Diana, Mary, Cindy: Sure Havin' Fun. Or Were They? Hollywood Palace, 1967.

[Methuselah2]

With Sammy Davis, Jr.

http://youtu.be/BA9MJ7TVFXM

Many thanks to Frank Ross for this YouTube posting.

[honest man]

I love this clip.it is in my top 5 DRATS performances ,i wish i could have I Can't stop loving you on cd ,Ilove the whole segment my hearts swells when i see this clip.honestly my 3 girls from my favourite period of this act,God Bless Diana ,Mary, Cindy,girls you were terrific,thank you for post.

[floyjoy678]

I always loved this clip simply for the fact that I am still amazed at how quickly Cindy eased into the group. I mean it took Diana, Florence and Mary quite a few years just to get things right and be at the top of their game and when Cindy stepped in it didn't mess up their routine a bit. Even with Florence gone they were still something special with Cindy but yet there is something missing at the same time [[Florence).

[motony]

remember, Cindy had been working onstage just as long as Diana & Mary, and without benefit of a hit record.

[smark21]

I'm surprised no one has analyzed this video second by second to look for dirty looks and hur expressons on the faces of Diana, Mary and Cindy in order to determine how much tension and conflict was in the group the night of this performance.

This too is in my top 5 of Supremes performances. My other 4 would be: Fats Waller medley; I Guess I'll Miss The Man on Soul Train; Irving Berlin medley; I Know I'm Losing You with The Temptations on Ed Sullivan; and Shake on [[I believe) Ready, Steady, Go.

[Methuselah2]

What's most interesting about this performance to me is just how much of it may have been a performance. It was at a very pivotal and difficult point for the group and looking back on it now in retrospect of the group's dynamics discussed by both Mary and Diana, the interplay seen in this clip may have taken some doing. Certainly I don't know that for sure but the fun between them seen here goes a bit further than that which I had seen the group do before. A show of group cohesion was vital at this point, and that they did. But to my eye, it seemed done just a little too well. Am I being mistrusting? Could be. Am I just flat-out wrong? Could be. But so much of what we saw--and also heard--from the group has proven not quite what it seemed.

[mowest]

What I see in this clip is an example of the "professionalism" of "The Supremes," no matter who was in the group at any particular time.

[Methuselah2]

Mowest - I agree with you. They were being very professional about it and that was, of course, what they were expected to be. And they did it with charm.

[sup_fan]

from what i've read and heard, after Flo left, there was a period where everyone really did try to foster that group spirit. although Di was lead and top billing, Berry and team did try to engage M and C to rekindle some sort of unity. i think it was more around 68 and following that things began to unwind again. the Funny Girl project was great but so obviously a solo platform for Diana. then you get TCB, the whole Love Child project and subsequent recordings w/ studio backups, Like Hep, her other solo tv appearances, GIT, etc

[captainjames]

Maybe it was genuine ----

[BigAl]

I am still amazed at how quickly Cindy eased into the group. I mean

Cindy of course had been pounding the boards for years by the time she was hired so was probably a very quick study. It's my guess, also, that she must have been acutely aware that, as easily as she slipped into the spot, she could just as easily be booted out — and unceremoniously — so I'm sure she knocked herself out to get everything letter-perfect and pitch-perfect in order to keep the job. She had left the Bluebelles without so much as a fare-thee-well, and Sarah, Patti, and especially Nona, were extremely bitter and would not have welcomed her back had she failed as a Supreme. Having burned that bridge, Cindy had no choice but to work, work, work, and it showed. I never saw her exhibit less than total professionalism onstage and off. She was no Florence, of course, when it came to sheer presence, but that's not what it was determined that the group needed by then, after the struggles which preceded Cindy's hiring. Unfair as it was, by that time there was room for only one queen bee in that hive and everybody knew it.

[Jimi LaLumia]

I don't even think it was unfair.. as Cindy came aboard, the name had changed to Diana Ross and.... so it was clearly obvious.. did The Vandellas ever give Martha such problems, or did The Marvelettes give Gladys such problems? or The Four Tops with Levi, or Glady's Pips?..I've always thought the whole thing was overblown and ridiculous..there's A lead singer, ONE!

[BigAl]

Well, I didn't mean it was unfair by the time Cindy was hired. The Primettes/Supremes started out with multiple leads switching off and then that was winnowed down to one lead so it was unfair to Mary and Flo, naturally, but by the time Cindy arrived, Mary was content to be on the support team, and Cindy was hired as such and she was okay with that as well. It was in her contract no doubt.

As Martha Reeves has pointed out, she could see why so much attention was paid to Mary and Florence but she couldn't figure out why so much was paid to Nettie/Roz/Betty/Lois/Sandy/Delphy, since the Vandellas were always really her employees and her group was set up quite differently.

[captainjames]

I think even though there was some tension in the group that it was still genuine to some degree when they were on stage. Mary and Diana remain friendly even after Ross left the group.