ALL I WANT is my fav. Cindy lead....her voice is very light...its a true chorus voice that blends well. You can hear Cindy clearly holding her own in both accapella versions of the Star Spangled Banner. I'm glad her role was expanded in the 70's. I think Mary Scherrie and Cindy had the consistently best live blend.
What a nice assortment of performances, even if most were just momentary breakout leads. It certainly demonstrates that Cindy was more than capable as a vocalist and performer. The trouble [[if you can call it trouble) was that her voice wasn't particularly distinctive. I certainly couldn't have identified it in a "blind listen." She wasn't cut out to be a consistent lead. Conversely, that's probably the reason she worked so well as a group member, being able to blend in so easily behind the likes of Patti, Diane, Jean and Scherrie. If the friction with Pedro hadn't transpired, I imagine she could have ridden the act to its final conclusion. [[Not to short-sell Susaye with her four octaves, but by that time the act became sort of a free-for all with each member trying to outdo the others.)
Whether Cindy was "lead" material or not, it would have been nice to "hear" her with a breakout line or two during the DRATS years. I'm happy that during the 70's she did get a chance.
I particularly like her backup singing on hes my sunny boy. Ill set u free. I will wait for u and then as well as her solo on let the sunshine in. Farewell show
the first time I ever heard Cindy sing a solo line was the "where we can be..." in Up The Ladder To The Roof....you can also hear Cindy very well in the Good Morning Starshine portion of the Hollywood Palace opening medley from late '69
both Cindy and Mary have beautiful voices and they're very talented in background singing. And i certainly am not implying that "background singing" is something lesser. In many aspects, it's more challenging. blending is not an easy task and when you're singing more intricate harmony lines, you really have to have an excellent ear for pitch.
I think M and C might have had the best background blends of any lineup. F was certainly a larger personality on the stage and her rich soprano was wonderful. and she and M did blend very well too. i just think M and C might have hit an even more perfect mix
As for Cindy leads, her lines in Bridge Over Troubled Water are gorgeous. She has a sexy and breathy singing style that she worked wonderfully. Some of her lines and words are almost whispers or warm caresses. lovely
When Cindy joined the group, Diana was already one of the biggest stars in the world. Cindy's job was to look pretty, and say and sing as little as possible. She knew that going into the group so there could be no bitterness regarding her role. The other gal, whatshername, has bitterness and envy coming out of every orifice -- then and now.
Last edited by Circa 1824; 04-15-2019 at 01:17 PM.
Cindy's contract probably had dozens of clauses regarding things like deportment, professionalism, appearance, and so forth. A friend once suggested that what it boiled down to for Cindy was, "Show up, doll up, and don't make trouble." For Mary of course it was different. Seeing the act she had helped create with four, then three, singers sharing leads devolve into a springboard to stardom for the very last singer to join must have been awfully hard to take, despite the worldwide fame it brought all of them. It's regrettable that she turned that disappointment into 250 pages of cathartic venting, but money talks. The book certainly didn't hurt Diane's career and it helped Mary's, so in a sense it might even have balanced the scales a little, but in an admittedly unattractive way. But I digress. It took guts to step into an act which was facing all kinds of inner turmoil and uncertainties, and would be akin to stepping into a pool of alligators. Even though I hated the changes and the people responsible for them, and never felt the same about the act, I can't imagine anyone who could have done it any better than Cindy did.
Cindy also sang a true 1/3 of lead vocals in the 3 part version of The Sha La Bandit
During the MSC period, she also sang lead on "Where Did Our Love Go," and in spots sounded eerily like Diane.
I'm inclined to agree here. The problem for me is that one of the things I loved about Flo and Mary together was missing in the Mary/Cindy combo. Flo and Mary had an edge to their harmony which fit in well with the r&b/pop style the Supremes developed, along with the songs they sang. To me, Mary and Cindy had more of an easy listening vibe. Actually they would've sounded great on a lot of the MOR stuff that was recorded during the Flo years. Mary had the ability to blend with anyone. Vocally she was a bit of a chameleon. She could go hard or soft. Flo brought the gospel/bluesy edge to the harmony. Cindy didn't bring that. She brought more of a Tabernacle choir vibe, if that makes any sense. Which makes it so weird to me that anyone thought the Andantes were needed on the Funny Girl album.
One of the the worst things for Cindy, at least in my mind, was that they made her deliver Flo’s onstage quips, which worked so beautifully for Flo in her Pearl Bailey-esque delivery, but not for Cindy. You’d think they could have come up with other things for her to say. It actually hurt my heart to hear her have to deliver those lines and have them fall flat.
Bookmarks