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Motown M 1075 (B), April 1965
B-side of Back In My Arms Again
(Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland Jr.)
Tamla Motown TMG 516 (B), May 1965
B-side of Back In My Arms Again
(Released in the UK under license through EMI / Tamla Motown)
Before we begin, I’d like to wish a Happy New Year to all regular readers of Motown Junkies, as well as everyone else who’s stumbled across this place by mistake – I wish you all a happy and healthy 2013.
When I set out to review every Motown single, back in 2009, I never thought it would get this big – really, it was just a way of getting more out of the records, of forcing myself to give every track due consideration. What I did hope, and what has indeed happened, was that doing this would make me reconsider some of the opinions (received or otherwise) that I’d previously held, and that’s definitely the case.
It’s taken me three and a half years to get this far, and in that time some interesting things have come up that I wasn’t expecting. For a start, I thought I’d disagree with myself more, if that makes any kind of sense. After three and a half years, going through some of the old reviews over Christmas, although there’s plenty of stuff I’d rewrite given the chance, there are very few where I’ve wanted to change the marks beyond a nudge up or down here and there (and none at all where I’ve outright changed my mind). I made it a rule to never go back and change a mark – but it’s pleasantly surprising how little I want to. Maybe the process itself, plodding step by step through the entire catalogue in such detail, has helped fix my thoughts in stone as well as electrons.
Nonetheless, there are still plenty of surprises while I’m writing these things, opportunities to challenge narratives and story arcs that had been similarly chiselled into the history books. Whisper You Love Me Boy is a case in point. It turns out I like the Supremes more than I thought I did. (Which may sound odd given that I’ve had a good but not glowing review of a Supremes single sat up here for three weeks while I was away). I’d had it in my head for a long time (perhaps because of the two acts’ relative success or lack thereof) that Brenda Holloway was a beneficiary of Mary Wells’ shock departure from Motown, Brenda having been gifted most of her old songs in an attempt to make hits out of them, and that the Supremes were only given old Wells material as filler, cheap covers knocked off with little love; that Brenda never managed to score a significant hit with a Wells hand-me-down, and that the Supremes racked up tonnes of sales of second-hand material, I considered to be an injustice. Factor in the fact that Brenda is a better singer than Diana Ross (of that there can surely be little doubt, even from the most die-hard Diana devotees), and I’d just automatically assumed Brenda’s Mary covers were better than the Supremes’ Mary covers.
But they aren’t. Brenda Holloway – underappreciated, put-upon, screwed-over Brenda Holloway – was poorly served by Mary’s shock exit, saddled with a bunch of songs that didn’t suit her voice or her unique strength (power, range and melisma, not breathy seduction and girlish giggles), as a way of giving her “new” material on the cheap, and she was expected to like it or lump it. Thus far, and in the near future, Brenda’s vocal reinterpretations haven’t really been what I was expecting at all.
By contrast, because this is album filler, because Diana’s voice is technically weak compared to Brenda’s, and because the Supremes were often guilty (even – especially – at their mid-Sixties peak) of singing any old shit they were given to bulk out albums, both from the Jobete catalogue and (far) beyond, I’d expected very little from this. More fool me.
For some reason I hadn’t expected the group – who’d shot to fame singing the songs of Holland-Dozier-Holland, produced by Holland and Dozier – to turn in an exceptional version of a Holland-Dozier-Holland song produced by Holland and Dozier. That the result should be excellent, and this is excellent, should maybe not come as a surprise, not if you’ve been paying closer attention than I have. As it turns out, this is the best “cover” of a Mary Wells song I think I’ve ever heard.
So much of the Supremes’ excellent fourth album, More Hits by the Supremes, could be described as “magnificent filler”, by which I mean no disrespect, quite the opposite. I think there’s potentially an argument to call More Hits one of the first great albums which feels like it was conceived as an album, rather than a collection of singles and B-sides bulked out with cheap extras, a glorified EP. (I mean, I know it probably wasn’t conceived that way, but in an age where the idea of the album as an artistic statement is queen, it stands up astonishingly well.) That Motown made a mess of choosing which songs from it to use as singles, we’ll get into at a later date; for now, I’ll just say that to me, with a couple of obvious exceptions, it’s not an album that lends itself particularly readily to being parcelled out into 45rpm chunks. (Part of my dissatisfaction, if you can call it that, with Back In My Arms Again is that it’s always felt more like a supreme (ha!) album cut than a killer single.) But this, which opens side two, is really quite beautifully done, and works particularly well taken in isolation.
