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  1. #1

    Was Darlene Love Ever considered as a Possible Replacement for Diana Ross?

    She has always been a great singer and charismatic performer. In 1970, she was available. Her sister went on to sing lead for Honey Cone. Was this possibility ever considered?

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    Darlene was still singing with the Blossoms in the early 70s and then concentrated on raising her family, so she would probably have not been available.

    She has one of the best pop voices around and was used to leading a trio so would have been a great choice, if she had been at all interested.

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    Darlene was never a consideration. BG tried to limit the replacement possibilities to those he already had under contract which is why he scooped up signed Jean Terrell so quickly. At the time of her signing with Motown Jean was merely a contender to replace Ross. Gordy was most interested in Syreeta, but Syreeta was taken under wing by Stevie Wonder and did not want to be in a group setting. Freda Payne was under consideration until it was learned she signed with Invictus.

    When hiring someone under contract to a different label or manager, it is costly and time consuming to get them out of those agreements. Gordy had that problem with Cindy Birdsong and again later with Scherrie Payne.

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    As I was watching videos of The Honey Cone within the past year it suddenly occurred to me that Edna Wright, Darlene's sister, might have been a good replacement in 1970. The Honey Cone's sound, not necessarily any particular songs, might have suited The Supremes very well in the early 1970s.

    As much as I love Jean's voice I don't think she was right for The Supremes, in the long run. The Touch album, which I love, was a great Jean Terrell album but only a so-so Supremes album. Other than avid Supremes fans, anyone buying the Touch album based on the single Nathan Jones and any previous singles and albums was probably very disappointed. The Floy Joy album gave The Supremes a group sound, once again, as well as a Pop and Motown Sound, but it came a year too late. Interest had waned, unfortunately.

    I think Edna is similar to Scherrie in that it would have brought a better group chemistry beyond that initial year of 1970.
    Last edited by johnjeb; 11-15-2021 at 11:27 AM.

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    Wasn't Edna a name that was supposedly thrown around?

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    I don't remember the name Darlene Love being brought up to replace Diana Ross but interesting that the Honey was mentioned here. I believe Mary Wilson wanted Shelly Clark of the Honey Cone to replace Jean Terrell.

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    Quote Originally Posted by marybrewster View Post
    Wasn't Edna a name that was supposedly thrown around?
    Edna gave an interview where she mentioned standing in for a Supreme during a 60s recording session. I think that she might have been confused or the story was later disproven. But I don't remember reading that she was ever thought of as a potential replacement for Diana. Plus by that time, I think she was already signed to HDH's Hot Wax label with the Honey Cone.

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    One name I did hear tossed around with the fans and it was just wishful thinking on our part was Florence returning. There was no way Berry was going to let that happen. It was Berry Gordy's job to find the replacement and Jean Terrell was who he picked.

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    Didn't Darlene sing on the Jimmy Webb album with the Blossoms, along Mary, Lynda and Jean?

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    Quote Originally Posted by captainjames View Post
    I don't remember the name Darlene Love being brought up to replace Diana Ross but interesting that the Honey was mentioned here. I believe Mary Wilson wanted Shelly Clark of the Honey Cone to replace Jean Terrell.
    Yes Captain. Maybe that's who I was thinking of, instead of Edna.

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    Quote Originally Posted by marybrewster View Post
    Yes Captain. Maybe that's who I was thinking of, instead of Edna.
    Yeah I will need to pull out Mary's book again but I think she mentions that in her book.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Spreadinglove21 View Post
    Didn't Darlene sing on the Jimmy Webb album with the Blossoms, along Mary, Lynda and Jean?
    Yes she did! The Blossoms along with Darlene Love are credited with additional background vocals on The Supremes Produced & Arranged by Jimmy Webb LP [according to Wikipedia].

