10 minutes with Mary Wilson of the Supremes

[marv2]

http://www.grandrapidsmn.com/grand_p...a4bcf887a.html

Posted: Saturday, February 9, 2013 6:00 am

by Nathan Bergstedt Herald-Review

Mary Wilson IS the Supremes. What more is there to say? Aside from being the only member of the vocal trio to last in the group from beginning to end, being one of the founding members, she is also the best-selling author of “Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme,” which is widely considered to be one of the premiere rock ‘n roll/pop music biographies of the 20th century.

Wilson will be in Grand Rapids on Friday, Feb. 15, for a performance at the Reif Center. But before arriving, she sat down for a phone interview with the Herald-Review, where she talked about looking back at her life as a Supreme, her writing ventures, her relationship with former group members, and the Supremes reunion tour slated to occur in 2000 which she didn’t participate in, and which was eventually cancelled.

Question: Since you began performing with the Supremes, you’ve toured and performed live almost tirelessly since the 1960s, but you’ve produced only two solo albums since the Supremes broke up. Why so few recordings?


Mary Wilson: Well, they weren’t even albums! [[laughs) So it’s even fewer than that. It was really difficult; no one wanted to sign me. I’ve recorded quite a number of things over in the UK, mostly. And I’ve had about, maybe, three or four different releases, but never anything substantial. So I’m not quite sure why.


The other thing too is, coming from a group situation and not having been singing up front, a lot of people just didn’t know what I did as an individual.


Q: As a member of the Supremes, out front or not, you became more than superstars because of the legendary status of the group. I assure you I’m not trying to suck up, but how does it feel to know of your particular role in shaping music and popular culture over the course of the past few decades?


MW: Well, it feels great! I do shows all over the world. And obviously people know the music all over the world. And no matter what position I held in the group, I still was singing. And so people know all the songs, they know all the members of the group, and so it really just feels great to be out there. It’s been 54 years...we didn’t have much for records in the first four years... but to have recorded all those beautiful songs and to have toured all over the world, it feels great. In fact, there is a magazine that’s out on the news stands right now, and it’s called “My Supremes: 50th Anniversary Celebration.” So it’s great, you know, to still be working after all that time, and having so many people who know our music and our lives and our history. And they’re doing plays made after the Supremes, and they’re writing books. So it’s a wonderful feeling!


Q: What prompted you to write your autobiography, “Dreamgirl”?


MW: I started keeping diaries when I was 17-years-old. And it all came about because my teacher in Detroit...one of my English teachers... said to me that if I didn’t do all of my work, I wouldn’t be passing, and I wouldn’t be touring with this group I was singing with. So I buckled down and did my homework and passed his class. But he also, in passing me, said to me, “You should consider becoming a writer, because the paper that you turned in was absolutely brilliant.” So it was at that time that I started keeping my diaries.


Since we were doing so many great things at that time, I knew that one day I would be writing that book, and I did it from my diaries.


Q: You followed it up a few years later with “Supreme Faith,” and both of these books enjoyed a large amount of success. Any plans for any further books?


MW: Yes, I’m constantly writing, keeping my diaries, doing all those things. And I would like to, one day, release a book on my life and the lessons I have learned throughout my life; sort of like a layman’s philosophy book on life. And I have to tell everyone that my two books were actually my entire story, so I figured that at that time people only wanted to hear about the success story. You know, the Supreme’s story; the Cinderella story. So that’s why “Dreamgirl” was the first part of it, and then I released the second part later, but it was all written as just one piece.


Q: There’s been word about some strain in the relationship that you have with Diana Ross. So I suppose there’s two questions: Is there any truth to this? And how would you describe your relationships with all the other former members of the Supremes?


MW: Well, we were family, and we still are family. So what perpetuates that is that in every family and every group kind of situation, there’s always differences. No matter how much you love each other, there’s always differences. And people tend to... you know, they heard about one dispute or two, they figure that it’s some sort of on-going battle. But it really isn’t. We just had different opinions about things. We still love each other.


But one of them was very visual, very vocal, so people really kind of put that up front. And I think we do that in life, you know, even in our individual days. If something goes wrong, we think about it like crazy! But the good things, we don’t seem to put as much validity into. So when I write my next book, I’m going to say that. We really have got to learn how to count our blessings and put our blessings up front.


Q: The one instance that you were referring to, was that the reunion tour incident?


MW: Yes, that was a major one. It was really vocal.


When I wrote my book, I did write almost everything in there, so there were things that were kind of... it was in there that we don’t all think the same way, so people put it all together and figured that we all hate each other. Well, that’s just not true.


Q: How did all the other former Supreme members feel about the autobiographies?


MW: I don’t know, but I still have a good relationship with everybody. So that’s what I’m saying; our relationships are still good. Of course, we’re not on the phone with each other everyday like we used to be when we were in the group. And we’re all older now, so we’re not as chatty as we used to be, but we still are in contact with each other. I see some of the ladies often.


Q: You’re going to be here on Feb. 15. What can people expect with this show? Are you planning on performing a lot of the Supreme classics? More solo recordings?


MW: First of all, whenever you have a group like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Four Tops, everybody usually always sings their songs that people know them by. So that’s kind of a given fact, and I’ll be doing that. I sing all the Supreme songs. Well, I wouldn’t say all of them, because we have a lot, but you know. Almost all of the hits will be sung.


And then I do other material; current songs. I do songs by Stevie Wonder, songs by Sting. So it’s really an eclectic kind of show in terms of the type of music that I do. I also do some Broadway songs as well. And I also invite people on stage.


I have a new single that’s out on iTunes and Amazon which is called “Life’s Been Good to Me.” People can upload that -- or is it download? I’m not sure; it’s all a new industry for me now. But it’s a new song, “Life’s Been Good to Me,” and it’s really very, very good. I’ll probably do that as well in the show.


Mary Wilson will be at the Reif Center on Friday, Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $36 for adults, $33 for seniors, $18 for students, and are available at the Reif box office, Reed Drug, by phone at 218-327-5780, or online at www.reifcenter.org.


For more information on Mary Wilson, visit her website at www.marywilson.com.


Posted in Grand people on Saturday, February 9, 2013 6:00 am. | Tags: Mary Wilson, Supremes, Nathan Bergstedt, Herald Review

[luke]

Great article-thx!

[cleoharvey]

"The most famous backup singer in music" has stepped forward and is continuing the dream. Sadly, Mary has her detractors but most would agree that this beautiful lady happens to be one of the nicest people in this business. And, she is still here, a survivor not destroyed by tragedy, drugs, or alcohol. We need to celebrate her.

[luke]

Great to hear from u cleo!! I sure agree about Mary!

[marv2]

"The most famous backup singer in music" has stepped forward and is continuing the dream. Sadly, Mary has her detractors but most would agree that this beautiful lady happens to be one of the nicest people in this business. And, she is still here, a survivor not destroyed by tragedy, drugs, or alcohol. We need to celebrate her.

I totally agree Cleo and thanks!