Diana Ross: A Biography
Page 68
T.C.B. (Taking Care of Business)—with the Temptations (album) 499
Temptations 67, 105, 109, 201, 202, 204, 210, 350, 354
Terrana, Russ 329
Terrell, Ernie 206
Terrell, Jean 206, 209, 216, 301
Terrell, Tammi 1
“Theme from Mahogany” 286, 295–6, 300, 307
There’s a Place for Us (album) 121, 505
Thomas and Mack Center (Las Vegas) 373–4
Till, Emmett 18–19, 198
Time magazine 296
TNA 442, 443, 444
To Love Again (album) 519–20
Together—with the Temptations (album) 500–1
Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The 165, 184
“Touch Me in the Morning” 261–4, 271, 272, 333, 439
Touch Me in the Morning (album) 272–3, 501–2
Tough Customers 314
Turner, Tina 443
20 Grand club (Detroit) 51
Twiggy 125
Tyler, Willie 211, 220
Tyson, Cicely 266, 268
Ullmann, Liv 266
“Upside Down” 329
Valentine, Penny 181
Valvano, Michael 95
Vandellas 68, 83, 84, 85, 105, 109, 350
Vaughan, Sarah 23
Vaughn, Sam 348
Very Special Season, A (album) 534
VH1 436–9
Vietnam War 196
Virginia Ruth (cousin) 19–20, 198
Voice of Love (album) 535
Wade, Sharon 386
Waldorf-Astoria (New York) 241–2, 259
Walker, Junior 105
Walters, Barbara 305, 371, 430, 440, 446
Washington, Dinah 23
Waters, Ethel 29, 123, 196
We Remember Sam Cooke (album) 121, 490
Wells, Mary 67, 68, 74
Westlife 464
Weston, Jay 242–3, 245, 251, 260
“When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes” 84
When You Dream (album) 533
“When You Tell Me That You Love Me” 411, 465
Where Did Our Love Go (album) 101, 488–9
“Where Did Our Love Go” 93–5, 98–9, 100–1, 105, 107
Whitfield, Lynn 384
Why Do Fools Fall in Love (album) 340, 511–12
Whyman, John 335
William Morris Agency 240
Williams, Andy 157
Williams, Billy Dee 255, 256–7, 278, 282–3, 287
Williams, Otis 67, 109
Williams, Paul 23, 25, 26, 67, 204
Williams, Vanessa 470
Willie, Aunt 19
Willis, Chuck 23
Wilson, Brian 469, 471
Wilson, Earl 131
Wilson, Frank 193
Wilson, Jackie 35, 78
Wilson, Johnnie Mae (mother) 71, 358
Wilson, Mary 3, 61, 94, 323, 351, 452
anger at Diana’s Supremes tour (Return to Love) 439–40
appearance and character 25, 59, 71
appearance on Motown 25 and altercation with Diana 353, 356–8
background 71
battles with Motown over using name of Supremes 403, 433
car crash 432
and Diana’s breakdown 145–6
and Diana’s leaving of Supremes 205, 211–12
Diana thanks on BET Awards 469
Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme 127, 403–7
and Dreamgirls show 347
finances 120, 405
and Florence’s birthday party 168–9
and Florence’s firing from Supremes 159, 163
at Florence’s funeral 5–6
and Florence’s rape 55–6
house purchase 119
joins the Primettes 24–5
lawsuits filed against Gordy and Motown 119, 353
and proposed Supremes reunion tour 431–4, 445
relationship with Diana 6, 127, 187–8, 203, 209, 301, 323, 357–8, 403–7, 431–5, 439–40
on relationship with other Supremes 127–8
solo career 323
as a Supreme 100, 107, 150–1, 193 see also Supremes
Supreme Faith 353, 405
in Supremes (post-Diana) 301–2
voice 92
Wilson, Sam (father) 71
Winfrey, Oprah 104, 299, 420, 435
Wiz, The 311–14, 41
budget 312
deal made over 308–11
filming of 314
nonparticipation in by Gordy 312
reviews 314
script 312–13
Wiz, The (soundtrack) 533
Wizard of Oz, The 308, 309
Wolf, William 266
Wonder, Stevie 109, 260, 354, 359, 410, 411
Workin’ Overtime (album) 411, 527
Wynn, Steve 373–4, 378, 381, 382
Yablans, Frank 250–1, 257
“You Can’t Hurry Love” 151, 155
“You Keep Me Hanging On” 151
“You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You” 111, 112–13, 133
Zadan, Craig 419
Zeffirelli, Franco 336
About the Author
Photo by Bradford Rogne
J. RANDY TARABORRELLI is the author of seventeen books, thirteen of which have made the New York Times bestseller list, including Call Her Miss Ross, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson: The Magic, the Madness, the Whole Story; and After Camelot: A Personal History of the Kennedy Family, 1968 to the Present.