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    Flo’s returning to the group would’ve been a huge huge boost, and if she had her self together I think Gordy would’ve allowed her to come back, but not as lead singer because nothing had changed in that regard: she did not have the qualities to be the lead singer for the Supremes and certainly neither did Mary nor Cindy. They needed a new girl. However, as much as I enjoy lynda laurence, it would’ve been spectacular to have Florence back and Cindy left and I believe Gordy would’ve hired her if she was in shape and got herself together. The bottom line to him was making money, he proved his point that he would fire anybody, and if the issues Florence had in the group initially were problems with diana ross and the hectic schedule, those were no longer issues with the new group. Jean Florence and Mary or Scherrie Florence and Mary would’ve been a complete game changer. Anyone who saw her live I’m sure it will back me up: She would’ve brought either group to life.

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    there's absolutely no way Gordy would ever have considered Flo to ever return to the supremes. even if she had been in an ok state mentally in late 69/early 70. he wanted nothing to do with her ever again. Plus he had had the opportunity to explore her vocal and entertainer potential and she wasn't someone he was interested in.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BayouMotownMan View Post
    Darlene was never a consideration. BG tried to limit the replacement possibilities to those he already had under contract which is why he scooped up signed Jean Terrell so quickly. At the time of her signing with Motown Jean was merely a contender to replace Ross. Gordy was most interested in Syreeta, but Syreeta was taken under wing by Stevie Wonder and did not want to be in a group setting. Freda Payne was under consideration until it was learned she signed with Invictus.

    When hiring someone under contract to a different label or manager, it is costly and time consuming to get them out of those agreements. Gordy had that problem with Cindy Birdsong and again later with Scherrie Payne.
    interesting about Freda - since she had been someone Gordy was interested in working with back in the early 60s. she certainly had the style and sound. in one book Scherrie even mentioned that she heard that her name [[scherrie) had come up at some point in the search for a replacement. that also makes a very interesting What If.

    Here's another what if - we know that in late 69 Tammie Terrell was far too ill. but what if 68 hadn't been such a hit/miss year for DRATS? what if they'd continued their hits? maybe Diana would have gone solo a year earlier and i wonder if Tammi would have been a consideration? we've heard that Gordy loved her voice and style.

    or what about Chris Clark! that would have made for some excitement - a blond white girl joining lol

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post

    Here's another what if - we know that in late 69 Tammie Terrell was far too ill. but what if 68 hadn't been such a hit/miss year for DRATS? what if they'd continued their hits? maybe Diana would have gone solo a year earlier and i wonder if Tammi would have been a consideration? we've heard that Gordy loved her voice and style.
    I'm assuming we're talking about a healthy Tammi because in 1968, she was still ill. Her illness was even mentioned in the liner notes of her and Marvin's YOU'RE ALL I NEED album.

    That said, if we're talking about a healthy Tammi, I would still think she wouldn't be a strong contender. By 1968, she had finally started enjoying the fruits of success that she had been pursuing since she began recording in 1961. If she had been well, perhaps Motown would have invested more in her solo recordings although after Mary Wells, there weren't any consistently successful female soloists there [[besides Diana) until probably Teena Marie. Why would Tammi or Motown want to give that up to become a member of a group? And why would Mary and Cindy want to replace a departing star with another star?
    Last edited by reese; 11-20-2021 at 06:53 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by reese View Post
    I'm assuming we're talking about a healthy Tammi because in 1968, she was still ill. Her illness was even mentioned in the liner notes of her and Marvin's YOU'RE ALL I NEED album.

    That said, if we're talking about a healthy Tammi, I would still think she wouldn't be a strong contender. By 1968, she had finally started enjoying the fruits of success that she had been pursuing since she began recording in 1961. If she had been well, perhaps Motown would have invested more in her solo recordings although after Mary Wells, there weren't any consistently successful female soloists there until probably Teena Marie. Why would Tammi or Motown want to give that up to become a member of a group? And why would Mary and Cindy want to replace a departing star with another star?
    yeah - i'd say let's discuss this assuming a healthy Tammi.

    to be honest, there was never going to be another wildly successful female solo star besides Diana Ross. Tammi would have been WAY down the list after Martha and Gladys Knight. Frankly Tammi's solo career would always have been stuck among the ranks of Brenda and Kim. Same with Syreeta. Tammi had her debut album and a few singles which really did nothing.

