Supremes Produced by Marvin

There were claims, at least in a 1974 Supremes Fan Club Newsletter, that Marvin Gaye was set to produce the Supremes next LP, after Supremes 1975.

Weren't there also claims that Marvin was going to produce the album after High Energy?

I know Mary mentioned several times he would produce a solo LP for her. And they were to tour as "The Lady and the Gentleman".

Now, the real question:

Do you think there was at least a tiny bit of truth that Mary at least had talked to Marvin about producing? And maybe he at least agreed or agreed to think about it? I just can't imagine that this story kept getting recycled for 5 years that there wasn't at least SOME truth to it.

Other than BEECHWOOD and DANCING IN THE STREET, did he write much for other artists, especially after the early 60's?

I just question that Marvin was still alive and here's Mary constantly quoting in print and on television that Marvin's going to produce for her [[them) and he never said anything, like STFU? Lol.

These are fascinating, marybrewster! These newsletters ought to be collected, scanned and archived!

I've seen those print articles and interviews teasing around Marvin producing Mary post-Supremes, which obviously never happened. But this is the first time I've heard it mentioned with regards to The Supremes. Funny, because I've always detected a little bit of "I Want You" in the melody of "High Energy."

There was even in some later print articles mentions of Pedro being involved with Marvin's management. At the very least, it seems to me like Pedro was trying to ingratiate himself into his inner circle. Curiously little of this is mentioned in any of Mary's books, other than in one place where she mentions how her male friends eventually became Pedro's friends too, including Marvin. I'm sure there's more to this story that has been and hasn't been mentioned yet.

Well, he co-wrote and produced "Baby, I'm for Real" and "The Bells," which were both huge for The Originals in '69 and '70. It's well within the realm of possibility that the conversation happened.

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Originally Posted by marybrewster

Other than BEECHWOOD and DANCING IN THE STREET, did he write much for other artists, especially after the early 60's?

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Well, Marvin Gaye did write & produce a string of hits for The Originals with 'Baby I'm For Real', 'The Bells' & 'We Can Make It Baby' in 1969-1970 [however, he didn't do much work for other artists in the '70s]. I'm sure that Mary Wilson asked Marvin about producing for The Supremes and it just got lost in the chaos of his personal life at the time. While it never came to pass, having Gaye collaborate with The Supremes on a LP would've brought much needed attention to the group.

It’s been reported they met up one evening with Marvin playing tracks from his forthcoming Midnight Love album while asking Mary’s opinion.
I can imagine Mary asking Marvin if he might produce something on her, with Marvin mumbling “That would be cool baby”.
That’s probably as far as it went being Marvin was not in the greatest head space at that point in his life.

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Originally Posted by Ollie9

It’s been reported they met up one evening with Marvin playing tracks from his forthcoming Midnight Love album while asking Mary’s opinion.
I can imagine Mary asking Marvin if he might produce something on her, with Marvin mumbling “That would be cool baby”.
That’s probably as far as it went being Marvin was not in the greatest head space at that point in his life.

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Midnight Love was released in 1982, well after the Supremes disbanded and Mary's solo career stalled.

It is really hard to determine. Motown was being run now by someone besides Gordy so who knows what all the plans were on the table. I do remember he Marvin Gaye rumor but it went and came very quick.

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Originally Posted by marybrewster

Midnight Love was released in 1982, well after the Supremes disbanded and Mary's solo career stalled.

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Yea, that's true. He was definitely playing her something he was working on as i can remember reading the article. Wish i knew from where.

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Originally Posted by Ollie9

Yea, that's true. He was definitely playing her something he was working on as i can remember reading the article. Wish i knew from where.

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I recall reading that as well; maybe in DREAMGIRL? But the timeline doesn't add up, so I don't know.

this seems to be more of something Mary was dropping publicly than anything else. she tried this several times and just seems like it was more a pipe dream from her. and by dropping public hints, perhaps she hoped that would push them into doing something.

Jean did say that Mary lies.

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Originally Posted by Ollie9

Yea, that's true. He was definitely playing her something he was working on as i can remember reading the article. Wish i knew from where.

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I remember reading something about this in Gerri Hershey's book NOWHERE TO RUN. I think it was some of the material that ended up on MIDNIGHT LOVE. In SUPREME FAITH, Mary wrote of the visit. In his book DELIVER US FROM TEMPTATION, Tony Turner also mentioned the visit. I believe all placed it in the early 80s when Marvin was in Europe.

Also in SUPREME FAITH, Mary wrote that Pedro was talking to Marvin about him working with the group but things never came together. She places this around the period of the 1975 self-titled album. But she concluded by saying when they saw him, he was so rundown and exhausted. And afterwards, they stopped pursuing the idea.

That said, when the group appeared on Mike Douglas in 1977, Mary said that she had just learned that Marvin would be producing her. When Mike asked did this mean she was going solo, she sort of played coy and said something about waiting to see what God had in store.

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Originally Posted by reese

I remember reading something about this in Gerri Hershey's book NOWHERE TO RUN. I think it was some of the material that ended up on MIDNIGHT LOVE. In SUPREME FAITH, Mary wrote of the visit. In his book DELIVER US FROM TEMPTATION, Tony Turner also mentioned the visit. I believe all placed it in the early 80s when Marvin was in Europe.

Also in SUPREME FAITH, Mary wrote that Pedro was talking to Marvin about him working with the group but things never came together. She places this around the period of the 1975 self-titled album. But she concluded by saying when they saw him, he was so rundown and exhausted. And afterwards, they stopped pursuing the idea.

That said, when the group appeared on Mike Douglas in 1977, Mary said that she had just learned that Marvin would be producing her. When Mike asked did this mean she was going solo, she sort of played coy and said something about waiting to see what God had in store.

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several of the fans from back then have said that was NOT really true, just wishful thinking from mary and that both motown and marvin were pissed that she just announced this on air like that.

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Originally Posted by khansperac

Jean did say that Mary lies.

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Kinda like Cindy announced she was the same age as Diana and Mary, lol. Just a lil white lie to the Lord.

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Originally Posted by sansradio

Well, he co-wrote and produced "Baby, I'm for Real" and "The Bells," which were both huge for The Originals in '69 and '70. It's well within the realm of possibility that the conversation happened.

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He also wrote "Baby It's Love" by Diana Ross. Whether he wrote it specifically for her, I don't know. His stuff on the Originals is some of my favorite music from the entirety of Motown.

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Originally Posted by reese

I remember reading something about this in Gerri Hershey's book NOWHERE TO RUN. I think it was some of the material that ended up on MIDNIGHT LOVE. In SUPREME FAITH, Mary wrote of the visit. In his book DELIVER US FROM TEMPTATION, Tony Turner also mentioned the visit. I believe all placed it in the early 80s when Marvin was in Europe.

Also in SUPREME FAITH, Mary wrote that Pedro was talking to Marvin about him working with the group but things never came together. She places this around the period of the 1975 self-titled album. But she concluded by saying when they saw him, he was so rundown and exhausted. And afterwards, they stopped pursuing the idea.

That said, when the group appeared on Mike Douglas in 1977, Mary said that she had just learned that Marvin would be producing her. When Mike asked did this mean she was going solo, she sort of played coy and said something about waiting to see what God had in store.

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Thanks for the info reese. I thought Mary had referred to Midnight Love at some point when discussing their meeting.
Perhaps Marvin made some loose promise that was taken as literal.