Originally Posted by
RanRan79
I'm grateful for Jean as a Supreme from a musical standpoint. She's such an awesome vocalist. Easily one of my favorite voices ever. And I get what attracted Gordy to the idea of Jean taking Diana's place in the group. Jean and Diana had two different sounds but they had the ability to affect the listener in similar ways. All the stuff Diana sang lead on as a Supreme- particularly once they hit big- Jean could have done with a similar effect. Jean, like Diana, could sing just about anything and make it work. Vocally, she was a perfect replacement for Diana. But with everything considered, it was probably in everyone's best interest if Jean had signed with Motown as a solo act and someone else [[not Syreeta) had stepped into Diana's shoes. [[I realize they were already contracted by Invictus, but whatever Motown wanted, they got, didn't they? So my favorite choices to take over for Diana was either Freda Payne or Edna Wright.) It wouldn't surprise me a bit to learn that Jean resented sharing the lead with Mary. Let's not forget that much of the music business is driven by ego. Why should Jean be any different? She may have thought that the Supremes would be her launching pad like Diana. And then, what, like a year or so into the group and suddenly she's sharing leads on singles with Mary Wilson [[whom we know isn't always regarded as a highly skilled singer...an opinion I do not share, btw)? She may have had an issue with that. She also may have had an issue with any "I'm the leader because I'm an original" mentality that Mary may have expressed. IMO Mary earned the right to have that mentality, but when dealing with a Jean Terrell, who may have had a hard time being "led" by anyone, I could see it not going down too smoothly. But that's life, isn't it? Wherever you find people you'll find conflict. It's just sad that so often where the Supremes were concerned, these conflicts could never resolve themselves. They just got bigger and bigger until there was an explosion. And that explosion usually ended with someone's exit.
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