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Mary Wilson's career still fueled by all those No. 1 hits
December 10, 2015 12:00 AM
It’s called the Pittsburgh Holiday Doo Wop, but don’t expect a steady stream of carols at the Benedum on Wednesday, at least not from headliner Mary Wilson.
“Usually when I do these shows for Nader,” she says of the New York-based promoter, “it’s the rock ’n’ roll hits. Since it is a holiday show, I might put one Christmas song in the set.”
Ms. Wilson, who did not appear on the Supremes’ one holiday album (1965’s “Merry Christmas”), certainly has enough other songs people want to hear from her days in the trio, where she was part of such hits as “Where Did Our Love Go?” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “You Can’t Hurry Love” and “Baby Love.”
She recalls singing some of those songs at the Twin Coaches in Rostraver back in the heyday of the Supremes, 50 years ago, when they were touring around in a van.
“We had great audiences there,” she says. “I remember playing there a few times. We really enjoyed being on stage, all of us. Even as the Primettes, when we were very young, before we had hit records, the four of us, we absolutely adored being on stage. We found our niche at a very young age.”
The man who helped set it all in motion was the great Smokey Robinson, and in October she was there to honor him at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“Mr. Robinson was one of those gentlemen who was so multitalented, it’s kind of like working with a genius — not kind of, it is. We auditioned for the Miracles before we were signed to Motown,” she says, “and that’s one of the reasons we got to Motown. He’s very important, because he and his group, the Miracles, gave us our first chance. When we auditioned for Berry Gordy, he turned us down. It just made us work harder to get back to Motown.”
After initially thinking the Detroit high school girls were too young and green, Mr. Gordy acquiesced in 1961 and signed The Primettes to Motown, where they became the Supremes. When none of their first singles took off, they became known as the no-hit Supremes. Finally, in 1963, their eighth single, “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes,” hit the Top 40, sparking an amazing run of 12 No. 1 hits (the most by an American group) starting in 1964 with “Where Did Our Love Go.”
Dismayed by Diana Ross becoming the focus of the trio, Florence Ballard left in 1967 and was replaced by Cindy Birdsong of Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles. When the hits began to cool off in 1968, Motown started planning the solo career of Diana Ross for late 1969. In 1970, Jean Terrell took over the lead role, leaving Ms. Wilson as the last of the original Supremes in the group.
The trio had seven more hits during the Terrell era, which lasted a little over three years, most notably the No. 7 hit “Stoned Love” and a Supremes/Four Tops version of “River Deep – Mountain High” that went to No. 20. They hung on until June 1977, scoring one minor hit during Scherrie Payne’s tenure with 1976’s “I’m Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking.”
The fun went out, Ms. Wilson says, “when the business aspect became the most important thing. I’m happy I kept it going, but there were things like finding out we weren’t getting the same promotion we used to get, finding out that although the ladies might be great singers, that magic of three of us was no longer there. For me that was a little difficult.”
The Mary Wilson solo career, launched by Motown in 1979, never took off as hoped and her follow-up in 1992 went bust when her new label, CEO, filed for bankruptcy the day after its release.
Still, her legacy with the Supremes was enough to keep her active as a touring artist, as a best-selling author (including 1986’s “Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme”), as an activist for Truth in Music (which targets impostor bands), and as a charity spokesperson. Her latest project, coming next year, is a coffee table book on the Supremes’ costume gowns.
And then there’s “Time To Move On,” which has, somewhat magically, put the 71-year-old singer on the charts (dance chart at No. 23) for the first time in decades. It was a song she recorded in England 15 years ago with Leee John of the group Imagination.
“It only just happened and it was a big surprise,” she says. “He and I have been friends for years, and one day when I was on tour with Martha Reeves and Edwin Starr we got together in his home and recorded this song. We were just doing it for fun and it sat around for years.”
In October, Sweet Feet Music released the thumping dance track with her soul-shouting vocal “and it’s moving right up there with a bunch of current artists,” she says. “This is kind of a new era for me.”
On Wednesday, though, she’ll be back in the old era and certainly not doing her new dance track. She’s looking forward to being on a bill with her one of her idols, Shirley Alston Reeves of the Shirelles.
“She’s a person I absolutely adore, because there were quite a few girl groups back in those days and the Shirelles were the No. 1 girl group in my book. One of the first tours we did was the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars and the Shirelles were on that tour. We were the no-hit Supremes and they were No. 1, so I’m so happy to be with her again.”
Scott Mervis: smervis@post-gazette.com; 412-263-2576. Twitter: @scottmervis_pg
“Usually when I do these shows for Nader,” she says of the New York-based promoter, “it’s the rock ’n’ roll hits. Since it is a holiday show, I might put one Christmas song in the set.”
