Diana Ross: A Biography

by J. Randy Taraborrelli

  More Trivia

  —– Diana had recorded an earlier version of “I Can’t Give Back the Love I Feel For You” while still a member of the Supremes, but it remains unreleased as of this writing.

  —– There is one known unreleased track from this album titled “Baby I’ll Come.”

  LADY SINGS THE BLUES—SOUNDTRACK (2 LPs, 1 CD) – 10/72—Pop #1 and R&B #2

  Also, see—“Recording the Lady soundtrack” in Part Four.

  Diana received many accolades for her interpretations of Billie Holiday’s classic songs. Without doing an impression of Holiday, she captured the essence of Lady Day beautifully while making each song her own. This double LP featured actual moments from the film, mixing dialogue with music on one disc while featuring Diana’s studio versions of the songs on the other. This album was a smash, topping Billboard’s album chart for three weeks.

  Motown released “Good Morning Heartache”—Pop #34, R&B #20 and AC #8—mostly as a promotional tool for the album. This wasn’t the kind of single that mainstream pop radio was playing at the time, but the track made it to the Pop Top 40 and to the Top 10 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Several stations also played its flip side: “God Bless the Child.” Motown ran a full-page ad in Billboard to promote the song, referring to it as “the real side of Billie Holiday.”

  With such critical and commercial success, it remains a mystery as to how this soundtrack album was overlooked at the Grammy awards. It received not a single nomination. Diana did, however, receive the American Music Award for “Album of the Year.”

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  —– Though “Don’t Explain’ was planned as a second single, it ended up being issued only on promotional 45s.

  —– As of this writing, there are dozens of alternate versions of these songs still in Motown’s vaults, including a completely different track and vocal of “The Man I Love.”

  TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING – 5/73—Pop #5 and R&B #1

  Also, see—“Touch me in the morning” and “‘Oscar, anyway’” in Part Four.

  After Lady Sings the Blues, Diana was so hot that Motown had her work on several recording projects at the same time. Pregnant with her second child, she began recording an album with a children’s theme. One title considered for this project was To the Baby. Some of the unreleased tracks from these sessions included covers of Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” Michael Jackson’s “Got to Be There” and a song celebrating a woman’s pregnancy titled “A Wonderful Guest.” Diana also recorded contemporary pop ballads and jazz standards for The Blue Album (released by Motown in 2006, simply as Blue). Selections from these sessions were then combined to become the Touch Me in the Morning album. Other songs from these sessions would turn up on several albums over the years.

  “Touch Me in the Morning”—Pop #1, R&B #5, AC #1 and UK #9—was the perfect Diana Ross single, combining elements from some of her best records. Her phrasing was warm and contemporary but still hinted at her recent jazz and blues success. There were also soulful spoken passages and dramatic crescendos reminiscent of her work with Ashford and Simpson. This number-one single enjoyed a lengthy chart run and earned Diana another Grammy nomination.

  The album was also the first of many successful collaborations with composer/producer Michael Masser, and the first time Diana was credited as producer on two of the album’s tracks (John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Marvin Gaye’s “Save the Children”). An international smash, this LP boasted a second Top-10 single in the UK with “All of My Life”—UK #9. Motown considered issuing “We Need You” in the US and included the song in radio ads for the album, but the release never happened.

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  —– Other rare or unreleased tracks considered for this album include “Young Mothers” (released for the first time on the 1983 Anthology), “I’ll Be Here When You Get Home,” produced by Johnny Bristol, and “Kewpie Doll,” produced by Smokey Robinson.

  —– There is an unreleased mix of “We Need You” with a “stop-ending.”

  —– By mistake, the single mix of “Touch Me in the Morning” with a short fade ended up on the album. And the extended LP version was released as the single! Future pressings of the single were issued with the short fade.

  DIANA & MARVIN – 10/73—Pop #26 and R&B #5

  Also, see—“‘Oscar, anyway’” in Part Four.

