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Love Child/Supremes A-Go-Go

The Supremes - Love Child/Supremes A-Go-Go Audio CD

A fair review of the The Supremes "Love Child/Supremes A-Go-Go" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Supremes reviews here, or go back to the The Supremes tabs.

Band: The Supremes
Title: Love Child/Supremes A-Go-Go
Rating:

Release Date: 2004-08-09
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Love Child 2: Keep an Eye 3: How Long Has the Evening Train Been Gone 4: Does Your Mama Know About Me 5: Honey Bee (Keep Stinging Me) 6: Some Things You Never Get Used To 7: He's My Sunny Boy 8: You've Been So Wonderful to Me 9: (Don't Break These) Chains of Love 10: You Ain't Livin' Till You're Lovin' 11: I'll Set You Free 12: I Can't Shake It Loose 13: Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart 14: This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You) 15: You Can't Hurry Love 16: Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over) 17: Baby I Need Your Loving 18: These Boots Are Made for Walkin' 19: I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) 20: Get Ready 21: Put Yourself in My Place 22: Money (That's What I Want) 23: Come and Get These Memories 24: Hang on Sloopy

interesting combo--like a cherry tomato sundae

but the company that put these two albums together to make a double cd for release may not have put a lot of thought in the pairing. i had to call this review something. 'love child' might have gone with 'let the sunshine in' more effectively and likewise 'a go-go' would have been very well set-off by 'sings holland-dozier-holland' or maybe, 'i hear a symphony'.

i like listening to 'love child'. i do. i have since i got my hands on a copy of the vinyl, which i am VERY proud to say i still have, back in 1971. my thirteenth summer i spent playing this album pretty much every night. the selection of tunes was a very strong one and the producing team had a great time making every song unique in its own right while maintaining interest in an eclectic mix. but it's a little obvious that the great divide between diana ross and the group from whence she sprung like a black singing venus had happened. mary wilson and cindy birdsong are present on at least one cut. just one. that's pretty pathetic. but at least it's a good good cut called 'i'll see you free'. diana ross' lead vocal is elegant and restrained in its delivery of the song's drama and wilson and birdsong are damn near screaming out the refrain in a kind of anger. yes, anger. how else would you feel when you've been forsaken or cuckolded?

likewise, on 'supremes a go-go' it is difficult to feel the full presence of the supremes. but not so much. the cover of 'shake me wake me' is brilliant! one of the best covers of a song made classic by another motown group. 'money' is likewise, quite hot. ross is very assured with the verse and wilson and ballard bring up a sassy response to the refrain. the most famous tunes, 'you can't hurry love' and 'love is like an itchin in my heart' are further buoyed by filler tunes like 'put yourself in my place' and a bodacious solo cover of 'these boots are made for walking' by diana ross. for me, it loses points with the lackluster rendering of 'hang on sloopy' (this should have been done by the vandellas) 'baby i need your lovin'. and, as much as i love mary wilson, i don't like her cover of 'come and get these memories' don't know why.

the tomato sundae thing. don't know why about that either.

Great Buy!
The hits are the tracks that stand out, though there are some very nice tracks on both original albums. This compilation of two original Supremes albums on one CD confirms what is usually common knowledge, that the Supremes were mainly a singles act.

"Love Child" was released in 1968 as "Diana Ross and the Supremes" whereas "Supremes A Go Go" was released in 1965 just as the Supremes and still with the "Holland/Dozier/Holland" songwriting team as their main song-contributers.

"Supremes A Go Go" is classical Tamla-Motown featuring the great hits "Love is Like an Itching in My Heart" and "You Can't Hurry Love". Moreover the Supremes give versions of acts like Four Tops and Temptations hits with "I Can't Help Myself" as the most successful, without reaching the high standards of the Four Tops version. Another interesting track is "Come and Get These Memories" where Diana Ross leaves the lead-vocals with Mary Wilson.

With "Love Child" there was a slight musical change towards more main-stream pop. No song-contributions from "Holland/Dozier/Holland", but still a lot of fine material. The title track is one of the finest recordings of all times to be released in the Supremes name and the other single "Some Thing You'' Never Get Used to" is also great. Of the album tracks the Ashford/Simpson song "You Ain't Livin You're Lovin*" stand out. I guess this could have been a hit too, had it been released on a single.

The sound on both albums is great and though the booklet informations about the albums are sparse, it is a great release - obviously aimed at big fans of the group. Causal listeners probably will prefer one of the various hits-collections. .

