Originally Posted by
RanRan79
Of the singles, "Come See About Me" is definitely an easy answer. It's a pure group sound and highlights the total package.
"You Keep Me Hangin On" is another. Doubling Diana was a smart move. On the version where she isn't doubled, she comes across thin and frail, which doesn't work at all against the aggressiveness of the track and Flo and Mary's vocals. Once doubled, Diana matches the intensity of the track and keeps up with Flo and Mary, who are killing it. I listen to songs like "I Hear A Symphony" and "My World Is Empty" and I might ask myself, "Would these songs be equally as good if the backing vocals were removed?" My answer would be either "probably" [[in the case of "Symphony) or an unequivocal "yes" [[in the case of "My World"). "You Keep Me Hangin On" would not be the classic it is, IMO, if not for Diana's doubling and Flo and Mary's vocals, making it a perfect group record.
"Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" also gets my vote. Without Flo and Mary's contribution, I think the song loses some of it's charm. Even though "Come See About Me" has a sad lyric, Diana doesn't really approach the song in that way. Likewise, Flo and Mary sound rather chipper, belying the desperate storyline. "Hangin"'s lyrics allow for a vocal interpretation of the singer just being tired of the emotional rollercoaster and the singer can almost beg the suitor to just please leave her alone. The aggressive tone of the Supremes' version, though, is more direct. Even though there are several questions asked in the lyrics, Diana, Flo and Mary are really telling this dude to take a hike as opposed to asking him to do it. I think Flo and Mary make that even more clear than Diana does, doubled or not. Like I said before, aggressive. Now compare all of that to what they do on "Love Is Here". They do such a great job of echoing Diana's pain. One of my all time favorite Supremes moments is when Diana sings "Look at my face", "After you made me all your own", and "left me all alone" and Flo and Mary repeat these, there's such a sadness in the echoes. It's like Diana is pointing these things out to this dude and Flo and Mary come in to really hammer home how much this hurts. It's like someone saying "You hurt me. YOU! HURT! ME!" Diana would be the "You hurt me" part, while Flo and Mary would be the "YOU! HURT! ME!" They lay me out with this cut every time.
Both "Bad Weather" and "I Guess I'll Miss the Man" illustrate the sound of JML IMO. I personally don't feel that any of the pre Lynda singles really highlight the group as much as they highlight the specialness of Jean. But "Miss the Man" and "Weather" do a pretty good job of this. Especially "Bad Weather" where I feel Mary and Lynda's backing vocals are just as important as anything else going on in the song, especially when they cut loose toward the end.
And of course "A Breath Taking Guy".
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