You go girls!!! Best background vocals

So which songs or parts of songs are your fav? Which parts do you ALWAYS sing out loud do, were the best harmonies, absolutely essential to the overall appeal of the song,etc

DMF - let me go the right way
DMC - Love child. Especially “scorned by!!” [[although I do realize M and C aren’t on it)
JMC - loving country
JML - I guess I’ll miss the man
SMC - give our but don’t give up. There’s so many layers vocals. The girls sing the chorus, plus the ooos plus the ba dahs lines. And much of all of these in harmony
SMS - we should be closer together

Too many. But I'll highlight a couple of favs.

I'm already heavily recorded as being of the opinion that the Barbara years suffered because of Barbara herself. She did not possess the vocal capabilities that the other three girls did and as a result her voice often comes across as a bit monotone and sometimes flat. However, believe it or not I do think that this gave the group a kind of girlish charm. IMO many, if not most, of the girl groups of the early 60s sounded like high school girlfriends singing about boys without taking themselves [[i.e. their vocals) too seriously. I'm of the opinion that as lead singers, Flo, Diana and Mary were as good as many of the other lead singers of girl groups at the time who were having hits [[although Diana hadn't yet mastered how to control her voice all of the time), but as an overall sound, FDMB were similarly sounding as the other groups, just four girlfriends singing about boys and not taking themselves too seriously. I think both versions of "Because I Love Him" demonstrate this, along with "The Boy That Got Away". "He's 17" is one where Barbara's voice seems to be on it's best behavior. That's probably as good as she ever sounded. And I think "Your Heart Belongs to Me" works because Barbara is barely audible and Florence is allowed to shine.

With Barbara gone, the classic lineup was clearly made up of three women who knew they could sing and knew they sounded good together. They definitely sounded like ladies who were taking themselves seriously, and for good reason. They shine on "A Breath Taking Guy", which someone suggested is all three of them on background, and I think they're right. "Come On Boy" is a great Flo and Mary combo. Obviously some of the big hits like "Come See About Me", "Nothing But Heartaches", "You Keep Me Hangin On" and "Love Is Here" just wouldn't be as great without Flo and Mary. As annoying as it sometimes is to know that so much of the Supremes time in the studio was devoted to MOR rather than Funk Brothers tracks, the truth is that Flo and Mary were given great opportunity to shine on these types of songs. Among my favs are "All Of A Sudden", "Around the World In 80 Days", "Stranger In Paradise", "Manhattan", "Blue Room", "Make Someone Happy". And then there's album tracks and covers and unreleased cuts, like Flo and Mary on "Mother Dear 66", "Baby I Need Your Loving", "Your Kiss of Fire", "Take Me Where You Go", "It's Going All the Way", "Bring It On Home to Me", "Shake", "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" and "Satisfaction".

Cindy's addition to the group meant less time in the studio for factual Supremes and more time for pseudo Supremes, regardless of ratio. Plus Cindy's vocal addition just couldn't match Flo's. But there were some highlights of Mary and Cindy, like "Bah, Bah, Bah", "Will This Be the Day", "I'll Set You Free" and "Honey Boy". Cindy possessed a sweet, charming sound that I think worked pretty damn good with Mary on the right song.

Admittedly, once Jean comes in, she's my Supremes focal point and I'm not as interested in who is singing background or how good the background is. But there are some songs that I feel the background is essential to the tune, like "Johnny Raven", "I Wish I Were Your Mirror", "Everybody's Got the Right to Love", "Bad Weather", "Over and Over", and some of the duet tunes with the Tops.

After Jean and Lynda leave, I love "Seed of Love"'s backing vocals. Also "Early Morning Love", "Let Yourself Go", "Don't Let My Teardrops Bother You", "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking".

But there is just nothing like the sound of Flo and Mary and Diana. There was a magic present that just didn't exist with any other lineup's backing vocals.

Sorry for the long post for what should've been a simple answer[[s).

"Who Could Ever Doubt My Love" [[B side to "I Hear a Symphony" and on the album "More Hits) probably captured the best background vocals and harmonies of Mary and Florence, IMO. As far as the other incarnations of the Supremes go, the background harmonies/vocals were not that memorable to me. Maybe they were too "perfect sounding" for me.

I'm with you about LMGTRW!

Mary & Flo were getting it. Especially Flo. She was reminding me of Ron Isley at the end of Twist & Shout!

Going down for the third time
Let me go the right way
Buttered popcorn
You keep me hanging on
Someday we'll be together
Up the ladder to the roof
Gonna let my heart do the walking

On "Nothing But Heartaches", I can't resist joining in on "I can't break away".

"Right Way" and "Nothing But Heartaches" are great examples. Also "Play A Sad Song" and "Whisper You Love Me Boy".

