Meet The Supremes [Expanded Edition] [Import]

That Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson were the voice of teenage longing in the mid sixties has never been in question, but the recently expanded reissue of their 1962 debut recording "Meet The Supremes" is revelatory in that it fully exposes the raw, hungry passion of the original trio and soon to be gone member, Barbara Martin.

While one could not consider the Supremes the first female garage vocal group, the fire and ice emitting from Diana Ross' vocals as evidenced in "Too Hot" are steamy indeed, and hint at the inferno that future fine tuning at the hands of writing and production team Holland-Dozier-Holland would unleash.

The steely determination of a young Diana Ross is fully captured in her live lead vocals of "Run, Run, Run","Let Me Go The Right Way", and "Your Heart Belongs To Me". Two standout live selections, from The Battle of the Stars, Live at the Graystone Ballroom from 1964 which pitted the Supremes against the Velvelettes "Anyone Who Had A Heart", and "Make Someone Happy" foreshadow the broad appeal the group that would become the group's trademark.

When these seminal recordings were re-released with a new cover in 1965, fans of the HDH made over group may have been startled at the raw edgy energy of these first recording sessions, and even Mary Wilson has reflected that "these songs sound better than I remembered."

Hip-o Select has gone all out with this high quality expanded edition, that they are so well known for, featuring the original mono and stereo sessions, alternative takes, leads featuring Florence and Mary, and live selections from the Motortown Special Review from 1962. As well as the long sought after track, "The Boy That Got Away" that was listed on the original barstool cover, but pulled at the last moment in favor of the rocking "Let Me Go The Right Way", is included here.

On retrouve sur cet album de très bonnes chansons des Supremes que je n'avais jamais entendues. C'est très surprenant qu'elles ne soient connues que récemment. Les Supremes sont un des meilleurs groupes de tous les temps et on les découvre encore aujourd'hui, cinquante ans plus tard! Bravo et merci!

This CD is something I have been looking forward to for a long time. If you are a fan of the Supremes you will love every cut on this disc. It is interesting to see how great Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson sound as lead singers on some of the songs. The sound quality is fantastic.