Party time
This is a slightly unexpected pairing of albums, with Love Child the more recent of the two, from the time when they had become Diana Ross and the Supremes. Since a number of Supremes albums have long been unavailable on CD, re-issues such as can be found on the excellent 2 Classic Albums 1 CD series are to be warmly encouraged. The Supremes A' Go-Go dated from a couple of years earlier, and featuring the classic line-up of Diana, Flo and Mary.

Love Child followed the departure of Holland/Dozier/Holland from the fold and the policy at Motown of encouraging a new lyrical realism, addressing issues of the day, hence the downbeat album cover with Diana cast in the role of the "Love child" (you can tell by the T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Love child"), seemingly ostracized by Cindy and Mary. Some of the tracks were produced by rising stars Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, including the pre-album single Some Things You Never Get Used To and a new version of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's You Ain't Livin' Till You're Lovin', with other production duties shared by The Clan, Frank Wilson, Deke Richards and other relatively new blood, and including Smokey Robinson on his song He's My Sunny Boy. All reflect Motown's new found sophistication and a move towards the mainstream, but there is diversity and funkiness throughout the grooves. Cindy and Mary do not appear on the singles Love Child or Some Things You Never Get Used To, and are augmented throughout the album by the Andantes, in preparation for Diana's solo career which was launched around eighteen months later. One song, I Can't Shake It Loose, had been learned from Pat Lewis of the Andantes, as she'd had it out on a single for Golden World a couple of years earlier.

The Supremes A' Go-Go was hurriedly put together to capitalize on the runaway hits Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart and You Can't Hurry Love, and these classics are among the strongest tracks, as recycled runs-through of recent hits for other Motown acts the Four Tops, the Isley Brothers and the Temptations, though efficient and enjoyable, are filler and sound rushed; a number of the vocals were overdubbed in one day in Los Angeles. The album is further fleshed out with novelties such as a version of Nancy Sinatra's Boots, the McCoys' Hang On Sloopy, Martha and the Vandellas' Come And Get These Memories (featuring a rare Mary Wilson lead vocal) and a stomping version of the Barrett Strong hit Money, which had by then become a standard thanks to covers by the Beatles and the Stones amongst others. The Supremes had earlier released a whole album in tribute to the British invasion groups including the Beatles, with the geographically inaccurate name A Bit of Liverpool (found on A Bit of Liverpool/T. C. B. ).

Apart from the two A-sides, there are no original songs on the album, unless Put Yourself In My Place is included. The Supremes had been the first to record this back in 1964, but their attempt had been shelved and the song assigned to the Elgins. This later re-visit was also the flipside of You Can't Hurry Love and is one of the highlights of this unpretentious and lively party album.

More Fantastic #1 Hits from The Supremes!
It is an honest plea from a young girl to her boyfriend that she is not only not ready or willing to take the risk of getting pregnant, but it also states the brutally honest truth that when a teen gets pregnant they usually ruin their life, hence "we'll only end up hatin' the child we may be creatin' ". I have to totally disagree with the previous review of the song "Love Child". . .

This song, along the lines of "Papa, Don't Preach" takes a hot topic and tames it a little bit.

Yes, any Supremes fan knows it's not Mary and Cindy singing backup on that track, but come on, it's one of the best songs Motown ever put out and so easy to sing along to!

These two albums, "Love Child" and "Supremes A Go-Go" are two of their best: featuring not only "Love Child", but also "Love Is Here And Now You're Gone" and "You Can't Hurry Love" from the original trio: Mary, Flo, and Diana.

A special treat is Mary's rendition of "Come and Get These Memories". . . she really shines on that song. If you can find this album it's really worth it just for "Come and Get These Memories" alone.

.

Offensive
Saying that a person is "never meant to be" is not only damaging; it is cruel and hurtful. I for one hate the 1968 song "Love Child" because I think it sends out a very bad message.

On an impersonal level I understand that the girl of song story is saying she wants to wait prior to having a sexual relationship as she is not ready to take on the responsibility. Well and good. However, I take issue with the lyrics ". . . before end up hating the child we may be be creating. . . Love Child! Never meant to be!" Saying that suggests that only those born within marriages are valid people and meant to be.

Humanity predates marriage, so there was a time when all people were conceived and born ex wedlock. I hate the song and find it extremely offensive.

You can see a complete list of all The Supremes discography, or go back to the The Supremes tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.