Originally Posted by
RanRan79
I have audio of the Supremes singing "We've Only Just Begun" but I can't remember where I got. It's beautifully done. Easily one of my favorite JMC live cuts.
My mindset regarding the deep cuts is that performing them is promotion for the albums, which the Supremes lacked. The 60s were the decade of singles and the decade of specialty albums, where everyone was recording an album in tribute to an artist, style, period, etc. The average popular artist album consisted of one or two, maybe three, hits surrounded by a bunch of filler, especially Motown. The 70s was a different time. The albums were now as important as the singles and JMC/L were not selling huge numbers of albums, even when they were selling huge numbers of singles. The girls were still a hot live act that first two years. Right On and New Ways and Touch could've benefited greatly from the exposure of what could be found on the albums, apart from the singles. In the case of Touch, I think adding "This Is the Story" to the live act could've been a huge winner for them, as I can hear it being a showstopper. As an album cut it is IMO one of Jean's finest vocal performances.
Floy Joy and Jimmy Webb could've also benefited from more deep cut exposure, although in the case of the JW album I just think it would've still tanked by word of mouth reviews. In listening to some of Jimmy's other stuff [[I really am unfamiliar with most of his work and thus had to look into some of his productions for himself and others in order to create the Jimmy Webb medley in my post...which has also led me to fall in love with Glen Campbell's "Honey Come Back"), I just fail to hear what made anyone think he was a perfect pairing for the Supremes. The big thing that Jean and Diana had in common was their ability to equally sing pop and r&b and pretty much everything in between. But most of the productions on JW don't seem to fit Jean at all, even though she turned out some very fine vocals on at least half of the songs. But I don't see anything about that album resonating with the public. The missed opportunity was completing and releasing the Stevie Wonder album. That was bound to be a critical success, if not a commercial one.
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