Originally released in 1969, this is a CD every Temptations, Diana Ross & the Supremes, and Motown fan should have. A Holland import combines this and a following album by both groups on one CD -- 21 tracks of these delicacies. ![]() “I’m gonna use every trick in the book, I’ll try my best to get you hooked” In the same way that Diana Ross and The Supremes would dominate the Billboard pop charts between 1964 and 1970, fellow Motown group The Temptations produced a powerful stranglehold on the top of the R&B listings. Consider this; The Supremes scored a perfect dozen #1 Billboard pop hits, beginning with “Where Did Our Love Go” in 1964 and ending with “Someday We’ll Be Together” in 1969. Similarly, The Temptations scored a massive #1 R&B hit with “My Girl in 1965, and racked up an additional thirteen chart-toppers during the next ten years, ending with “Shakey Ground” in 1975. The success of both groups was vital to the overall success of Motown, and never was that more evident than in December of 1968, when the record label achieved an incredible feat; as recounted by Berry Gordy, Jr. In his book To Be Loved, five records out of the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 came from the Hitsville foldand three of those bore the names Diana Ross and The Supremes and/or The Temptations. The dual success of The Supremes and The Temptations is fascinating because of the groups’ shared history. Long before they were stars, Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard were recruited by future Temptations Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams (then known as The Primes) to become The Primettes, a sister group. Both groups were managed by Milton Jenkins, and Ross would later remember, “Milton Jenkins thought that our group and Cal (sic), Eddie, and Paul, who called themselves the Primes and were trying to make an act for themselves, might be a good match to sing together. Although we never performed with them until much later on when we were the Supremes and they were the Temptations, we used to rehearse with them after school” ( Secrets Of A Sparrow, 93). In her own memoir, Mary Wilson remembers the guys teaching them how to sing harmonies and helping to choreograph their stage routines. There was an obvious fondness between the groups, and after both had achieved stardom, it must have seemed a no-brainer to team them up. Diana Ross and The Supremes Join The Temptations would be the first of four joint albums by Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Temptations; released in late 1968, it served as something of a promotional tool for the upcoming broadcast of the groups’ first primetime television special, TCB (which aired on December 9, 1968 on NBC-TV). The lead single was slated to be “The Impossible Dream,” a song which served as the special’s dramatic finale; however, Motown opted for “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” instead, a cover of a Dee Dee Warwick song from 1966. It proved to be a good move; that song quickly climbed the charts, cresting at #2 on both the Billboard pop and R&B listings (and hitting #1 on the Cash Box singles chart). The massive success of the television special, “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me,” and the incredible popularity of both groups (each was concurrently enjoying its own major hit, “Love Child” for The Supremes and “Cloud Nine” for The Temptations) led Join to the #2 spot of the Billboard 200, a significant improvement over the previous three Supremes releases and the best showing for a Temptations LP thus far. ![]() Diana Ross and The Supremes Join The Temptations isn’t a very exciting album in terms of material; there’s not a single original song included, and most of the tracks are covers of oft-recorded Motown hits. If there is excitement, it lies in the way the voices of these seasoned performers work together in such surprising and satisfying ways. Producer Frank Wilson had already worked with both groups, producing “All I Need” on The Temptations and “Bah-Bah-Bah” (from ) for Diana Ross and The Supremes; Wilson clearly understood what made each of the group’s vocalists unique, and worked out clever combinations to showcase them to the fullest. The highlights are the album’s two U.S.
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