The story of the Supremes can be traced back as far as 1958, when a trio of singers called The Primes, consisting of Eddie Kendricks, Kell Osborne and Paul Williams, were starting to make a name for themselves in the Detroit area and decided they needed a female version to go along with their act. Their manager, Milton Jenkins was dating the sister of 15 year old Florence Ballard, who, because of her clear and powerful voice, was picked to head the new group. Florence recruited her friend, Mary Wilson and after several auditions, added Betty McGlown. Finally, Paul Williams recommended Diane Ross. (although her birth certificate says Diana, her friends and family called her Diane throughout her teens).
In the summer of 1960, the group, now calling themselves The Primettes, wrangled an audition at Berry Gordy's Hitsville studio in Detroit through Diana's former next door neighbour, Smokey Robinson, Even though Gordy liked the teenagers, he told them that they were still too young and to come back again when they finished highschool. Undaunted, the four began persistently showing up at Motown's headquarters after school, but they were mostly ignored by Berry Gordy. Eventually, Betty decided that she was going to get married and dropped out of the group. Several others auditioned, including Flo and Mary's friend Jackie Burkes, but Diana ruled her out. Finally they settled on Barbara Martin, who was only a fair singer, but was well liked by Diana.
The Primettes recorded two tracks for a single release on the Lu-Pine label, but lack of promotion and distribution ended any hope of having a hit record. A few months later, the girls were still hanging around the Motown studio when the call went out for some back-up singers to accompany Mabel John. The four sang their part well enough to get Gordy's attention and from then on, it seemed like they were always available for background vocals, hand claps or whatever else was needed. Soon, they were being paid a small salary, $2.50 a week to be divided between the four of them.
By the Fall of 1960, The Primettes were given the opportunity to record some material themselves, including a song called "After All", which was never released. In December, they tried again, this time with "I Want A Guy". Berry Gordy was still undecided about the group, but with the encouragement of Smokey Robinson, the girls were signed to the label in January 1961. One of the first things Gordy wanted changed was the quartet's name and gave them a list from which to choose one. Florence chose the Supremes. Diana hated it, saying it sounded too male, but the other three over ruled her and the name stuck.
The Supremes' first Motown recordings were much more girl-group-oriented than their later hits. Additionally, not all of them featured Diana Ross on lead vocals; Flo Ballard, considered to have as good or better voice, also sang lead. Berry Gordy steadily groomed the group's sound, but in 1962, after all had graduated highschool, Barbara Martin announced that she was pregnant and was asked to leave. From that point on, the remaining members agreed to go on as a trio.
The girls recorded a number of songs for Motown, but they either flopped completely or went un-released. By the time they finally did get their first Top 40 hit, "When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes," (#23) in late 1963, Diana Ross had taken over the lead singing for good.
Because the group still did not have a major hit record, they were not respected by their Motown colleagues who called them "The no-hit Supremes". Their first eight singles hardly cracked Billboard's Hot 100. In June 1964, the girls considered themselves lucky to be invited to appear on Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars tour. They would do anything to perform in front of an audience. As a warm up act for other groups, The Supremes watched and learned from the wings when the more seasoned artists performed on stage. Right before the tour, their latest single was released. "Where Did Our Love Go" is a song with a thumping beat and a hypnotic "baby, baby" in the background. Even though The Supremes did not particularly like this song, after so many unsuccessful records, they were ready to try anything. Much to their delight, while they were touring the country, "Where Did Our Love Go" started to climb the Billboard Hot 100, eventually making The Supremes the major act on the Caravan Of Stars.
Diana Ross was not the most talented female singer at Motown; Martha Reeves and Gladys Knight in particular had superior talents. What she did have, however, was the most purely pop appeal. Berry Gordy's patience and attention paid off in mid-1964, when "Where Did Our Love Go" climbed all the way to number one. Written by Holland-Dozier-Holland, it established the prototype for their run of five consecutive number one hits in 1964-65 (also including "Baby Love", "Stop! In the Name of Love", "Come See About Me" and "Back in My Arms Again"). Ross' cooing vocals would front the Supremes' decorative backup vocals, put over on television and live performance with highly stylized choreography and visual style. Holland-Dozier-Holland would write and produce all of the Supremes' hits through the end of 1967.
Through the medium of television, The Supremes were able to win over a large American audience. From December 1964 up to the end of 1969 they were regular guests on the popular Ed Sullivan Show. In 1968, "TCB" (Taking Care of Business) was aired, a TV special of Diana Ross & The Supremes with Motown's other top act, The Temptations. The soundtrack of the show made it to the top of Billboard's album charts within a couple of weeks. The Supremes also appeared on an episode of the Tarzan TV series and hosted their own Hollywood Palace Show. They continued their co-operation with The Temptations with the TV special "On Broadway".
