Search - Primettes, Eddie Floyd :: Looking Back

Rare Tracks With The Primettes (Who Later Became The Supreme

T. West | LaWrEnCe, KaNsAs | 07/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This cd is for the die-hard fans and serious collector's of The Supremes' early recordings. In 1959 the LuPine label paid the girls, known then as The Primettes (Diane Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and Betty McGlown) to do 8 initial recordings for the label. Five tracks appear here when they sang back up- tracks #3 to #7 (a 6th track called "LONELY NIGHTS" by Gene Martin with backup by The Primettes does not appear on this cd for some odd reason. However, you can find this long lost track on the cd called THE SOUL OF DETROIT, which is sold here on Amazon or on auction sites), and the other 2 tracks (1. and 2.) they recorded as themselves The Primettes. This cd's track listing is as follows: (1.) "TEARS OF SORROW"- The Primettes first 45 single, with Diane Ross on lead vocal, recorded in 1959, but not commercially released until 1960. It was again re-released by LuPine in 1964 when the Supremes began having hits, to cash in on their fame. Track (2.) "Pretty Baby"- This was the B-side to "Tears Of Sorrow", and Mary Wilson sings lead vocal. Track (3.) "RETURN OF STAGGER LEE"- Lead vocal by Don Revel with backup from The Primettes. Track (4.) "Searching For My Baby"- Lead vocal by Al Garner with backup from The Primettes. Track (5.) "BABY, WON'T YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND?"- Lead vocal Al Garner with backup from The Primettes. Track (6.) "I'LL GET ALONG WITHOUT YOU"- Lead vocal by Marv Johnson with backup from The Primettes. (On other Detroit compilations featuring music from the early years, credit is often given to Al Garner for this song "I'LL GET ALONG WITHOUT YOU". Perhaps he also recorded this song at that time? It was very common to do so, especially at labels like Motown). Track (7.) "ALL I NEED IS YOU"- Lead vocal by Marv Johnson with backup from The Primettes (as I mentioned above, an 8th track "LONELY NIGHTS" completes the 8 recordings the Primettes were initially paid to do)- The Primettes recorded a lot of backup session work, so these kind of recordings aren't really that important. Besides, if it weren't for the documented proof, no one would even know it was them singing in the background.

The rest of the cd tracks- #8 to #15 are by singer Eddie Floyd ("KNOCK ON WOOD" amoung other hits), who was also on the LuPine label, and feature backup singing by the Primettes on several of the tracks- again, not really that important. There are actually 15 tracks and not 14 on this cd- it is a misprint on the back cover- track 13. is "I'LL NEVER FIND ANOTHER...", track 14. is "WHEN YOU'RE IN LOVE", and track 15. is "THE WHIP".) This whole cd collection was actually released as an LP in 1968 (an attempt by LuPine to again cash in on the fame of The Supremes) despite lawsuit threats from Berry Gordy at Motown over the release of the 2 Primettes songs. By the way, the cover you see on the cd is the exact same cover they had on the LP.



For more info go to allmusic dot com and look up The Primettes- they have a nice long list of their session work as backup singers. The 2000 4-cd boxset called The Supremes (the one with the light maroon velvet cover), includes not only TEARS OF SORROW and PRETTY BABY, but 5 more tracks that technically are by The Primettes as well, as here's why I'm saying this: The members of The Primettes started out as mentioned above- Diane Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and Betty McGlown- the foursome recorded the 45 single TEARS OF SORROW b/w PRETTY BABY. Betty McGlown then left the group and was replaced by Barbara Martin. That foursome, still called The Primettes were then given a recording contract at Tamla/Motown. The 2000 4-cd boxset has the following tracks that the foursome recorded under their new name The Supremes (Florence suggested the name around January of 1961) -



1. Buttered Popcorn (recorded spring of 1961. When released the B-side

was a song called Who's Loving You?, which is not available on any

cd I know of).

2. After All (recorded around December of 1961)

3. The Boy That Got Away (recorded around December of 1961)

4. I Want A Guy (recorded around December of 1961. When released

the B-side was a song called Never Again, which is not available

on any cd I know of).