  Marvin Gaye had become Motown’s master when it came to duets, already having scored hits with Mary Wells, Kim Weston and most notably Tammi Terrell. It seemed only natural to team Marvin with Motown’s leading lady—Diana—especially since they had both individually just scored with number-one hits. (“Touch Me in the Morning” and “Let’s Get It On”). This project began with Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson producing “Just Say, Just Say” and “I’ve Come to Love You So Much.” (The latter remained unreleased until the LP was reissued on CD in 2001.) However, when Ashford and Simpson left Motown to sign a recording contract with Warner Bros, producer Hal Davis took over the project and several producers (including Berry Gordy) made contributions. Hal’s production of “My Mistake (Was to Love You)”—Pop #19 and R&B #15—was scheduled to be the first single, but Gordy preferred his own production of “You’re a Special Part of Me”—Pop #12, R&B #4 and AC #43. “My Mistake” was released as the second single. Though it charted lower than the first one, today it is much more popular and more identified as the hit from Diana and Marvin.

  The UK had the biggest success from this album with the remake of the Stylistics’ “You Are Everything”—UK #5. The other Stylistics cover, “Stop, Look, Listen (to Your Heart)”—UK #25—was resurrected in the 2002 film Bridget Jones’s Diary.

  The final single release in the US was a remix of “Don’t Knock My Love”—Pop #46 and R&B #25.

  In 2001, the CD was remastered and expanded to include four additional tracks.

  More Trivia

  —– For the Japanese market, the album was remixed in quadraphonic. This is very collectable vinyl since several of the songs contain some alternate vocals, additional verses and extended fades. The quad mix of “Pledging My Love” can be found on the Marvin Gaye CD Love Songs.

  —– “Stop, Look, Listen (to Your Heart)” was remixed in 2001 for the CD reissue of To Love Again.

  —– There is an excellent alternate vocal on “Just Say, Just Say” still in the Motown vaults.

  —– The Marvin Gaye Collection, a four-CD box set, contained alternate vocals and mixes of “You’re a Special Part of Me,” “My Mistake” and “Don’t Knock My Love.” While recording the latter song, Diana can be heard on tape confessing, “This is the song I hate!”

  LAST TIME I SAW HIM – 12/73—Pop #52 and R&B #12

  This album was really just an extension of Touch Me in the Morning, featuring the work of several of the same producers along with three tracks produced by Bob Gaudio of the Four Seasons (who had just been signed to Motown). The tempo of this LP was a little more varied with the inclusion of country/pop songs such as the title track and a cover of Charlie Rich’s popular “Behind Closed Doors.” “I Heard a Love Song” had more of a rock sound than anything Diana had thus far recorded and “Stone Liberty” was a mid-tempo funk number that pushed her a little further vocally than recent, more laid-back performances. Even the cover photo was less glamorous and more fun.

  “Last Time I Saw Him”—Pop #14, R&B #15, AC #1 and UK #35—was the number one Adult Contemporary record of the year and went Top 10 on the pop charts in Record World, another national trade magazine.

  A remix of “Sleepin’ “—Pop #70 and R&B #50—was the follow-up single in the US, while the UK went with “Love Me”—UK #38. Neither became a hit, possibly because of competition with the Diana and Marvin singles released at around the same time. Like that duets album, this collection was also mixed in quadraphonic for the Japanese market.

  More Trivia

  —– “Turn Around” was another one of the tracks recorde
d for the unreleased baby-themed album.

  —– “No One’s Gonna Be a Fool Forever” is actually the very first song that Diana recorded with producer Michael Masser, though “Touch Me in the Morning” was released before it. The former was originally recorded by Thelma Houston, a Motown artist who also recorded a version of “Do You Know Where You’re Going To?” before it became the “Theme from Mahogany.”

  —– Other songs that were mixed and considered for inclusion on this album include: “Why Play Games?,” “I Don’t Care Where the Money Is,” “I Wanna Go Back There Again” and “Let Me Be the One.” These songs and more are included on a 2-CD edition of the album being prepared at the time of writing. The Motown select release also features the Japanese quadraphonic mix of the entire album.

