I know many here feel that the original trio was the best and that Florence and Mary's background vocals could not be beat. While I love them together, I feel that Florence's voice was so loud that it drowned out Mary and did not provide the harmony that later groupings did. When you hear the recorded Where Did Our Love Go where Mary is prominent, you can still hear the harmony with Florence and the same can't be said for later songs and live appearances.
In the DRATS era, Cindy's voice was so soft that Mary was the prominent voice yet she approximated a blend so that you can hear the harmonizing.
In The Jean Years-Cindy and Mary had been working together longer and you hear Cindy's vocals much better than when she first joined.
When Cindy left and Lynda took her place, I found her voice rather loud like Florence's and it reminded me of the originals, even though you could hear Mary more. I just did not care for this group of background, it seemed to lack the warmth and harmony of Mary with Florence and Cindy.
In the Scherrie years-Mary and Cindy sounded great together-they had such great harmony together and with Scherrie when Mary was on lead. I really enjoyed the blend of their 3 voices and think they sounded best of all.
When Susaye joined, they were the best technically. I am not sure how I feel about how Mary & Susaye blended together, it was much like with Lynda yet it did have a much better harmony sound. Mary & Scherrie sounded great together, their voices really complimented each other [[think You're What's Missing in My Life). I can't say I like the Scherrie & Susaye blend behind Mary for her ballads, they sound good together but seem at odds with the sound and pace of the ballads and songs.
What do you think? This is purely from a personal opinion from us all and MUSICALLY what you hear and enjoy.
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