(Diana Ross &) The Supremes: Supremes A Go-Go - 1966

 

This is an absolute treasure of a release. Firstly, you get the original 1966 release in MONO and then, beautifully, in STEREO. 

It is a great mid-sixties Motown album, albeit largely full of covers of other Motown songs. there are a couple of original hits here too, though, notably the wonderful You Can't Hurry Love, which spawned so many imitation basslines and the Northern Soul classic Love Is Like An Itching In Heart. Covered effectively are The Isley Brothers' This Old Heart Of Mine; three from The Four Tops in I Can't Help Myself, Baby I Need Your Loving and Shake Me Wake Me (When It's Over); The Temptations' Get Ready; The Elgins' Put Yourself In My Place; Nancy Sinatra's These Boots Are Made For Walking; Barrett String's Money; The McCoys' Hang On Sloopy and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas' Come Get These Memories.

A quick shout out for the lead-off single - Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart is a stomper of a track that unsurprisingly became a Northern Soul hit. It was not actually one of The Supremes' bigger hits, though. That is to overlook its grinding, playful vibe, which I have always found irresistible. I love the brass, the drums and Diana's urgent, flirty "love bug done bit me....love is like a nagging irritation" line. Great stuff. It has always been one of my favourites. 

The wonderful You Can't Hurry Love, which spawned so many imitation basslines - and a virtual note-for-note Phil Collins cover in the eighties - is yet another top notch Motown classic from this album. It's glorious. No further comment needed, is there? Needless to say, it's a deceptively simple song that became a huge number one. Amazingly, Motown Quality Control initially rejected the song. A secretary put them right. And how. That sort of thing happened quite a lot - often for what turned out to be the biggest of hits. Bizarre.

However, the real appeal here lies in the many EXTRAS included. Diana and the girls continue to run through their versions of several other Motown classics, in great style too, matching those on the actual album - Heat Wave; What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted; Get Ready; Can I Get A Witness; Uptight; Mickey's Monkey and The Contours' Northern Soul floor filler Just A Little Misunderstanding. Their versions are excellent too. A real refreshing delight to listen to. 

Some of these tracks are also on the actual original album but the alternate versions are, if anything even better, often slightly extended with more vocal improvisation. Also present are belting covers of The Rolling Stones' Satisfaction, Tom Jones' It's Not Unusual, Dylan's Blowin' In The Wind and Burt Bacharach's What The World Needs Now Is Love. All of them stand up well, despite the classic status of the songs. Some of these also re-appeared on later albums too. 

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