Originally Posted by
RanRan79
Berry's vision isn't the issue here. We don't disagree about what he ultimately hoped to accomplish with the Supremes. My argument is that the trio of theme albums, as Reese put it, were not about his plan but about milking the group's popularity any which way he could.
Sam Cooke wasn't even cold in his grave when the girls started recording the album. Anybody who cuts a tribute album on an artist who hasn't even decomposed yet is looking to cash in. That's not me being dismissive of the art of the album. The We Remember album is one of my favorites. But it boggles my mind that anyone would see it as something other than an attempt to get money on the newly unprecedented fame of the Supremes and the death of a popular artist.
And again, the C&W album was dusted off. Dusted off. Lol It wasn't supposed to see the light of day after it's initial shelving, but if the public was screaming that they wanted Supremes albums, and the company is under the gun- if you will- to satisfy that need as quickly as possible, nobody is thinking strategically, and that's why it was brought back out. There's A Place For Us was strategic, At the Copa was strategic, Merry Christmas was strategic. Liverpool, Remember and C&W were only cut to capitalize off of the group's popularity as quickly as possible, which is what happened.
None of those albums did a thing to push the group where Gordy wanted them to go. I don't believe for one moment that the group got any television or concert bookings based off anything they did on those three albums. What got the girls into the Copa, and also into the Copa-like clubs that the girls played while testing out the new act, was what they were already doing in their act: "People", "You're Nobody", "Somewhere", etc, all songs that were recorded during the There's a Place sessions, which was to likely have been the album that Gordy intended to use to showcase the other side of the group that might appeal to the nightclub audience.
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