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Motown M 1044 (B), June 1963
B-side of A Breath Taking Guy
(Written by Clarence Paul and Berry Gordy)
What do we make of this, then? I’ve never quite known how to fit this into anything I ever learned about either the Supremes, or about Motown in general. It’s just completely inexplicable.
Well, alright, it’s not totally inexplicable – the Supremes’ previous single, My Heart Can’t Take It No More, also written by Clarence Paul, had flirted with something approaching a sort of country and western sound, so it’s not completely outside the realms of possibility that Motown had commissioned more stuff in the same vein just in case the record was a hit and the Supremes became known as “the country R&B girl group” – but even then, this still makes very little sense at all.
A silly midtempo vignette (very similar stylistically to the Vandellas’ You’ll Never Cherish A Love So True with its clomping rhythm and plodding tempo) about how the narrator is in love with a banjo player who has the neighbourhood kids entranced with his playing. Which… okay, fine, silly concept, but let’s see where they go with it. “He’s a groovy swingin’ guy, with a rock and roll banjo band!” the girls exclaim together at the start. To which the reaction must surely be: “No he isn’t. Be honest, he’s not, though, is he?” Still, the girls plough on regardless, Diana Ross determined to convincingly play the part of a woman in love with a man because he plays the banjo well. It’s fluffy and nonsensical and silly, and sounds like a really ill-fated and condescending attempt by two older male writers to catch the rhythms and foibles of teenage girl talk.
Weirdly, for me the overall effect of this first bit is visual rather than aural; I can’t help but imagine Diana Ross – Diana Ross – seething with rage at being forced to sing this patronising nonsense, but too powerless to kick up a fuss, and too desperate for a hit record to consider not going along with it.
And then, enter Cranford Nix.
Mr Nix (senior – his late son, Cranford Junior, was a cult punk rock figure) was a top bluegrass banjo player, who somehow ended up in a Motown recording session after what one can only assume was a frantic brainstorm or a series of increasingly ill-considered bets. This song appears to have been written for him, rather than him being drafted in as a recognisable banjo star to do a part on this record. The fact that rather than cut a proper bluegrass number on Nix, Motown instead shackled him together with the Supremes – probably, in hindsight, the least appropriate choice they could possibly have made – just shows how little the company knew about how best to handle either the group or the banjo virtuoso.
Because, really, what business does a banjo player have on a Supremes record? Or, alternatively, what business do the Supremes have on a banjo record? The marriage absolutely, 100% does not work in any way. Apart from anything else, Nix’ frantic bluegrass playing is in a completely different, three-beat time to the leaden 4/4 R&B stomp of the backing track. Coupled with the fact Nix doesn’t actually do anything in terms of a tune, just some frenetic and difficult fingerwork, his parts feel incongruous and tacked on. (I mean, more incongruous than a banjo on a Supremes track in the first place.) It’s reduced to the level of just being an annoying noise, and the Supremes’ attempts to convince the listener we’re all having a brilliant time listening to it are grating in the extreme.
This is a complete embarrassment, and were it not for the existence of the truly wretched (He’s) Seventeen (which, I’ve just noticed, starts with parentheses too – maybe there’s something in that!), this would be the worst record the Supremes ever made. Listen to it once out of morbid curiosity, and then wipe it from your mind as best you can.
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.
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The one thing in this record’s favour is that it demonstrates Motown’s willingness to experiment without which it would never have become the force it did. This one was a disastrous failure; there were many more spectacular successes to come.
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That IS actually a very good point. I don’t like this tune at all but I do appreciate that Motown allowed the producers to try new things, for better or worse.
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I haven’t heard this – you’ve piqued my curiosity, and perhaps I’d like to hear it just ONCE before forgetting it forever, but surely, surely the worst Supremes record ever has to be ‘The Happening.’ This song, from what you say, is at least bizarre.
‘The Happening’ represented a nightmare incursion of everything Motown was a refuge from.
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Hey, come on, people, I like “The Happening”. Well, some of it, anyway. Alright, just that intro, and the Ooooh, and then it happened! bit.
If anyone hasn’t heard Willie Horton’s “Detroit Is Happening”, a poorly-conceived (and poorly-timed!) attempt by the Detroit City Council to raise awareness of their youth services program by drafting in baseball player and appalling singer Willie Horton to do a cover of said Supremes song, it is highly recommended.
I was talking to the mayor man himself, AND HE SAID IT
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I just listened to it. The first thing to go through my mind was “Is that The Supremes backing him up?” I found a link to the song on Soulful Detroit (along with the argument that it’s really the Andantes). Every other source I read said it is the Supremes (without Diana Ross), including the New York Times. I’m still not 100% sure. Each time I listen to the intro, the more I think it sounds more like Marlene Barrow and Louvain Demps than Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard.
