Originally Posted by
RanRan79
I imagine Tommy's difficulties stemmed from his inexperience. What made him think he could go from limo driver and lackey to managing a singing career will always be one of the million dollar questions. What made Flo go along with it probably lies in the ingredients of a great song, many great songs, where a woman stands by her man...even when he's driving them off the road.
In Stephanie Campbell's interview with George Kerr, he said that he and Flo butted heads in the studio because she would sometimes refuse to be directed. I'll never forget one of his quotes of her was "I'm Flo Ballard and I know what I'm talking about". He also said she'd come to the studio smelling of alcohol, leading to the conclusion that she wasn't always sober, which makes sense if she's making overly grandiose statements like "I'm Flo Ballard and...". On the other hand, Robert Bateman had no problem with Flo, so some of it may have been personality conflicts.
Yeah, Flo was starting over, almost from scratch. The frustrating thing- in post examination of it all- is the "what ifs" if certain factors had not been present. I still say that being pregnant and attempting a solo career was almost a sure sign that this wasn't going to work. Can you imagine the morning sickness and cravings and weight gain and strain of voice while trying to make a go of it? Yikes! What if she had waited until 1969 to make a go? What if she had told Tommy "hell no" to managing her? What if she had gone to another record label? I could go on and on. But clearly her development as a solo artist hinged on what she could do that first year and there was just too much going on for it to really work. I just hate that after ABC and all of that, that she got tied up in her legal battles and didn't focus on continuing the career somewhere else. She could've fought the lawyer and Motown and continued singing at the same time. But as was evidenced toward the end of her time with the Supremes, when Flo got locked in on her anger, she didn't always see the forest for the trees. I kind of know the feeling myself.
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