The Supremes were undoubtedly Motown’s most successful girl group, the label’s premier act in the 1960s, elevating Motown from a small independent label into a reputable musical powerhouse. They were Motown’s most commercially successful act and America’s most successful vocal band, achieving 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. The Supremes paved the way for future African-American R&B and soul musicians to break into the mainstream music industry. Their lead singer, Diana Ross, has gone on to have a hugely decorated career, becoming a global superstar.
The group’s rise to the top wasn’t easy, however, and it took them a long time to get a record deal, let alone release an actual hit. Originally, the group were known as the Primettes; a sister act to the Detroit singing group the Primes, managed by the mysterious and somewhat dubious Milton Jenkins. The group’s initial line-up in 1958 comprised Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Betty McGlown (whose boyfriend Paul Williams was part of the Primes), and Diana Ross. Jenkins hoped to replicate his success with the Primes, who had fast become a staple live act in Detroit’s thriving music scene. The Primettes’ early performances primarily took place in Detroit nightclubs, often requiring creativity or bribery, as the girls were underage.
The group’s career hit an early roadblock when Milton Jenkins was involved in a gruesome car accident, leaving both the Primes and the Primettes without representation. The Primes bounced back quickly, eventually morphing into The Temptations, but the Primettes were left high and dry, with the girls choosing to focus on their education for a while. The group eventually engineered an audition with Motown thanks to Ross being an acquaintance of Smokey Robinson, who had become a well-established figure and musician within the label. Robinson was impressed by the group’s singing, promising them an audition with the head of Motown, Berry Gordy, if they let him borrow their guitarist, Marv Tarplin, who had been helping the group with their arrangements. Gordy was similarly impressed with the group’s singing but told them to finish school and then return to him.
Following this setback, the group had a brief ill-fated period with Bob West’s Lupine Records. Their problems continued when Betty McGlown announced she was leaving the group to get married, eventually being replaced by Barbara Diane Martin. The girls decided to return to Motown and try again, despite not finishing their education. Gordy was much more receptive the second time around, though a contract took a long time to materialise. They were put to work providing backing vocals for several Motown performers and running general errands in the studio. Gordy also decided the group needed a new name, the Primettes becoming the Supremes, when they finally signed their contract on the 15th of January 1961.
The group released a slew of singles after signing for Motown, none being commercially successful, earning them the unwanted moniker of the ‘No-hit Supremes’ around Hitsville. The Smokey Robinson penned ‘Your Heart Belongs To Me’ finally got the Supremes into the Billboard Hot 100, albeit never rising higher than a lowly #95. Things improved further with the release of ‘Let Me Go The Right Way’, which performed reasonably well in the R&B charts. However, the group failed to gain the success of Motown’s fellow girl group act, the Marvelettes, who had already achieved a major hit with ‘Please Mr. Postman’. The relationship between the two groups was excellent (Florence Ballard even filled in on tour for the Marvelettes), apart from Ross, who was allegedly highly jealous of the Marvelettes’ success.
Despite lacking a banker single, Motown released the group’s debut album, Meet The Supremes, in December 1962, just in time for Christmas. The record was a commercial flop, not being released in the UK until late 1964. Comprising of material recorded throughout 1961, it’s the only Supremes record to feature vocals from Barbara Martin, who had left the group in the spring of 1962, before the album’s release, after falling pregnant. The record is similar to many of Motown’s early releases, with material largely penned by Gordy and Smokey Robinson. It’s a mixed bag, showcasing the group’s vocal talents, especially Ross’s, but suffering from a confused, unpolished sound.
The opening track, ‘Your Heart Belongs to Me’, provides an excellent start. The song tells the story of a woman whose lover is in the armed forces, as she hopes her man will remain faithful. Ross’s voice is tender and sweet, perfectly capturing the song’s narrative. ‘Who’s Lovin’ You’ is a Miracles cover, a song passed around Motown like confetti in the early days; the Supremes give it a more bluesy vocal style, while the track benefits from the more robust harmonies they provide. ‘Baby Don’t Go’ features a rare Mary Wilson lead on a short soulful number with charm but no real energy. ‘Buttered Popcorn’ is a salacious, double-entendre-filled delight (“He likes it greasy and sticky”); you can understand why some radio stations had their reservations! It’s eminently catchy with a real rock’n’roll bounce, Ballard providing some raw, sassy energy.
The single, ‘I Want A Guy’, is a slow, slightly flat doo-wop number, though Ross does capture the narrator’s sense of loneliness. It would go on to be covered by the Marvelettes on Please Mr. Postman, where the horn section gives it some added oomph. ‘Let Me Go The Right Way’ is caught between R&B and doo-wop, featuring some energetic vocals from Ross but suffering from slightly clunky instrumentals, especially the drumming. ‘You Bring Back Some Memories’ has some nice bounce, though the opening bears a slight resemblance to the Miracles’ Shop Around. ‘Time Changes Things’ was written by two-thirds of the famous Holland-Dozier-Holland team, a somewhat unpolished affair that lacks the biting hooks of their later efforts; it does, however, have some honey-sweet harmonies.
‘Play a Sad Song’ is nice vocally but instrumentally quite jarring, with its weird reedy-like buzz in the background. ‘Never Again’ is a languid, 50s-style doo-wop effort, with Ross’s floating across it. The closer, ‘He’s Seventeen’, is a bizarre affair. Lyrically it’s very banal and features some weird backing vocals, where syllables are stretched to breaking point in this faux-angelic way. The strange conversational interlude and out-of-place trumpet interjections only add to the madness. It’s a shame that the record finishes on such a low point.
Meet the Supremes, like many other early Motown efforts, is a mixed bag, caught between doo-wop and R&B. The singles are better than their commercial performance suggests, but it’s clear that Motown was still someway off their signature sound. The record does demonstrate their group’s vocal abilities, with the harmonies being particularly tight. The album suffers more from unimaginative songwriting than anything, with Ross’s voice elevating many of the tracks beyond their limited lyrics. Thankfully, the only way was up for the Supremes!
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