    Marvin was the top solo male artist at Motown and they'd continually tried to pair him with a duet partner. Mary and Kim both left before much could happen with their material. the only other real candidate to sing with Marvin, besides Tammi, would have been Brenda Holloway. By 68 her relationship w/ Motown was in the crapper but what about back in 67? had she already started complaining and rocking the boat? it's understandable but it also pretty much sealed her fate there.

    So i think they just sort of figured - ok let's stick Tammi with Marvin and see what happens. rather than some grandiose plan to develop her career. and then it exploded since those duets were just magic

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    I believe Mary Wilson wrote that fans had wondered about Tammi Terrell joining the Supremes but that she was too ill. Plus, she already had name recognition for her duets with Marvin Gaye. Jean Terrell was a good replacement, on the first 2 albums she really took charge and also blended well. Visually on television, she just didn't seem to have the razzle dazzle that Diana Ross had or Florence or Mary & Cindy for that matter. By the time Cindy left and was replaced by Lynda, it seemed Jean got her look and style together more and was starting to get some razzle dazzle but it was too late. Plus, she also started to stand apart from Mary & Lynda at this time much like Miss Ross used to do. Her vocals also became much more nasal starting with Touch, she tempered it down for the mid-tempo Floy Joy LP but she was almost shrill on the Jimmy Webb LP. I found that by the time they regrouped with Scherrie & Cindy that it was a relief to hear the lead vocals provided by Scherrie & Mary, plus they visually were all quite glamorous. I know a lot of fans on here feel like once Jean left, that the Supremes were not what they liked but I had great optimism for the final 2 groupings as I felt they were far more vocally and visually stunning than the latter day Jean group. I am not sure if it would have been any better with Syreeta, I think the Stevie Wonder influence and her solo ambitions would have stalled the group much sooner. Consideration of Freda Payne is interesting since she is also beautiful, talented and glamorous just like her sister Scherrie. I have started to read her book now. Freda and Scherrie have a similar sound although Scherrie is more of a belter and Freda is more jazz influenced. I wonder how all of those who only think Jean was a good replacement would have felt if it was Freda instead especially since they were not loving Scherrie in the group[[which I totally disagree with).

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    i definitely still think that MSC and MSS were Supreme. did they have problems? of course. every line up did

    the blend of MSC on the Sup 75 tracks is some of the best blending of any lineup. it is so smooth and flawless. and this was waaaaaaaaaay before electronic gimicery of today.

    the problems during the Scherrie years IMO is that Mary was attempting to launch a solo career from the group a la Diana Ross. So while Scherrie was hired as a lead singer, she wasn't leading the group really much at all. and of the released songs on Sup 75, Mary is leading half. I think Scherrie just had a more commercial sound and had she been more of a focal point, people might have responded more.

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheMotownManiac View Post
    Flo’s returning to the group would’ve been a huge huge boost, and if she had her self together I think Gordy would’ve allowed her to come back, but not as lead singer because nothing had changed in that regard: she did not have the qualities to be the lead singer for the Supremes and certainly neither did Mary nor Cindy. They needed a new girl. However, as much as I enjoy lynda laurence, it would’ve been spectacular to have Florence back and Cindy left and I believe Gordy would’ve hired her if she was in shape and got herself together. The bottom line to him was making money, he proved his point that he would fire anybody, and if the issues Florence had in the group initially were problems with diana ross and the hectic schedule, those were no longer issues with the new group. Jean Florence and Mary or Scherrie Florence and Mary would’ve been a complete game changer. Anyone who saw her live I’m sure it will back me up: She would’ve brought either group to life.
    While it would've been great to have Florence Ballard back in The Supremes, let's not forget that she was still very angry with Berry Gordy for putting the spotlight on Diana Ross during The Supremes' peak years and for ousting Flo from the group. I don't think there's anyway she'd want to work with Berry again after all that happened.
    Last edited by Motown Eddie; 11-22-2021 at 05:49 PM.

