Originally Posted by
RanRan79
Yeah, I really think Jean, and Mary and Lynda honestly, would have really fit with the sound Willie was crafting. I also think he would have been great when Scherrie came in also. I could hear her killing something like Willie's "Love Power".
What evidence is there that Berry asked Smokey to do it or that he didn't want to do it?
Sorry but I don't believe this. When acts stray too far outside of what they were known for, they were often met with a lack of success. The style that Sup Fan referenced was not going to fly with the Supremes' R&B audience, and there's no reason to believe that the group's pop audience would've taken them any more seriously. Remember, part of the charm of the singer/songwriter "period" is how personal the entire process was with that particular artist. Unless the Supremes were going to write their own material, this really doesn't fit them. Are there exceptions? Absolutely. As I mentioned before, I think if Carole King had been brought in to do the Supremes' album instead of Jimmy Webb, she had a certain quality that I think would have leant itself well to the Supremes staying true to themselves while also stepping into a bit of new territory. Nothing about JW says this would've been the case. I agree, the group needed a hit badly, but why think so far outside the box, when the box was working for awhile and seemed to be doing extremely well for so many others?
in theory, I agree with you, however, this act needed a hit - any hit IMO - to stay alive. You can’t build a following on Floy Joy. I think a hit n an unfamiliar genre might have led them into a new, positive direction. Even DMC slipped some due to the off time from Reflections to Love Child. The box, in this case never really worked as JMC began to slip from day one. They needed that big smash but only got “hits”...music was evolving and their box was not. Three Degrees, Labelle and Honey Cone were fresh and new while JMC were wearing the gowns and beating a ten year old act to death. They seemed old and passe’.
I think "Bad Weather" needed a bit more punch in the groove. I find no fault in Jean's vocal, or Mary and Lynda's, or the writing. But there was a bit of punch that was usually present in a Stevie hit that was missing from the instrumentation of "Bad Weather". And while this is probably the most insignificant of critiques that could have any bearing on the outcome of the record, I have to say that the title of "Think I'm Going To Run Into Bad Weather", which Mary says was the original working title, seems more catchy than the simple "Bad Weather". Maybe that's a nitpick, but it resonates with me.
in retrospect, Jean’s Recorded vocal is fine. In ‘73, it was a screeeeetchy mess that most folks hated. Everyone I played it for Literally winced. There’s a reason it was totally dismissed by radio even with Stevie’s name attached.
Is it possible that "I Guess I'll Miss the Man" was released to satisfy a need for product as opposed to being recorded specifically for single release? Interesting scenario to ponder. I suspect though that it was recorded and released as intended. It is a beautiful vocal by Jean, but it's failure may, again, speak to my point about going outside the box. Give this song to Barbara Streisand or Dionne Warwick, as is, no deviations, and it's probably a hit. Certainly charting better than it did. In the hands of the Supremes, I imagine people heard it and said "That's the Supremes? PASS!".
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