Taraborrelli’s Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe appeared on the New York Times list in 2009 and again in 2012, when it became the number-two e-book bestseller. His Madonna: An Intimate Biography was a bestseller in many countries around the world, translated into more than 30 languages. It remained on the Times of London’s bestseller list for six months and was also nominated for the prestigious W.H. Smith Award in England. The book was a New York Times bestseller, as well.
J. Randy Taraborrelli’s After Camelot is presently being developed as a miniseries for ReelzChannel. Additionally, he is the author of Jackie Ethel Joan: Women of Camelot—a New York Times bestseller in both hard cover and paperback—which was adapted as a highly rated miniseries for NBC.
J. Randy Taraborrelli is a recognizable entertainment personality and in-demand guest on many television programs, including Today, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Entertainment Tonight, and CNN Headline News. He is also a news analyst for CBS News.
He lives in Los Angeles.
CITADEL PRESS E-BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2007, 2008, 2014 Rose Books, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
CITADEL PRESS and the Citadel logo are Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
First electronic edition: June 2014
ISBN-13: 978-0-8065-3763-4
ISBN-10: 0-8065-3763-9
Library of Congress CIP data is available.
* In response to an inquiry about this seating arrangement, the Chapman-Ballard family said in April 2006 through a spokesman, “No comment. Let the past be the past.”
* Thirty-five years later, Diana took the same chance during the filming of her “I Will Survive” video. She dived headfirst into the mostly gay audience, unplanned and much to the horror of her director. She wasn’t worried, though. “I knew those guys would catch me,” she said. And they did!
* Berry Gordy actually had his first Jobete production released on House of Beauty Records—by this time shortened to just H.O.B—a song called “I Need You,” recorded by Herman Griffin and the Rayber Voices. The Rayber Voices were Brian Holland, soon to be of the famous Holland-Dozier-Holland production team, Robert Bateman and Raynoma Liles, who would be Berry Gordy’s second wife. Carmen Murphy later
founded a record company called Soul, and ended up selling that name to Berry for one of the Motown subsidiaries. Also, just for the record, Jobete was named for Berry’s children: Hazel Joy, Berry IV and Terry.
* As of this writing, Peter Benjaminson intends to publish his Florence Ballard chronicles in 2007, with the title Florence Ballard—The Lost Supreme (Lawrence Hill Books/Chicago Review Press).
* Smokey doesn’t mention that the Isley Brothers were doing this “Just a little bit softer now …” bit on their song “Shout” long before Smokey. Even Mary Wells did the same kind of thing in her own act. Indeed, not a lot is original when it comes to such stage business; most artists are in some way influenced by each other.
* This does not include their final appearance on 21 December, 1969, for which, for some unknown reason, they were paid just $5,625. Indeed, there was never much money in television for the Supremes. According to the same IMC statements, they were paid $5,000 each time they hosted the Hollywood Palace in 1968 and 1969, and those shows involved multiple song-and-dance numbers and a lot of rehearsal time. At least Sullivan only asked them to sing two songs for his $7,500.
* There is an interesting, but also terribly sad note about the Motown allowance given to the Supremes. For most of the Supremes’ best earning days, 1964 through the early 1970s, after Diana left the group, the ladies were given an allowance ranging anywhere from $300 to, at times, $1,000 a week, depending on the time-frame. This was not a salary, however, and therefore no taxes were taken from it. To its credit, Motown paid the group’s taxes separately (the Supremes never had quarrels with the IRS) but because the money allocated to them was an “allowance” not a “salary,” no withholdings for Social Security benefits were taken either. Therefore, no money was paid into Social Security for Diana, Mary, Florence or Cindy during their peak earning years as members of the Supremes. It’s likely that this was an oversight rather than a decision on somebody’s part—when a group is young and hot, few people ever envision a time when they’ll be in their sixties and may want to claim such benefits. As of this writing, Diana and Mary are both sixty-two, and Cindy is sixty-seven.