A Breathtaking Guy [[sounds like DMF doing this one in the back)
Come See About Me
Nothing But Heartaches
Take Me Where You Go
Lovelight
You Keep Me Hanging On
Don't Take It Away
Love Is Here And Now You're Gone
Going Down For the Third Time
Love Child
Up the Ladder to the Roof

I always liked the background vocals on "Together We Can Make Sweet Music".

Let Me Go the Right Way
Long Gone Lover
Mother Dear
My World Is Empty Without You [[remix)
Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart
You Keep Me Hangin' On
Going Down for the Third Time
I Guess I'll Always Love You
Up the Ladder to the Roof
Together We Can Make Such Sweet Music
Stoned Love
Automatically Sunshine
Bad Weather
This Is Why I Believe in You
I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking
You're My Driving Wheel
We Should Be Closer Together

"You Are The Heart of Me"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in1m0hJNKok

Sam Cooke Medley - '66 Rooster Tail show from IHAS EE
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - Sing Rogers & Hart EE
Come See About Me
Nothing But Heartaches
Baby Love
Love Is In Our Heart - HDH
Let Me Go The Right Way
Baby I Need Your Lovin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Edgar

Let Me Go the Right Way
Long Gone Lover
Mother Dear
My World Is Empty Without You [[remix)
Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart
You Keep Me Hangin' On
Going Down for the Third Time
I Guess I'll Always Love You
Up the Ladder to the Roof
Together We Can Make Such Sweet Music
Stoned Love
Automatically Sunshine
Bad Weather
This Is Why I Believe in You
I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking
You're My Driving Wheel
We Should Be Closer Together

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Definitely "You're My Driving Wheel" and "Bad Weather" whew......!

"Come See About Me" perfection.

[QUOTE=RanRan79;537637]
Among my favs are "All Of A Sudden", "Around the World In 80 Days", "Stranger In Paradise", "Manhattan", "Blue Room", "Make Someone Happy".

RanRan79, [[All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings seems to drag along too much and die; the Peggy Lee version, from her A Natural Woman album -- and yes, it is a credible cover of that song -- has a much more modern sound to it, with an almost-Motown beat pushed along by a rhythmic bass player and a vocal that builds in wondrous intensity line by line.

And while Diana did fine on the mono version of Stranger In Paradise, the deafening screech of Mary and Florence behind her on the first lines in the stereo version ruin the mood and meaning of the song. In the mono version, the feeling is very intimate and confessional, gently inviting the man to stay, while in the stereo version the listener's sympathy is with the man addressed in the song; he seems to be in a helpless situation, attacked simultaneously by three crazy women, each of whom demands that he forget everything else and be faithful just to her.

But to your point, Mary, Florence and Cindy did have opportunities to shine when the group took on the standards. Make Someone Happy is one fine example; another is in the multi-title medley of Irving Berlin songs from The Ed Sullivan Show. Too, the Rodgers & Hart set and the Country, Western & Pop album gave Mary and Florence chances to provide interesting harmonious backgrounds.

SatansBlues

I absolutely agree with you about Baby Love. The last verse, beginning with Mary and Florence's "need you, want you" and Diana's "oohs" suddenly gels, with all three singing "Baby Love" at the same time, is a stunning, perfect moment; while I've heard this song a few times too many, whenever I concentrate on the last verse I appreciate the artistry all over again. Also, Baby I Need Your Loving is enhanced by the urgency coming from Mary and Florence, particularly during the "in the midnight hour" section.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by benross

RanRan79, [[All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings seems to drag along too much and die; the Peggy Lee version, from her A Natural Woman album -- and yes, it is a credible cover of that song -- has a much more modern sound to it, with an almost-Motown beat pushed along by a rhythmic bass player and a vocal that builds in wondrous intensity line by line.

And while Diana did fine on the mono version of Stranger In Paradise, the deafening screech of Mary and Florence behind her on the first lines in the stereo version ruin the mood and meaning of the song. In the mono version, the feeling is very intimate and confessional, gently inviting the man to stay, while in the stereo version the listener's sympathy is with the man addressed in the song; he seems to be in a helpless situation, attacked simultaneously by three crazy women, each of whom demands that he forget everything else and be faithful just to her.

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To each his own of course. I love "All Of A Sudden" from beginning to end. I'm not sure why your ears process anything on the stereo mix of "Stranger In Paradise" as screeching, but to my ears Florence is my favorite part of the song.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RanRan79

To each his own of course. I love "All Of A Sudden" from beginning to end. I'm not sure why your ears process anything on the stereo mix of "Stranger In Paradise" as screeching, but to my ears Florence is my favorite part of the song.

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i agree - i think Stranger is lovely. I do think the production of All Of A Sudden isn't as crisp or strong as what HDH would eventually do with the Broadway/Hollywood set. All of the MORs on Symphony are treble-heavy. but it was a learning process.