This record has a really special place in my collection. It's one of the first records I ever got and it came into my possession when a friend was streamlining his collection, getting rid of the ones he didn't listen to. I didn't have a turntable at this point but I was really digging the idea of vinyl so I saw this as a good way to start. Alongside the Monkees and the Psychedelic Furs, this LP came home with me that day. Frankly, I can't comprehend why he let me have this...
Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations is a joint studio album featuring both (as you might have guessed) Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations, produced by Motown legend Frank Wilson. Released in 1968, this album came out at the peak of Motown's 1960s success. In my opinion, this album is one of R&B's finest moments and is criminally overlooked. It's my favourite Motown release by a long way.
The concept is excellent: put two of the best groups R&B together to record an album of reworked pop classics. Whoever came up with this is a genius, plain and simple. Ed Sullivan puts it perfectly on the back of the sleeve: "In this album, Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations complement each other beautifully...The idea of combining them was a happy inspiration". Both groups mesh together, bouncing off of each other perfectly. It's a match made in heaven.
This is in essence a textbook example of a good Motown record. The songs are uplifting, joyous 2-3 minute snippets of pure human feeling. The production is sleek, grooving and perfect for dancing. The singing is just awesome. There's something quite magical about the emotion that Diana Ross's voice captures. Here it manages to be youthful, energetic and utterly optimistic. I'm not sure if I've ever heard anything else that oozes such positivity. Her performances (as well as the rest of the Supremes) in songs such as Ain't No Mountain High Enough and A Place in the Sun really stand out, not only within the album but in also in the genre and in the wider spectrum of music.
The original Supremes fizzled away soon after Diana Ross's departure for bigger, greater things and the elderly Temptations are still recording today. However, this album captures a unique moment in history with both groups at the peak of their powers. This LP is from a world in which they were untouchable, a world that will forever be kept alive by this record.
It's a record I keep coming back to. I don't have anything else quite as uplifting or positive as this. It's something to listen to when in a really good mood. In the right state of mind, this album can make me feel as if anything is possible.
Forgive the hyperbole.
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