This is a cover of an old Mary Wells track from Mary Wells Sings My Guy, scheduled as a single but never released. There’s not a huge amount to say about this when compared to Mary’s version – the band track is the same, the arrangement is the same – it’s literally a note-for-note cover version, but with Diana and the Supremes dubbed over where Mary used to be. So, in a sense, to get a feeling for this song you’d be better off reading the old review, as pretty much everything I said there still stands. I rarely respond well to perfunctory and pointless cover versions, but this one’s different.
Perhaps more than any other Mary Wells track, this one was crafted especially for her, for the contours of her voice, the sinuous flexing of her mind. Holland-Dozier-Holland responded to Smokey Robinson’s heroics on My Guy by turning in a response that doesn’t just sound like Smokey’s track, which it does, but was also built like Smokey’s track, a song expertly custom-made for the voice of just one owner. So much of the weight in Mary’s original version of Whisper You Love Me, Boy is carried by Mary, there’s no way this should ever work with anyone else at the mic.
But this is Diana Ross we’re talking about, and by this relatively late stage, Holland-Dozier-Holland had a pretty good idea of what she could do and what she couldn’t do. She’d never be mistaken for Mary Wells, but by some strange magic, she could do this. It sounds like a Supremes song, rather than a cover. Whether it was a calculated ploy, an inspired guess, or a more mundane occurence (the result of Holland-Dozier-Holland having slipped into a particular type of songwriting “groove” because most of their days were taken up writing for the Supremes and Four Tops), H-D-H had a song which is close enough to the “signature sound” of both Mary and the Supremes, while just far enough away from both to sound natural. Diana was brought in to sing lead, and – where others had failed – she turned out to be perfect.
With respect to Flo and Mary, this record stands and falls with Diana, just as the original had stood and fallen with Mary. Miss Ross does everyone proud. Her high, sweet, almost sugary, almost innocent voice turns out to be the ideal vector for the song’s multiple layers of romantic fever. Mary had proved adept at playing three different roles, teasing out the song’s hidden depths, bringing out the wholly innocent let’s-hold-hands-and-exchange-class-rings frosting on the surface, the deeper infatuation and joyful abandon running through the song, the completely unspoken but utterly unmissable sexy thoughts flowing beneath.
Despite Diana Ross taking a completely different approach, vocally, to her predecessor, her nasal giggles replacing Mary’s smouldering contralto, sounding at least ten years younger than Miss Wells even though in reality less than a year separated the two women, she still manages to pluck the exact same heartstrings, hit the exact same emotional bullseye. In the process, she manages to do something that neither Brenda Holloway nor Kim Weston, for all their technical superiority, had done: understanding Mary Wells. Here, Diana Ross sounds nothing like Mary Wells, and yet somehow she makes it work, exactly like Mary Wells. The result is a record that’s fresh enough to be distinct from the original, and yet every bit as good.
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!)
COVERWATCH
Motown Junkies has reviewed other Motown versions of this song:
- Mary Wells (September 1964)
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.)
The Supremes “Back In My Arms Again” |
Kim Weston “A Thrill A Moment” |
DISCOVERING MOTOWN |
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144man said:
“Here, Diana Ross sounds nothing like Mary Wells, and yet somehow makes it work exactly like Mary Wells”.
It must be a gift Diana Ross has. She was to do exactly the same thing with Billie Holiday in “Lady Sings the Blues” despite sounding nothing like her.
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Damecia said:
Agree! Great jazz album by a Motown/Pop artist. This lady is soooo underrated.