With all that aside, the arrangement is clunky, especially that intro. “WOOO! Detroit is happening!” Not after that it isn’t.
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Your last sentence made me lol (laugh out loud). I love reading your commentary along with all the other Motown Junkies = )
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Agree completely with you about ‘The Happening’. I never really liked the song or just the beat (A kid who has grown up on sampled music is talking lol). I listen to the first verse and then turn. Sometimes I might fast forward to the “Ooooh, and then it happened!” part Nixon Administration was talking about = ). ‘In and Out of Love” falls into this category for me as well.
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I like “In and Out of Love”, but I’ll admit it’s mainly because of the backing vocals. Ya gotta love that harmony! Flo, Mary, Jackie, Marlene, and Louvain make a great team!
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Yes that saved the song.
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This has to be the moment in group’s history Nelson George means in Where Did Our Love Go:
“It was a dispiriting time for the Supremes. Flo, sensitive and insecure was often depressed. Diane resisted suggestions from her family to give it all up. Though Diane was probably the most devoted of the three, there must have been times when she gave quitting a passing thought.”
This side is a turkey, easy to ridicule and make fun of, but we can also imagine ourselves in the heads of the now-near-panicked Mary, Florence and Diana, wondering if they were ever going to get off the launching pad.
Thank goodness -for them and us- redemption is just around the corner: No. 23 Billboard Pop. 🙂
And I lean in agreement with poster John Plant above when it comes to “The Happening.” Of the group’s twelve Pop No. 1s, it’s handily the one I least revisit. “Reflections” was far, far more worthy of the spot but Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode To Billie Joe” was nearly implacable that summer.
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Cranford Nix jr wrote the most beautiful songs.Check em’ out!!!
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Beautiful? Not a word that I would use to describe his songwriting. That said, I’m a huge fan of his work.
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first of all ,i like THE HAPPENING and thought it was a cool song.love how big the song sounds ,as if they were surrounded by an orchestra.
the Banjo Man, was a cute little song from a cute little album . never thought much about it but ,it’s not the worst song the Supremes ever recorded, i thought most of the songs from MEET THE SUPREMES with the exception of two, BUTTERED POPCORN and LET ME GO THE RIGHT WAY , were some of the worst songs they did. i actually like more of the out takes from MEET THE SUPREMES rather than the ones they choose for the album. but i do resoect your opinion and enjoy your reviews.
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Motown DID record Cranford (“Ford”) Nix, Sr. singing Bluegrass (several cuts). His son asked me to find them for him. When I was screening songs for “From The Vaults”, I came across some of them, including a few vocals and a couple banjo instrumentals. The guy was phenomenal. I kept a recording of “Seeing Nellie Home”, which I liked best. It’s by far the best banjo picking I’ve ever heard (blows Flatt & Scruggs out of the water! His singing was quite good, as well. His son told me Ford had stated that he’d recorded enough for an album. But, he didn’t get copies of the tapes. They were all originals written by Ford, and published by Jobete Music. He was very proud of that work, and wanted something to show for it, especially as Motown seemingly never had any intentions of using it.
So, now we know that there was Motown Bluegrass, in addition to C&W, Blues, New Orleans Blues, Jazz, Gospel, MOR, Surf (Messengers), Garage (Underdogs) and even Irish Music (“We’re Off To Dublin in The Green”-Abbey Tavern Singers).
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This is why I love this blog! I had no prior knowledge of this Supremes’s song. I totally disagree with verdict of this record. It’s odd, but I think if marketed right early 60’s kids would have dug this. It’s upbeat and you can catch a groove before the banjo comes in and then bust out crazy dance moves once the banjo starts/ This is also a rare single in that all of the girls sing lead. I do think you were absolutely right when you the girls were ‘too desperate for a hit record to consider not going along with it.’ They had really no choice, but like I just stated it could have been something worth crossing their fingers over. All in all, I would give this song a 4.
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RIP Cranford “Ford” Nix, who died this week. This record may not be up to much, but the fellow could certainly play a mean banjo.
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Wow! I was interested in finding about more about Mr. Nix Sr & found out that his son, Cranford Nix, Jr, passed away in March of this year! The Nix family/loved ones will certainly be in my prayers. By the way, it looks like the Nix family had roots in Michigan which may explain Mr. Nix’s appearance on this song.
Also, I was never much of a fan of the banjo, until I was invited by a friend to see a Banjo Show here in Annapolis, MD about 20 years ago – kind of a “banjo Woodstock”. I wonder if Cranford Nix would have performed there. It was quite a good show.
