The Supremes at the Flamingo

[marybrewster]

The Supremes played the Flamingo in 1966 and 1967; did they not return in 1968?

It's also curious to me that with their previous appearances, the "Farewell" engagement would have been at the Frontier instead of the Flamingo.

I believe the Flamingo changed ownership in 1967; perhaps that was the reasoning?

[reese]

I'm not sure what happened after 1967 but I assume the Frontier came to the table with a better bid and outbid the Flamingo.

A year or so later, in a similar vein, they started playing the Waldorf instead of the Copa, with Berry saying the move was due to more $.

[sup_fan]

it might also be which hotel had a larger showroom, bigger facilities. the girls were certainly big successes at the Flamingo for those two gigs. maybe frontier was just willing to put up more money. IMO the Frontier was a strong property but not necessarily as powerful a name as some of the others.

here's the info i have on the group's Vegas gigs:

Sept 66 - Flamingo
July 67 - Flamingo
July 68 - Frontier
early 69 - Frontier [[any info?)
June 28, 69 - Flamingo??? [[i have this listed but highly doubt. that's the same start date as their 67 gig when flo was ousted)
Dec 69 - Frontier farewell
Aug 70 - Frontier
Nov 70 - Frontier? seems odd to have two so close together
Sept 71 - Frontier
Jan/Feb 72 - Frontier
April/may 74 - Riviera
Sept 76 - Aladdin
Dec 76 - Caesar's

[bradsupremes]

I believe the move over to the Frontier was based on more money. Plus Howard Hughes owned the Frontier at the time so he had pull. During Diana's farewell show, Frank Sennes announces that both The Supremes and Diana will be performing at the Frontier for the next three years.

September 29 - October 16, 1966 - Flamingo Hotel - Their first Vegas appearance and I believe the first major Black recording rock and roll group to perform Vegas.

June 28-July 19, 1967 - Flamingo Hotel - The first four days are with Florence and then rest of the engagement is with Cindy.

July 2-15, 1968 - Frontier Hotel - Their first engagement at the Frontier.

January 30-February 12, 1969 - Frontier Hotel

December 23-January 14, 1970 - Frontier Hotel - Diana's last gig with the group.

August 27-September 23, 1970 - Frontier Hotel - Their first Vegas engagement with Jean.

November 19-December 2, 1970 - Frontier Hotel - They return just two months after their engagement for a two week run. I have concert reviews from this gig but it isn't said why they are back so soon. Possibly another artist had to cancel and they filled in at last moment or because their August engagement was so successful that they were brought back. There is the photo of the billboard in Vegas saying "Back Again!!"

September 16-October, 1971 - Frontier Hotel - According to reviews, they had a four week run for this engagement.

January 27-February 23, 1972 - Frontier Hotel - They debut a new live show and rumor was Motown recorded this engagement for a potential live album. This was their engagement at the Frontier.

[sup_fan]

I believe the move over to the Frontier was based on more money. Plus Howard Hughes owned the Frontier at the time so he had pull. During Diana's farewell show, Frank Sennes announces that both The Supremes and Diana will be performing at the Frontier for the next three years.

September 29 - October 16, 1966 - Flamingo Hotel - Their first Vegas appearance and I believe the first major Black recording rock and roll group to perform Vegas.

June 28-July 19, 1967 - Flamingo Hotel - The first four days are with Florence and then rest of the engagement is with Cindy.

July 2-15, 1968 - Frontier Hotel - Their first engagement at the Frontier.

January 30-February 12, 1969 - Frontier Hotel

December 23-January 14, 1970 - Frontier Hotel - Diana's last gig with the group.

August 27-September 23, 1970 - Frontier Hotel - Their first Vegas engagement with Jean.

November 19-December 2, 1970 - Frontier Hotel - They return just two months after their engagement for a two week run. I have concert reviews from this gig but it isn't said why they are back so soon. Possibly another artist had to cancel and they filled in at last moment or because their August engagement was so successful that they were brought back. There is the photo of the billboard in Vegas saying "Back Again!!"

September 16-October, 1971 - Frontier Hotel - According to reviews, they had a four week run for this engagement.

January 27-February 23, 1972 - Frontier Hotel - They debut a new live show and rumor was Motown recorded this engagement for a potential live album. This was their engagement at the Frontier.

would be great to know the show for that last one. there have been fan bootlegs from the 71 Central Park and 71 Carter Baron with the Tops. the show would typically start with Feeling Good/loving country/together we can make, love story, love the one your with, 60s medley, can't take my eyes and then their hits of River, SL, Everybody's, NH and would end with the revival/Oh Happy Day.

