Originally Posted by
RanRan79
I have heard Mary downplay her own vocal abilities, but never heard her downplay her role in the group. But yeah, that always annoyed me that she would knock her own talent in comparison to Flo, Diana and the others.
Acknowledging that "talent" is subjective, IMO in the early days, based off those initial Primettes/Supremes recordings, Mary was as good a vocalist as Florence and Diana. They all had their strengths and weaknesses, of course. Mary always had a gorgeous tone. There was just something special about her tone, which ultimately made her such an integral part of the background, but as a lead vocalist, she had something that someone should have taken an interest in. She was a strong singer. Her lead vocals from the mid 60s thru the early 70s didn't always showcase this. Maybe it was self confidence or something else, but clearly at some point her lead vocal abilities weren't as strong as they once were. As the 70s moved on, Mary got stronger and stronger as a singer, and by the time her story ended, Mary was one of the few singers of her generation IMO who still sounded on top of her game.
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