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Naturally, Berry Gordy brought in Ford Nix to play the banjo. The man was a legend in The Detroit area. Detroit, like Chicago, was a hotbed of Hillbilly music, as many people from The Appalachians and The Ozarks moved north to Chicago and Detroit during the Great Depression, to work in the auto industry and steel factories. Cranford Nix was living in Detroit at the time, and a fixture in the Hillbilly bars and nightclubs. I think he had recorded for King (who had a local office in Detroit) and also Fortune Records (as well as other local labels).
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I’ve never known what to make of this either. As you and others said, the only value in this song is it’s evidence that Motown experimented with various genres. This is arguably a failed experiment. Of their pre-WDOLG recordings, this is indeed the worst… worse than Never Again or He’s Seventeen. Rating: 2/10
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From the moment I first heard this song (at least a decade ago), I have loved it. I still do. I’m just not sure where Mary is in it. Diana’s and Flo’s voices are unmistakeable, and sometimes I’m sure that in some spots I’m hearing a duet. As for “The Happening,” one of my all time favorites. It’s one of the last Supremes hits to feature only Mary and Flo singing backup with no Andantes, no overdubs. Part schmaltz, part pop. As for what are some of the group’s worst recordings, I’d turn to their last few albums before Diana’s departure (specifically, “Cream of the Crop,” and “Let The Sunshine In”). A death rattle as ominous as the rattlesnake tambourine on the intro to Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.”
Just my opinion.
Since you asked.
Go Supremes!
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Yo Skip, have to agree with ya, bro, on LET THE SUNSHINE IN. Very uneven album. One of the later “Supremes” albums that is quite good is LOVE CHILD. It is a mult-producer/writer affair & most likely a Ross solo album but it is chock full of catchy soul-pop tunes. I’ve heard a few CREAM OF THE CROP tracks & they aren’t bad to my ears (not great, but not bad).
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Got a copy of this when it came out from my uncle’s “overflow”. He was a huge Diana Ross fan and had 2 copies of “Breathtaking”. It was one of the only Motown singles i didnt flip over based soely on the title.
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Who are you..& who gives you the right to say such trash ? Dianna Ross, & CRANFORD HAMILTON NIX Sr couldn’t understand, why they were put togather, ?? I know this, because CRANFORD HAMILTON NIX Sr raised me from 1965_ 1975. He was so proud of playing with Dianna Ross, ofcoarse, he was a straight up Bluegrass player, and yes, this was a odd fit, but who in the music world put them both togather ? If you want to say crap, adout Mr. Nix….maybe you should of done it when he was alive, REALLY ?!
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I didn’t “say crap” about him, the whole thrust of my essay was that this was an ill considered pairing of two extremely talented acts, but I’m sorry if it somehow caused offence. Good people can and often do make bad records, especially when someone else’s bad ideas are involved. This isn’t a good record, but it doesn’t negate the fact Cranford Nix was a great artist.
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Thanks for the guidance to this track. Love Ford Nix and trying to track down all I can.
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Your review is just as perfect as the one you wrote for the A-side.
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I’m obviously in the minority, but I don’t mind this song. To be truthful, I am hard-pressed to dislike anything the Supremes did, even in these early years. “Baby Love” or “Come See About Me” this ain’t, but all the same I think this song is cute.
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Yeah, looking back, this isn’t such a terrible little ditty. It’s just the banjo solos don’t quite fit the time signature (as pointed out in the review). Otherwise, it is fairly cute. Also, the perfect amount of cowbell.
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Now there’s a phrase you don’t hear too often, “the perfect amount of cowbell”. Fantastic!
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The Supremes’ singing in this song is fine, and the song, itself, isn’t bad. The banjo playing is just ordinary. The listener can’t really get an appreciation of what an excellent, creative banjo player Ford Nix was. It’s a great shame that Motown never released his solo cuts they recorded as an LP, CD, or even now, as sound files. His version of “Seein’ Nellie Home” is right up there among the top five Bluegrass cuts I’ve ever heard. I guess there is some uncertainty about whether Motown actually owned the rights to those recordings, or they’d have been released so that they could retain those rights. Maybe Ford, himself paid for their recording in 1964, as Motown was still leasing out The Snakepit to outside clients during the early part of that year. Or, maybe Nix was not, or not yet under contract when he recorded them. Perhaps he was NEVER signed to an artist contract, but only paid session fees for his work on The Supremes’ LP, and was allowed to record his solo cuts as a favour for doing that, and, therefore, Motown didn’t own the rights to release those recordings, but Jobete Music only owned the publishing rights?
