844 Diana Ross and The Supremes - Anthology (1974)

 844 Diana Ross and The Supremes - Anthology  (1974)

Compilation Album (Triple) - Soul




About the Act:

Diana Ross - you have probably heard of her. She's from Detroit and was a major superstar in the Motown world. She came to fame as the lead singer of the Supremes, the best-selling female group in US history. They were originally billed as "The Supremes" and then "Diana Ross and the Supremes". She left in 1970 and has had a meteoric career since.


About the Album:

This retrospective compilation was released in 1974, and updated versions were released in 1986, 1995, and 2001, each time adding more songs. I listened to, and am reviewing, the original 1974 version, with only 35 tracks on it (the 2001 edition boasts 50).


My History with this Album:

None. Some of the biggest hits are very familiar, though.


Review:

I listened to it twice, it was nice. OK, that's not much of a review. Must do better.

This is mostly classic Motown stuff, some hits that I know, and quite a few more in similar style. There is the usual draft of typical Motown subject matter, love, looking for love, unrequited love, lost love, betrayal in love, and so on, with a particular emphasis it would seem on "last night you were full of loving, what happened?". Later in the collection we get some more versatile stuff, songs that sound like they are from musicals, a cover of "A Hard Day's Night", a song that seems reminiscent of Dolly Parton's brand of tear-jerking with "I'm Livin' In Shame". There's nothing particularly deep about it, but I'm not distressed by that. Much of this was admittedly designed as dance music, and throwaway pop hits, which was Motown's special magic, and a few, like "You Can't Hurry Love" are cosy classics to hum along to. Musically, similarly, it is mostly upbeat soul, despite the sometimes melancholy subject matter. 

Diana Ross, it has to be said, has a perfect voice for the medium. It's silky smooth and clear with just a slight hint of smoke. It's a very unchallenging black voice, not like Aretha or Bessie Smith or... well you know. It's no surprise that conservative white folks bought Diana Ross records by the bucketload. This is not meant as a criticism of her, or of Motown, just a reflection on the times and the success that she had. Certainly, as a Motown star she was carefully marketed and produced - she doesn't mostly write the songs or play on the songs (I don't know if she was involved in writing any of these, the information I have found doesn't have writer credits) but she certainly performed the songs, and did a good job. Hats off to Diana Ross.


7/10

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/64HuzgSY5HMn38fSw97CFr

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEF7yKpdG5p-YQoZRKYRy8oKwdmfR6cjM (Not quite full)

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthology_(The_Supremes_album) 


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