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BILLY RICHARDSON said:
I agree and have loved “WHISPER YOU LOVE ME, BOY” from the start and I didn’t hear Mary Wells version till much later and hate it. This is a Supremes song through and through. Diana killed it and so did Mary & Florence. These 3 shaped my teen years and I will always truly love and adore them and I am 63 yrs old and still worship them as if I were still 15 in 1965. These days they are being maligned as not really as good as people said and they all are insane and stupid. REALLY!?
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Damecia said:
Billy you remind me of myself going straight for the Supremes post lol. That’s how I joined this wonderful blog. lol
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treborij said:
Nixon – Happy New Year and welcome back.
My Xmas season was filled with (among other things) Mary Wells. Got the Benjaminson bio (so-so and a bit disappointing) and the new Lost And Found comp which put me just this side of heaven. Several tracks I’ve never heard that are really quite good. Plus an unissued earlier version of You Lost The Sweetest Boy (one of my all time fave Motown records….and you only gave it a 7) that shows BG’s ear for detail in not releasing it and having HDH give it one more pass.
But all of this should put me in the “Mary’s version is the best” camp for this tune. And I am there somewhat. But when all is said and done, this is a really nice Supremes record, too. Diana gives this a different feel from Mary, younger more coy and it’s quite nice and definitely appealed to me when I was younger. Nowadays I may feel Mary’s sensual, let’s snuggle up maturity a little more but I don’t know that one version is actually better than the other. And considering the Supremes aren’t even close to my favorite Motown act…that’s saying something.
But I find it ironic that a Mary Wells “A” side could become a Supremes “B” side in less than a year. One of the things brought up in Benjaminson’s bio is that Wells felt Gordy was out to get her after she stiffed Motown. One wonders if she thought putting one of her proposed singles to a Supremes throwaway B side was another way Berry could cut her down, if only a little bit?
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Dave L said:
🙂 Happy New Year treborij, Nixon and all Motown Junkies. 🙂
I’m glad someone else said it first: I too felt a little disappointment with Benjaminson’s book on Mary. I’m glad it got done, she deserves some kind of biography out there, but I wish this one had lingered inside Motown longer than it does before moving on to Mary’s lukewarm luck at other labels and her personal entanglements.
Through every page of the book I felt keenly aware of how spoiled I am now, and let down that Benjaminson didn’t linger on every significant Wells record like one of Nixon’s reviews. That’s unfair I know; a biography and a record history are two different things.
I’m glad it’s out there though, and like Marc Taylor’s work on The Marvelettes, years overdue. I’d never dis-recommend it to any Wells fan.
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treborij said:
Hey Dave L.
Yes, I agree. I was surprised Motown was over only a third of the way through the book. And there didn’t seem to be a lot of research into the era. There were some glaring factual and typographical errors as well. I still haven’t figured out which the multuple mentions of a man named Clarence Pauling are. Whatever happend to proofreaders?????
Incidentally, I’m a fan of Marc Taylor’s Marvelettes book as well. Makes me wish he had written the Mary Wells book.
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The Nixon Administration said:
I can’t comment on the book, as I haven’t read it, but Clarence (Otto) Pauling is Clarence Paul’s real name, if that helps.
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treborij said:
Didn’t know that. But wasn’t he always professionally known as Clarence Paul? Or was there a name change back to his original name.
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Damecia said:
Oh wow I just put the bio on hold at the library lol.
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treborij said:
Damecia – I don’t want to deter you from reading it. I learned a couple of things from it and I figure if I learn something from a book, it’s probably worth reading. It’s just that I was expecting more. Pick it up. It’s an easy read. And try to find Taylor’s book on the Marvelettes if you haven’t already read it.
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Damecia said:
Lol okay I’ll read it once I pick it up. I was thinking about reading the Marvelettes book, but I didn’t put it on hold because I thought it would be inaccurate and boring.
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Robb Klein said:
I like Mary’s version better than this. But I like Chris Clark’s best, mainly because it was given the “A’ side treatment, and a much more elaborate backing track mix than the other two versions. I’d give this a 7.
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Mickey The Twistin' Playboy said:
Yep, Robb, I prefer Mary’s as well. and also give this a 7.
