The Supremes were an American female singing 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 are, to date, America's most successful vocal group 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. At their peak in the mid-1960s, the Supremes rivaled the Beatles in worldwide popularity, and it is said that their success made it possible for future African American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success.
Mary Wilson is an American vocalist, concert performer, music rights activist, motivational speaker, author and former U.S. Cultural Ambassador. Wilson is best known as a founding member and longest member of the Supremes, who during the 1960s became Motown's most successful act, and are the best-charting female group in US history, as well as one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. The group released a record-setting twelve number-one hit singles on the US Billboard Hot 100: "Where Did Our Love Go", "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", "Stop! In the Name of Love", "Back in My Arms Again", "I Hear a Symphony", "You Can't Hurry Love", "You Keep Me Hangin' On", "Love is Here and Now You're Gone", "The Happening", "Love Child", and "Someday We'll Be Together". However, Wilson did not sing background on "Love Child" or "Someday We'll Be Together". Wilson remained with the group following the departures of other original members, Florence Ballard in 1967 and Diana Ross in 1970. Following Wilson's own departure in 1977, the group disbanded. Wilson later became a New York Times Best Seller in 1986 with the release of her autobiography, Dreamgirl: My Life As a Supreme, a record setter for sales in its genre, and later Supreme Faith: Someday We'll Be Together; both books later were released as an updated combination. Continuing a successful career as a concert performer, Wilson also became a musicians' rights activist as well as a musical theater performer and organizer of various museum displays of the Supremes' famed costumes. Wilson was inducted along with Ross and Ballard into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
Cynthia Ann Birdsong is an American singer who became famous as a member of The Supremes in 1967, when she replaced co-founding member Florence Ballard. Birdsong had previously been a member of Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles.
TCB is a 1968 television special produced by Motown Productions and George Schlatter–Ed Friendly Productions of Laugh-In fame. The special is a musical revue starring Motown's two most popular groups at the time, Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations. Containing a combination of showtunes, specially prepared numbers, and popular Motown hits, the special was taped before a live studio audience in September 1968 and originally broadcast December 9, 1968 on NBC, sponsored by the Timex watch corporation. The title of the program uses a then-popular acronym, "TCB", which stands for "Taking Care of Business".
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.
The Supremes is a 2000 box set compilation of the material by Motown's most popular act of the 1960s, The Supremes. The set covers The Supremes' entire recording history, from its first recordings as The Primettes in 1960 to its final recordings in 1976.
Together, released by Motown in 1969, was the second and final duets studio album combining Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations into an eight-person Motown act. Like the first duets LP, Diana Ross & the Supremes Join The Temptations, it is composed almost entirely of covers, including versions of The Band's "The Weight", Sly & the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song", Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and Motown songs like "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "Uptight ". "The Weight" was the only single in the US, and failed to make it into the American Top 40. "Why ", a UK exclusive single, was a Top 40 hit on the UK singles charts.
Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations is, as the title implies, a collaborative album combining Motown's two best selling groups, Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations. Issued by Motown in late 1968 to coincide with the broadcast of the Supremes/Temptations TCB television special, the album was a success, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200. Originally the lead single was to have been "The Impossible Dream" as featured in the climax to the TV spectacular TCB. However, it was decided to release "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" as a single instead even though it was not featured on TCB. This became a number-two hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B charts, and the follow-up, "I'll Try Something New", was a Top 30 hit. A third single, "I Second That Emotion", was released exclusively in the United Kingdom, where it became a Top 20 hit.
Let The Sunshine In is the sixteenth studio album by Diana Ross & the Supremes recorded and released by Motown in 1969. It contains the hit single "I'm Livin' in Shame", "The Composer," a Smokey Robinson composition that peaked at number 27, and "No Matter What Sign You Are," - a single produced by Motown chief Berry Gordy that failed to crack to Top 30. Motown had titled the album “No Matter What Sign You Are” originally; going as far as creating the front cover art with the title in it, but when the single didn’t chart as expected the album was retitled “Let The Sunshine In.” Though the album was released when the group consisted of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, original founding member Florence Ballard appears on two songs.
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.
Reflections is the twelfth studio album recorded for Motown by Diana Ross & the Supremes. Released in 1968, it was the first regular studio LP to display the new billing of the group formerly known as "The Supremes." It contains the singles "Reflections", "In and Out of Love" and "Forever Came Today". Also included are covers of songs made famous by Martha and the Vandellas and The 5th Dimension. Also present are songs written by other famous names, including "Bah-Bah-Bah" co-written by Motown singer Brenda Holloway with her younger sister, Patrice, an original Smokey Robinson composition titled "Then", and "What the World Needs Now Is Love" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, which Motown planned to release as a single in the spring of 1968, but cancelled. It also contains a cover of Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe," whose original recording kept the single #2 "Reflections" from peaking at the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1967, and it hit #2 on Cashbox.
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."
I Hear a Symphony is the eighth studio album released by American girl group the Supremes on the Motown label in 1966.
The Supremes at the Copa is a live album by Motown singing group The Supremes, recorded during their debut engagement at the prestigious Copacabana nightclub in New York City. Released in the late fall of 1965, At the Copa was the first live album issued by The Supremes, and the only live album issued by the group's best-known lineup of Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson.
The Supremes Sing Rodgers & Hart is the eleventh studio album released by The Supremes for Motown in 1967. The album is wholly composed of covers of show tunes written by the songwriting duo of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. The album was the final album released before The Supremes' name was changed to "Diana Ross & the Supremes," and member Florence Ballard was replaced by Cindy Birdsong.
Diana Ross & the Supremes: Greatest Hits is a two-LP collection of singles and b-sides recorded by The Supremes, released by Motown in August 1967. The collection was the first LP to credit the group under the new billing Diana Ross & the Supremes. Although founding member Florence Ballard is pictured on all album artwork and sings on all the tracks, by the time the set was released, she had been fired from the group and replaced by Cindy Birdsong.
Greatest Hits: Live in Amsterdam is a DVD by The Supremes released in 2006.
Anthology, also known as Anthology: The Best of The Supremes, first released in May 1974, is a series of same or similarly titled compilation albums by The Supremes. Motown released revised versions in 1986, 1995 and 2001. In its initial version, a 35-track triple record collection of hits and rare material, the album charted at #24 on Billboard's "Black Albums" and #66 on "Pop Albums".
"In and Out of Love" is a 1967 song recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. It was the second single issued with the group's new billing of Diana Ross & the Supremes, the penultimate Supremes single written and produced by Motown production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, and the last single to feature the vocals of original member Florence Ballard.
Diana Ross & the Supremes Sing and Perform "Funny Girl" is the thirteenth studio album released by Diana Ross & the Supremes on the Motown label, released in 1968. Berry Gordy had Diana Ross & the Supremes cover the songs from Barbra Streisand's Broadway musical Funny Girl original cast LP to tie-in with the September release of the feature-film version of the musical, also starring Streisand. The LP was not a success, and, with a Billboard 200 peak of 150, ranks as the lowest-charting of the Diana Ross-led Supremes albums.
