Friday, March 29, 2024

The DRAMA Behind This Supremes Performance, and Why Mary Wilson was Salty: EUR Video Throwback

The Supremes perform on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in casual clothing
The Supremes perform on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in casual drip on Sept. 29, 1968

*On this day in 1968, The Supremes shocked fans during a performance of “Love Child” on “The Ed Sullivan Show” by ditching the trademark elegant gowns that they were known for, and instead donning casual outfits and bare feet. Diana Ross wore cut off shorts and the mustard yellow sweatshirt from the “Love Child” album cover, while Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong went without shoes, all to reflect the struggle of the song’s character.

But what few know about this Sept. 29, 1968 appearance is that Wilson was not happy. Oh yes, she smiled and hit the choreography in her brown blazer and leather shorts, because the show must go on. But she was reportedly seething underneath it all – not because of her stripped down costume or the fact that her bare feet had to touch the stage where Lord knows how many had gone before, but because she and Birdsong are not the featured background vocals on the single. According to songfacts.com, neither Wilson nor Birdsong “sang a note on ‘Love Child.'”

Motown’s unsung session singers, The Andantes, sang background on the track during its test run, as they did on hundreds of Motown records. But instead of being replaced by the featured singers on the final version, as was usually done, a decision was made to leave their vocals in place for “Love Child’s” official release.

Listen to “Love Child” with just the Andantes below:

The Andantes – Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow and Louvain Demps – sang background for a number of Motown hits, including Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Ruffin, Edwin Starr, the Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye, the Isley Brothers, Mary Wells’ “My Guy” and all of the Four Tops’ Holland-Dozier-Holland-produced hits, including “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There.”

Peep their story and listen to some of their famous background work from Motown and beyond below:

Motown reportedly began to use the Andantes as background vocal substitutes for most of its girl groups beginning in 1965 with the Marvelettes, then Martha & the Vandellas in 1966, and the Supremes between 1968-1969, although Wilson and Birdsong continued to record.

Just not on 1968’s “Love Child.”

Wilson has claimed that leaving the Andantes on their records was a move by Motown boss Berry Gordy to make clear to her and Cindy that they were expendable, and further establish his power over them as well as playing up to his protégé/lover Diana Ross.

During their first “Love Child” performance on “Ed Sullivan,” (there would be a second one four months later), Mary says that having to lip sync the background vocals on live television was particularly difficult, knowing she didn’t sing on the original.

Here’s their second, January 5, 1969 “Ed Sullivan” performance of “Love Child,” this time with the ladies back in their usual matching outfits.

BTW, the Andantes finally got their flowers in 2013, when an exhibit honoring their invaluable contribution to the label and countess hit records opened at the Motown Historical Museum in Detroit.

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