Merry Christmas - The Supremes

Merry Christmas
The Supremes
Motown 638
1965

As Supremes albums go this one is mediocre, but as a Christmas record it is very good, one of my favorites.  I put it on while we were trimming the tree this year and it went over quite well.  It has a nice mix of secular and religious songs, standards and new songs and it captures the spirit of the season without being too sappy.  I have to admit that the first time I heard it I was very disappointed.  I was hoping for Motown-ized versions of the Christmas classics akin to what Phil Spector did with his Christmas album.  Most of these arrangements would be suitable for Andy Williams or the Lettermen, traditional easy listening pop.  Eventually I came around to realizing that was pretty much what I wanted, that's what I grew up listening to at Christmas and as a result I play this more at Christmas than the Spector album (even though I consider that a much better record.)  The standards are all pretty good aside from "The Little Drummer Boy" which I find tedious.  "White Christmas" and "Silver Bells" feature nice vocal arrangements.  "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer" gets a big band arrangement and is most notable for Diana Ross' bizarre impersonation of Santa Claus.  "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is one of the few tracks that sounds like a Motown song and is all the better for it.  It is my favorite cut on the album.  "Joy to the World" is given an energetic performance but I could do without the martial drumming and the mechanized tightness of the vocals.  I don't know why people consider "My Favorite Things" (from "The Sound of Music") to be a Christmas song but I'm not complaining too much because I like the Supremes' version quite a bit.  It has a swinging big band arrangement and features the persistent ringing of sleigh bells to try to make it sound more Christmas-like I suppose.  Ross' vocal is vibrant and the song is another one of my favorites on the record.  I like all of the newer songs to varying degrees.  The best one is Jimmy Webb's poignant "My Christmas Tree" which is about a woman spending Christmas alone and missing her lover who has left her.  Ross' vocal is moving and the song is full of expressive images typical of Webb's work.  I also like Al Capps and Mary Dean's "Little Bright Star" which is given a jumping Motown arrangement and features some strong vocal work.  "Children's Christmas Song" was written by Isabelle Freeman and Harvey Fuqua and it also has a Motown-style melody and arrangement.  The song is inane but extremely catchy, it sticks in my brain for days after I play it.  Diana Ross does a lot of talking in the song as she bosses around her younger brother Chico and Berry Gordy's three kids who participate in the vocal.  Her Christmas cheeriness sounds phony to me, but the song is so silly that I can't really blame her.  Ronald Miller and William O'Malley's "Twinkle Twinkle Little Me" is also pretty dumb. It is written from the perspective of the star on top of a Christmas tree.  It has a good Motown-style tune though and I dig the harmony vocals in support of Ross' lead.  Don Gustafson's "Born of Mary" has an evocative melody that sounds like it was lifted from a classic western.  The song has an ensemble vocal from the group.  It is not a memorable song but it sounds nice.  I think this is one of the better Christmas albums of its era.  I wish my parents had been cool enough to have had a copy, I think I would have loved it when I was a kid.  I think part of why I like it so much is that it reminds me of being a kid at Christmas time.  The exuberance and warm feelings that permeate much of this record brings out the holiday spirit in me.  Recommended to people who need to tame their inner Scrooge.

Reflections - Diana Ross and the Supremes

Reflections
Diana Ross and the Supremes
Motown 665
1968

I was a big Motown fan as young teen.  The first record I ever bought was a Jackson 5 single and one of the first non-Beatles albums I bought was Diana Ross and the Supremes' "Greatest Hits" which I played all the time.  As I got older, I lost my appetite for Motown preferring the grittier sound of the Atlantic and Stax soul artists.  By the time "The Big Chill" came out and made Motown popular again I was thoroughly fed up with most of their music, aside from Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye.  That hasn't changed all that much, I still don't play my Motown albums very often.  I do have a soft spot for the Supremes though.  Like most of the Motown artists, the group is best served by comps, none of their albums are essential, all of the ones I own have too much filler.  This is one of the better ones though.  It was a transitional album, the beginning of the end in some respects.  Original Supreme Florence Ballard was being forced out of the group.  Her replacement, Cindy Birdsong is on the cover of the record.  The record marks the end of the group's collaboration with Holland-Dozier-Holland who had been largely responsible for their sound and their hits.  They deliver several excellent songs on their swansong with the group including "In and Out of Love" and "I Can't Make It Alone" which recall the classic Supremes sound and a couple of more modern sounding numbers in "Forever Came Today" and "Reflections" which foreshadow the future sound of the group.  Side one of this record is first rate, one of my favorite Motown sides.  There is not a bad song on it, 3 memorable hit singles in "Reflections," "Forever Came Today" and "In and Out of Love" plus "I'm Going To Make It," "I Can't Make It Alone" and the passionate Brenda Holloway composition "Bah-Bah-Bah."  Unfortunately side two is the usual filler crap.  I like Diana Ross, but I think she is very limited as a singer.  What she does, she does really well, but she is not very versatile.  Side two is full of lackluster covers where she gets soundly trounced.  Jackie DeShannon's version of "What The World Needs Now is Love" is infinitely superior to the cover offered here.  Ross just sounds bored on it.  Dionne Warwick did it much better as well.  The Supremes lose to both the Fifth Dimension and the Sunshine Company when they tackle "Up, Up and Away."  Somehow they manage to suck all the life out of that normally exuberant song.  Labelmate Martha Reeves (who really can sing) gets bragging rights on "Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)."  The cover of "Ode To Billie Joe" is practically embarrassing.  Fortunately Smokey Robinson salvages the side with two terrific songs, "Then" and "Misery Makes It's Home In My Heart."  The man was unquestionably the greatest songwriter to come out of Motown, and yes that includes Michael Jackson.  Eight good songs out of twelve is a pretty decent ratio, especially for a Motown album.  Unless you have a thing for the Supremes you probably don't need this record but I think most 60s pop music fans will find something worthwhile on it.  Recommended for people who are tired of hearing the same old Motown hits over and over again.