So no thoughts on my Wanda Rogers scenario?
So no thoughts on my Wanda Rogers scenario?
Yes. Wanda has a Diana vibe . I could see it!
Jimmy Ruffin was asked to become a member of the Temptations. Saundra Edwards joined the Downbeats to become the Elgins. There was therefore the precedent for a solo performer to become a group member.
I don’t think it would have worked at all. I was never crazy about Wanda’s voice to begin with and felt it lacked energy. Her voice may have worked on the jazzier end like “Hunter” and “Don’t Mess With Bill,” but I don’t think she had it vocally in her to do the Supremes material/nightclub style show. They may have gotten the attention from Smokey, but that would have taken away all the magnificent work Frank Wilson did.
Jean was vocally right on, no pun intended.
Last edited by bradsupremes; 10-04-2018 at 11:06 PM.
My opinion is the lady who should have been considered and replace Diana Ross was Saundra Edwards. As a singer she had the best voice to keep it sounding supreme while bringing something new and unique to The Supremes. She had one of the best voices I ever heard. Saundra was the missed chance.Ive said this many times and Im going to repeat it. Jean Terrell great singer that she is was the wrong woman to replace Diana Ross. She did not fit the image at all. She also seemed much to independant to be in a group.
Saundra good choice too tho I’m not sure about her stage presence from the couple of clips I’ve seen. Wanda sure sang Forever with energy and i’ ll Keep on Holdin on tho different from Diana’s flair. Recently watching their debut on Ed Sullivan Jean and Mary and Cindy really hit a homerun!
Oh me too definitely.
i definitely do NOT think Wanda would have been a good choice. her voice is limited, at best. it's gorgeous in the husky, whispery low range. but can be grating and seriously off pitch in her head voice. she does not have a soprano range and so vocally she wouldn't have added much to the group given M and C ranges.
i've not seen much of her live appearances since there are so few, but she doesn't really strike me as a major stage presence. she could certainly sing lead on a song but i don't know that she could really be "mistress of the ceremonies"
plus with her mental decline and drug use...
frankly Gladys Horton might have been a better choice
or what about Ann Bogan? she would have added the r&b/gospel to the group!!
Cal Gil!! If she could have become a little more animated, she’d be a great choice.
Wanda Young leading the Supremes. I do not think so. All one had to do was put The Andantes behind her and voila,The Supremes are The Marvelettes. Now Anne Bogan is a very different story. Anne could sang.She could have lead The Supremes easily. She is a great singer with a versatile voice.I even feel if Wanda had to leave The Marvelettes that Anne could have taken over the lead,
and with the right material and a push ,The Marvelettes could have continued very successfully
^i agree. while i've only heard the few tracks with the M's that Ann did, DAMN!!! and going into the 70s with black pride, afros, Soul Train. the Marvelettes could have really updated their image and sound. gone a bit more funky and gospel too.
I only mention Hy Lit, Today and Tonight because there were the only U.S. appearances but the Expo one would be #4 in list of total American shows, yes. They never got a chance to do their duets outside of NA as we all know WHY that never happened. I always looked at both Marvin and Tammi's careers as careers of missed opportunities [[though Marvin eventually did become a permanent global music legend thanks to his '70s and '80s recordings). The magic they could've still done but maybe it was fate that Tammi left as early as she did. Cancer sucks.
These pics were captioned [[from Divided Soul, I think) as being from The Today Show:
There are two more pics from that appearance with what appeared to be the Today host and they were being interviewed. Can't seem to find them right now but if you see some of Marvin's documentaries, they're in there.
Tammi Terrell [[aka Thomasina "Tammy" Montgomery) was just a free spirit. Someone who wasn't gonna let a man tell her what to do.
And some men who wanted to be in control didn't like that. I mean, one man hit Tammi upside the head with an umbrella and threw her down a flight of stairs [[James) and another hit Tammi's face with his motorcycle helmet [[Ruffin). I don't know how some commenters can ask "what attracted Tammi to these men?" as if she knew how these men were [[she didn't).
She didn't expect James to do what he did to her because of simple mistakes she made DURING PERFORMANCES, MIND YOU [[and remember, she was only between 16 and 18 years of age when she was with James!) and she didn't think David was as messed up as he was [[he lied to her about being single and then she had to find out David had a wife with three kids and a mistress on the side after he pretended Tammi was his only lady). Tammi by all accounts was a sweetheart [[Marvin confirmed this; he also confirmed Tammi was "Ms. Independent").
I would've said "a better question to ask is what made these men hit her?" But I answered my question. And in the Tammi/James case, James got belligerent because Tammi "didn't come at the right time" onstage with his cape or whatever it was she should've done. You can also ask the families of the late Marva Whitney and Lyn Collins how horrible James treated them during performances too. It was pretty much the same story!
