The Supremes on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964

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On December 27, 1964, exactly sixty years ago today, three high-schoolers growing up in the Detroit projects appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. 

 

Originally known as The Primettes, Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard would go on to become the most successful “girl group” in history, The Supremes.

The Supremes first appeared on the Sullivan stage on December 27, 1964 to perform their smash single, Come See About Me which I wrote about earlier this year (link below). In the early black and white TV performance, the girls wore simple dresses and matching bouffant hair-dos, and the audience fell in love with their infectious charm and appeal. 

 

 

 

     
     
     

     

The Supremes ~ Ed Sullivan Show 

December 27, 1964

     

     

Viewfinder links:       

         

Florence Ballard           

Come See About Me            

Diana Ross         

The Supremes articles/mentions       

Mary Wilson        

     
Net links:       

        

Ed Sullivan Show ~ The Supremes        

      

YouTube links:       

        

The Supremes ~ Come See About Me - 1964      

        

        

        

        
        

                        

        
Styrous® ~ Friday, December 27, 2024        
        

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45 RPMs 83: The Supremes – Buttered Popcorn w/Florence Ballard lead

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The Supremes ~ Buttered Popcorn

45 RPM record  

photo by Styrous®

 

    

On Friday, July 21, 1961, Tamla records released Buttered Popcorn, a song written by Motown executives Berry Gordy and Barney Ales, produced by Gordy, and released as a Tamla label single by the Motown singing group The Supremes. 

 

Buttered Popcorn featured Florence Ballard on lead, rather than Diana Ross, but it is the only song with Ballard as the sole lead by The Supremes.            

       

Buttered Popcorn was considered by Motown's Quality Control department to be the best song to be issued as the Supremes' second Motown single. However, Berry Gordy was determined that Ross should be the group's main lead and wanted the group's cover of The Miracles song, Who's Lovin' You to be the single's A-side. In the end, Gordy and Quality Control compromised; the Ballard-led song would remain the single's A-side, but the single would be promoted as if it was a "double A-side" one.         

 

 

The Supremes ~ Who's Lovin' You

45 RPM record  

photo by Styrous®

 

 

Stevie Chick of The Guardian, said that Ballard was 'A bold, big-voiced belter' and described the song as 'A piece of raw, ribald soul lacking the polish that gilded their [The Supremes'] later hits'. Also, 'Ballard growls salaciously on Popcorn that her boyfriend "likes it greasy, and sticky, and salty, and gooey", a knowingly saucy performance that somehow escaped the interference of Motown's infamous Quality Control department.' Bonnie Stiernberg of Paste wrote, 'the innuendo-laced track is not unlike buttered popcorn—salty, fluffy, and oh so good'      

 

Both sides of the single received a lot of airplay on local Detroit stations, but problems arose. The first version of the song was withdrawn because it was considered "too raw", and a smoother take was released. Gordy did little to promote the single's A-side, and, some time later, the label discovered that the song could be conceived to have a scandalous "double meaning", and switch to pushing the B-side alone before ceasing promotion of the single altogether.  (link to lyrics below). 

       

Buttered Popcorn was considered by Motown's Quality Control department to be the best song to be issued as the Supremes' second Motown single.         

      

Third Man Records, a new website, has started up and has announced an ongoing partnership with Universal Music to bring Tamla's classic early Motown records back to vinyl (link below).        

        

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - Buttered Popcorn, written by Barney Ales, Berry Gordy Jr.* - 2:34

Side 2:

B - Who's Loving You, written by William Robinson* - 2:44

Companies, etc.

    Pressed By – American Record Pressing Co.

 Notes:

 

Disc Jockey Advance Sample

 

Supremes* – Buttered Popcorn / Who's Loving You
Label:    Tamla – T-54045
Format:    Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Promo
Country: US
Released: Jul 21, 1961
Genre:    Funk / Soul, Pop
Style:    Soul        

        

Viewfinder links:       

         

Buttered Popcorn lyrics        

Nella Dodds          
Berry Gordy         

The Miracles            

The Supremes         

Temptations
     
Net links:       

         

Classic Motown ~ The Supremes – Buttered Popcorn        

Motown Junkies ~ The Supremes – Buttered Popcorn        

Third Man Records ~ The Supremes – Buttered Popcorn                 
     
YouTube links:      
                

The Supremes w/Florence Ballard ~ Buttered Popcorn        

The Supremes ~ Who's Loving You   
        
         

        

        

Styrous® ~ Monday, September 7, 2020

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45 RPMs 82: The Supremes – Come See About Me

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The Supremes ~ Come See About Me

45 RPM record  

photo by Styrous®

 

    

On Monday, July 13, 1964, Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson (The Supremes), walked into the studios of Motown records and recorded one of their biggest hits, Come See About Me, written by the Motown main production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland.             

 

The Supremes and Motown were the first to record the song but not to release it; it was recorded after them but released earlier by Wand Record  and Nella Dodds. Her version started selling, climbing to No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100, but Motown rushed to released the Supremes' version as a single, which killed the sales of Dodds's version. The Supreme's version fades in whereas the Dodds' version starts normally and is not as fast.          

 

In the gay bars of the pre-disco period, I loved to dance to See About Me with it's infectious beat but it was only decades later that I realized it's actually a sad song about a woman whose lost her lover.       

 

Before they became famous, the girls were in a group called The Primettes with none other than the Temptations and they appeared on the Ed Sullivan show on November 19, 1967 (YouTube link below).   

        

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - Come See About Me - 2:39

Side 2:

B - Always In My Heart - 2:26

Companies, etc.