Ms. Wilson, who did not appear on the Supremes’ one holiday album (1965’s “Merry Christmas”), certainly has enough other songs people want to hear from her days in the trio, where she was part of such hits as “Where Did Our Love Go?” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “You Can’t Hurry Love” and “Baby Love.”
PITTSBURGH HOLIDAY DOO WOP
With: Mary Wilson (Supremes), Lenny Welch, The Original Tymes, Shirley Alston Reeves, Tommy Mara and The Crests, Johnny Angel & The Halos.
Where: Heinz Hall, Downtown.
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Tickets: $32.50-$99.50; 412-392-4900; www.pittsburghsymphony.org.
Where: Heinz Hall, Downtown.
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Tickets: $32.50-$99.50; 412-392-4900; www.pittsburghsymphony.org.
“We had great audiences there,” she says. “I remember playing there a few times. We really enjoyed being on stage, all of us. Even as the Primettes, when we were very young, before we had hit records, the four of us, we absolutely adored being on stage. We found our niche at a very young age.”
The man who helped set it all in motion was the great Smokey Robinson, and in October she was there to honor him at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“Mr. Robinson was one of those gentlemen who was so multitalented, it’s kind of like working with a genius — not kind of, it is. We auditioned for the Miracles before we were signed to Motown,” she says, “and that’s one of the reasons we got to Motown. He’s very important, because he and his group, the Miracles, gave us our first chance. When we auditioned for Berry Gordy, he turned us down. It just made us work harder to get back to Motown.”
After initially thinking the Detroit high school girls were too young and green, Mr. Gordy acquiesced in 1961 and signed The Primettes to Motown, where they became the Supremes. When none of their first singles took off, they became known as the no-hit Supremes. Finally, in 1963, their eighth single, “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes,” hit the Top 40, sparking an amazing run of 12 No. 1 hits (the most by an American group) starting in 1964 with “Where Did Our Love Go.”
Dismayed by Diana Ross becoming the focus of the trio, Florence Ballard left in 1967 and was replaced by Cindy Birdsong of Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles. When the hits began to cool off in 1968, Motown started planning the solo career of Diana Ross for late 1969. In 1970, Jean Terrell took over the lead role, leaving Ms. Wilson as the last of the original Supremes in the group.
The trio had seven more hits during the Terrell era, which lasted a little over three years, most notably the No. 7 hit “Stoned Love” and a Supremes/Four Tops version of “River Deep – Mountain High” that went to No. 20. They hung on until June 1977, scoring one minor hit during Scherrie Payne’s tenure with 1976’s “I’m Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking.”
The fun went out, Ms. Wilson says, “when the business aspect became the most important thing. I’m happy I kept it going, but there were things like finding out we weren’t getting the same promotion we used to get, finding out that although the ladies might be great singers, that magic of three of us was no longer there. For me that was a little difficult.”
The Mary Wilson solo career, launched by Motown in 1979, never took off as hoped and her follow-up in 1992 went bust when her new label, CEO, filed for bankruptcy the day after its release.
Still, her legacy with the Supremes was enough to keep her active as a touring artist, as a best-selling author (including 1986’s “Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme”), as an activist for Truth in Music (which targets impostor bands), and as a charity spokesperson. Her latest project, coming next year, is a coffee table book on the Supremes’ costume gowns.
And then there’s “Time To Move On,” which has, somewhat magically, put the 71-year-old singer on the charts (dance chart at No. 23) for the first time in decades. It was a song she recorded in England 15 years ago with Leee John of the group Imagination.
“It only just happened and it was a big surprise,” she says. “He and I have been friends for years, and one day when I was on tour with Martha Reeves and Edwin Starr we got together in his home and recorded this song. We were just doing it for fun and it sat around for years.”
In October, Sweet Feet Music released the thumping dance track with her soul-shouting vocal “and it’s moving right up there with a bunch of current artists,” she says. “This is kind of a new era for me.”
On Wednesday, though, she’ll be back in the old era and certainly not doing her new dance track. She’s looking forward to being on a bill with her one of her idols, Shirley Alston Reeves of the Shirelles.
“She’s a person I absolutely adore, because there were quite a few girl groups back in those days and the Shirelles were the No. 1 girl group in my book. One of the first tours we did was the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars and the Shirelles were on that tour. We were the no-hit Supremes and they were No. 1, so I’m so happy to be with her again.”
Scott Mervis: smervis@post-gazette.com; 412-263-2576. Twitter: @scottmervis_pg