And then the next bootlegs i have are with Lynda and the Temps tour, and they had started to bring back in the DRATS stuff like TCB, you're nobody and then songs like Lean on Me, it's alright with me

[bradsupremes]

would be great to know the show for that last one. there have been fan bootlegs from the 71 Central Park and 71 Carter Baron with the Tops. the show would typically start with Feeling Good/loving country/together we can make, love story, love the one your with, 60s medley, can't take my eyes and then their hits of River, SL, Everybody's, NH and would end with the revival/Oh Happy Day.

And then the next bootlegs i have are with Lynda and the Temps tour, and they had started to bring back in the DRATS stuff like TCB, you're nobody and then songs like Lean on Me, it's alright with me

The 1972 Frontier show, some of the songs they did were "Where You Lead," "Floy Joy," "Day By Day," Mary did a lead on "I Feel The Earth Move." There is audio of them on The Merv Griffin Show doing "Where You Lead" - just a few weeks before they opened at the Frontier and they discuss debuting the new show.

[blackguy69]

in case anyone who hasn’t heard it yet lol

[sup_fan]

so then between Jan/Feb when they were doing the Where you lead show and Aug when they were doing the DRATS retread show, someone made the foolish decision to take the group back

[bradsupremes]

so then between Jan/Feb when they were doing the Where you lead show and Aug when they were doing the DRATS retread show, someone made the foolish decision to take the group back

Yes, I think it was Gil who brought back the old Farewell charts. Jean adamantly refused to sing "Love Child."

I know its been discussed on here several times of what kind of shows they should have been doing at the time, but there were some big missteps in 1972 that put things into a tailspin. Cindy's departure kicked off it and the choices along the way including going back to the DRATS Farewell charts really sunk them.

[sup_fan]

Yes, I think it was Gil who brought back the old Farewell charts. Jean adamantly refused to sing "Love Child."

I know its been discussed on here several times of what kind of shows they should have been doing at the time, but there were some big missteps in 1972 that put things into a tailspin. Cindy's departure kicked off it and the choices along the way including going back to the DRATS Farewell charts really sunk them.

it almost like in nearly every situation the worst possible option was selected - Jimmy Webb, adding 10,000 additional singers to the JW album, reintroducing the DRATS material.

[REDHOT]

Some nights Mary would do the lead on Where You Lead instead of Jean.

[daviddh]

Not sure why Jean would refused to sing LC.seems strange.
I did like the new line up harmony and they did some nice songs ,we've Only Just Begun,where You Kead,Lean On Me.

[BayouMotownMan]

Not sure why Jean would refused to sing LC.seems strange.
I did like the new line up harmony and they did some nice songs ,we've Only Just Begun,where You Kead,Lean On Me.

Jean had already become very vocal about not singing the Diana Ross-led hits as they only proved to add to the comparisons between her and Ross that she was already sick of. Love Child was essentially a Diana Ross solo, with the shirt etc. It was associated more with Ross than the group. Jean was right, to a point. But one medley of the old songs would have been sufficient. The audience expected to see three girls do the STOP choreography. But by this time Jean was doing full versions fo I Hear A Symphony and Love Is Here. She loathed the Vegas tunes [[It's Alright With Me), etc.

God help the fan who put a Diana Ross & The Supremes lp in front of Jean for an autograph. LOL

[sup_fan]

Jean had already become very vocal about not singing the Diana Ross-led hits as they only proved to add to the comparisons between her and Ross that she was already sick of. Love Child was essentially a Diana Ross solo, with the shirt etc. It was associated more with Ross than the group. Jean was right, to a point. But one medley of the old songs would have been sufficient. The audience expected to see three girls do the STOP choreography. But by this time Jean was doing full versions fo I Hear A Symphony and Love Is Here. She loathed the Vegas tunes [[It's Alright With Me), etc.

God help the fan who put a Diana Ross & The Supremes lp in front of Jean for an autograph. LOL

haha that would have been AMAZING to see a fan hand Jean Cream of The Crop, with the giant Diana head!! or what if they handed her Surrender or something of Diana solo lol

Bayou you've also mentioned on here how the jean hits were being discarded in the live act or crammed into one medley. at one point, there were actually 2 60s hits medleys in the act!! and they only did Stoned Love and whatever the latest release was - perhaps IGIMTM or BW. so to have all of Jean's own material tossed aside, would have only further antagonized her.

