Diana Ross | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 19, 1970 | |||
Recorded | September 1969 – March 1970 | |||
Genre | R&B [1] | |||
Length | 36:58 | |||
Label | Motown | |||
Producer | ||||
Diana Ross chronology | ||||
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Singles from Diana Ross | ||||
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Diana Ross is the debut solo studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on June 19, 1970 by Motown Records. The ultimate test to see if the former Supremes frontwoman could make it as a solo act, the album was overseen by the songwriting-producing team of Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, who had Ross re-record several of the songs the duo had recorded on other Motown acts. Johnny Bristol, producer of her final single with The Supremes, contributed on The Velvelettes cover "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You."
The album reached number 19 on the US Billboard 200 and peaked at number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Diana Ross would later go on to sell 500,000 copies in the United States. [2] Ross' first solo single, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", sold over 500,000 copies in the US, but was somewhat of a disappointment in terms of chart success, when it charted at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its follow-up, a cover of Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", peaked at number one on the Hot 100, selling approximately 1,245,000 copies in the US, while garnering a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
The 2002 Expanded Edition re-release of the album featured a number of bonus tracks, including four from her unreleased sessions with 5th Dimension producer Bones Howe. These included two Laura Nyro covers which would subsequently be recorded by Barbra Streisand for her 1971 album Stoney End as well as "Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes" which become a Fifth Dimension hit in 1971.
In early 1967, the name of the act was officially changed briefly to "the Supremes with Diana Ross" before changing again to "Diana Ross & the Supremes" by mid-summer.
The Supremes' name change fueled already present rumors of a solo career for Ross and contributed to the professional and personal dismantling of the group. In fact, Gordy intended to replace Ross with Barbara Randolph as early as the fall of 1966, but changed his mind and instead kept Ross in the group for several more years.
On June 29, 1967, the group returned to the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas as "Diana Ross & the Supremes".
Reflections , released in 1968, it was the first regular studio LP to display the new billing of the group as "Diana Ross & the Supremes."
By 1969, the label began plans for a Diana Ross solo career.
That same year, Johnny Bristol was preparing a new version of "Someday We'll Be Together", to be recorded by Motown act Jr. Walker & the All-Stars. Before finishing the track, Berry Gordy heard the music arrangements and thought the song would be a perfect first solo single for Ross, who was making her long-expected exit from the Supremes at the time. When Berry Gordy heard the completed song, he decided to release it as the final Diana Ross & the Supremes song. Neither Wilson or Birdsong, however, sang on the record.
"Someday We'll Be Together" was included on the final Diana Ross & the Supremes album, Cream of the Crop (1969). The song was a United States number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Motown released two more albums by The Supremes featuring Ross, G.I.T. on Broadway and Greatest Hits Vol. 3 , before the release of Farewell.
Ross gave her final performance with the group on January 14, 1970, at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. A live recording of the performance was released later that year in a double-LP box set titled Farewell . At the final performance, the replacement for Diana Ross, Jean Terrell, was introduced.
Ross's first solo single, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", released in early 1970.
Its follow-up, a cover of Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", peaked at number one on the Hot 100 becoming a million seller. Ross earned a Grammy Award nomination for the recording. Ross had previously recorded a cover of the song for the joint LP, Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations , released by The Supremes and The Temptations in 1968. Ross shared lead vocal duties on the song with Dennis Edwards.