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I often wondered about the Cranford Nix credit on this track as Motown, in those days, didn’t often credit instrumentalists on vocal discs. So I wondered if there was anything ‘special’ about him. I understand now why the credit was there if he was actually recording as an artist himself at Motown. Was this guy actually well known? I have certainly never heard of him and have never come across anyone who has, but I’m in England, perhaps he was better known in the States. Looking at 45Cat, he only appears to have had one single released in the States, with a group names The Moonshiners, on an obscure Michigan label. So presumably he’s not that well known. As for his banjo playing, it sounds a bit clunky and heavy handed on this track, but perhaps it’s supposed to sound like that. However, judging by this track, he doesn’t sound up to the standard Earl Scruggs who seems to get four times as many notes per second on ‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown’ than Ford Nix does on this track. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to hear the stuff he recorded at Motown. I would imagine they would have been produced by Clarence Paul as he seemed to be more into country & western than other Motown producers. Other than that perhaps it was Al Klein who produced most of the country recordings on MELODY. Anyone know anymore about these recordings?
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Ford nix had many records released on local Detroit labels, as well as a few released on King. As I stated above, he was a legend in the Bluegrass community. His banjo playing on this cut doesn’t show what he could do. As I stated above, he was in Flatt & Scruggs’ class. And on “Seein’ Nellie Home”, it was fully as fast and intricate as “Foggy Mountain Breakdown”. Al Klein had nothing to do with production in Detroit. He was Motown’s sales agent in Texas. Ford Nix recorded his Motown cuts at The Snakepit at 2648 West Grand Blvd. in Detroit. Maybe Clarence Paul produced Nix’s Motown cuts. But, I’m not sure they were “Motown cuts”. It might have been that Berry Gordy “gave” Ford Nix free studio time to record those songs for himself, as part of the deal he had for working on The Supremes’ LP, and they weren’t owned by Motown. Maybe they weren’t even published by Jobete Music, but were owned by Ford, himself, who got the free “rental time” in the recording studio, that Motown still rented out early in 1964.
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As Artie Johnson used to say on ‘Rowan & Martins Laugh-In’ ‘Very Interesting’. Funny how just a name in small print on a record label can arouse interest. Your comments and seeming praise for Ford Nix makes me want to hear these Motown recordings he made or perhaps it should be recordings made at Motown. Maybe I was a bit harsh judging him on this one track, when I expect he told to play it that way. I doubt if we’ll ever have the chance to hear them though. From what you say I assume those Melody C&W singles credited to AL Klein as producer were actually recorded in Texas. I wasn’t aware Motown had a studio in Texas.
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Motown DIDN’T have its own studio in Texas. But, most of the Mel-O-dy releases’ recordings were made away from Detroit, other than The Pirates’ (Temptations), Vells’ (Del-Phis/Vandellas), and Lamont Dozier. The Creations’ and Charters’ recordings were cut in Toledo, Ohio. The Al Klein productions were mostly recorded in Texas. But, some of Dorsey Burnette’s were cut in L.A. The novelty cuts were recorded in Texas, and, I think one or 2 might have been cut in New York. A few of the Mel-O-dy C & W cuts were cut in Detroit (Bruce Chanel), as well as Johnny Power’s rock-a-billy cuts, and Ford Nix’s Bluegrass cuts. I don’t think you’ll ever be able to hear Ford Nix’s solo recordings cut at Motown, as Motown personnel don’t have the proof that Motown owns the rights to them. They are just tapes that were left at their studio. I also heard tapes and acetates and vinyl demo records of unknown Blues singers who also recorded there as outside clients. They were quite good. I think one of those artists was Detroiter, Eddie Burns. I still have “Seein’ Nellie Home” by Ford nix on a cassette tape I made in 1974. It’s over 40 years old, and has deteriorated some from dryness. But one can still hear Ford’s fantastic Banjo break. But, I don’t have the equipment to transfer it to digital format. Too bad. I also have the great Doo Wop vocal Harmony group song, “All I Have Left Are Memories” by Sammy Turner and The Serenaders on cassette tape. It will also probably never be heard by anyone who doesn’t come to my house, as it was not a sound desired by The Northern Soul, Beach or Belgian Shag scenes, so it wasn’t dubbed off my tapes, nor had its acetate or demo vinyl record “lifted” from Motown’s premesis, and later sold at auction, like most of motown’s vinyl-unreleased cuts from the 1960s and early ’70s have, including “Tears, nobody, and A Smile, by The Serenaders, which could not be released by Motown/Universal, because they are not positive that The Serenaders were under contract with Motown as artists when they recorded that song. They may have just been Jobete Music’s New York office demo singers, paid by the session (working for Jobete producers, George Kerr and Sidney Barnes).
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Thanks for all this additional info. It amazes me that after more than half a century there are still problems with ownership with material that old. I know in the UK copyright has expired on recordings made before 1963 and anyone can market recordings made earlier than 1963 whether they own them or not. Perhaps the USA has different rules regarding copyrights. That’s why in the UK you can buy CDs of pre ’63 chart hits and even CDs of early Motown albums manufactured by ‘tin pot’ companies. Certainly in the case of the early Motown albums they have been copied from original vinyl LP records so the CDs sound exactly like playing a slightly worn record!
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