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Dave L said:
A solid 10 with me. Probably tied with “Everything Is Good About You” as my favorite Supremes b-side.
There is no area of “Whisper,” not even the lead vocal, that I can stay concentrated on from start to finish because the record has exactly so many elements I love. The tinkling piano notes, the key extra bass thumps, the sublime, keeping-time tambourine, the saxophone solo, the mesmerizing background vocals, especially the ah-ah-ah WOOOO! in the second half, all added to Ross’s pleading but very sexy lead.
Both the stereo and mono vinyl versions are essential, because the stereo ‘opens’ more to let you pick out Mary and Florence all the better, but fades precious seconds too soon over the equally wonderful-in-its-way mono. It took awhile, but this is one Supremes song I made I sure I had in original single, original mono and stereo vinyl album, and mono and stereo CD.
Left alone with the record, unguarded to enjoy it without onlookers (who’d be ordering a straitjacket), there’s nothing left of me when it’s done but an oily protoplasm stain on the carpet.
This is not truly an unhappy record either. Diana is simply pleading for sweet-nothings and who’d want to deny her? Bolstering someone else’s ego is an effort that lifts two people’s spirits, always has been. All this, plus “Back In My Arms Again” and that deliciously beautiful picture sleeve made Motown 1075 the most bang-for-your-buck 45rpm single of 1965, no ifs, ands or buts. My heart is forever its captive. I’ve got six copies; I’d buy six more.
C’mon and talk to me, baby….
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Damecia said:
Yes Dave! This is the best commentary I’ve read thus far = )
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Dave L said:
“Whisper” is definitely an instance too why I insist on a turntable and a CD player with pitch control, because I like this one slowed down about 2%. When it sounds too much like it’s racing -and too often they do- it’s not as good. It makes the difference between Ross sounding sultry here or sing-songy.
I’m glad our host took his vacation break with this one pending because it’s been stuck in my head at every idle, in-between moment on the pc since Christmas. Thank God something like “He’s Seventeen” wasn’t waiting on deck. Now I’ve got to shift my cranium to hearing that splendid ballad of Kim’s that I didn’t discover till it was 12 year old. 🙂
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Henry said:
To All, Happy New Year, to Nixon, welcome back. Hmm. An 8 you say. Hmmm….When I first became aware of this song after the initial release, Motown was still pushing the soap that they we would compete competing versions of the same song by different artists approach at the Friday Staff meetings. And then release the best one. How did we fall for that? The same way that I as a drummer believed that Benny B was right there along with James J on every track that was recorded. When the reality is that Mr. Jones and Mr. Allen probably recorded a good chunk of peak year material as well. But this is the type of thing that Motown had us believing until the mid 80’s era of Dream Girls forward where the artists started telling it like it is. So my initial thought is this is a case where the 2 versions vied for release and Ms. Wells version won out. Ironically, I am just rereading the book, and will stop at the end of the Motown years, too tough to read on, and today just ordered Lost and Found.
My bottom line, it is easier to improve upon an original because the canvas is not completely bare. I am far from a Diana Ross fan, but more of a Ross led Supreme fan, though they were not my favorite Motown distaff group. I do rate it higher that the original, and give the record a 7. Not too shabby for a b-side.
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The Nixon Administration said:
Thanks Henry!
A fascinating idea in the last paragraph there – I’ve often wondered whether you’re at an advantage or a disadvantage doing a cover, knowing you’ll invariably be compared to the original (and under pressure to either better it, or put a radical spin on it to make it your own), but also having the gift of hindsight, being able to incorporate previous good ideas and reject bad ones.
(Smokey Robinson was particularly good at this latter part, reworking and refining old material, either for covers or entirely new songs… as well as being a great writer, producer, singer etc., apparently Smokey was also Motown’s nonpareil proofreader. But I digress.)
