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Motown M 1034 (A), November 1962
b/w Time Changes Things
(Written by Berry Gordy)
A not-insignificant hit for the “no-hit Supremes”, rattling the R&B Top 30 (and also scoring on the pop charts – the dizzying heights of the Top, er, Ninety, but still a start nonetheless.)
This is a little weak, though. With the Marvelettes having upped their game with their magnificent Playboy LP and the lovely Strange I Know, and the Vandellas storming out of the gates with their début platter I’ll Have To Let Him Go, the Supremes, who’d cut Motown singles long before either of those groups, were falling noticeably behind in the girl group arms race, and this wasn’t the single to turn things around.
Indeed, it originally wasn’t a single at all; this was originally slated as the B-side, with Time Changes Things scheduled as the top side, until label owner Berry Gordy stepped in.
Gordy was a great songwriter in his own right, but he was finding his time increasingly sucked up by business matters rather than creative endeavours; in 1962, Gordy had turned in a decidedly mixed bag of songwriting credits, with several fine records (the Temptations’ spectacularly brilliant (You’re My) Dream Come True, the Contours’ big-selling smash Do You Love Me, Hattie Littles’ lovely Your Love Is Wonderful) rubbing shoulders with some slightly ropey rush-jobs and derivative cash-ins (Saundra Mallett and the Vandellas’ Camel Walk, for example, or the Temptations’ Paradise).
This one, for me, is certainly closer to that latter pile than the former. It’s not bad or anything, but it’s no masterpiece either. But more of that in a moment; for now, back to the story.
Despite Smokey Robinson having written and produced the Supremes’ previous single (the pretty Your Heart Belongs To Me, and despite Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier having produced a new would-be single in Time Changes Things, written with their new writing partner Janie Bradford, Gordy – who’d produced the first two Supremes singles, I Want A Guy and Buttered Popcorn – took it upon himself to write and produce another new song for the group, originally for use as the B-side before deciding to flip the record over and release it as the girls’ fourth single.
By his own admission in his autobiography (which, incidentally, I’ve never read – I’m going here by what’s quoted in the liner notes to The Complete Motown Singles: Volume 2), Gordy obsessed over the mix for an astonishing fourteen hours, a staggering amount of time for the summer of 1962 – when entire albums could be finished in less time – and quite a lot of effort to expend on a little-known girl group. Why? Knowing what happened later between Gordy and Diana Ross, it’s easy enough to raise a knowing eyebrow at this point and ask Why indeed?, but the simplest explanation isn’t so base; simply put, Berry Gordy seems to have relished every opportunity to get some work in at the coalface of musical creativity, working on making records rather than just signing off on purchase orders of crates of them.
Twice already in 1962, we’ve seen what happened when Berry Gordy got an idea in his head for a new song that might sell: he didn’t wait around, to the extent that rather than incur a delay between writing on the page and rolling tape in the studio while the right act was found and brought into Hitsville for an emergency recording session, whoever happened to be close to hand got to cut the song. Whilst that wasn’t the case here, Gordy clearly felt he had something good within his grasp with this, this song and this group, even if he couldn’t quite pull it all together.
(Tempting to say that what he could hear, in his head, without being able to articulate it, while listening to Diana’s admirable lead vocal, the cooing harmonies of Flo and Mary, and that stomping midtempo percussion, was probably something like Where Did Our Love Go, except that didn’t exist yet and nobody had ever heard anything quite like it, and Berry Gordy couldn’t do what Holland-Dozier-Holland would go on to do, leaving things here in 1962 naggingly unresolved, hanging in the air.)
When I read that story about Berry Gordy poring over endless mixes of this record, I was pretty much astonished, because to me this still sounds embarrassingly half-finished, its ideas unrealised, its promise unfulfilled. If ever there was a Motown single that didn’t sound like it went through over a hundred different versions (Gordy’s only-half-joking estimation), this is probably it.
It sounds as though it began life with more than a touch of Bruce Channel’s recent chart-topper Hey! Baby (probably a reasonable hypothesis given Gordy’s past form with this sort of thing; the chord progressions on this are remarkably similar to Channel’s record), but it seems to have evolved from those origins to some sort of halfway-house. To that end, there are plenty of interesting new ideas that sort of bubble under the surface, half-formed, before being discarded; little bits of harmonies, unusual chord changes that last less than a second, backing vocals being mixed right to the front and then just as quickly mixed back down again, that sort of thing. Ironically, one of the song’s most prominent features, the staccato chant of Let! Me! Go! Right! Let-me! Go-right! that opens the record and sets the tempo for the verses, is a bad idea that should have been smoothed out somewhere along the songwriting process, but was instead allowed through in full bloom.
The best thing about this record is Diana Ross, still sounding very young and reedy in places, quite different from the sort of readings she’d give of Holland-Dozier-Holland material in the mid-Sixties, but mostly coping admirably with the technical demands of the lead vocal. Her technique is coming on in leaps and bounds, audibly improving all the time, the result of all three Supremes’ endless practising and observing and learning from their place at the bottom of the Motown food chain; as well as handling the difficult tune, Diana also injects some much-needed character to the proceedings.
Her performance is more interesting than the basic, sketchy lyrics, to the point that I had to listen to this ten or twelve times before I could work out what it’s actually meant to be about (as it turns out, Diana’s narrator is pledging her heart and her future to her lover, and asking him to treat her with care in return; she’s not asking her man to convince her that marrying him is the right choice, but rather saying she’ll marry him, but that she trusts he’ll keep his side of the bargain by being a good husband.) Diana’s delivery, best described as “lovestruck but with a sassy edge”, fits this difficult emotional tone very well, and it’s to her credit.
