Together lp....1969

[gman]

Want to read some comments about this LP...

it's never been one of my favorites...TCB was a great LP, and I loved everything about "JOIN" except The Impossible Dream...which was great on TCB.

I wasn't listening to FM rock radio yet...so The Weight was a new song for me...I thought it was a very odd choice for a single...but I did like it a bit. It has grown on me a lot over the years..I like Ross and Paul Williams together.

WHY stands out as a much better choice for a single...these 2, and Sly's Sing A Simple Song and Mary and Eddies Can't Take My Eye's Off You are just about the only cuts I find enjoyable.

[sup_fan]

frankly i think ALL of the girls' duet albums were hit or miss. Temps and Tops. Each album has moments of greatness and then lots of moments of mediocrity. all of these groups were amazing and for the most part, the material just wasn't worthy of their talent

if you think about the efforts HDH or Frank Wilson or The Clan put into songs like You Can't Hurry Love, I Hear A Symphony, Up the Ladder, Love Child and then listen to much of the duets work, it's almost insulting


as for Together, i kind of like The Weight. and Why is definitely the top pick from the album. that should have been a US single instead of the Weight.

I think Can't Take My Eyes is another highlight of the album. sometimes mary just phoned in her performance of this song - like the live version on Hollywood Palace. but this is just a stunning version of it. frankly much stronger than the already strong solo studio version she did. her performance here shows what a talent she was when given the proper material and proper producer. she's playful, gorgeous and sexy little ad libs here and there. frankly Eddie is more the one just phoning it in. he does a nice lead but doesn't seem to have the least bit of interaction with mary. of course they most certainly weren't in the studio together but neither were most of the label's duets.

but songs like Stubborn, I'll be Doggone, for better or worse, ain't nothing, uptight. these are just very bland covers. an album can typically handle one or two blah fillers. but there's too many here.

the My Guy/My Girl song is cute but not a masterpiece by any means. something like that frankly would probably work better live. like on TCB. where you can have the visual playfulness to make up for the rather silly song mashup

[reese]

I think I may like TOGETHER a wee bit more than JOIN. Maybe it was the poster.

There are quite a few great songs on it, STUBBORN KIND OF FELLOW, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, and WHY [MUST BE FALL IN LOVE], amongst them. For me, the only misstep is THE WEIGHT, and even that one I don't think is so bad. But it is basically a copy of Aretha's hit from earlier in the year and it baffles me as to why it would be chosen as a US single when there were other tracks like STUBBORN and WHY that could have been released instead.

[Ollie9]

Like most of the groups later albums, “Together” has it’s hits and misses though still makes for an enjoyable listen..
“For Better Or Worse” has strange production, being that with the exception of Diana all other voices sound quite muted.
Never was overly fond of “Cant Take My Eyes” or the cutesy “My Girl My Guy” mashup.
I really like “The Weight”, even though it really was a confusing choice for a single.
Why [[Must We Fall In Love) is probably the most commercial song from the album with brilliant vocals from all concerned. I wish it had been on their previous album and followed “I’m Gonna Make Yiu Love Me” as a single

[marybrewster]

Too much of a good thing is, well, too much.

In less than a year, you have FOUR duet LPS from DRATS and the Temptations:

Join: November 8, 1968
TCB: December 2, 1968
Together: September 23, 1969
GIT: November 7, 1969

You also have THREE DRATS LPS:

Love Child: November 13, 1968
Let the Sunshine In: May 26, 1969
Cream of The Crop: November 3, 1969

You also have TWO Temptations LPS:

Cloud Nine: February 17, 1969
Puzzle People: September 23, 1969

Plus TWO additional Temptations LPS:

Live at the Copa: December 9, 1968
The Temptations Show: July 10, 1969

That's ELEVEN albums, collectively, in 364 days.

Do you think the market was just too saturated with product?

[sup_fan]

Too much of a good thing is, well, too much.

In less than a year, you have FOUR duet LPS from DRATS and the Temptations:

Join: November 8, 1968
TCB: December 2, 1968
Together: September 23, 1969
GIT: November 7, 1969

You also have THREE DRATS LPS:

Love Child: November 13, 1968
Let the Sunshine In: May 26, 1969
Cream of The Crop: November 3, 1969

You also have TWO Temptations LPS:

Cloud Nine: February 17, 1969
Puzzle People: September 23, 1969

Plus TWO additional Temptations LPS:

Live at the Copa: December 9, 1968
The Temptations Show: July 10, 1969

That's ELEVEN albums, collectively, in 364 days.

Do you think the market was just too saturated with product?

totally agree - Berry was using album covers simply for marketing purposes. get Diana's name out there on more print material. Show her versatility by singing all of these different styles

[lucky2012]

I think I may like TOGETHER a wee bit more than JOIN. Maybe it was the poster.

There are quite a few great songs on it, STUBBORN KIND OF FELLOW, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, and WHY [MUST BE FALL IN LOVE], amongst them. For me, the only misstep is THE WEIGHT, and even that one I don't think is so bad. But it is basically a copy of Aretha's hit from earlier in the year and it baffles me as to why it would be chosen as a US single when there were other tracks like STUBBORN and WHY that could have been released instead.

I thought Why Must We Fall In Love was the only choice for a single from the album, with For Better or Worse a good B-side, but you're right, Stubborn Kind of Fellow would have been a very good choice for a second single. Though a loved part of Marvin's discography, it was never a big Pop hit, and this updated version might have corrected that. Also, like the original poster, I like Diana Ross and Paul Williams together.

[Thornton]

Too much of a good thing is, well, too much.