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Damecia said:
Ahhh yes! A Dream Supreme Post…what better way to start off the New Year! lol. Where do I start….Steve D. literally takes all of the “words out of my mouth” on the second to last paragraph. Diana is absolutely PERFECT here. She’s cute, but not too cute. She sings high, but not too high. Her tone is PERFECT which makes this a seductive record. In a way, it’s almost as if she’s doing the whispering.
Not to exclude the girls (I can’t name many tracks that they were not GREAT on even if it was the Andates) they were wonderful as well. Their chanting of whisper almost fades into the music as if it were apart of the instrumentation, yet that doesn’t diminish their vocals being there because without them there would be a void.
By the way Steve D. as a die hard (not a stan but die hard lol) of Ross I have to beg to differ about your statement of Wells being a better singer. I have alot of reasons why I think Ross is better. She might not have had the strongest voice or did alot of vocal gymnastics, but my main reason for this particular argument is that Ross can vocally do more things than Wells….this record is proof! LMAO
I would vote this a 10/10, but an 8/10 will do = )
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The Nixon Administration said:
🙂 Fear not, Damecia, there are plenty of future Supreme 10s to make you happy yet.
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Damecia said:
Yay = )
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Landini said:
Nice vocals, nice record. A good, solid B side. A nice change of pace for Ross & company.
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Mark V said:
“Whisper You Love Me Boy” is a good illustration of why More Hits is the best Supremes LP. Its tempo is perfect for Diana Ross’s voice in that it eases her into the range that is her vocal sweet spot: She avoids the shrillness of earlier material and adopts a tone that deepens her “presence” and therefore her believability. She’s really growing as a vocalist and will use the strengths she shows here on faster tunes like “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” and “Love Hangover” as well as ballads such as “Touch Me in the Morning.”
I was struck, however, by the poor sonic quality of the record itself. One reason to listen to the stereo version, which really does highlight Florence and Mary to advantage. I think this was probably recorded with Motown’s three-track system. Compare it to the Marvelettes’ “I’ll Keep Holding On,” which was re-recorded on the new eight-track set up, to hear the difference.
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Damecia said:
Well said!
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Mark V said:
Thank you!
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The Nixon Administration said:
I’ve hardly talked about More Hits itself yet, and for good reason – there’s a future review here which will go into my thoughts on the LP in quite a lot more detail – but yes, it’s a brilliant, brilliant album.
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david h said:
always loved this song.great vocals
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Ed Pauli said:
While I’m reading this I’ve played the unissued TAKE ME WHERE YOU GO about a dozen times–A Smokey written and produced song that would have made a nice B-side and it has the same feel as this one!!!!!!! by the way my vote is also an 8!!!
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Damecia said:
Shame “Take Me Where You Go” wasn’t issued as an A OR B side or even for the matter album filler. Great song that is sugary sweet also like the ‘rain cloud’ the girls harmonize together on in the beginning.
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Robb Klein said:
We eventually issued “Take Me Where You Go” on “From The Vaults” LP in 1979.
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Ed Pauli said:
Yeah I had that LP when I was in college–used to drive my roommate crazy–with that one track!!!!!!!!!
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The Nixon Administration said:
There’s an alternate universe somewhere where “Take Me Where You Go”, the Temptations’ “A Tear from a Woman’s Eye” and the Marvelettes’ “Knock On My Door” were all iconic, cherished classic singles.
Maybe in that universe, people gather on the Motown Junkies thread for “Take Me Where You Go” and speak in hushed tones of the magnificence of little-known rarity “Baby Love”.
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MotownFan1962 said:
Often times, the rarities are much better than the ones that achieve great fame.
Personally, I think The Supremes’ cover of “Heavenly Father” is better than a lot of their more popular singles (i.e. The Happening, Baby Love).And I like “Too Hurt to Cry”, “Which Way Did He Go”, and “Like a Nightmare” are a lot better than “Where Did Our Love Go”. Also, I prefer The Crystals’ “Girls Can Tell” over “Da Doo Ron Ron” and any of Darlene Love’s (including The Blossoms’ and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans’) singles over a lot of The Ronettes’ songs.
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The Nixon Administration said:
Interesting!