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    If Berry was the one giving the approval for Diana's replacement it was not going be Flo or Tammi.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    the problems during the Scherrie years IMO is that Mary was attempting to launch a solo career from the group a la Diana Ross. So while Scherrie was hired as a lead singer, she wasn't leading the group really much at all. and of the released songs on Sup 75, Mary is leading half. I think Scherrie just had a more commercial sound and had she been more of a focal point, people might have responded more.
    At that point in time another Jean type was needed. It’s a sound the general public would forever associate with the name Supremes, and would have provided continuity.
    Had that been the case, i think songs such as “Heart Do The Walking” And “Let Yourself Go” might have charted much higher.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    At that point in time another Jean type was needed. It’s a sound the general public would forever associate with the name Supremes, and would have provided continuity.
    Had that been the case, i think songs such as “Heart Do The Walking” And “Let Yourself Go” might have charted much higher.
    I respectfully disagree. By 1973, the general public was not embracing Jean's sound. There were constant comparisons to Diana Ross, especially since she had a similar nasal soprano. By 1975, it had been 2 years since Jean left. Mary needed to step up front and sing some leads since she was the only original member and the public needed a new and different sound from the Supremes. Mary, Scherrie and Cindy provided great harmony and visual glamour. Mary, Scherrie & Susaye provided 3 strong individual lead singers perfect for the disco era. The other thing that changed was that the lead singer was no longer aside singing while the other two sang backup and did choreography, now all three were dancing together which was probably related to the disco era and the Supremes trying to be a cohesive unit. That bothered me more than not having a "Jean type voice" singing lead. As I say, fans remark that Florence should have sung lead yet Scherrie had similar strength in her voice with a tone similar to Mary. When she joined and Mary started to sing more leads, I was very optimistic because it was a new sound perfect for the times. I loved Scherrie as lead because she was distinctive, strong and pliable vocally. Jean's voice started to sound a bit too nasal and shrill near the end. I think it was good that the Supremes were fresh and new vocally, you couldn't compare them to who was there before be it Diana or Jean.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jim aka jtigre99 View Post
    I respectfully disagree. By 1973, the general public was not embracing Jean's sound. There were constant comparisons to Diana Ross, especially since she had a similar nasal soprano. By 1975, it had been 2 years since Jean left. Mary needed to step up front and sing some leads since she was the only original member and the public needed a new and different sound from the Supremes. Mary, Scherrie and Cindy provided great harmony and visual glamour. Mary, Scherrie & Susaye provided 3 strong individual lead singers perfect for the disco era. The other thing that changed was that the lead singer was no longer aside singing while the other two sang backup and did choreography, now all three were dancing together which was probably related to the disco era and the Supremes trying to be a cohesive unit. That bothered me more than not having a "Jean type voice" singing lead. As I say, fans remark that Florence should have sung lead yet Scherrie had similar strength in her voice with a tone similar to Mary. When she joined and Mary started to sing more leads, I was very optimistic because it was a new sound perfect for the times. I loved Scherrie as lead because she was distinctive, strong and pliable vocally. Jean's voice started to sound a bit too nasal and shrill near the end. I think it was good that the Supremes were fresh and new vocally, you couldn't compare them to who was there before be it Diana or Jean.
    I think your talking from a personal taste perspective. Scherrie may indeed have been “distinctive, strong and pliable”, but the fact remains the group never scored a major hit after Jean’s departure.
    It certainty wasn’t due to weak material, as some of those songs had genuine commercial
    potential.
    Scherrie is indeed a fantastic lead singer and performer, but her style of voice is not what joe public seems to have clamoured for as a representation of the Supremes sound.
    Had the group reformed in the early 80’s, this might have been very different.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Motown Eddie View Post
    While it would've been great to have Florence Ballard back in The Supremes, let's not forget that she was still very angry with Berry Gordy for putting the spotlight on Diana Ross during The Supremes' peak years and for ousting Flo from the group. I don't think there's anyway she'd want to work with Berry again after all that happened.
    By 1970, Florence was near-broke and no record companies were interested. She had to do something. By the time Floy Joy came out, the writing was on the wall for JMC. They were doing split bills, album sales were dismal ass more attempts to pair the group with the four tops. Clearly the general public had not embraced the new group, only a few singles.

