Harmony and Background

[jim aka jtigre99]

Mary Wilson stated in her books that by the time the group consisted of her, Scherrie Payne and Susaye Greene that it was again what it once was with herself, Florence Ballard and Diana Ross which was three group members who all were lead vocalists. When Diana Ross wrote about the harmony in the group she stated that Mary had the perfect sound in between her and Florence which blended their voices and that Mary's voice had a great deal of warmth. When thinking of how they blended together vocally, most on this forum probably would say the original trio had the best harmony vocals but I also feel that the grouping of Mary, Scherrie and Cindy Birdsong also blended together beautifully. In backgrounds Florence was quite strong except for Where Did Our Love Go, where Mary stood out[[I think HDH felt if she was considered as the possible lead by one that her sound would really be more in line with the tone of the song). Once Cindy joined and she was a much softer voice, Mary became stronger in the background to adjust and they blended together beautifully. Once Jean joined, their blend was much stronger than when it was with Diana, Mary and Cindy. Mary and Lynda had a decent sound together but it seemed that the blend was a bit off and different and I preferred Mary and Cindy together. Once it was the last grouping, I also found the harmony a bit off and that they were 3 lead singers showcasing their voices and unlike with the originals, Mary was much stronger and no longer seemed to anchor the other two voices as readily as she did with Florence and Cindy. Out of all of them, I really prefer Mary, Scherrie and Cindy with their blend-it seemed so beautiful and perhaps as stated in the LYG Collection by Mary, it was perhaps the nicest group so that is reflected in their harmony vocals. Just my opinion and that is just what I hear and I am sure others will hear things differently.