Trouble had started to brew however, with Diana receiving special attention from Berry Gordy, and Mary and Flo being pushed more and more into the background. In October, 1965, Ballard failed to show up for a recording session for "My World Is Empty Without You" and was replaced on the track by Motown singer Marlene Barrow.
Not all of the Supremes' singles went to number one, but they usually did well, and were written and produced with enough variety (but enough of a signature sound) to ensure continual interest. The chart-topping "You Keep Me Hangin' On" became one of the best of their mid-period hits.
On stage, the three girls were identically dressed, their hairdos matched perfectly and they performed a fitting choreography. The Supremes were a threesome in front of an audience, but three totally different characters when the curtain had closed. During the show, Diana would introduce Florence as "the quiet one". In reality, however, Florence was anything but quiet. Everyone knew her roaring laugh and her loud voice. She had the style and capacity to be a solo singer, but was down-to-earth about the group's success.
Mary Wilson was the one with the twinkle in her eyes and a voice made of velvet. She never pictured herself as a solo singer. Her dream was to use singing to leave the Detroit ghetto and become famous. With The Supremes, her dream came true. Stuck between the ambitious characters of Florence and Diana, Mary was the stable and consoling element.
And finally, Diana Ross. Thin, delicate, fragile, emotional, vulnerable, ambitious, and always searching for perfection. She was the girl who would use her only vacation, one week a year, to record an entire album just for fun. She could never get enough. Her perseverance was limitless.
Behind the scenes, problems continued to grow, although these only came to light long after the event. Other Motown stars (most notably Martha Reeves) resented what they perceived as the inordinate attention lavished upon Ross by Berry Gordy, at the expense of other artists on the label. The other Supremes themselves felt increasingly pushed to the background. Florence Ballard was coping by turning to alcohol and became involved in several blow-ups with Gordy and Diana Ross. On June 29th, 1967, while the trio performed at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Flo was fired for what was deemed increasingly unprofessional behaviour. She was replaced by Cindy Birdsong (from Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles).
Although she negotiated a $160,000 settlement from Motown Records, Ballard's lawyers intercepted the check and Florence never got a dime. Eventually separating from her husband, Tommy Chapman, Ballard ended up on welfare, trying to care for her three daughters and living in a two-family flat she shared with her mother on Detroit's west side. Ballard claimed that she was the one who had originally brought the group together when they all lived in Detroit's Brewster Housing Project and that she chose the name that made them famous. She also said she received only a weekly allowance while performing with The Supremes and that she thought the rest was being invested or held for her. Ballard tried to sue Motown for her share of the company's millions, but she never saw the money. She did manage however to sign a solo recording contract with ABC Records, and recorded about a dozen songs. Only two of them were released as singles and when both flopped, the company dropped her. Without a hit record behind her, Florence even had trouble getting nightclub work. She was legally bound not to use the name Supremes in any billing.
After Ballard's exit, the group would be billed as Diana Ross & the Supremes, fuelling speculation that Ross was being groomed for a solo career. The trio had a big year in 1967, even incorporating some mild psychedelic influences into a song called "Reflections". Holland-Dozier-Holland, however, had become dissatisfied with the way they were being treated at Motown and left the organization, and the quality of the Supremes' records suffered accordingly (as did the Motown organization as a whole). The Supremes were still superstars, but as a unit, they were disintegrating. Berry Gordy centered the group on Diana only and it's been reported that after Florence Ballard left the group, neither Wilson or Birdsong ever sang at all on the group's final string of hits.
By the summer of 1968, the Supremes were in a slump. Berry Gordy had decided to try to make Diana an all around nightclub performer and had her record an album called "The Supremes Sing and Perform 'Funny Girl' ". The effort was a miserable failure, selling less than 77,000 copies. An attempt to re-enter the pop market called "Some Things You Never Get Used To" also came up short and it was decided that the time was right for her to split from the group. Diana Ross and the Supremes released their last song, "Someday We'll Be Together" on October 9th, 1969 and performed their final concert at the frontier hotel in Las Vegas on January 14th, 1970. Jean Terrell was brought in to replace Diana and the group continued to record with Motown. Some of the early Ross-less singles were fine records and the group reached number 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 in March 1970 with "Up the Ladder to the Roof", which sold over 800,000 copies. They followed with "Stoned Love", "Nathan Jones", and the Supremes-Four Tops duet "River Deep -- Mountain High". The trio continued to perform and record into the Seventies, with founding member Mary Wilson keeping the name and the music alive through a series of further personnel changes. Cindy Birdsong married in May, 1970 and retired from the group when she became pregnant in 1972. She was replaced by Lynda Tucker Lawrence.