Still, when it ends, I’m not left thinking “Wow, that was great!”, more like “Whoa, is that it?” It’s another Motown record that’s apparently been much admired over the years, but it just doesn’t sound finished to me. Certainly this isn’t a logical stepping stone in the development of Motown’s quintessential group; it feels more like a “holding pattern” release, keeping the group’s name alive while Motown figured out what to do with the Supremes. Whilst it’s hardly bad, the best that can really be said about it is that it nudged the group slightly further up the charts. At this rate of commercial progress, they’d end up hitting Number One some time around 1982.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
(Or maybe you’re only interested in The Supremes? Click for more.)
Mary Wells “Operator” |
The Supremes “Time Changes Things” |
Dave L said:
5 is a fair grade for this one.
I’ve never had difficulty with it and it is energetic even if it is another in the string of so-called flop singles that didn’t quite foster a distinguishable identity for the group. The Supremes too, were on that autumn 1962 Motortown tour across the country with their labelmates, and even though this was no smash, they probably were glad to have something fresh of their own out there to (try to) sell.
And I could readily sit through a dozen listens of this one whereas I’d be nodding off (or crying for mercy) after just three rounds of the coming one, My Heart Can’t Take It No More.
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YourOldStandBy said:
I agree mostly. This would probably be a killer record had someone else done it. I’m not one of those Supremes haters but I do think they’re overated. The melody is pretty good here and the lead vocal is even OK, albeit a little harsh. It’s a better A Side than Time Changes Things, anyway.
The one thing I quite like about this record though is that opening bit you dislike – let me go right!
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Michael said:
I’ve always wondered why there was confusion among some as to who sang the lead here. Florence has been mentioned in more than publication. Although Diana may sound different than she did once HDH got a hold of her, I don’t think it’s difficult to identify her as the lead.
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david h said:
i always thought this was one of the better songs from the No hit Supremes. my favorite part is the ending with the ladies all singing let Me Go and Florence is really singing it up in the background. i always found it to be a fun song and enjoyed listening to it.
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John Plant said:
A significant chapter in the history of this song would be the live rendition captured on the first Motortown Review album, in which the Supremes have bottom billing -‘Ladies and gentlemen, the very talented Supremes’ -Diana uses the song to launch into a particularly raunchy ‘A little bit softer now’ routine which is EXTREMELY erotic, and prefigures the half-sigh half-pout at the end of each verse of ‘Love is Here and Now You’re Gone’ (with perhaps a hint of Ray Charles and the Raelets in What’d I Say).
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Stephanie said:
People who heard the Supremes in their hit making days and discovered these songs are shocked when they get to hear the great background harmonies. None of these early no hit Supremes records are of interest to the public its more for the fans who want to hear the vocal chops of Mary and Florence. Lovelight is the best example of the Supremes ability to make a hit and the first one other than Run Run Run. This may have been in hit in the 50s but not the sixties. When I hear this song I think of malt shops and hoop skirts not Detroit.
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Damecia said:
I have to disagree with you here and rate this a 9. I think the song is just as good as “Please Mr. Postman”. The feature in this song is the energy of rhythm, beat and well put together harmony.The staccato chant of “Let! Me! Go! Right! Let-me! Go-right!: that opens the song you seem to think is a bad idea, but I think it is brilliant and keeps that youthful feel to the song. Near the end of the song Flo is doing a lot of great things and the background that keep the song from getting dull. Diana’s voice may nave been extremely nasally, high and uncontrolled, but this song makes the girls sound like a completely different group from anything that they had released up until this point.
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MotownFan1962 said:
I agree whole-heartedly. This is my favorite Supremes song.
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Damecia said:
Thanx for agreeing. I can’t believe I wrote this almsot a year ago when I first joined the blog. Wow this is your all time favorite Supremes song??? Lol. I think Miracles fans have the same reaction when I say ‘Bad Girl’ is my all time favorite of theirs.
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MotownFan1962 said:
5 out of 10 is an extremely harsh rating for this gem! This is The Supremes at their BEST! How can you not enjoy Flo, Mary, and, Diana’s soulful, energetic vocals?! Flo, especially, is excellent on this record. I just love her ad libs at the end, and that wonderful “A-go, go right!” at the beginning. This is probably the most danceable, most energetic, most memorable of The Supremes’ songs!
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Robb Klein said:
I agree that 5 is too harsh. I’d give it a weak 7. After “Run, Run, Run” and “Lovelight”, it’s my 3rd favourite Supremes’ cut.
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MotownFan1962 said:
I’d give 12 out of 10!
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bogart4017 said:
a tight 8/10. A great record to do the Detroit Bop to.All we ever wanted to do was dance.
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Rupert Kinnard said:
I love the energy of this record and I would agree with Bogart…a strong solid 8/10!!!!
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Mike Zuroick said:
This is a fabulous song. The infectious tempo is remarkable and all the vocals blend perfectly. I play this with the “repeat” on the turntable. Another one of those incredible songs that is a time machine to the Wonder Years where good clean fun was the name of the game and the mysteries of love and sexuality were slowly being revealed and experienced. I give it a 10 as it is one of my treasured 45 RPM’s.
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