Here is a list of some unreleased tracks by Diana Ross/The Supremes:
https://dianarossofficialfanclub.com/unreleased-tracks/
Here is a list of some unreleased tracks by Diana Ross/The Supremes:
https://dianarossofficialfanclub.com/unreleased-tracks/
Sadly most of those Supremes Songs either dont exist, have vocals or were assigned to other artists. What a huge joy if The Supremes did record all those songs.
Mary Wilson details each of those songs in her book and when they were recorded! They exist! And I heard some of them!
Mary's book, and specifically the itinerary appendix, is not known for it's accuracy. Much of her recording data is using the old session logs. So a track would have been earmarked for the Supremes and listed as such. but then the group might not have completed vocals for it or done more than a demo or maybe they recorded by then the vocals were wiped.
if you look at the end of the booklet from the Sup L&F set, many of these songs are listed.
Other than the unreleased Disney cuts, I'd be curious to know which Supremes [[not Diana solo) cuts you've heard. As has already been mentioned, Mary's itinerary in the back of her first book is littered with inaccuracies, and the list on your website looks the same way. For instance, you list "One Way Out", but it's already been documented in the Supremes A Go Go expanded booklet that the Supremes' vocals were erased and replaced with that of Martha and the Vandellas. Of course I'd be soooo happy if at least a few of the songs you mentioned [[particularly from the Flo era) surface for release.
I know in some cases, some unreleased cuts only received Supremes backing vocals and then in others the vocals [[lead and/or background) are incomplete. My question for George or the other guys is: has there been any consideration given to releasing incomplete songs? Perhaps editing them and doing a mash up??
This still boggles my mind. How could HDH erase their vocals without doing at least a rough mix? Even on an acetate. I highly doubt they sounded bad. Norman Whitfield did a mono mix of "The Nitty Gritty" before dubbing them over with Gladys Knight and the Pips. Other songs that come to mind include Marvin's "Dancing In The Street" and the Marvelettes' "Tear It On Down," both erased and lost to time because they weren't mixed.
A consideration regarding releasing some of these incomplete songs: The work to put this project together would be so intense and labored that it would not be cost effective. Many fans are so demanding and picky that anything less than perfect would be met with, “They should have never released this!” or “Why aren’t there more background voices?” Or “Oooo, Diana sure sounded off pitch on that phrase. She messed up.” Surely this music which is unreleased must already be very subpar. Just my observation.
Bingo. Our friends at Universal have stated that, when considering vaulted tracks to release, only the tracks which show the artists in the best light are considered. So we’ll see very little in the way of false starts, bad pitch, and so forth. [[Although I’d love such releases!)
They should release sets specifically for rough cuts, demos, not top notch vocals or incomplete songs. I'd still love to hear those and make my own conclusion.
Obviously anything that makes a singer look bad should remain vaulted. That was not part of my question, although I could have expanded my thought a little more. I'm talking specifically about songs that received only a background vocal and songs that have incomplete leads or backgrounds that had they been completed could've been worthy of release. I imagine some songs were cut short because a singer couldn't get it together, whatever the reason. But I was thinking some of the songs may have been interrupted and never resumed or the producers couldn't figure out how to make a certain thing work, etc. But never would I advocate for the official release of anything that made the Supremes look bad.
And as far as cost go, I can't imagine it would be any more costly to create mashups of incomplete songs than it does creating duets between Supremes and Tops or Supremes and Gladys Knight and the Pips, who never officially duetted together.
Now that would be a problem because apparently we're at the point where the stuff that is being released is being consumed by a niche market. What you're describing would only be consumed by the smallest bit of an already small market and Universal wouldn't bother putting money into it.
I always fantasize that the songs that never got vocals are given some of the Motown artists that are still around now. And or have a truly talented singer now put there vocals to the songs. Bring back the sound of the sixties I say.
It is indeed amazing just how much experience she has had in the studio constantly learning new songs from scratch [[probably phrase by phrase), learning to interpret popular/radio songs as not to mimic the originals, and to learn so many of the standards and the way they should be sung. From the beginning, she proved to be a very dedicated, hard worker in developing her craft. I am just baffled as to how busy all three young women were during those years in which they were on top.
while I completely understand Universal's decision to not release errors, incompletes, etc, I find it unfortunate. Any rational fan would understand that these are humans recording these pieces and performance is all about the art of trial and error. I would frankly love to hear these other tracks as it would illustrate their development as singers, the process of recording and creating songs. it's the same case as the alt versions and alt mixes. the producer selected the final released version because that's the way he heard it as "perfect" or "complete." Obviously there were other options with how to create the song but for whatever reason they weren't selected as being the best. that's ok - fun to hear the alternatives.
But of course the crazies on here would use it as ammunition as to why one Sup is better/worse than another
unfortunate
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