Maps of Music
Diana Ross (1970)
Where the lyrics of Diana Ross take you, and where it was really made.
Diana Ross's solo debut was a test of whether a former Supremes frontwoman could carry an album alone, and it reached number 19 on the US Billboard 200.
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Overview
- Diana Ross: debut solo studio album by American singer Diana Ross
- Released June 19, 1970 by Motown Records
- A test of whether the former Supremes frontwoman could make it as a solo act
- Overseen by songwriting-producing team Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson
Background
- Ashford & Simpson had Ross re-record several songs the duo had recorded on other Motown acts
- Johnny Bristol, producer of Ross's final single with The Supremes, contributed on the Velvelettes cover "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You"
- Ross's final performance with The Supremes took place January 14, 1970, at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas
- Ross's first solo single, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", was released in early 1970
Cover
- The cover comes from a 1970 photo shoot with photographer Harry Langdon
- Hundreds of photos were taken before settling on a look that shunned the glamour Ross was known for
- Langdon described the look as an attempt to be novel and edgy after seeing so much of the same glamorous aesthetic
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org
Tracklist
| 1 | Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand) | 3:08 |
| 2 | Now That There's You | 3:32 |
| 3 | You're All I Need to Get By | 3:30 |
| 4 | These Things Will Keep Me Loving You | 3:12 |
| 5 | Ain't No Mountain High Enough | 6:20 |
| 6 | Something on My Mind | 2:29 |
| 7 | I Wouldn't Change the Man He Is | 3:21 |
| 8 | Keep an Eye | 3:18 |
| 9 | Where There Was Darkness | 3:20 |
| 10 | Can't It Wait Until Tomorrow | 3:20 |
| 11 | Dark Side of the World | 3:13 |
| 12 | Something on My Mind (live) | 2:38 |
| 13 | Ain't No Mountain High Enough (alternate mix) | 6:06 |
| 14 | Now That There's You (alternate vocal session) | 3:08 |
| 15 | These Things Will Keep Me Loving You (alternate mix) | 3:13 |
| 16 | Time and Love | 4:08 |
| 17 | Stoney End | 3:39 |
| 18 | The Interim | 4:49 |
| 19 | Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes | 4:03 |
Sources: musicbrainz.org
Artist
Formation
- Diana Ross was born March 26, 1944 in Detroit, Michigan, and was the lead singer of the Supremes.
- The Supremes joined Motown in 1961 under the name chosen by Florence Ballard, after the group first formed as the Primettes.
- The Supremes became Motown's most successful act in the 1960s and one of the best-selling girl groups of all time.
Members
- The Supremes' members included Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and later Cindy Birdsong.
- Ross left the Supremes in 1970 and began a solo career.
Career
- The Supremes remain the best-charting female group in history, with 12 number-one pop singles on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Ross's solo career produced six Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Endless Love".
- Ross starred in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), earning Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, and later starred in Mahogany and The Wiz.
- Ross has sold over 100 million records worldwide as a solo artist.
- Ross was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 as a member of the Supremes and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Reception
At release
- Critics gave the album generally positive reviews
- Debuted on the US Billboard 200 on the chart dated July 11, 1970, at number 71
- Peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard 200
- Peaked at number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Reappraisal
- Ron Wynn of AllMusic, retrospectively: four and a half stars out of five
- Wynn: the best album Ross released under her Motown contract, and perhaps her best work ever
- Wynn: the album proved she could succeed without The Supremes
- Robert Christgau of The Village Voice: two or three good songs, the rest bland and boring; the album had not aged well since release
- Daryl Easlea of BBC: positive; the album and its songs made up for a cover that looks bland
Records
- US Billboard 200 peak: number 19
- US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: number one
- Ross later went on to sell 500,000 copies in the United States
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org
Trivia
- Ross's first solo single, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", sold over 500,000 copies in the US but reached only number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100
- Its follow-up, a cover of Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", became a number-one Hot 100 hit and a million seller
- Ross had earlier recorded a version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" for the 1968 joint LP with The Temptations
- Hundreds of photos were taken for the cover shoot before the team settled on the final look
- Ross's final performance with The Supremes was on January 14, 1970, in Las Vegas, where her replacement Jean Terrell was introduced
Sources: en.wikipedia.org