The premier singing group to come out of the Motown label and one of the greatest groups of the 1960s, The Supremes success is blistering. Led by singer Diana Ross and with main songwriting team of Brian Holland-Lamont Dozier-Edward Holland Jr writing for them, the trio scored a staggering 12 #1 hit songs in the US. Released in 2005, Gold is a two-disc album containing all the hit singles plus a few B-sides and album tracks in near chronological order but with a few changes.
Most of the hits are on the first disc that covers the main period of the trio that also included back-up singers Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson. “Where Did Our Love Go” was their first number one single, you can hear the yearning in Ross’ vocals over a stomping beat, the chorus doesn’t appear until after the fourth verse. The horns light up “Baby Love” where Ross pleads, “Don’t throw our love away/Please don’t do me this way”. A strut and quiet confidence shines through on “Come See About Me” where Ross pushes everyone away as she waits for her boy to “come see about me”.
Perhaps the greatest 1-2 punch on any greatest hits album comes towards the end of disc one, starting with the much covered, “You Keep Me Hanging On”. A staggering song from the Holland-Dozier-Holland team with Ross expressing quiet fury and anger over a pitter-patter beat, where the back-up vocalists shine as well. Ross cuts through with the line – “why don’t you be a man about it/and set me free?”. This is followed up with the influential drumbeat of “You Can’t Hurry Love”. An expressive vocal as the woman waits for her man – yearning but in a happy, chirpy way. Both songs are highlights of music that came out in the 60s.
Disc two is where changes really start to happen. It opens with the very good “Reflections” single, the first to be credited to Diana Ross and the Supremes and their last release with the mighty Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team. Their last number one single appears next in “Someday We’ll Be Together”, the song only features Diana Ross on the track and unusually has producer Johnny Bristol heard shouting instructions on how to sing the song. Another terrific song whose vocals sound like they could have appeared on an R+B track from the 90s.
Leaving behind the usual love songs – “Love Child” was an earlier #1 single written by The Clan, a team of writers at Motown. The tracks talks of the main character growing up in a broken home and not wanting to follow up in those footsteps. This was later followed up by the single, “I’m Livin’ In Shame” where the woman leaves home, moves away to college and tries to erase the embarrassment of her well intentioned Mother while growing up. The group returns to their roots with “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” sung with The Temptations, Ross’ vocals mixing with Eddie Kendricks is pure honey on the #2 hit.
Further line-up changes in the 70s including Diana Ross leaving the group for a successful solo career and Florence Ballard no longer in the band. New member Jean Terrell takes over the lead vocals on the upbeat groover “Stoned Love” – it’s a banger! Other late period highlights include the Smokey Robinson written “Floy Joy” and “Nathan Jones” that sees the new trio singing in unison. “Up the Ladder to the Roof” hit the top ten with Terrell back on lead vocals, the pop funk is a cool track with some religious overtones.
It is certainly the massive hit singles that are the most ear catching in The Supremes catalogue but there are a few other tracks that are worth further inspection. “Run, Run, Run” barely scraped into the top 100 but sounds like a long lost Northern Soul floor filler with it’s banging piano. More commercially successful is the top ten hit, “Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart” that is another one for the dancefloor. Surprisingly only hitting #5 in the US, “My World Is Empty Without You” is more somber, and hits a bit deeper than some of their other songs, the more elegant womanly version of The Rolling Stones “Paint It Black”.
Having already written about many of the 40 songs on the Gold album, it still leaves out several #1 hit songs. Special mention to the legendary Mary Wilson who kept The Supremes going for so long and was its longest serving member through their many changes. The powerful group has inspired countless girl groups, rock bands, and pop acts. It is impossible to say enough about their status in the world of music in a short blog post. Music simply doesn’t get better than this.
10/10
The Light Appears 