This has always been my take as well. I think T.C.B., Join The Temptations, and The Magnificent Seven would have been enough. Maybe G.I.T. since it was also a TV special.

As far as DRATS, releasing a Love Child album in January 1969 and a final album in late 69 might have helped with chart positions. Just too much content and not all of it the best quality.

[lucky2012]

frankly i think ALL of the girls' duet albums were hit or miss. Temps and Tops. Each album has moments of greatness and then lots of moments of mediocrity. all of these groups were amazing and for the most part, the material just wasn't worthy of their talent

if you think about the efforts HDH or Frank Wilson or The Clan put into songs like You Can't Hurry Love, I Hear A Symphony, Up the Ladder, Love Child and then listen to much of the duets work, it's almost insulting


as for Together, i kind of like The Weight. and Why is definitely the top pick from the album. that should have been a US single instead of the Weight.

I think Can't Take My Eyes is another highlight of the album. sometimes mary just phoned in her performance of this song - like the live version on Hollywood Palace. but this is just a stunning version of it. frankly much stronger than the already strong solo studio version she did. her performance here shows what a talent she was when given the proper material and proper producer. she's playful, gorgeous and sexy little ad libs here and there. frankly Eddie is more the one just phoning it in. he does a nice lead but doesn't seem to have the least bit of interaction with mary. of course they most certainly weren't in the studio together but neither were most of the label's duets.

but songs like Stubborn, I'll be Doggone, for better or worse, ain't nothing, uptight. these are just very bland covers. an album can typically handle one or two blah fillers. but there's too many here.

the My Guy/My Girl song is cute but not a masterpiece by any means. something like that frankly would probably work better live. like on TCB. where you can have the visual playfulness to make up for the rather silly song mashup

Good points, sup_fan, that I mostly agree on. I think of the duets albums as specialty albums so my expectations wouldn't be on the order of those magnificent singles You Can't Hurry Love, I Hear a Symphony, Love Child or Up the Ladder. [Even a studio album like A Go Go is less than stellar.]

I like the song Can't Take My Eyes Off You, but it has been so overdone these past decades, the only version I can truly enjoy is Frankie Valli's original. You're right about Mary's performance on Together is better than her previous performances.
[I've been thinking maybe the reason Diana and Eddie [imo] sound better together is because they are more emotionally historically connected.]

And yeah, My Guy/My Girl would have been better live on TCB.

[RanRan79]

I find that I prefer Join to Together, which is interesting because, going over the track lists, on Join I tend to skip the first three tracks- I really hate their version of "Mountain" with a passion- while digging all the others. However, on Together, I also skip three cuts, "Doggone", "Weight" and "Uptight", while digging all the others. I think I probably prefer Join for sentimental reasons. I acquired it early on in my Supremes fandom, while Together I didn't get until the complete duets release in 2004.

Anyway, regarding Together, I absolutely love their version of "Stubborn". And Lucky has a great point about it as a single. I'm wild about Marvin's version- it lays me out every time I hear it- but it wasn't a big pop hit [[although I suspect that it ultimately ended up reaching a wider audience as Marvin's star power increased and the song was in his set, plus his previous singles might have seen increases in sales when he really blew up with "Grapevine"). So releasing it as a single might have worked for the two groups, although I think it might have needed some remixing. But it's probably the highlight on the album for me.

Another fav is "Real Thing". I think I've told y'all before that I actually prefer this version of the song to Marvin and Tammi's. Those last 40 seconds of the song really do something to me. I play it a lot.

And then of course there's "Why", which definitely should have been a single. Motown was really starting to do some stupid stuff. Why would they ever go with "The Weight" over "Why"? Just dumb, especially when you consider "Why" was a Jobete product. They would have had to split royalties on "The Weight". Dumb, dumb, dumb.

[Ollie9]

Awful cover art, with Diana’s head once again looming out at you in the style of Cream Of The Crop.
Was Gordy really so uncertain of Diana’s unique appeal that her image had to be blown up out of all proportion to the detriment of the other featured artists?.

[RanRan79]

Was Gordy really so uncertain of Diana’s unique appeal that her image had to be blown up out of all proportion to the detriment of the other featured artists?.

My guess: yes.

[marybrewster]

Does anyone know where Diana's picture comes from, from the cover of JOIN? Based on her wig, it looks like 1965/1966?

[sup_fan]

Awful cover art, with Diana’s head once again looming out at you in the style of Cream Of The Crop.
Was Gordy really so uncertain of Diana’s unique appeal that her image had to be blown up out of all proportion to the detriment of the other featured artists?.

haha and it started on Join. although she doesn't have the biggest head on Join, hers is colored in a way to make it the most distinctive.

then there's the LTSI album with the large drawing of diana on front with M and C relegated to porthole windows on the side. and even worse on the back with the larger drawing.

but nothing beats the mega head of Cream

and i just was never a major fan of the art on Together. it's ok. better than Sunshine with its drab and depressing color palette. but i didn't find it amazing. plus they had used a drawing on Join so why on earth NOT use a pic of two stunningly gorgeous groups?

[rovereab]

Luckily, Motown UK made the excellent decision to release Why as a single in the UK. As was mentioned above, the vocal performances on this song are first class.

[daviddh]

Now you've done it
Got this album in my head.
Gotta go have a listen
I remember WHY MUST WE FALL..great track my choice of single...no brainer...what happened here.great vocals.
Some nice songs
Agree , Mary phoned in her vocals at times but her version on Live in Japan is far superior.
Way to much product.
I would have never released GIT.

And combined LTSI and Cream .together .