Cocaine abuse
Alcoholism
Unchecked mental issues
As Kat said in Unsung, dealing with Wanda was a handful! Imagine her as a Supreme, that would've killed the group faster than it did. It took Mary Wilson all of three years to hook up with a man who did play a huge part in killing the Supremes [[thanks Pedro smh), it would've took Wanda all but a year for Motown to be like "yeah let's get rid of the Supremes". That TRULY would've been Berry "washing his hands of the group".
I agree. Ann Bogan would've been much better. Can you imagine how she would've sounded on Stone Love?! I mean the song is Jean's anthem but imagine it in Ann's hands would've been great and then to hear it live, OMG... Ann, Mary & Cindy would've been a great lineup. Ann had Diana's complexion as well. A beautiful black woman. Definitely would've worked. Also better chemistry since we now know of the clashes between Jean and the others [[particularly Mary).
According to Tammi Terrell's sister Ludie Montgomery, few people know that Tammi was raped and severely beaten by three boys when she was a teenager. So you see she had been getting beat by males most of her life. That is not normal and you cannot get me to believe that she just randomly met and became associated with men that beat women. I'll ask again, what was it about her that cause these things to happen?
So she should be blamed for a gang rape? She deserved an umbrella aimed at her head? That motorcycle helmet hit?
Three evil knucklehead ass boys took her virginity WITHOUT her consent. She was only 17 when the James Brown incident occurred and she was dealing with a weirdo who had a wife and kids and a mistress.
But Tammi is to be blamed?! F*CK THAT SH*T!
Its real shocking to me and that blame the woman mentallity is the reason a rapist is going to be confirmed to sit on the Supreme Court and a sex offender - President Pus*y Grabber mocked a brave woman Christine Blassey Ford at a campaign rally and his ignorant bigoted base cheered him on. Im beyond sick. #Metoo
This is why Tammi, Whitney and Tina are blamed by these men for the f*ck sh*t the men caused and they never are at fault for anything because their behaviors are always excused for "well what did the woman do?" It's a BS mentality that allows ain't crap men to be on top.
How many hits did they have? Charting singles? Of course there's always an exception to nearly every rule, but there has never been a point in the history of music during the "rock and roll era" where single artists with any measurable "success" were trying to join singing groups.
Good point about the Supremes material. While no doubt Wanda would've sounded great on songs like "Where Did Our Love Go" and "My World Is Empty", I don't think her singing "You Can't Hurry Love" or "Hangin On" during the show would've worked. And that would definitely be a part of the equation in trying to replace Diana: what singer could do her famous leads justice. I don't think Wanda could.
A much better question than the one previously posed. However I do think it's important to point out that there may have been something in Tammi that attracted her to abusive men. Iyanla might ask Tammi about her family, possibly producing a "pathology" that contributed to Tammi's attraction to abusive men. My grandmother would wonder about the spiritual aspect, which would basically be sort of like the pathology thing. Could there have been something in Tammi's first rape as a child that contributed to her inability to navigate toward men who were good for her as she grew older as opposed to those who were bad for her? I've always found it fascinating, listening to or reading about people figuring out the patterns in their lives and why they do the things that they do, or are the way they are. So I definitely think it's inbounds to wonder why Tammi seemed to always end up in these relationships. [[Other than Unsung- much of which I barely remember- I don't know much about Tammi's life outside of the music she left behind.)
But that's a whole 'nother world than asking what she did to make these men do anything. If you ask that, then you have to also ask what was it about the other women these men abused that made the men want to do that to them also. After all, just like Tammi had a pattern, so did these men. And people wonder why rape victims and other sexual assault and harrassment victims and domestic abuse victims so rarely reach out for help. It has to suck to listen to person after person wonder what you did to deserve being raped/beaten/touched.
Last edited by RanRan79; 10-06-2018 at 04:07 PM.
We live in the era of Trump. Why in the world are y'all acting so shocked at the words documented in this thread? This is the real world, ladies and gentlemen, where women can do things that get themselves assaulted.*rolling eyes Smiley without that stupid grin attached*
Tammi was beautiful and talented and i didn't know her,but some women are attracted to abusive men[i've known some who were]it's sad and a bit sick to me but such is life.
I don't care either, but I think you are reading too much into something that is basically simple. Women have caused men to get physically rough to the point of beating them. I saw a woman slap her boyfriend and spit a huge wad in his face at an amusement park once, the guy slapped her back and left her standing there without a ride. Cause and effect. It's up to you to decide if you can deal with that reality of life.
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