Mary performs You Keep Me Hangin' On at the Apollo

[midnightman]

Around the time Walk the Line was out...

The Apollo's immediate response tells you everything!

[BayouMotownMan]

Better than the vocal group hall of fame clip. She looks great and sounds better, but this was not a good idea. She put this on her Walk the Line lp and it only amounts to more comparisons to a lady whose shadow she needed to get out of.

[midnightman]

Well at that point in her career, she wasn't even trying to fight the ghost. Lol

[marybrewster]

Is it just me or is Mary singing over the track? Sounds like some parts are live and some are Memorex.

I have a copy Mary's "Love Child", an outtake from WALK THE LINE. It's the same exact background instrumentation as Sweet Sensations cover of the same song.

[midnightman]

^ Might be!

I think she's singing to the song's backing track. I think the band is playing live but you can tell that the backing track is also playing.

[TheMotownManiac]

She’s mostly lipping to her track but her mic is live. But a woman nearly 50 trying to break thru as a disco diva is sad and touching - the arrangement is great, the vocal is good enough but nothing special and her enthusiasm cannot be denied - yet there’s a harshness to her manner and her voice - plus - when she sings these type of songs, the limited melodiousness of her voice is spotlighted. Any drag queen worth her eyelashes could get that crowd on its feet with that track - it was not beneficial to Mary to sing old Supremes songs because she can’t re-invent them enough to claim ownership in her own right. The ballads on that album had potential, the rockers? ��🤮

[midnightman]

Doggone, MotownManiac, you didn't have to do Mary like that! Lol

[marybrewster]

She’s mostly lipping to her track but her mic is live. But a woman nearly 50 trying to break thru as a disco diva is sad and touching - the arrangement is great, the vocal is good enough but nothing special and her enthusiasm cannot be denied - yet there’s a harshness to her manner and her voice - plus - when she sings these type of songs, the limited melodiousness of her voice is spotlighted. Any drag queen worth her eyelashes could get that crowd on its feet with that track - it was not beneficial to Mary to sing old Supremes songs because she can’t re-invent them enough to claim ownership in her own right. The ballads on that album had potential, the rockers? ��🤮

The only exception might be when Mary sings "My World is Empty". She completely captures a different vibe than the original, but then again, it's the same vibe Scherrie served 30+ years earlier.

[milven]

It is commendable that Mary and the other former Supremes can make a living singing the old Supremes songs when the Original Voice of The Supremes is still out there selling out crowds.

I enjoy Mary when she does non Supreme shows. But she does not seem to do too many of them as I guess they attract a smaller audience and are not as profitable as a Mary Wilson of THE SUPREMES show.

[Roberta75]

It is commendable that Mary and the other former Supremes can make a living singing the old Supremes songs when the Original Voice of The Supremes is still out there selling out crowds.

I enjoy Mary when she does non Supreme shows. But she does not seem to do too many of them as I guess they attract a smaller audience and are not as profitable as a Mary Wilson of THE SUPREMES show.

I think Marys real great on ballads but she needs to do fewer Supremes hits. She doesnt sound good at all on this recent show at the Riverfront concert in Detroit.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?ebc=ANyP...e_continue=347

[RanRan79]

It is commendable that Mary and the other former Supremes can make a living singing the old Supremes songs when the Original Voice of The Supremes is still out there selling out crowds.

I enjoy Mary when she does non Supreme shows. But she does not seem to do too many of them as I guess they attract a smaller audience and are not as profitable as a Mary Wilson of THE SUPREMES show.

Am I being too hard on Mary when I accuse her of not trying hard enough to carve a place in the music world out of the shadow of her former group? It just seems like after the group ended when she should have been taking advantage of her connections in the business [[she appears to be very well liked and popular), she'd constantly fall back on the Supremes side of things. It's hard for people to see her as anything other than Mary Wilson of the Supremes, especially when she's billing herself that way, when in fact she's capable of handling so much more than the old Supremes tunes.

[midnightman]

It is commendable that Mary and the other former Supremes can make a living singing the old Supremes songs when the Original Voice of The Supremes is still out there selling out crowds.

I enjoy Mary when she does non Supreme shows. But she does not seem to do too many of them as I guess they attract a smaller audience and are not as profitable as a Mary Wilson of THE SUPREMES show.

I don't know, milven. After she left the Supremes in 1977, Mary still had ample opportunities to extend outside being known as just a member of the Supremes. When she left, she was only 33 and she definitely could've found a producer that discovered how they can use her ample voice for songs. She didn't have to do disco the first round, she could've done a ballads album and build from there. I actually think her voice would've been great for songs like Someone That I Used to Love or The Rose or whatever. But somehow she never seemed to take that opportunity so she did what paid the bills [[Supremes songs). At some point in the early '80s, she settled on that and never really looked back.

[RanRan79]

But somehow she never seemed to take that opportunity so she did what paid the bills [[Supremes songs). At some point in the early '80s, she settled on that and never really looked back.

That's pretty much how I see it. Of course paying the bills and making sure the children were well taken care of had to take priority, so I shouldn't be too hard on Mary. She found something that was comfortable and it worked [[and it was work) so she did what she needed to do. I just wish she had branched out. I don't care what her detractors say, Mary had the goods: voice, look, stage presence to be a singer who didn't sing in the shadow of her former group. She was never going to be Diana Ross or even Gladys Knight, in terms of popularity, but she could've made a Phyllis Hyman/Me'lisa Morgan type name for herself, someone who has a hit here and there, has solid album sales, and commands a good audience. Mary would always throw in a Supremes tune or medley like Diana has always done, but it would mostly be the Mary Wilson show. The Supremes should've been an after thought.

[midnightman]

She had four children, she had to do what she had to do. I don't blame her for relying on singing the Supremes songs. Even now, she does them just for that purpose. Sure it's easy to say "do a show without doing Supremes songs" but it's easier said and done AND it's part of her legacy so why not? *shrug*

I just think it was bad management that was a major part of why she didn't spread her wings further than what she could've done and you're right, she definitely could've blossomed outside being in the Supremes shadow. She had all of that you claimed but for some reason, it didn't work. It's kinda sad but Mary's happy now so I can't knock it.