    I truly believe in my heart that, had Gordy come to Florence after a four year cooling off period, they may have come to an understanding that would’ve been mutually beneficial. I am absolutely not suggesting that Florence would take over as lead singer because she didn’t have the chops for that. What Florence could bring to the group was, in someways, more important than what a lead singer could bring to the group: charisma and star power. Flo had it and both she and Gordy knew it. Putting Florence in the group when Cindy left, may have brought back disenfranchised fans and, perhaps subtracted new ones. She still could’ve sang a few leads, more rollicking rhythm and blues numbers but the majority would still wisely go to Jean.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    At that point in time another Jean type was needed. It’s a sound the general public would forever associate with the name Supremes, and would have provided continuity.
    Had that been the case, i think songs such as “Heart Do The Walking” And “Let Yourself Go” might have charted much higher.
    see i think scherrie has a unique voice and style too, like a jean or a diana. but i think she was too blurred into the background whenever the group was live on stage or tv. her voice is very distinctive, has a bit of nasality to help it cut through orchestration and damn, she thread her way in and out of all sorts of heavy backing tracks. the disco tracks the sups did like Let Yourself Go, Wheel, Love I never new, HMM were packed with orchestration. there's a ton going on and they never let up. still scherrie's vocals are able to nimbly dance in and around. she never gets lost or swamped in the song.

    but that's on record

    when the girls were on tv or stage, Mary took over everything. and i like her leading the group but i think it made scherrie too buried in the background. she needed more spotlight so people knew her personality and sound and would equate that to "The Supremes" when they heard a song in a club or on radio

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheMotownManiac View Post
    By 1970, Florence was near-broke and no record companies were interested. She had to do something. By the time Floy Joy came out, the writing was on the wall for JMC. They were doing split bills, album sales were dismal ass more attempts to pair the group with the four tops. Clearly the general public had not embraced the new group, only a few singles.

    I truly believe in my heart that, had Gordy come to Florence after a four year cooling off period, they may have come to an understanding that would’ve been mutually beneficial. I am absolutely not suggesting that Florence would take over as lead singer because she didn’t have the chops for that. What Florence could bring to the group was, in someways, more important than what a lead singer could bring to the group: charisma and star power. Flo had it and both she and Gordy knew it. Putting Florence in the group when Cindy left, may have brought back disenfranchised fans and, perhaps subtracted new ones. She still could’ve sang a few leads, more rollicking rhythm and blues numbers but the majority would still wisely go to Jean.
    the sups waned IMO due to a lack of their group evolving. had DR not had Lady, she would have never maintained her megastar status. that's what truly catapulted her into the stratosphere. and after Lady, there were times where she most definitely displayed a totally new persona, image and sound. TMITM was a revolutionary new sound for her. she'd had a baby, this movie, studied jazz. it was new and fresh.

    the sups needed something revolutionary and fresh. by 72 they didn't evolve and people bored with them

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    see i think scherrie has a unique voice and style too, like a jean or a diana. but i think she was too blurred into the background whenever the group was live on stage or tv. her voice is very distinctive, has a bit of nasality to help it cut through orchestration and damn, she thread her way in and out of all sorts of heavy backing tracks. the disco tracks the sups did like Let Yourself Go, Wheel, Love I never new, HMM were packed with orchestration. there's a ton going on and they never let up. still scherrie's vocals are able to nimbly dance in and around. she never gets lost or swamped in the song.

    but that's on record

    when the girls were on tv or stage, Mary took over everything. and i like her leading the group but i think it made scherrie too buried in the background. she needed more spotlight so people knew her personality and sound and would equate that to "The Supremes" when they heard a song in a club or on radio
    Who knows for sure, but i still don’t think it was the right style of voice to lead the 70’s Supremes. As i mentioned, there were some exciting, contemporary recordings released 76/77 that should have done really well but didn’t. I don’t think Scherrie, and certainly not Mary possessed that unique, radio friendly sound that would separate them from the pack. Like it or not, Jean’s voice certainly cut through the airwaves.
    I wish they had reformed in the early 80’s.