The album cover comes from a 1970 photo shoot with photographer Harry Langdon. Hundreds of photos were taken before eventually settling on a look which shunned the glamour Diana was previously known for, a decisive statement marking the turn in her career. Langdon described the look as an attempt to be novel and edgy after seeing so much of the same glamorous aesthetic. [3]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | C+ [4] |
BBC | Positive [5] |
Diana Ross received generally positive reviews from music critics. Ron Wynn of AllMusic, gave the album four and half stars out of five, and stated that the album was the best album she had released while under contract with Motown, and perhaps her best work ever, and that it proved that she would be able to be successful without The Supremes. [1] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said that while there were two or three good songs, the rest came off bland and boring, also saying that the album did not age well since its release. [4] In a positive review, Daryl Easlea of BBC stated that despite the album cover making it look more bland and uninteresting, that the album and its songs made up for this. [5]
Diana Ross made its debut on the US Billboard 200 on the chart dated July 11, 1970, debuting at number 71. [6] On the chart issue dated October 3, 1970, it reached its peak at number 19. [7] The album eventually was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of 500,000 copies. [2]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" | 3:02 | |
2. | "Now That There's You" |
| 3:27 |
3. | "You're All I Need to Get By" |
| 3:24 |
4. | "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You" | 3:06 | |
5. | "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" |
| 6:18 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Something on My Mind" |
| 2:24 |
2. | "I Wouldn't Change the Man He Is" |
| 3:15 |
3. | "Keep an Eye" |
| 3:12 |
4. | "Where There Was Darkness" |
| 3:12 |
5. | "Can't It Wait Until Tomorrow" |
| 3:12 |
6. | "Dark Side of the World" |
| 3:08 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" |
| 3:02 |
2. | "Now That There's You" |
| 3:27 |
3. | "You're All I Need to Get By" |
| 3:24 |
4. | "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You" |
| 3:06 |
5. | "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" |
| 6:18 |
6. | "Something on My Mind" (recorded live at The Grove, Los Angeles; August 7, 1970) |
| 2:24 |
7. | "I Wouldn't Change the Man He Is" |
| 3:15 |
8. | "Keep an Eye" |
| 3:12 |
9. | "Where There Was Darkness" |
| 3:12 |
10. | "Can't It Wait Until Tomorrow" |
| 3:12 |
11. | "Dark Side of the World" |
| 3:08 |
12. | "Something on My Mind" (Live) |
| 2:37 |
13. | "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (Alternate Mix) |
| 6:06 |
14. | "Now That There's You" (Alternate Vocal Version) |
| 3:08 |
15. | "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You" (Alternate Mix - produced by Johnny Bristol) |
| 3:13 |
16. | "Time and Love" (produced by Bones Howe) | Laura Nyro | 4:08 |
17. | "Stoney End" (produced by Bones Howe) | Laura Nyro | 3:39 |
18. | "The Interim" (produced by Bones Howe) | Jimmy Webb | 4:49 |
19. | "Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes" (produced by Bones Howe) | Dorothea Joyce | 4:02 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful American vocal band, with 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Most of these hits were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. It is said that their breakthrough made it possible for future African-American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success. Billboard ranked the Supremes as the 16th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time.
Diana Ross is an American singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the vocal group The Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. They remain the best-charting female group in history, with a total of 12 number-one pop singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, including "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "You Keep Me Hangin' On," and "Love Child."
Velma Jean Terrell is an American R&B and jazz singer. She replaced Diana Ross as the lead singer of The Supremes in 1970.
Syreeta Wright, who recorded professionally under the mononym Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights were songs in collaboration with her ex-husband Stevie Wonder and musical artist Billy Preston.
"Someday We'll Be Together" is a song written by Johnny Bristol, Jackey Beavers, and Harvey Fuqua. It was the last of twelve American number-one pop singles for Diana Ross & the Supremes on the Motown label. Although it was released as the final Supremes song featuring Diana Ross, who left the group for a solo career in January 1970, it was recorded as Ross' first solo single and Supremes members Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong do not sing on the recording. Both appear on the B-side, "He's My Sunny Boy".