  LIVE AT CAESAR’S PALACE – 5/74—Pop #64 and R&B #15

  Motown declared May 1974 “Diana Ross Month” to coincide with the release of her first solo live album. Since becoming a major movie star, Diana was now more in demand for live appearances than ever, and had recently signed a long-term contract with Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. This album was recorded there in early 1973. The artwork was unique, containing several color photos of Diana unfolding from the center of the album cover. The overall sound quality of this album was poor, however. When it was reissued many years later, it was completely remixed but with still less than satisfactory results. A far superior mix of this album remains in the vaults.

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  —– Originally intended to be a double LP, most of her live repertoire at the time was included here, but a medley from Sesame Street was edited to just one song, “Being Green.”

  —– Diana was also singing “Happy” in her concert act at this time, which was the love theme from Lady Sings the Blues. Smokey Robinson had written lyrics for Michel Legrand’s theme, and the tune was eventually released as a single by Michael Jackson. Though Diana’s performance was recorded, it was not included on the album.

  —– The medley from Lady Sings the Blues also included “Strange Fruit,” “All of Me” and “Our Love Is Here to Stay.” All three were deleted when the project was trimmed to a single disc.

  DIANA ROSS – 3/76—Pop #5 and R&B #4

  Also, see—“Filming Mahogany” in Part Four.

  Diana introduced the “Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To?)”—Pop #1, R&B #14, AC #1 and UK #5—on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. It soon became her third number-one pop hit as a soloist and was nominated for an Academy Award.

  As a follow-up, Motown chose another Michael Masser production, “I Thought It Took a Little Time (But Today I Fell in Love)”—Pop #47, R&B #61, AC #4 and UK #32. This is a beautiful song that took off immediately on the charts. However, there was another track getting most of the attention from this album. “Love Hangover”—Pop #1, R&B #1, AC #19 and UK #10—marked Diana’s first venture into the disco scene and was soon exploding all over the world. While “I Thought It Took a Little Time (But Today I Fell in Love)” climbed the charts, the Fifth Dimension did a cover version of “Love Hangover” which was quickly released as a single. Motown wasn’t going to lose this hit for Diana, so the company then rush-released a single edit of her version. It hustled to the top of the charts in eight weeks and earned her another Grammy nomination. Unfortunately, in the process the Michael Masser ballad was overlooked in the pop market.

  “One Love in My Lifetime”—Pop #25, R&B #10 and AC #31—was an obvious choice as a follow-up single. However, after the song was remixed, instrumentals were added and a vocal chorus edited from it. The result was actually less commercial for pop radio than the LP version!

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  —– The soundtrack for Mahogany released four months prior to this record is not really a Diana Ross album since it featured Diana’s vocal only on the theme. The original concept for the soundtrack album was to include Diana’s vocals on all of side one with the flip side featuring only instrumentals from the film. One proposed lineup included: “Theme from Mahogany,” “I Thought It Took a Little Time,” “After You,” “To Love Again’ and “Together,” all composed and produced by Michael Masser. It was decided, though, to save the additional vocal tracks for future Diana Ross albums.

  —– There is an unreleased version of “Theme from Mahogany” with an alternate lead vocal. This mix can be heard in the film during the “Rome sequence.”

  —– Producer Hal Davis had the perfect follow-up to “Love Hangover” and cut the track to a song called “Don’t Leave Me This Way” for Diana. The session tapes list Diana’s name but so far no vocal has been found. Of course the voice on “Don’t Leave Me This Way” ended up being Thelma Houston’s. The song became her only number-one record and earned her a Grammy award.

  GREATEST HITS – 8/76—Pop #13 and R&B #10

  This was a great time for a greatest-hits collection. Diana was hot on the screen and on the record charts and was also breaking box office records with her concert at the Palace Theater in New York. All of her Top 20 pop singles (minus the Marvin Gaye duets) are included as well as other Top 10 successes on the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts.

  AN EVENING WITH DIANA ROSS (2 LPs, 1 CD) – 1/77

  —Pop #29 and R&B #14

  Diana received a special Tony award for this tour de force performance in her most elaborate stage show yet. From the opening number, which projected images from Mahogany on Diana’s diaphanous white gown, to her musical tributes to Josephine Baker, Ethel Waters, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday, the show was stunning. The second act featured a lengthy tribute to Motown and the Supremes and an autobiographical segment as told through the songs from A Chorus Line. This concert was adapted for the NBC Big Event series, making Diana the first artist to star in a one-woman, ninety-minute, prime-time special. The album was recorded at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles.