In the summer of 1960, the group, now calling themselves The Primettes, wrangled an audition at Berry Gordy's Hitsville studio in Detroit through Diana's former next door neighbour, Smokey Robinson, Even though Gordy liked the teenagers, he told them that they were still too young and to come back again when they finished highschool. Undaunted, the four began persistently showing up at Motown's headquarters after school, but they were mostly ignored by Berry Gordy. Eventually, Betty decided that she was going to get married and dropped out of the group. Several others auditioned, including Flo and Mary's friend Jackie Burkes, but Diana ruled her out. Finally they settled on Barbara Martin, who was only a fair singer, but was well liked by Diana.
The Primettes recorded two tracks for a single release on the Lu-Pine label, but lack of promotion and distribution ended any hope of having a hit record. A few months later, the girls were still hanging around the Motown studio when the call went out for some back-up singers to accompany Mabel John. The four sang their part well enough to get Gordy's attention and from then on, it seemed like they were always available for background vocals, hand claps or whatever else was needed. Soon, they were being paid a small salary, $2.50 a week to be divided between the four of them.
By the Fall of 1960, The Primettes were given the opportunity to record some material themselves, including a song called "After All", which was never released. In December, they tried again, this time with "I Want A Guy". Berry Gordy was still undecided about the group, but with the encouragement of Smokey Robinson, the girls were signed to the label in January 1961. One of the first things Gordy wanted changed was the quartet's name and gave them a list from which to choose one. Florence chose the Supremes. Diana hated it, saying it sounded too male, but the other three over ruled her and the name stuck.
The Supremes' first Motown recordings were much more girl-group-oriented than their later hits. Additionally, not all of them featured Diana Ross on lead vocals; Flo Ballard, considered to have as good or better voice, also sang lead. Berry Gordy steadily groomed the group's sound, but in 1962, after all had graduated highschool, Barbara Martin announced that she was pregnant and was asked to leave. From that point on, the remaining members agreed to go on as a trio.
The girls recorded a number of songs for Motown, but they either flopped completely or went un-released. By the time they finally did get their first Top 40 hit, "When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes," (#23) in late 1963, Diana Ross had taken over the lead singing for good.
Because the group still did not have a major hit record, they were not respected by their Motown colleagues who called them "The no-hit Supremes". Their first eight singles hardly cracked Billboard's Hot 100. In June 1964, the girls considered themselves lucky to be invited to appear on Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars tour. They would do anything to perform in front of an audience. As a warm up act for other groups, The Supremes watched and learned from the wings when the more seasoned artists performed on stage. Right before the tour, their latest single was released. "Where Did Our Love Go" is a song with a thumping beat and a hypnotic "baby, baby" in the background. Even though The Supremes did not particularly like this song, after so many unsuccessful records, they were ready to try anything. Much to their delight, while they were touring the country, "Where Did Our Love Go" started to climb the Billboard Hot 100, eventually making The Supremes the major act on the Caravan Of Stars.
Diana Ross was not the most talented female singer at Motown; Martha Reeves and Gladys Knight in particular had superior talents. What she did have, however, was the most purely pop appeal. Berry Gordy's patience and attention paid off in mid-1964, when "Where Did Our Love Go" climbed all the way to number one. Written by Holland-Dozier-Holland, it established the prototype for their run of five consecutive number one hits in 1964-65 (also including "Baby Love", "Stop! In the Name of Love", "Come See About Me" and "Back in My Arms Again"). Ross' cooing vocals would front the Supremes' decorative backup vocals, put over on television and live performance with highly stylized choreography and visual style. Holland-Dozier-Holland would write and produce all of the Supremes' hits through the end of 1967.
Through the medium of television, The Supremes were able to win over a large American audience. From December 1964 up to the end of 1969 they were regular guests on the popular Ed Sullivan Show. In 1968, "TCB" (Taking Care of Business) was aired, a TV special of Diana Ross & The Supremes with Motown's other top act, The Temptations. The soundtrack of the show made it to the top of Billboard's album charts within a couple of weeks. The Supremes also appeared on an episode of the Tarzan TV series and hosted their own Hollywood Palace Show. They continued their co-operation with The Temptations with the TV special "On Broadway".
