Together | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 23, 1969 | |||
Recorded | 1969 | |||
Genre | Pop, soul | |||
Label | Motown | |||
Producer | Frank Wilson, Smokey Robinson, Al Clevland, Terry Johnson, Tom Baird, Henry Cosby, Deke Richards | |||
Diana Ross & the Supremes chronology | ||||
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The Temptations chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Singles from Together | ||||
Together,released by Motown in 1969 (catalog number MS 692),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" (featuring Mary Wilson leading,in preparation for Ross' departure from the Supremes) and Motown songs like "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "Uptight (Everything's Alright)". "The Weight" was the only single in the US,and failed to make it into the American Top 40. "Why (Must We Fall in Love)",a UK exclusive single,was a Top 40 hit on the UK singles charts.
Together was released on the same day (September 23,1969) as Puzzle People ,a regular Temptations album showcasing the group's then-current psychedelic soul sound.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead singers | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" |
| 3:10 | |
2. | "I'll Be Doggone" |
| 3:32 | |
3. | "The Weight" | Robbie Robertson |
| 3:02 |
4. | "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" |
| 2:44 | |
5. | "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" |
| 3:05 | |
6. | "Sing a Simple Song" | Sly Stone |
| 3:33 |
7. | "My Guy / My Girl" (Medley) |
|
| 3:13 |
8. | "For Better or Worse" |
|
| 2:37 |
9. | "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" |
| 3:11 | |
10. | "Why (Must We Fall in Love)" |
| 3:05 |
Chart (1969) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [2] | 29 |
UK Albums (OCC) [3] | 28 |
UK R&B Albums ( Record Mirror ) [4] | 4 |
US Billboard 200 [5] | 28 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [6] | 6 |
The Supremes was 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.
"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".
American girl group The Supremes have released 29 studio albums, four live albums, two soundtrack albums, 32 compilation albums, four box sets, 66 singles and three promotional singles. The Supremes are the most successful American group of all-time, and the 26th greatest artist of all time on the US Billboard charts; with 12 number-one songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and three number-one albums on the Billboard 200. The Supremes were the first artist to accumulate five consecutive number-one singles on the US Hot 100 and the first female group to top the Billboard 200 albums chart with The Supremes A' Go-Go (1966). In 2017, Billboard ranked The Supremes as the number-one girl group of all-time, publishing, 'although there have been many girl group smashes in the decades since the Supremes ruled the Billboard charts, no collective has yet to challenge their, for lack of a better word, supremacy.' In 2019, the Official Charts Company placed 7 Supremes songs—"You Can't Hurry Love" (16), "Baby Love" (23), "Stop! In the Name of Love" (56), "Where Did Our Love Go?" (59), "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (78), "Come See About Me" (94) and "Stoned Love" (99)—on The Official Top 100 Motown songs of the Millennium chart, which ranks Motown releases by their all-time UK downloads and streams.
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".
G.I.T. on Broadway, also known as Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Temptations on Broadway, is a 1969 television special produced by Motown Productions and George Schlatter-Ed Friendly Productions. The special, a follow-up to 1968's successful TCB program, is a musical revue starring Motown's two most popular groups at the time, Diana Ross and The Supremes with the Temptations. Containing primarily Broadway showtunes, the special was taped in mid-1969 and originally broadcast November 12, 1969 on NBC. Like TCB, the title of the program was derived from an acronym, this one standing for "Gettin' It Together".
"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" is a soul song most popularly released as a joint single performed by Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations for the Motown label. This version peaked for two weeks at No. 2 on the Hot 100 in the United States, selling 900,000 copies in its first two weeks, and at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1969.
"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.
"(I Know) I'm Losing You" is a 1966 hit single recorded by the Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label, written by Cornelius Grant, Eddie Holland and Norman Whitfield, and produced by Norman Whitfield.
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. Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations spent four weeks at number one on the UK Albums Chart.
Puzzle People is the eleventh studio album released by American soul quintet The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label in 1969. Produced entirely by Norman Whitfield, Puzzle People expanded on the psychedelic soul sound of the Temptations' previous LP, Cloud Nine. Although a few straightforward soul ballads are present, the album is primarily composed of Sly & the Family Stone/James Brown-derived proto-funk tracks such as the lead single "Don't Let the Joneses Get You Down", and the number-one Billboard Pop hit "I Can't Get Next to You".
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.
"I Second That Emotion" is a 1967 song written by Smokey Robinson and Al Cleveland. First charting as a hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on the Tamla/Motown label in 1967, "I Second That Emotion" was later a hit single for the group duet Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations, also on the Motown label.
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."
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.
Diana Ross & the Supremes: Greatest Hits Vol. 3 is a 1969 compilation album by Diana Ross & the Supremes, released on the Motown label. It features all of the hits released by the group between 1967 and 1969 save for the Supremes/Temptations duet singles. After Florence Ballard's mid-1967 departure from the group, Supremes singles were recorded by Diana Ross with session singers The Andantes on backgrounds instead of new Supreme Cindy Birdsong and founding member Mary Wilson, including "Love Child" and "Someday We'll Be Together".
"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.
"The Composer" is a 1969 song released for Diana Ross & the Supremes by the Motown label.
"I'll Try Something New" is a song written by Smokey Robinson and originally released in 1962 by The Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla subsidiary label. Their version was a Billboard Top 40 hit, peaking at #39, and just missed the Top 10 of its R&B chart, peaking at #11. The song was released later as a joint single by Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations, also becoming a charting version on the Billboard 100 pop singles chart, peaking for two weeks in April 1969 at number 25.