Love Child LP....."I'll Set You Free"

[gman]

Anyone know any tidbits about this song? Have any comments? it is a great song, and one of my favorites on the LP. However, the background vocals are so loud that it leads me to believe that this isn't what would have been intended as a finished mix.
Who is on background? Doesn't it also sound like it would have fit better style wise on the Reflections LP? I like side 1 more than side 2 of both of these LPS

[blackguy69]

Anyone know any tidbits about this song? Have any comments? it is a great song, and one of my favorites on the LP. However, the background vocals are so loud that it leads me to believe that this isn't what would have been intended as a finished mix.
Who is on background? Doesn't it also sound like it would have fit better style wise on the Reflections LP? I like side 1 more than side 2 of both of these LPS

It’s Mary and Cindy. I think it does fit with the the Love Child lp.

[danman869]

It’s one of the few songs [[on LC) where Mary and Cindy are singing background vocals. There’s a version on the Lost & Found set, too—early lyrics that don’t flow as smoothly.

[RanRan79]

Definitely Mary and Cindy. It's one of my favorite Supremes songs of any era. I think with a little remixing the song was good enough to be a single. I feel that way about a few of the tracks from Love Child. Motown didn't milk that album the way that it should have.

[captainjames]

The cover of Love Child is my favorite. There is really not a bad song on the album.

[sup_fan]

it's definitely a strong DRATS track and great having all 3 girls doing the singing. while it would have working on Reflections, I don't think it was recorded in time. I do like the song and I like most of the songs on LC album. however I wish Motown had stuck with the original concept for the LP and then saved these strong songs [[like I'll set you free) for other studio albums

[daviddh]

great track.love the album

[midnightman]

Mary & Cindy letting it RIP on the bgs. This is why the Supremes were so great... Diana and that sultriness. You can hear where Michael was influenced heavy by Diana in this track!

[Circa 1824]

I love love this song. I also like the loud backup voices.

[TomatoTom123]

I LOVE this song! And yea you can hear Mary on the "baby, baby" bits. Really catchy and I love the build up. Produced by Berry Gordy himself!

Also I shall have to check out the version on the Lost & Found, thanks danman

[Weslley Francisco]

My Favorite track from the 'Love Child' abum. Mary is killing it on the background vocals! I like the way she belt out that "I'LL SET YOU FREE!"

[kenneth]

I have always felt that "Love Child" was their best LP overall, the most cohesive, at least of the latter Ross/Supremes LPs. I know we've discussed it on other threads, but this song, "Keep an Eye," and "How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone?" to me is Diane and the Supremes at their absolute best.

[sup_fan]

the first four tracks are great and really work well together. they're moody, serious and the productions are strong. but then it shifts to a totally different tone and style. most of the remaining tracks are great but they don't fit with the socially relevant theme that the first 4 set up. I think if motown had stuck with the original concept to have the entire lp focus on social topics and serious songs, it would have provided the girls with a very strong "concept" lp.

[midnightman]

Motown really didn't know how to do albums until Marvin showed them how.

[kenneth]

the first four tracks are great and really work well together. they're moody, serious and the productions are strong. but then it shifts to a totally different tone and style. most of the remaining tracks are great but they don't fit with the socially relevant theme that the first 4 set up. I think if motown had stuck with the original concept to have the entire lp focus on social topics and serious songs, it would have provided the girls with a very strong "concept" lp.

That would have been amazing. I guess they finally did an album like that with Jean and "New Ways But Love Stays."

[franjoy56]

I think cindy was great hitting those high notes as well.

[theboyfromxtown]

Us older fans will recall that the version included on the mono album in the UK had different lyrics to the stereo version.

I use to spend a lot of time searching for the UK mono copy for US penpal fans. In those days, we use to use what they now call snail mail but in those days it was called parcel post.

I feel old now! lol

[westgrandboulevard]

Less of the old! You'll always be younger than me.....

[paul_nixon]

Us older fans will recall that the version included on the mono album in the UK had different lyrics to the stereo version.

I use to spend a lot of time searching for the UK mono copy for US penpal fans. In those days, we use to use what they now call snail mail but in those days it was called parcel post.

I feel old now! lol

Is that the version used on Let The Music Play?

[BigAl]

This quickly became my favorite track on the Love Child album.

It's definitely Mary in there, so I'm assuming Cindy is as well, although her voice was less distinctive and more difficult to pick out.

Most of the background vocals are sung in unison, but in the spots where they harmonize it's definitely more than two voices. Now, whether this was just overdubbing of Mary and Cindy, or whether an Andante or two was added, has always been a question in my mind.

[BayouMotownMan]

It's a strong track and pre-dates the Jackson 5 sound that came a year later. I definitely hear the Andantes on the bridge. It was not unusual for producers to add the Andantes over group members to get a fuller sound.

[BigAl]

It's a strong track and pre-dates the Jackson 5 sound that came a year later. I definitely hear the Andantes on the bridge. It was not unusual for producers to add the Andantes over group members to get a fuller sound.

Considering how often Andantes were added to augment or sweeten background vocals for Hitsville groups, I've always suspected that you're correct in your supposition, and that this is just another instance of that, rather than an overdub, which would be a lot more work in the final analysis. Easier to grab a couple of Andantes from down the hall.

[RanRan79]

In the radio of my mind I knew that I didn't hear anyone but Mary and Cindy on this song, but I wondered if the Andantes might be on the part where they sing "wonderfuuul" because as I played the song back in my mind I thought it's possible that it's someone else. But I just went back to listen twice and I still only hear Mary and Cindy, especially on the "wonderful" part...that sounds like pure Cindy. Mary and Cindy we know were often replaced in the studio by the Andantes, but lets not forget that both women were very accomplished background vocalists who knew their way around a microphone. That Andantes as replacements for them [[and the Vandellas) seems like more of some strange habit Motown got into as opposed to the Andantes actually being needed because the singers they replaced were subpar. "I'll Set You Free" is a perfect Diana Ross and the Actual Supremes recording in my book.

[luckyluckyme]

It's interesting to listen to I'll Set You Free with headphones one ear at a time- a reversion to an earlier era's mixing style. Cindy & Mary's backgrounds on the left; Diana lead vocals on the right.
gma proposes that it might not have been meant to be mixed that way; I believe it was purposefully mixed that way.
And according to the annotations in Let the Music Play -the Supremes Lost & Found, what was released [[mono, stereo, alternate U.K.stereo mix) were in fact the second version, produced by Frank Wilson & Hal Davis.
Berry Gordy produced the earlier first version but all those mixes are still in the vault. I wonder if the backgrounds figure as prominently in Berry's mixes?

[johnny_raven]

Berry Gordy produced the earlier first version but all those mixes are still in the vault. I wonder if the backgrounds figure as prominently in Berry's mixes?

Berry mixed 2 versions [[3 if you count the band track), while Diana mixed 1 of the first version. The backgrounds are more muted on Berry's mixes.

[bradsupremes]

I only hear Mary & Cindy on this track. I don't hear any additional voices.