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    MSS sounded great.....on record. Visually, although each woman was beautiful, it just never looked cohesive, like with JMC or JML. And then in concert, it was a free for all, like every woman for themselves. Vocally, S and S could blow Mary out of the water.

    There's a clip of them on Mike Douglas, Mary on a platform, towering above S and S. She looks like an amazon. S and S are singing circles around her, and Mary is trying to do her best, adlibbing "do the walking".

    Even the choreography was a hot mess.

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    That particular appearance was something else . Yes Scherrie and Susaye can sing circles around Mary but her performance of Don’t let my teardrops bother was the best vocal of that appearance. Scherrie and Susaye didn’t sound that great on the background vocals
    Quote Originally Posted by marybrewster View Post
    MSS sounded great.....on record. Visually, although each woman was beautiful, it just never looked cohesive, like with JMC or JML. And then in concert, it was a free for all, like every woman for themselves. Vocally, S and S could blow Mary out of the water.

    There's a clip of them on Mike Douglas, Mary on a platform, towering above S and S. She looks like an amazon. S and S are singing circles around her, and Mary is trying to do her best, adlibbing "do the walking".

    Even the choreography was a hot mess.

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    Quote Originally Posted by blackguy69 View Post
    That particular appearance was something else . Yes Scherrie and Susaye can sing circles around Mary but her performance of Don’t let my teardrops bother was the best vocal of that appearance. Scherrie and Susaye didn’t sound that great on the background vocals
    totally agree that this was a magical performance of Teardrops!! i think S and S are singing fine but needed to be a bit softer. more like sexy whispers in the bacground. maybe just not as close to their mics.

    the staging is a mess with mary on that top box

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    also wish they had some of their new gowns and outfits instead of reusing the red pants suits and the farewell gowns. but just listening to the audio is wonderful on this. and i've read in some of the reviews for their shows that fans have posted over the years that occasionally Teardrops was in the live act too

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    I do remember someone posting teardrops from the Bachelors show on YouTube, hopefully it will pop up again

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    In the studio MSS sounded great. But some of the live things I've heard, oy! All that singing going on. Whoever was their show director should have told them that less is more.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Spreadinglove21 View Post
    In the studio MSS sounded great. But some of the live things I've heard, oy! All that singing going on. Whoever was their show director should have told them that less is more.
    i agree. there was too much ad libbing from everyone. and too much 3 part harmony and too much trading off of lines between the girls on all the songs. just too much. I understand and appreciate that they were positioning themselves as three singers, each capable of being lead. as opposed to 1 lead and 2 backup singers.

    but still it just got to be all over the place. you didn't know where to look since they were forever swapping lines and they were all over the place.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    i agree. there was too much ad libbing from everyone. and too much 3 part harmony and too much trading off of lines between the girls on all the songs. just too much. I understand and appreciate that they were positioning themselves as three singers, each capable of being lead. as opposed to 1 lead and 2 backup singers.

    but still it just got to be all over the place. you didn't know where to look since they were forever swapping lines and they were all over the place.
    The mistake was in continually highlighting that all three women were capable of singing lead. Fine for concert performances, but perhaps less so for recording or tv appearances.
    ”Don’t Let My Teardrops” could easily have been a hit single, along with “Closer Together” Having said that, i don’t think the general public were familiar enough with Mary’s voice to associate those songs as representing the Supremes.
    Had the focus regarding the singles and tv appearances been solely on either Scherrie or Mary, it might have lent the group a more distinct sound and identity.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    i agree. there was too much ad libbing from everyone. and too much 3 part harmony and too much trading off of lines between the girls on all the songs. just too much. I understand and appreciate that they were positioning themselves as three singers, each capable of being lead. as opposed to 1 lead and 2 backup singers.

