The Supremes kicked the year off with an album release that paid tribute to the songwriting team that had brought them so many hit songs, Holland, Dozier, Holland. “The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland” was issued in January, their tenth studio album, featuring twelve H-D-H songs, two of which were co-written with R. Dean Taylor. A few of the songs had been released by the Supremes, but there were also covers of songs by other Motown acts. It is an excellent collection, which unsurprisingly topped the Billboard Soul & R&B Albums Chart and reached number six on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart.
It was followed in May by another songwriter-themed album. “The Supremes Sing Rodgers & Hart” gave the group a chance to appeal to a more middle-of-the-road audience with a collection of show tunes. It wasn’t typical Motown, but it sold well, reaching number twenty on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, number three on the Billboard Soul & R&B Albums Chart, number four on the Canadian RPM Chart and number twenty-five on the Official UK Pop Albums Chart.
Their third album of the year came out in August and sailed to the top of the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, the Billboard Soul & R&B Albums Chart and the Official UK Pop Albums Chart, going on to sell over six million copies worldwide over the next twenty years. It spent a total of twenty-four weeks in the top ten of the Hot 200.
It was the group’s first Greatest Hits compilation, a double LP, featuring fifteen songs that included ten number ones, all produced by Holland, Dozier, Holland. The last two of the ten number ones were singles released in 1967, which were Motown’s only number one Billboard Hot 100 hits of the year. “Diana Ross & the Supremes: Greatest Hits” was the first release to credit Diana Ross individually. It was also the last release that included Florence Ballard as a member of the group. Ballard had been struggling with depression and alcoholism and was given leave of absence in April, being replaced by Cindy Birdsong (a member of Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles). When she returned in May, she was told by Berry Gordy that the change was now permanent.
The Supremes 1967: Mary Wilson, Diana Ross and Cindy Birdsong
Photo: GAC Publicity Shot (Wikimedia Commons)
In addition to the three albums, Motown released four singles, two of which, as we have seen, topped the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. “Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone” was the Supremes’ ninth number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, also topping the Cashbox Top 100 Singles Chart, the Billboard R&B Singles Chart, the RPM Chart in Canada and the Official UK Pop Singles Chart. Recorded in the final months of 1966 and released in January 1967, the instrumental tracks and the backing vocals were recorded at Columbia Recording Studios in Los Angeles, with arrangements by Gene Page, with vocals and final production by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier completed in Studio A.
The Supremes’ tenth number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart came in March with the release of “The Happening”, with the recording made in Detroit with the Funk Brothers. It was another worldwide hit for the group, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and the Cashbox Top 100 Singles Chart, but only number twelve on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. However, it charted in eleven other countries, including the UK, where it peaked at number six on the Official UK Pop Singles Chart.
The song was used as the theme tune for the Columbia Pictures’ film of the same name, written by Holland, Dozier, Holland along with the film’s musical director Frank DeVol. It was the final single credited to the Supremes, as the group’s name now became Diana Ross & the Supremes. Sadly for Columbia Pictures, the film did not match the success of the record.
The next two singles by the group were released in July and October. “Reflections” took the Supremes in a new direction, exploring the psychedelic sounds that were being created by bands such as the Beach Boys and the Beatles. It was the Summer of Love and the girls had to move with the times. The new sound imported by the arrangers was delivered by Earl Van Dyke playing Wurlitzer electric piano and Hammond organ, using a test oscillator to create some unusual special effects, backed by Funk Brothers James Jamerson (bass), Richard “Pistol” Allen (drums), Joe Messina (guitar) and Jack Ashford (percussion).
The resulting single peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and also on the Cashbox Top 100 Singles Chart, number four on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart and number five on the Official UK Pop Singles Chart, selling over a million copies in the USA (the group’s thirteenth million-seller) and charting in six other countries. It is one of their best songs.
Their final single of the year, “In And Out Of Love”, released in October, was originally recorded in Detroit during the same sessions as “The Happening” and “Reflections”. However, it was subsequently re-recorded in Los Angeles six weeks later, with the Supremes and the Andantes adding vocals in June. It was the last single for Florence Ballard. The style of the song is bright and bouncy, a return to the old Motown sound, but it only reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart.
The impending departure of Holland, Dozier and Holland was the only cloud on the group’s horizon.