* On the eventual live album Motown release, The Supremes at the Copa, Gordy decided to delete “From This Moment On” from the recording. The album begins with the show’s second number, “Put On a Happy Face.”
* Indeed, the bulk of the Supremes’ Merry Christmas album from 1965 contains background vocals by the Andantes, not Mary and Florence.
* These recordings were finally released on CD in 2001 on the UK compilation The Supreme Florence Ballard.
* “I was there when Mary and Cindy prerecorded their vocals for ‘I Hear a Symphony,’ recalled chorographer Donald McKayle. “They were standing in front of a mic with their sheet music and page after page after page of just ‘baby, baby’ and ‘symphony, symphony.’ Hundreds of pages, it seemed, of this! I went to them and, ribbing them, said, ‘Is this it? Is this all they give you two to do?’ And Mary said, ‘Stop it, Donald. Don’t make us laugh. We gotta get this goddamn thing done.’”
* It’s interesting that Berry went that route in trying to convince Diana to do the movie. Back in the 1970s, it was a very persuasive argument. However, it was one that would lose credibility with Diana later on, when—despite her admiration for her in the 1960s—she would grow weary of comparisons with Barbra or, worse, tired of being thought of by the media as the “black Streisand.” Indeed, by the eighties, people around Diana actually went out of their way not to mention Barbra. For instance, when one of her employees, John Mackey, and her lawyer, John Frankenheimer, were waiting to meet with Diana in her office, Mackey mused, “I wonder what Miss Ross thinks of Barbra Streisand’s new album?” Frankenheimer threw up his hands. “Don’t, please don’t, ever mention that woman’s name in Miss Ross’s presence!” Years later, in the 1990s, Suzanne dePasse was in a meeting with Diana about a proposed box set release of her greatest hits. dePasse wanted to draw a comparison between her concept and what had been Barbra’s for her own box set. She said, “It would be a lot like—excuse me for using the name—Streisand’s.”
* It’s interesting that Berry originally wanted Levi Stubbs, who was the lead singer of the Four Tops, to play the role. Stubbs says he did not want to leave the group in order to take on the part.
* “Little Girl Blue” was actually recorded for an album to be called The Blue Album, featuring more jazz performances by Diana Ross. Catalog producer George Solomon discovered the entire album in the vaults in 1990 and Motown finally released it on CD in June, 2006. Solomon remembered:
I found the reels for Blue just mixed in haphazardly among dozens of Marvin Gaye tapes. Of course, within two seconds of listening I knew what we had. Some Motown executives who were around back in the seventies indicated that with the success of the Lady soundtrack, The Blue Album was intended to be the follow-up LP (especially if Diana won the Oscar). When the project was shelved, its album graphics became the cover for Touch Me in the Morning. I tried to get Motown to release this on CD in the early nineties but had no luck. I also had the opportunity to ask Miss Ross about these sessions back in 1992. It’s not surprising that with them being so interwoven with the Lady recordings she didn’t even remember it being a specific project.
* After Diana left Rome, Berry’s executive assistant Edna Anderson filled in for her by filming what were called insert shots: a woman’s hand holding a candle that drips wax during a party scene, a woman’s figure in a red Iso Rivolta sports car speeding down a bridge headed for disaster, and so forth.
* While it is true that Motown covered Diana’s expenses, in the end the company would almost always be reimbursed, either by deducting them from her royalties or sending her company an invoice for the expenses.
* In the autumn of 2006, Diana put the estate up for sale. Asking price: $39.5 million.
* In just two years, Michelle Chapman would face major surgery for what turned out to be a benign brain tumor. On the day she was to go into the hospital, Diana telephoned her, said a prayer with her, told her she loved her and then offered to pay all of her medical expenses—which she did.
* The ballad “If We Hold On Together” was also included on this CD and it became a big hit in the UK. It had already become the most popular pop single of all time in Japan in 1988–89.