    but still it just got to be all over the place. you didn't know where to look since they were forever swapping lines and they were all over the place.
    I remember reading in Mary's book that when Susaye joined she was instrumental in making Mary and Scherrie feel freer in their vocals but then later that Susaye had been ad libbing so much that Scherrie & Mary had to pull back vocally so it didn't sound as if all 3 were trying to sing lead. I remember reading that Pedro had told Susaye she would be lead singer if she joined so perhaps she found this not to be true and in rebellion she was making herself be heard. Scherrie was lead singer but did not seem to assert herself as much as her predecessors did. Mary was thinking she had gone through so many singers in the past few years and that she was the only member staying that there needed to be some consistency and that her voice should at least be heard in case the group kept getting more personnel changes. In the studio, they clearly did some spectacular work but live they did not recapture that sound. On songs Mary sang lead on , it really missed her vocals in the background. She was always able to ground the other, higher voices and as Diana Ross said, her voice had a great deal of warmth to it. Still, technically, Mary Scherrie & Susaye could not be beat-they really had the goods if they had been managed properly and Motown was able to see how they could be a powerhouse for Motown in the disco era.

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    Susaye made a comment once while being interviewed on Midnight Johnny's show - he was asked her a bit about mary's statements that Susaye would break out of the routines or what was rehearsed and also trying to get her to comment on some of the more nasty statements mary made in her book. Susaye took the high road and didn't sling any mud. but she did reiterate that she has always been a professional and never has broken from routines or what was rehearsed.

    On the records, the Hollands used Susaye's voice as an accent piece. they layered her ad libs onto Walking, Wheel. she and Scherrie did the ad lib ending for Sweet Dream. they layered Susaye onto We Should Be closer. and all 3 really ad lib a lot on LYG, LINKYCFSG and if you listen closely, also on don't Want To Be Tied Down.

    So they were trying to recreate some of the recorded vocals while performing live. but the ad libs live seem more all over the place. plus M and S would join in too. Like when they sang LYG live. on the recording when they sang the chorus line of "let yourself go..." there's an echo effect on the vocals, making them reverberate and ring. obviously they couldn't do this live so they would all shriek out 'go ,go, go go go" IMO it just didn't work.

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    found this on Facebook had to post

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    yeah i read that review too. and there's a second review from the Royal Hawaiian appearance. it was not at all positive. and i think it was a bit harsh. Susaye had, literally, just joined the act. I'm sure she was nervous and the group was trying to keep up with their live appearances. so i think the reviewer could have taken that into account a little more.

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    I read that one too . He was also critical of Scherrie but gave a good nod to Mary but it was a harsh review
    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    yeah i read that review too. and there's a second review from the Royal Hawaiian appearance. it was not at all positive. and i think it was a bit harsh. Susaye had, literally, just joined the act. I'm sure she was nervous and the group was trying to keep up with their live appearances. so i think the reviewer could have taken that into account a little more.

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    i read one of Randy's newsletters that was shared on FB. he reported that he had just met the new MSS lineup, they had a photoshoot for the cover of the new album [[High Energy) wearing simple orange gowns. wonder if it was actually the casual red outfits that they wore - like on the back of the album and on the Soul Train performance.

    the orange gowns that they wore on Soul Train in 77 were new then. so i don't think they had a photo session in them for the HE album

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    I just read Darlene Love's memoirs and she never said a word about anybody even approaching her about being a Supreme. I think she would have mentioned that had it been true. Darlene is one of my favorite singers but I don't think she'd have made a good Supreme. She's an alto. I think Scherrie was a perfect replacement but by the time she came around, fate was cast.

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