Supremes 1974 anthology

[daviddh]

Just thinking.got this collection in 1976 for Christmas.Love Hangover was a huge hit and was my intro to Diana .
I instantly became a Supremes fan as well , loving songs such as Reflections,
You keep me hanging on ,
Itching in my heart.
That said. I think it was side 5 , versatile stylist .6 songs from. Various albums.
To me ,the weakest tracks were from Liverpool. As a matter of fact. Imo.they are awful..
Here's my question.
What are your thoughts.what 6 songs would you choose.
1.manhatten.
2.stormy
3 beginning of the end of love
4.mr blues
5.mister sandman.
6.around the world in 80 days

[reese]

I thought the Versatile Stylists side was a clever idea, giving fans a taste of what they might find on those specialty albums by including one song from each without overdoing it.

My personal faves from those albums are DO YOU LOVE ME, SUNSET, GOOD NEWS, MY FUNNY VALENTINE, and PEOPLE. But I can't argue with the songs they chose, although I find their version of YOU SEND ME a bit of a bore.

[daviddh]

I agree with you although I did like the funny girl medley.
Sunset is a good track.

[lucky2012]

Fun thread, daviddh.

My choices for 1974 Anthology, Side 6 to showcase their specialty albums:

1. You Can't Do That
2. Funny How Time Slips Away
3. Bring It On Home To Me
4. Sincerely
5. Falling In Love With Love
6. Don't Rain On My Parade

Alternate list :

1. House Of The Rising Sun
2. Lazy Bones
3. [[Ain't That) Good News
4. Around The World In 80 Days
5. There's A Small Hotel
6. The Music That Makes Me Dance

I would be satisfied with either list. The Funny Girl tracks, however, should be the 2014 tracks featuring Mary & Cindy. Granted, I don't know which, if any, of the Country,Western & Pop and We Remember Sam Cooke tracks feature Diana, Mary & Flo only.

[sup_fan]

Versatile Stylists
House of the rising sun
Makes No Difference Now
Where or When
Cupid
Coronet Man
Impossible Dream [[from Farewell)

Gems from the Vault [[assuming they had 1 more side to fill)
After All
Blue Room
Don't let true love die
Boy from Ipanema
Stormy
If you should walk away

Sing Motown [[again, assuming there were available sides to fill)
come and get these memories
just a little misunderstanding
heaven must have sent you
shake me wake me
does your mama know about me
this old heart of mine

[daviddh]

i guess i am the only one who hated the 2 beetle covers but the rest of the album set i loved including the booklet.

[reese]

i guess i am the only one who hated the 2 beetle covers but the rest of the album set i loved including the booklet.

There was only one Beatles cover on the US 1974 ANTHOLOGY, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. Was there another song added for other countries?

[JohnnyB]

There was only one Beatles cover on the US 1974 ANTHOLOGY, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. Was there another song added for other countries?

The only change I would make to the Anthology’s Versatile Stylists side is an addition. I’d add My Favorite Things to represent the Merry Christmas LP.

[RanRan79]

Honestly I can't argue against any of the songs included except "You Send Me". I think the other four [["Hard", "Funny", "Falling", and "Greatest") are all highlights from their respective albums. While I like the Supremes' version of "You Send Me", I wouldn't call it a highlight of the Sam Cooke album. "Good News" was the highlight, but there is almost zero chance Motown was going to put a Flo lead on a Supremes comp in 1974. So in lieu of that being an option, "Cupid", "Bring It On Home to Me", "Chain Gang", "Wonderful World" would have all been acceptable replacements.

[RanRan79]

The only change I would make to the Anthology’s Versatile Stylists side is an addition. I’d add My Favorite Things to represent the Merry Christmas LP.

Good catch! I didn't think about the Christmas album not being represented. My personal choice would've been "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" or "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Me".

