The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal by Mark Ribowsky

The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal by Mark Ribowsky

Author:Mark Ribowsky [Ribowsky, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Supremes (Musical Group), Women Singers, History & Criticism, Soul & R 'N B, Composers & Musicians, General, United States, Biography & Autobiography, Pop Vocal, Music, Vocal Groups, Women Singers - United States, Da Capo Press, 0306818736 9780306818738 0306815869 9780306815867, Genres & Styles, Cultural Heritage, Biography, Women
ISBN: 9780306818738
Google: f0fIGoFtdVIC
Amazon: B00394DG2I
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 2009-01-02T08:00:00+00:00


0306815867_ribowsky:6.125 x 9.25 4/22/09 11:06 AM Page 214

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THE SUPREMES

There was the Berry who “related to me” and who “could see himself in me,” a man who inspired her to such inane cosmic jive as “the greatest connection between Berry and me was our powerful life energy.” And there was the Berry who “behaved like a tyrant . . . heavily judgmental . . . discouraging,” who was “very hard on us.” She also had no problem granting herself absolution for her pariah status—by pinning the blame for it on Gordy. “He played favorites,” she wrote, “and

[that] set up an unhealthy internal climate.” She remembered hearing him harpooning other Motown artists by using her as the poison tip, going into tirades like “Why can’t you be more like Diana? She makes her plans, she works really hard, she rehearses all day long, she records all night. Why can’t you be like her?”

The assumption, naturally, was that he was merely repeating what she had told him, and she could never convince Motown denizens otherwise. But she maintained her innocence. “Comparing is a terrible thing to do in a family situation,” she concluded. “It produces crippling sibling rivalry [and] it became a very difficult situation for me.” Those who couldn’t measure up to her—meaning, everybody—subsequently “turned not only on Berry but on his chosen one.”

Missing from Ross’s self-pitying tale of woe, of course, is that there’s no room for her pre-success presumptions in which she, in effect, put the company on notice that no one would be like her. Gordy only held her to it—without objection from her, at the time. But in the nuclear-driven Gordy, she had the cover she needed for plausible deniability. “I am quite clear,” she stressed, “that I am not responsible for anybody else’s success or failure.”

Not that the lesser Motown mortals had much sympathy; they’d never heard a word suggesting that Diana cared a whit about anyone else’s fate. But Ross from here on in began to, as she recalled, “live under constant stress,” manifestations of which would soon become evident. Without pause, however, the beat went on.

The next song from HDH was “Back in My Arms Again,” early tracks for which were cut in late December 1964 and completed with the girls’ vocals in late February. Cutting it in the same quarter- and eight-note beats as “Stop! In the Name of Love,” but with a freer, bluesier gait, HDH—let’s say with the Funk Brothers—made Studio A rever-berate, buffing up a melody that was driven by a simultaneous line of 0306815867_ribowsky:6.125 x 9.25 4/22/09 11:06 AM Page 215

“BABY, JUST POUR”

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Earl Van Dyke’s nifty honky-tonk piano riffs and Ashford’s vibes, which in turn played off Mike Terry’s honking sax, blaring trombones, and thunderous drum and bass lines.

Eddie Holland’s lyrics had Ross going beyond her usual pining, yearning, and burning; now she could strut triumphant and smug, ignoring pleas to “break away from the boy I love” and risk suffering the

“heartache he’ll bring one day.” Having “lost him once”



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