Trouble had started to brew however, with Diana receiving special attention from Berry Gordy, and Mary and Flo being pushed more and more into the background. In October, 1965, Ballard failed to show up for a recording session for "My World Is Empty Without You" and was replaced on the track by Motown singer Marlene Barrow.
Not all of the Supremes' singles went to number one, but they usually did well, and were written and produced with enough variety (but enough of a signature sound) to ensure continual interest. The chart-topping "You Keep Me Hangin' On" became one of the best of their mid-period hits.
On stage, the three girls were identically dressed, their hairdos matched perfectly and they performed a fitting choreography. The Supremes were a threesome in front of an audience, but three totally different characters when the curtain had closed. During the show, Diana would introduce Florence as "the quiet one". In reality, however, Florence was anything but quiet. Everyone knew her roaring laugh and her loud voice. She had the style and capacity to be a solo singer, but was down-to-earth about the group's success.
Mary Wilson was the one with the twinkle in her eyes and a voice made of velvet. She never pictured herself as a solo singer. Her dream was to use singing to leave the Detroit ghetto and become famous. With The Supremes, her dream came true. Stuck between the ambitious characters of Florence and Diana, Mary was the stable and consoling element.
And finally, Diana Ross. Thin, delicate, fragile, emotional, vulnerable, ambitious, and always searching for perfection. She was the girl who would use her only vacation, one week a year, to record an entire album just for fun. She could never get enough. Her perseverance was limitless.
Behind the scenes, problems continued to grow, although these only came to light long after the event. Other Motown stars (most notably Martha Reeves) resented what they perceived as the inordinate attention lavished upon Ross by Berry Gordy, at the expense of other artists on the label. The other Supremes themselves felt increasingly pushed to the background. Florence Ballard was coping by turning to alcohol and became involved in several blow-ups with Gordy and Diana Ross. On June 29th, 1967, while the trio performed at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Flo was fired for what was deemed increasingly unprofessional behaviour. She was replaced by Cindy Birdsong (from Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles).
Although she negotiated a $160,000 settlement from Motown Records, Ballard's lawyers intercepted the check and Florence never got a dime. Eventually separating from her husband, Tommy Chapman, Ballard ended up on welfare, trying to care for her three daughters and living in a two-family flat she shared with her mother on Detroit's west side. Ballard claimed that she was the one who had originally brought the group together when they all lived in Detroit's Brewster Housing Project and that she chose the name that made them famous. She also said she received only a weekly allowance while performing with The Supremes and that she thought the rest was being invested or held for her. Ballard tried to sue Motown for her share of the company's millions, but she never saw the money. She did manage however to sign a solo recording contract with ABC Records, and recorded about a dozen songs. Only two of them were released as singles and when both flopped, the company dropped her. Without a hit record behind her, Florence even had trouble getting nightclub work. She was legally bound not to use the name Supremes in any billing.
After Ballard's exit, the group would be billed as Diana Ross & the Supremes, fuelling speculation that Ross was being groomed for a solo career. The trio had a big year in 1967, even incorporating some mild psychedelic influences into a song called "Reflections". Holland-Dozier-Holland, however, had become dissatisfied with the way they were being treated at Motown and left the organization, and the quality of the Supremes' records suffered accordingly (as did the Motown organization as a whole). The Supremes were still superstars, but as a unit, they were disintegrating. Berry Gordy centered the group on Diana only and it's been reported that after Florence Ballard left the group, neither Wilson or Birdsong ever sang at all on the group's final string of hits.
By the summer of 1968, the Supremes were in a slump. Berry Gordy had decided to try to make Diana an all around nightclub performer and had her record an album called "The Supremes Sing and Perform 'Funny Girl' ". The effort was a miserable failure, selling less than 77,000 copies. An attempt to re-enter the pop market called "Some Things You Never Get Used To" also came up short and it was decided that the time was right for her to split from the group. Diana Ross and the Supremes released their last song, "Someday We'll Be Together" on October 9th, 1969 and performed their final concert at the frontier hotel in Las Vegas on January 14th, 1970. Jean Terrell was brought in to replace Diana and the group continued to record with Motown. Some of the early Ross-less singles were fine records and the group reached number 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 in March 1970 with "Up the Ladder to the Roof", which sold over 800,000 copies. They followed with "Stoned Love", "Nathan Jones", and the Supremes-Four Tops duet "River Deep -- Mountain High". The trio continued to perform and record into the Seventies, with founding member Mary Wilson keeping the name and the music alive through a series of further personnel changes. Cindy Birdsong married in May, 1970 and retired from the group when she became pregnant in 1972. She was replaced by Lynda Tucker Lawrence.
