I just watched Jean and Smokey sing Someday...and it made me wonder considering Jean's amazing talent if they made any attempt to keep her from leaving. Was she too "headstrong" for Motown? I assume her contract was up in 1973.
I just watched Jean and Smokey sing Someday...and it made me wonder considering Jean's amazing talent if they made any attempt to keep her from leaving. Was she too "headstrong" for Motown? I assume her contract was up in 1973.
I don't think they made any real attempt and they were crazy to let her go! Jean was one of the best female vocalists to ever record for Motown. Stories over the years have tried to paint her as headstrong, uncooperative etc,etc. but the truth is Motown frustrated her as they did so many others.
Jean and Smokey singing Someday backed by Mary and Cindy is music made in Heaven!
I have heard the stories about Jean being difficult. She certainly gave Mary some sleepless nights but a reliable source told me that Jean was greatly frustrated at always living in Diana's shadow and certain promises made to her were not fulfilled. I don't wish to go into it too deeply but I will say that few tears were shed when Jean quit the group. It is a great pity because Jean was immensely talented and she may have fared better as a solo artist.Her work with the Supremes remains magnificent and I have nothing but total respect for this ladies talent.
"Jean and Smokey singing Someday backed by Mary and Cindy is music made in Heaven!"
Where can this be heard? Thanks.
A lot of people have spoken about missing it when it was broadcast .
Makes me wish Mary and Cindy had been on the original recording! Mary wearing the only green.. Did Diana wear it before ? Was this purposely to single Mary out? Or size issue? Where was other Miracle??
Last edited by luke; 12-23-2015 at 01:59 PM.
It was a size issue. On a lot of the gowns, Jean wore Cindy's, Cindy wore Mary's and Mary wore Diana's. Now, there were a few instances where Jean did wear Diana's like the yellow bugle bead pantsuit and the silver to bronze sequin/beaded gowns. If that was the case then I would assume Jean could have fit into the green one. I doubt Diana's size changed that much if at all. Maybe the waist was just a bit too uncomfortably tight on Jean? Unfortunately those pantsuits were lost in the fire in Mexico back in 1974 so we don't know the waist size.
When Scherrie and Susaye entered the picture, Mary still wore Diana's while they [[Scherrie and Susaye) wore Mary and Cindy's. Not sure why Mary didn't wear her own gowns as Scherrie and Susaye were much more smaller and petite and probably could have fit into Diana's better. Susaye swam in Cindy's old gowns and those gowns were greatly cut and altered.
I think Jean had 2 more years on her contract with Motown. not sure exactly but when Scherrie joined she couldn't record with them because of a contract issue, not positive but I think she was still under contract with another label and they had to wait it out. as a result no supremes album 1973 or 74. a hits album with Jean called Gold was planned but cancelled after Bad Weather failed. note that BG wanted to manage the supremes twice but MW told him NO but then complained Motown wasn't doing anything for them.
Never heard about Gordy wanting to manage the Suoremes then.
according to all accounts, when the boss did not have his wish granted [[Syretta was his wish for whatever reason) he said that he 'washed his hands of the group', nothing sneaky or under handed, he made the statement and he apparently lived up to it.. so the Gordy touch and/or occasional 'intervention' was taken off the table.. they still bought ads in the trades, booked them onto plenty of tv shows [[they were on Soul Train a lot, and the Ed Sullivan Show going off the air certainly hurt them as well as early 70's solo Ross , Sullivan had been the merchandise show room through the 60's..)
i still think they did well in the 70s. I think the loss of Frank Wilson as producer hurt them, who decided this??? Jean did a great job with them and Lynda was a good addition. Motown closing Detroit location was also a blow not only to the Supremes but to everyone. the only thing BG cared about was making movies. one by one they all left year after year until only the big three were left, then DR left.
I thought the 70s Supremes did quite well in UK. Didn't Soned Love go to 3 and Nathan Jones top 10?
Me and Marv disagree on this,and we're still cool,Jean Terrell was a pain in the you know what,she didn't get alone with anyone,sure she was a great talent,with a great voice,but a very moody person,no one was gonna put up with Jean's different moods,not Berry Gordy,the promoters,and not Mary Wilson and the other Supremes,Jean could have been great,after she left The Supremes,but she didn't want it,she was done with Show Business,wanted nothing to do with it,i'v said this many times,what a great body of work,Jean had with The Supremes.
Thanks Marv for Miracle info
Thx. Same to you Marv!
Jean was indeed difficult, but she was not on her own. It was not all entirely her fault but i do not wish to start WW3 by dredging up stories that are over 40 years old. She could, and should have behaved in a more professional manner , but she was let down badly by certain people and as such basically lost the will to continue. Sad but true.
Three Degrees had more charted singles in the UK than the 70's Supremes, but in terms of BIG hits, Top 20 hits, both groups had 7 each, so in that regard, Top 20 chart placings, it's a tie..
i suppose Jean and Flo had something in common. they both felt let down by Motown . one day the truth will come out but for now I will just enjoy the music they made. just wish we had more supremes 70s stuff with Jean. maybe the 70's Lost and Found will tidy up whats left. I know they did some more work with Frank Wilson in early 73[[Love Train) and a few other tracks. a left over from Floy Joy is in the vaults as well plus all the other out takes.keep our fingers crossed for this
ok.. but from a technical point, the Supremes name, minus Jean, had a 7th UK Top 10 in the 1970's, when the original "Baby Love" was re issued as a single,to promote a "Greatest Hits" album, and the re issued single peaked at #12 in August of 1974..Merry Christmas!!
In the UK When Will I See You Again went to #1, the Degrees also went to #13 "Year Of Decision",#9 "Take Good Care Of Yourself",#12 Givin Up Givin In",#3 "Woman In Love",#10 The Runner, and #9 My Simple Heart in the 1970's, so yeah, UK loved them..but they kept recording through 1979 so they had that advantage, there was no period of studio inactivity
The Three Degrees had 10 top 40 UK hits as well as several other minor hits. The biggest being "when will i see you again" which was a UK no.1. The 2nd biggest being "woman in love" [[not the Streisand song) which reached no.3 tying with the 70's Supremes biggest UK hit "stoned love" which also hit no.3. Merry Christmas!!
apparently "Let My Heart Do The Walking" did nothing over there on the main singles chart
No it didn't but i think the main reason was because Mary had fallen out with the BBC the year before whilst promoting "he's my man". As a result the BBC did not put the follow up single "early morning love" on the radio 1 playlist. They had heavily played "he's my man". Indeed Tony Blackburn had it as his record of the week, but after the disagreement the BBC stopped supporting the Supremes and all subsequent singles were not playlisted and they were not invited back on to "top of the pops" or other variety shows to promote their singles.
What was this falling out about??
Let My Heart Do The Walking was a tremendous return to form for them. great track. it should have been bigger but it did hang in there on Billboard for 13 weeks, kind of a slow burner.
I'm sure Mary's friendships with Dick Clark, Don Cornelius etc helped get them booked on TV. She was highly regarded by many in the industry.
I know that. After leaving Philly they had a couple of stagnant years before returning with great success in the late 70's. Their career kind of died in the States due in no small way to the ladies basing themselves in Europe, They made some great songs and were excellent on the live circuit but they could never replace the Supremes in my heart.
It's perhaps best not to go into too much detail , especially at this time of year but lets just say that during this particular tour the Supremes were not at their best and Mary knew it but did not approve of being told by certain people. Let' s remain positive. Merry Christmas!
Just asking as u mentioned it. Happy holidays !!
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