[marybrewster]

haha that would have been AMAZING to see a fan hand Jean Cream of The Crop, with the giant Diana head!! or what if they handed her Surrender or something of Diana solo lol

Bayou you've also mentioned on here how the jean hits were being discarded in the live act or crammed into one medley. at one point, there were actually 2 60s hits medleys in the act!! and they only did Stoned Love and whatever the latest release was - perhaps IGIMTM or BW. so to have all of Jean's own material tossed aside, would have only further antagonized her.

I'm sure in ANY incarnation, when the general public came to see "The Supremes", they were looking to hear the THE SUPREMES; the Diana lead songs. The "Baby Loves" and the "Stops" and every other hit. Jean couldn't have been foolish enough to think otherwise.....could she?

[Ollie9]

I'm sure in ANY incarnation, when the general public came to see "The Supremes", they were looking to hear the THE SUPREMES; the Diana lead songs. The "Baby Loves" and the "Stops" and every other hit. Jean couldn't have been foolish enough to think otherwise.....could she?

I don’t think she was foolish in wanting progression. A lengthy medley representing their 60’s hits would have been enough. They needed to show they were evolving in sound and style.

[sup_fan]

I'm sure in ANY incarnation, when the general public came to see "The Supremes", they were looking to hear the THE SUPREMES; the Diana lead songs. The "Baby Loves" and the "Stops" and every other hit. Jean couldn't have been foolish enough to think otherwise.....could she?

totally agree that a Supremes' concert can't NOT have Stop or some of the big 60s hits. I don't think she was opposed to having them included but her own material was being consolidated into such a brief medley. on the In Japan album, the intro of "three little girls in a kingdom by the sea" lasted about 1:10 and Cherry Pie also ran about 1:10. Automatically Sunshine, Nathan Jones and Floy Joy each barely get 1:00.

Also jean was VERY stubborn about how she would perform. when singing any of her songs live, she made pretty much 0 attempt to follow the vocal melody she recorded on the record. she felt she was an artist and wanting to challenge herself to continually reinvent how she sang these tunes. problem is the audience knows the song as on the record and that's how THEY sing it. Fans have mentioned the Gil and others tried to encourage her to sing things more like what people were accustomed to so they could sing along and be part of the live experience. she had no interest in such advice

now imagine audience reactions to her total reinterpretations of Come See, Reflections, etc. so it was sort of a no-win situation for her. she refused to make any attempts to sing the songs like how the people wanted to hear them

[marybrewster]

I guess I still don't know who was in charge of song selection. Was it Gil? Motown? Mary? Did Jean have ZERO say in what the set list was?

[sup_fan]

I guess I still don't know who was in charge of song selection. Was it Gil? Motown? Mary? Did Jean have ZERO say in what the set list was?

i've wondered the exact same thing. i would have thought the girls had much more say in things as we got into the 70s but others have said no, motown ran it all still.

Bayou recently shared a story [[i think i'll recap it correctly) of Jean being on tour and signing albums/autographs. he or someone presented the Dynamite album, which she had no idea was even being released. and she was NOT pleased by the surprise of it

my understanding is Mary set up Supremes Inc about the time J and L were leaving. at that point motown probably assumed the group would disband and they'd be done with it. but mary set up the organization to run all of the logistics of tours, photo shoots, group itinerary, etc.

i don't think i would say Gil was dismissive of the girls and their opinions. i've never heard that about him. i'm sure if there were concepts or ideas they liked or wanted to suggest, they could. doesn't mean it would happen but i don't think MJC were totally removed from any and all creative decisions. but sounds like they might have had input but definitely no final authority.

[bradsupremes]

The ladies had a say in what songs they wanted to sing, but I don't think they had full authority over the structure of the show or song selection. They had more control than they did in the 60s. Lynda wasn't a fan of singing "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You," and hoped to sing "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" but I'm not sure if she did or not as it was the late summer of 1973 when it was her and Jean's last gig at Magic Mountain.

In 1971, their show was basically structured with one 60s hits medley consisting of five songs and then full versions of the 70s hits along with "Love The One You're With," "Oh Happy Day," "MacArthur Park." I don't know whose bright idea it was to condense the 70s hits into a medley by 1973. No wonder Jean was fed up with the direction things were going. You can't branch out of your predecessor's show if you are doing the showtunes they did when they were in the group like "Somewhere," "It's Alright," and "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You."

[BobbyC]

Did someone mention the Flamingo? This is from Cashbox 1966