  More Trivia

  —– The entire concert was included on this album with the exception of “One Love in My Lifetime,” which would have followed “Touch Me in the Morning” on side one.

  BABY IT’S ME – 9/77—Pop #18 and R&B #7

  Because this is one of the finest albums of Diana’s career—produced by Richard Perry—it’s inconceivable that it had no sizeable hit singles. When the album was released without any advance single release, it seemed that almost any track from it could have been a Top 10 hit. In fact, radio advertisements for it boasted, “This is an album so full of great songs you’ll have a hard time picking a favorite!”

  More than a month went by after its release, and Motown still hadn’t released a single. Therefore, several pop stations added “Your Love Is So Good for Me” to their playlists, picking up on the success the song was enjoying in dance clubs. The track also earned Diana another Grammy nomination. “Top of the World” was another radio/club favorite. Both of these songs hit Billboard’s dance chart and either could have been a pop hit if it had been the first single choice. Instead, Motown went with “Getting Ready for Love”—Pop #27, R&B #16, AC #8 and UK #23—a fine pop record with just a touch of jazz and said to have been Berry Gordy’s single pick. Though other Motown executives disagreed, there was no arguing with the boss. The song was a hit in some cities, but radio play of it was split because some stations had already begun to favor other tracks from the album. Consequently, the single struggled into the pop Top 30. By the time Motown remixed and released “Your Love Is So Good for Me”—Pop #49 and R&B #16—the momentum of interest in the album was nearly lost. The third single was “You Got It”—Pop #49, R&B #39 and AC #9—and like the first single it went Top 10, Adult Contemporary. “Top of the World” was planned as a fourth release, but was cancelled when it became clear that it was too late to score with a big hit from this album.

  This collection was perfectly sequenced and featured just the right mix of pop, dance, polished R&B and some of Diana’s most beautiful ballad performances to date. (“Too Shy to Say,” “Confide in Me” and “Come I
n from the Rain”). It revived the classic Motown sound of the 1960s and was still as contemporary as anything in the Top 40 in 1977. Baby It’s Me is found on many fan lists as a favorite Diana Ross album.

  More Trivia

  —– Richard Perry cut several more tracks for Diana for a possible second album. Syreeta Wright added vocals to four of the tracks that were included on her 1978 Syreeta album. Songs recorded by Diana but not released at the time include: “Country John,” “Brass Band” and Peter Frampton’s “Baby I Love Your Way.” The latter was released for the first time on the 1983 Anthology.

  ROSS – 9/78—Pop #49 and R&B #32

  The concept of this album changed many times. It was first touted as a disco album tentatively titled Feelin’ Fun. Diana had recorded four tracks with “Love Hangover” producer Hal Davis, only two of which were selected for release. She also went back into the studio with Brian and Eddie Holland of Holland-Dozier-Holland productions for the first time in ten years. Though three songs were recorded with Eddie and Brian, none was included on this album.

  In the end, the Ross LP ended up offering new tracks on side one and older previously unreleased or remixed tracks on side two. The company reached back to 1974 and included her country single “Sorry Doesn’t Always Make It Right”—AC #17 and UK #23—and its B-side, “Together.” Both were remixed Michael Masser productions that had been previously unavailable on an album.

  The international single was “Lovin’, Livin’ and Givin’”—UK #54. The song first appeared as a pop/swing tune on the Casablanca film soundtrack Thank God It’s Friday. When the track was remixed it sounded much like a Giorgio Moroder production with a synthesizer line reminiscent of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.” It was never released as a commercial single in the US. The original TGIF mix can be found unedited on the CD, Diana Ross: The Motown Anthology.

  Ultimately, a remake of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “What You Gave Me”—R&B #86—was selected as the only new single from the album. Diana delivered an energetic performance on this dance track, which received some club play but did nothing on pop radio.