Farewell is a 1970 live album by Diana Ross & the Supremes. The album was recorded over the course of the group's final engagement together at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, including the final night on January 14, 1970. The show marked Diana Ross' penultimate performance with fellow Supremes members Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong. At the conclusion of the show, new Supremes lead singer Jean Terrell was brought onstage and introduced to the audience.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. The song became Ross's first solo number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
You're All I Need is the second studio album by soul musicians Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, released in August 1968 on Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. Highlighted by three hit singles written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, You're All I Need was recorded throughout 1966 and 1967 and features two Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits, "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need to Get By". It peaked at #60 on the U.S. Billboard 200 Album Chart. You're All I Need was the two singers' final collaboration effort, as Terrell would become ill following recording, before succumbing to a brain tumor in 1970.
"Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" is the debut solo single of singer Diana Ross, released in April 1970 as the first single from her solo self-titled debut 1970 album by Motown Records.
Diana & Marvin is a duets album by American soul musicians Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, released October 26, 1973 on Motown. Recording sessions for the album took place between 1971 and 1973 at Motown Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. Gaye and Ross were widely recognized at the time as two of the top pop music performers.
Love Child is the fifteenth studio album released by Diana Ross & the Supremes for the Motown label in 1968. The LP was the group's first studio LP not to include any songs written or produced by any member of the Holland–Dozier–Holland production team, who had previously overseen most of the Supremes' releases.
In the Groove is the eighth studio album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released on August 26, 1968 on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. It was the first solo studio album Gaye released in two years, in which during that interim, the singer had emerged as a successful duet partner with female R&B singers such as Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell. In the Groove was reissued and retitled as I Heard It Through the Grapevine after the unexpected success of Gaye's recording of the same name, which had been released as a single from the original album.
Right On is the nineteenth studio album by The Supremes, released in 1970 for the Motown label. It was the group's first album not to feature former lead singer Diana Ross. Her replacement, Jean Terrell, began recording Right On with Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong in mid-1969, while Wilson and Birdsong were still touring with Ross.
Cream of the Crop is the eighteenth studio album released by Diana Ross & the Supremes for the Motown label. It was the final regular Supremes studio album to feature lead singer Diana Ross. The album was released in November 1969, after the release and rising success of the hit single "Someday We'll Be Together."
John William Bristol was an American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a native of Morganton, North Carolina, about which he wrote an eponymous song. His composition "Love Me for a Reason" saw global success when covered by The Osmonds including a number 1 in the UK charts in 1974. His most famous solo recording was "Hang On in There Baby" recorded in 1974, which reached the Top Ten in the United States and number 3 in the United Kingdom. Both singles were in the UK top 5 simultaneously.
The Boss is the tenth studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on May 23, 1979, by Motown Records.
An Evening with Diana Ross is a 1977 live double album released by American singer Diana Ross on the Motown label. It was recorded live at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in December 1976 during the international tour of Ross' one-woman show, for which she was awarded a special Tony Award after the show's run at Broadway's Palace Theater, followed by an Emmy-nominated TV special of the same name. It marked the first time in history a solo female headlined a 90-minute TV special. The album reached #29 in the USA . The album showcased her live performances for the second time as a solo performer, following 1974's Live At Caesars Palace. It was the last live album Ross released until 1989's Greatest Hits Live.
Workin' Overtime is the eighteenth studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on June 6, 1989, by Motown Records. Her first Motown album with new material since To Love Again (1981) after a short stint with RCA Records, Ross reunited with frequent collaborator Nile Rodgers, chief producer of her most successful album to date Diana (1980), to make this album which was an attempt to gear her to a much younger audience bringing in new jack swing productions and house music.
The Magnificent 7 is a collaborative album combining Motown's premier vocal groups, The Supremes and The Four Tops. Issued by Motown in 1970, it followed two collaborative albums The Supremes did with The Temptations in the late 1960s. The album featured their hit cover of Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep – Mountain High", which reached number 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In the UK, the album peaked at number 6. In December 1971, Billboard reported UK album sales of 30,000 copies.
"Without the One You Love (Life's Not Worth While)" is a song written by Holland–Dozier–Holland and released as a single in 1964 by the Motown singing group The Four Tops as the second single from their self-titled debut album, Four Tops. The group would later cover the song with The Supremes.