ON THIS DATE (45 YEARS AGO) October 14, 1969 - Diana Ross And The Supremes: Someday Well Be Together b/w Hes My Sunny Boy (Motown M 1156) 45 single is released in the US. Someday Well Be Together is a song made popular as the last of twelve American number-one pop singles for Diana Ross & the Supremes on the Motown label. The song was written by Johnny Bristol, Jackey Beavers, and Harvey Fuqua in 1961; and Bristol and Beavers recorded the song together as Johnny & Jackey for the Tri-Phi label that same year. Someday was a moderate success in the Midwestern United States, but gained little notice in other venues. It is the final Supremes song featuring Diana Ross, who left the group for a solo career in January 1970. Despite this distinction, Someday Well Be Together was originally recorded as Ross first solo single and, as such, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong did not sing on the recorded release although both appear on the B-side, Hes My Sunny Boy. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart for one week. Reaching number-one on the American pop chart in the final 1969 issue of Billboard magazine (dated December 27), the single was not only the final number-one in 12 chart-topping pop hits for The Supremes. In 1969, Bristol was preparing a cover version of Someday Well Be Together, to be recorded by Motown act Jr. Walker & the All-Stars. Bristol had already recorded the instrumental track and the background vocals by Maxine Waters and Julia Waters when Berry Gordy happened upon the tracks and heard them. Gordy thought that Someday would be a perfect first solo single for Diana Ross, who was making her long-expected exit from the Supremes at the time, and had Bristol sequester Ross into the studio to record the song. Unable at first to get the vocal performance he desired from Diana Ross, Johnny Bristol decided to try something different: he would harmonize with Ross, helping her to get into the mood needed for the record. On the first take, the engineer accidentally recorded both Rosss vocal and Bristols ad-libs. Bristol and arranger Wade Marcus liked the results, and Bristol had his vocal recorded alongside Ross for the final version of the song. Bristols ad-libs and words of encouragement to Ross can be heard in the background throughout the song. When Berry Gordy heard the completed song, he decided to release it as the final Diana Ross & the Supremes song. Ross first solo single instead, released in early 1970, became Reach Out and Touch (Somebodys Hand). While the explicit subject of the song was that of Ross comforting a long-distance lover, Someday Well Be Together allowed for a number of other implications such that Ross and bandmates Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong would one day be together. Further, in concert, Ross would suggest that someday, well be together in regard to contemporary troubles like civil rights and the ongoing demonstrations and protests against the Vietnam War. Ed Hogan, allmusic Diana Ross and the Supremes last hit, Someday Well Be Together, was actually a cover. It was originally recorded by songwriters Johnny Bristol and Jackie Beavers as Johnny and Jackey for co-writer Harvey Fuqua and Gwen Gordys Detroit-based label Tri Phi Records. Tri Phi was absorbed by Motown with Bristol becoming a staff songwriter/producer. He thought about teaming up again with Beavers and re-recorded Someday Well Be Together. After hearing it, Motown founder Berry Gordy wanted to record the song with Diana Ross. When the sessions with Ross failed to jell, Bristol came up with the idea of singing a coaching duet with Ross. This approach was similar to the Stevie Wonder/Clarence Paul duet on Wonders number one R&B/number nine pop cover of Bob Dylans Blowing in the Wind. Issued on October 14, 1969, with a rhythm arrangement by Wade Marcus, Someday Well Be Together held the number one R&B spot for four weeks and number one pop in late 1969. Some interpreted the lyrics as a ode to civil rights and favorably compared the performance to the Supremes tender vocals on their version of Somewhere from West Side Story at the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. Supremes
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 20:30:00 +0000
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