[kenneth]

The '74 Anthology was one of the first albums I ever bought. I'm sure it was the first 3-LP collection I ever bought. I didn't play Side 5 [[the "Versatile Stylists" side) as often as the others, but thought it was a good inclusion to the set and a nice cross-section of their concept album highlights. I agree, "My Favorite Things" would have been a great addition to the side, so as to spotlight the Christmas album but with a song that can actually be enjoyed year round.

Come to think of it, when did "My Favorite Things" became a Christmas song? It's from "The Sound of Music" and didn't take place during Christmas, but [[at least in the movie) during a thunderstorm. I think in the Broadway version, it was, interestingly, sung by the future Maria von Trapp and the Mother Superior!

[sup_fan]

supposedly the Sups were the ones that sort of took the song into a christmas theme

[reese]

The '74 Anthology was one of the first albums I ever bought. I'm sure it was the first 3-LP collection I ever bought. I didn't play Side 5 [[the "Versatile Stylists" side) as often as the others, but thought it was a good inclusion to the set and a nice cross-section of their concept album highlights. I agree, "My Favorite Things" would have been a great addition to the side, so as to spotlight the Christmas album but with a song that can actually be enjoyed year round.

Come to think of it, when did "My Favorite Things" became a Christmas song? It's from "The Sound of Music" and didn't take place during Christmas, but [[at least in the movie) during a thunderstorm. I think in the Broadway version, it was, interestingly, sung by the future Maria von Trapp and the Mother Superior!

According to Wikipedia, Julie Andrews sang it on a Xmas special in 1961. Then in 1964, Jack Jones recorded it on his Xmas album.

[marybrewster]

I'm just going to speculate, based on a conversation by Mr. George who has been putting together amazing packages for years:

I wonder if those "oddities" weren't included specifically for the fans, or for knowing that those tracks would never see another release again.

I recall George saying that in many of the releases he put together, he added things that he knew the fans would love, or things he knew he'd never be able to sneak into something else. That's why GH&RC has different versions from Cassette to CD, and why some of the budget releases have so many Jimmy Webb tracks.

[daviddh]

my version of anthology had Cant buy me love and Hard Days Night. i think.

[daviddh]

i stand corrected,my apologies. i must be losing it.i used to know this stuff by heart.
1,Hard Days Night
2Funny How Time Slips Away
3You Send Me
4Falling in Love with Love
5greatest Star medley' i thought sure there were 6 tracks, not 5

[kenneth]

According to Wikipedia, Julie Andrews sang it on a Xmas special in 1961. Then in 1964, Jack Jones recorded it on his Xmas album.

Interesting...thanks Reese...K

[Spreadinglove21]

I got this anthology as a double cassette about 1989 or so. I remember when I heard Flo and Mary's voices on Breathtaking guy, and Mary's on Falling in Love with Love that I thought "someone besides Diana Ross got to sing a lead part on a Supremes song?!!!"

The overall anthology and those songs in particular were my down the rabbit hole moments when it came to Supremes and Diana Ross fandom. Not long afterwards I got ahold of the Diana Ross anthology cassette and when it came it out the 70s Supremes Greatest Hits and Rare Classics cassette. And then I was really hooked.

But I enjoyed playing the Diana Ross and the Supremes anthology cassettes over and over again. Great intro to their music. I enjoyed the Speciality songs and I wouldn't change a thing about which were included on it. The good thing is that subsequent anthologies would sometimes select different songs and that probably helped sales as well as we had to go out and buy them to add to our Anthology collections. I especially liked the mid 80s Supremes CD anthology as it included 70s songs on it. One of the first CDs if not the absolute first CD I bought when I finally transitioned to CDs from cassettes in about 1991 or so.

[kenneth]

@Spreadinglove21,

I remember that "A Breath Taking Guy" was a newly discovered track for me on that album, as I think it was already almost 10 years old when I bought the Anthology, and I too was mesmerized by the vocalizing and the dramatic performances. It really was almost like a little play the way they sang it.

I never knew until being a member of this forum that George Solomon produced those 80s GH&RC cassettes to include alternate versions of several songs. That was way before I probably ever thought that there would be different versions of songs on any media. Must make them very collectable now.