I’ll only add that the ersatz-Marvelettes’ version of “Take Me Where You Go” is one of my favourites of all the radical Seventies-tastic reworkings on The Return of the Marvelettes (an album I adore in and of itself.)
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144man said:
If I’m still alive by the time you get to reviewing the Marvelettes’ “Marionette” and “A Breathtaking Guy” from that album, that will be two 10/10s from me.
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The Nixon Administration said:
I’m sayin’ nowt
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Damecia said:
So there’s a Marvelette version of Take Me Where You Go out there???
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The Nixon Administration said:
(see below – the thread was getting too narrow!)
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MotownFan1962 said:
Don’t forget “Which Way Did He Go” (also by the Marvelettes, from around 1963)!
And I really like The Return of The Marvelettes (even if they didn’t really return). My favorite track on the album is their version of “Someday We’ll Be Together”. I like it better than The Supremes’ versions. They should have released that as a single along with “Marionette” (a classic).
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The Nixon Administration said:
Damecia:
1970’s “The Return of the Marvelettes” – intended as Wanda Young’s solo début but marketed by Motown as a Marvelettes record – is basically “Smokey Presents Wanda and the Andantes Doing Weird Covers Of Other Motown Songs”. It’s pretty much exactly as good as it sounds.
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Damecia said:
Oh wow, I love this! I adore Wanda’s voice she would be my second favorite female singer on Motown…until Vanity came along much later lol. She does make this song her own.
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I LOVE THE SUPREMES AND TEMPTATONS said:
I guess i’m sorta bias because of my love for the supremes but…I feel the girls did a better job than mary….
Diana’s voice sounds adorable but sorta seductive and Mary and Flo sound great also …now as far as it being my favorite supreme song..no…it gets boring after to many plays…but it was a good effort from the girls
6/10
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MichaelOH said:
This is an incredibly informative and well-written original posting, and comment thread. Great to see articulate and passionate Motown lovers describing this incredible music.
What I want to know is ….where’s the Supremes cover of “Dingbat Diller”??
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david h said:
i remember thinking it was strange that some of these b-sides appeared on the 1967 Greatest Hits album.now ,all these years later, i ‘m glad they did but i am surprised that since MOTHER DEAR was considered for single release,why it wasnt used. every time i read a review it makes me go back and revisit motown. i guess thats why i like coming here
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michael lande said:
Interesting! I also have access to the Complete Singles and with regard to
the Supremes my evolution has been just the reverse. I expected to find
a wealth of unknown (to me) b-side (or flop a-side) gems, raising my
appreciation of the Holland-Dozier-Holland/Supremes record machine.
Well my estimation of Holland-Dozier-Holland has raised because of
so many other great tracks for a variety of artists that I hadn’t been aware
were their product.
But foraging outside the garden of their (The Supremes) famous hits,
I have found myself underwhelmed. Naturally, I am speaking only for
myself and my taste, but I feel more and more clear about the limitations
of the three girls and fortuitous luck in connecting them with a team that seemed
capable,
of building tracks perfectly suited to their meager strengths . I appreciate
those famous, overexposed tracks more than ever. But so far, with the
possible of exception of Mother Dear, I can’t think of anything new I’d add to them.
I’m not just speaking of Ask Any Girl, and others, but even of this track and
other you’ve given high (green) marks too. In fact, there are at least 4 tracks
on the 20 track 1967 Greatest Hits vol I-II that I would toss!
We’ll set aside I Want A Guy,
as an anomaly since, although I don’t share your affection it for it, I appreciate
your appreciation for it’ one-off goofy quality. 🙂 (the Marvelettes version is
less ideosyncratic, more conventional, to be sure, but I like it better. Oh well.)
But, with regard to the rest of their less famous tracks, I just wish they were
singing something else, in some cases, and in the rest of the cases I
wish the song were being sung by someone. I …….. just don’t seem
to like the group that much. And yet …. there are those hits (a lot of them!),
which I like as much as the day they came out, which is a lot!
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bogart4017 said:
The Supremes at their absolute sexiest. Naturally lends itself to replaying “Everythings Good About You” and “The Beginning of the End”.
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