Former Ladies of The Supremes 1989 in Japan

Another great Supremes line up. In the order that the ladies introduce themselves as they enter the Japanese venue they are Lynda Laurence, Scherrie Payne and Jean Terrell. The very ebullient Lynda (and the FOOD! ) followed by an excited Scherrie who gets mixed up between JAPAN and JAPANESE, and the more demure Jean (Nice to see you). Then onto the stage where Lynda is given the lead in what can only be described as a Megawatt performance from her. It was typical of Jean to let the others take the lead. The Supremes had evolved into a real three woman group instead of a lead with two backups. One of the nice things about Jean's style of leadership. Former Ladies of The Supremes 1989 in Japan

The Supremes "Up The Ladder To The Roof" My Extended Version!

I bought my first turntable in 1968 and all the Vinyl LPs I bought back then were Motown stuff. The Four Tops (whom I still consider to be the greatest male Soul/RnB group ever and Levi Stubbs the greatest male singer in the genre) and the Supremes. In those days Diana Ross led the Supremes but she left in 1970 and was replaced by Miss Jean Terrell. At that stage the line up was Jean, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong. For short they were known as the JMC Supremes. I consider Jean to be the best lead ever. She had a beautiful Soprano voice, a great stage personality and she had very good relationships with the people she sang with. She encouraged a rotating lead within a song or from one song to another. This allowed the multi facet voice of the late Mary Wilson to shine in all its glory for example. In the header picture here you see Cindy, Jean and Mary from left to right. The still photos on this clip are great too. I especially like the one at 3.25. Great outfits. Perhaps Cindy's pin stripe suit (centre) is a hint to her future role as an ordained minister in a church? Unfortunately Motown did not promote The Supremes nearly as strongly as they had done in the Diana Ross days. Jean only stayed with them officially for three years. She did come back and reunite with a number of other line ups like the one in the clip after this.

THE SUPREMES LIVE IN MONTREUX - 1976 "HE AIN'T HEAVY, HE'S MY BROTHER" ...

This is the debut performance of Susaye Greene, the last singer to officially join The Supremes. At 4 foot 11 inches she was the shortest Supreme ever, but her training as a coloratura soprano made her the most highly trained Supreme ever. Unfortunately Motown stopped promoting the Supremes shortly after this. However she went on to make an independent career and I was happy to see her still performing with Scherrie Payne ( to her left here) and Joyce Vincent who often stood in to make a threesome. This was in 2019. For me this is one of the most amazing performances by The Supremes ever