Jean Terrell, Clifton Davis & "Never can Say Goodbye"

[Jimi LaLumia]

so Jean brought Clifton Davis to Motown with her eyes on "Never Can Say Goodbye" for The Supremes, and Gordy yanked it away and gave it to the Jackson 5?

[smark21]

so Jean brought Clifton Davis to Motown with her eyes on "Never Can Say Goodbye" for The Supremes, and Gordy yanked it away and gave it to the Jackson 5?

Jean recoreded a version of the song while with The Supremes. YOu can find it on the 70's Anthology that came out about 8 years ago. But it suffers from a very Vegas type arrangement and in no way compares to either the Jackson 5 or Gloria Gaynor versions.

[REDHOT]

I don't think Motown,put any time in to THE SUPREMES,Never can say goodby,but i still love it,no matter what.[[smile)
Please stay positive

[marv2]

She probably should have stuck it out with Allen Toussaint a little longer. He ended up producing a monster hit, "Lady Marmalade" on LaBelle! hehehehehe.........

[Jimi LaLumia]

I know that a lackluster version was eventually recorded by The Supremes, but that was obviously after The J5
got the star production with the first release of song;
the saga of Jean bringing Davis and the song to Motown is in Randy Tarraborelli's book on MJ, "The Music And The Madness";
The Supremes should have been allowed to run with the song first..

[stephanie]

Jean Terrell is a great singer but her version pales in comparison to the Jackson 5. I cant help thinking that Frank Wilson is and always will be the best thing that happened to the 70s Supremes as well as Smokey Robinson.

[Jimi LaLumia]

oh course her version pales!
after she BROUGHT the song to Motown, they took it away from her and gave it to the J5 with a front line production job;
I don't blame Jean for not being into it by the time they 'allowed' her to cut an under produced version,after letting the J5 have the hit with the song she had found

[ivyfield]

It's criminal how Jean was treated. On many tracks from her era she WAS the Supremes. Especially the early Frank Wilson produced stuff. Though I'm very lucky to have been in her company many times during the Jean, Scherrie & Lynda evolutionism of The Supremes, she rarely talked about the way she was treated. To me, her voice was phenomenal and live - sensational. So sad that we only got 3 years of Motown studio recordings from the lady but what great gems we do have. I'm lucky to have some pictures taken with her and she looked stunning. Always [[vocally) my favourite Supreme. If you go on YouTube you can hear a great splice job of Jean's and Diana's rendition of Laura Nyro's 'Time and Love' which uses the same backing track and [[I think) Andantes' bv's, certainly isn't Wilson & Birdsong anyway. I was with Scherrie, Lynda & Joyce a couple of weekends ago in Amsterdam for a show [[posting a clip from it tonight on YouTube) and Scherrie told me Frank Wilson has been suffering from cancer but is now on the mend. Does anyone know any more about his current state of health? I wish him well. Always one of my favourite Supremes' producers. Stoned Love still gives me tingles - can you believe that?!! I must have heard/played it a Gazillion times since 1970. Steve Weaver, UK.

[Ramone Verona]

There's a good story on "Never Can Say Goodbye" in the liners of TCMS.
It differs some from what has been suggested here.

[Jimi LaLumia]

what is TCMS?

[Ramone Verona]

Hip-O's "The Complete Motown Singles" volumes.....
Many, many, many stories from the writers, producers, artists.
Setting the "record" straight.
Good stories from Ralph about Meat Loaf.
What did Ralph think of his performance on "Celebrity Apprentice"?

[Jimi LaLumia]

page 82 of "Michael Jackson; the magic and the Madness"
"Clifton Davis was brought to Motown by supremes lead singer Jean Terrell-who replaced Diana Ross in the act-in the hopes that her group would have "Never Can say Goodbye" as a single.No such luck.Though they did record it,the song was not released by The Supremes"....

The Supremes version was recorded in June 1971,while the J5 single had already been released in March of 71 and became an instant hit; so Jean was clearly shut down by Motown,why should she have bothered toiling over what would have then been a 'cover' version of the song she discovered in the first place?

if that initial Motown production of "Never Can.." had The Supremes in there instead of the J5, it surely would have been a major hit for the group

[Jimi LaLumia]

what is the TCMS version? do they even mention Jean's involvement in bringing Davis on board?

[BayouMotownMan]

Hi Steve, betcha don't remember me. lol

I LOVE Jean's version of Never Can Say Goodbye. Very bluesy and soulful. I asked Harry and Andy to include it on the 70s Anthology. I don't hear any Supremes on this track however.

I too love Jean, her image and that voice. I know many have said nasty things about her but she has always been kind to me. If I were to call her right now she'd stop what she was doing and talk with me. A sweet lady.

I kinda question the report that Jean brought Clifton Davis to Motown. For those of us who have that rare "Open-ended interview" that was released to DJs to promote the "Touch" album, Jean was speaking about "Here Comes The Sunrise" from that album that Davis had written. She turned to Mary and said "What's the name of the Jackson 5 song Mary" to which Mary responded with "Never Can Say Goodbye." She also referred to the writer as "Clifford" Davis, which kinda indicates to me that she didn't know him very well.

Hey Steve, post those pics of Jean and share some remembrances with us

[Jimi LaLumia]

sounds fishy to me.. The J5 track was a #1 hit for Motown at the time and she didn't know the name of it?..I don't know..
and she didn't have to know Davis as a friend for her to bring him and the song to Motown..and i don't believe that Diana Ross discovered the J5 either...lol

[marv2]

sounds fishy to me.. The J5 track was a #1 hit for Motown at the time and she didn't know the name of it?..I don't know..
and she didn't have to know Davis as a friend for her to bring him and the song to Motown..and i don't believe that Diana Ross discovered the J5 either...lol

LOL!!!!!! hehehehehehe.........man you are funny! LOL!