    Copyright © – Motown Record Corporation
    Published By – Jobete
    Mastered At – Nashville Matrix
    Pressed By – American Record Pressing Co.

 Credits:

 

    Producer [Produced By] – Holland & Dozier
    Written-By – Holland, Dozier, Holland*

 Personelle:

    •    Lead vocals by Diana Ross
    •    Background vocals by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson
    •    All instruments by the Funk Brothers[10]
    ◦    Earl Van Dyke – piano
    ◦    Joe Messina – guitar
    ◦    James Jamerson – bass
    ◦    Uriel Jones – drums
    ◦    Jack Ashford – vibraphone
    ◦    Hank Cosby – tenor saxophone
    ◦    Andrew "Mike" Terry – baritone saxophone
    •    Footstomps by Mike Valvano

 

Notes:

Label / pressing plant variant: No bottom scroll text on labels.

© 1964
Jobete BMI

© 1964 Motown Record Corporation

Side A: Taken from Album "Where Did Our Love Go" MT 621

Barcode and Other Identifiers        

        

    Rights Society: BMI
    Pressing Plant ID (Stamped in runouts): ARP
    Matrix / Runout (Label Side A): DM HVV-097205
    Matrix / Runout (Label Side B): DM HVV-099202
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, Side A, Variant 1): RK4M-2604-1-S HVV - 097205 ARP Nashhville Matirx 10
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, Side B, Variant 1): RK4M -2686-1 G Nashville Matrix DMHVV-0922 D2 ARP
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, Side A, Variant 2): RK4M-2604-1-G HVV - 097205 Nashhville Matirx 10 ARP
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, Side B, Variant 2): RK4M -2686-1 G ARP Nashville Matrix DMHVV-0922 D2

        

The Supremes – Come See About Me
Label:    Motown – M-1068
Format:    Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single, American Record Pressing
Country: US
Released: Oct 27, 1964
Genre:    Funk / Soul
Style:    Soul, Vocal        

        

        

Viewfinder links:       

         

Nella Dodds          
Holland–Dozier–Holland

Ed Sullivan            

The Supremes         

Temptations
     
Net links:       

         

         

         

        
     
YouTube links:      
        
Nella Dodds ~  Come See About Me        

The Supremes ~ Come See About Me        

The Temptations & The Supremes "Hits Medley" on The Ed Sullivan Show   
        
         

        

        

Styrous® ~ Monday, September 7, 2020

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Frank Devol articles/mentions

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mentions:         

Murder, Inc.    

Reel-to-Reel Tapes Archive                            
Diana Ross & the Supremes ~    

       Stop! In the Name of Love        

     

     

     

Frank Devol 

date & photographer unknown 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

 

 

 

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Music People

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Diana Ross articles/mentions

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Diana Ross 

  date & photographer unknown 

        
    

mentions:        

 

Josephine Baker, Cocteau, Hemmingway & Picasso    

Black History Month      

Arif Mardin ~ Glass Onion       

Motown Story ~ The First Decade Vol. 3 

Buttered Popcorn w/Florence Ballard     

Supremes ~      

       Stop! In the Name of Love       

       Come See About Me    

USA For Africa ~ We Are The World      

        
        
      
     
        

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101 Reel-To-Reel Tapes 16: Motown Story ~ The First Decade Vol. 3

Motown Story ~ The First Decade, Vol 3
Packaging: Album Graphics, Inc.
photo of box cover by Styrous®

In addition to my vinyl collection I'm selling, I have hundreds of reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes I'm selling. This is an entry about one of them that was for sale on eBay (see link below for others). I have the vinyl LP version as well. Interested? Contact me by email, please, not by a comment.

Motown Story ~ The First Decade, Vol 3
Packaging: Album Graphics, Inc.
photo of box back by Styrous®

Motown Story ~ The First Decade, Vol 3
Packaging: Album Graphics, Inc.
detail photo by Styrous®

Motown Story ~ The First Decade, Vol 3
tape reel
photo by Styrous®

Motown Story ~ The First Decade, Vol 3

tape reel label detail
detail photo by Styrous®

Side 1:

Marvin Gaye –I'll Be Doggone
(intro: Mary Wilson) Diana Ross & the Supremes - Back In My Arms Again
(intro: Levi Stubbs) The Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself
(intro: Smokey Robinson) Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - The Tracks of my Tears
(intro: Diana Ross) Diana Ross & the Supremes - Nothing But Heartaches
(intro: Diana Ross) Diana Ross & the Supremes - I Hear a Symphony

Side 2:
(intro: Stevie Wonder) Stevie Wonder - Uptight (Everything's Alright)
(intro: Diana Ross) Diana Ross & the Supremes - My World Is Empty Without You
(intro: Martha Reeves) Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - My Baby Loves Me
(intro: Otis Williams) The Temptations - Ain't Too Proud To Beg
Jimmy Ruffin - What Becomes of the Broken Hearted
(intro: Diana Ross) Diana Ross & the Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love

Producer: Bill Watson _History of Rock 'N Roll, Inc.
Reserachist: John Gibson
Engineer: Russ Terrana
Narrator: Charlie Van Dyke
Coordinator: Phil Jones
Braphic Supervision: Tom Schlesinger
Art Direction: Curtis McNair & Jim Ladwig
Packaging: Album Graphics, Inc.



Motown Story ~ The First Decade Vol. 3, 
                           Reel-To-Reel Tape on eBay

reel-to-reel listings on eBay

more reel-to-reel tapes on the Styrous® Viewfinder:
                                             reel-to-reel tape archive

Styrous® ~ October 29, 2013

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