stopped. That is how Smokey lost the Temptations to Norman Whitfield. It's also how Whitfield lost The Temptations in 1974. The hits dried up.
It was obvious to Ewart Abner and company that the failure of the Touch lp and single meant that a new producer was needed on The Supremes. Smokey was no longer touring with the Miracles and preferred working with the female artists at Motown. The Marvelettes split up earlier in 1971, so Suzanne dePasse asked Smokey to try something on The Supremes while other producers, including Clay McMurray, Ashford & Simpson and Bobby Taylor did productions on the Supremes. This was the foundation for the material that could have been used for the Promises Kept lp.
Floy Joy was a big enough hit record for the ladies to maintain their performance fee. The Floy Joy album sold better than the last two Frank Wilson lps and all of the Four Tops duet albums. Logically, another Smokey album would have been the wiser decision. But the groups' manager Wayne Weisbart got Jimmy Webb interested in doing an lp on the ladies. They embraced the idea because, Jean especially, wanted to do more serious music. And this was the rope they used to hang themselves.
The Jimmy Webb lp came out at the same time as Lady Sings. Everything was riding on Diana's movie so all promotion was given to her. Gordy could have lost Motown if that movie bombed. He was not interested in a new sound for The Supremes. Around this time his established artists like the 4 Tops, Gladys & The Pips, Ashford & Simpson and The Spinners vacated Motown. They could see the trend and knew they were on board a musical Titanic. In hind site, Jean was probably right that the group sign with ABC, change the name to something recognizable like Supreme Ladies. They'd have had a fighting chance.