5. Your Heart Belongs To Me (recorded December 8th, 1961. When

later released in July of 1962, it had a B-side called He's

Seventeen, and this song is not available on any cd I know

of).



The Supremes did not release their Motown debut album until December 1962, so these singles I just noted above, actually contain the foursome's vocals- the fourth member, Barbara Martin stayed until their Motown debut album was released and oddly, received no credit for her work and she left.

I WANT A GUY and YOUR HEART BELONGS TO ME was used to fill out that debut album. So, technically those songs mentioned above ARE by "The Primettes".



I have found 2 other songs that the foursome recorded in 1961, and they are listed below. What would really be nice is if a record company released the following 12 tracks on a cd and gave full credit to the foursome (The Primettes/The Supremes):



Tracks 1 and 2- Diane Ross/Mary Wilson/Florence Ballard/Betty McGlown.



1. TEARS OF SORROW (1960)

2. PRETTY BABY (1960)



Tracks 3 thru 12- Diane Ross/Mary Wilson/Florence Ballard/Barbara Martin.

3. BUTTERED POPCORN (March 1961)

4. WHO'S LOVING YOU? (March 1961- B-side to BUTTERED POPCORN).

5. I WANT A GUY (March 1961)

6. NEVER AGAIN (March 1961- later the B-side to I WANT A GUY).

7. SAVE ME A STAR (August 1961- this song is available on the cd

The Never-Before-Released Masters, released in 1987).

8. THOSE DJ SHOWS (Recorded September 1961- this song is on the cd

Diana Ross & The Supremes 25th Anniversary Volume 2, released

in 1986).

9. AFTER ALL (December 1961).

10. THE BOY THAT GOT AWAY (December 1961).

11. YOUR HEART BELONGS TO ME (December 8th, 1961).

12. HE'S SEVENTEEN (Spring or Summer of 1962- later the B-side to

YOUR HEART BELONGS TO ME).





If a record company would put this out, it would make for a nice little collection of their recordings for the collector who has to have EVERYTHING by The Primettes/The Supremes in their collection. Enjoy."

Not exactly what it seems...

DVD buff | Austin, TX USA | 04/14/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This CD, called LOOKING BACK, supposedly features early recordings by the Primettes and Eddie Floyd. The Primettes were a girl group formed in Detroit, who would later change their name to the Supremes when they moved to Motown Records.



This CD contains the only recording actually released by the Primettes as a solo act -- a single with two songs, "Tears of Sorrow" and "Pretty Baby." The sound quality of these songs here is pretty bad, although it's not much worse than the version of the songs included in the Supremes box set.



There are five other songs on this CD which are credited to the Primettes, but they aren't really "Primettes" songs. They appear to be sessions in which the Primettes were used as backing vocalists. The lead vocal on "Return of Staggar Lee" is by Don Revel. On "Seachin' for My Baby" and "Baby Won't You Change Your Mind," the lead vocal is by Al Garner. And on "All I Need Is You," the lead vocal is by Marv Johnson.



All the remaining tracks on the disc are Eddie Floyd singles. The track listing on the disc is incorrect, with only seven tracks being shown for Eddie Floyd. There are actually eight tracks from him. Here is the correct track listing for the CD:



1. Tears of Sorrrow - The Primettes

2. Pretty Baby - The Primettes

3. Return of Stagger Lee - Don Revel with the Primettes

4. Searchin' for My Baby - Al Garner with the Primettes

5. Baby Won't You Change Your Mind - Al Garner with the Primettes

6. I'll Get Along - Marv Johnson with the Primettes

7. All I Need Is You - Marv Johnson with the Primettes

8. Bye Bye Baby - Eddie Floyd

9. Never Get Enough of Your Love - Eddie Floyd

10. I Am Her Yo Yo Man - Eddie Floyd

11. Lonely - Eddie Floyd

12. Please Don't Leave Me - Eddie Floyd

13. I'll Never Find Another Girl Like You - Eddie Floyd

14. When You're In Love - Eddie Floyd

15. The Whip - Eddie Floyd



Since "Tears of Sorrow" and "Pretty Baby" are available in the Supremes box set, this CD isn't a must for Supremes fans. Only if you're obsessive about collecting anything related to the Supremes would you be interested in this collection..."