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| Mary Wilson |
| Mary Wilson |
| Born in the segregated deep south, Mary Wilson would vault from the Brewster Projects of Detroit to international world fame. The Rock and Roll Hall Of Famer's childhood struggles and climb to fame as part of The Supremes is well documented. Her two "tell-all" books: "Dreamgirl-My Life As A Supreme" and "Supreme Faith" turned many heads, raised a few eyebrows and dished the dirt from inside the Motown enclave. Alienating a few and embarassing many, the books sold in the millions. Unfortunately Mary's solo recording career did not produce the same results. As the only original member of The Supremes, from their start till the end, Mary first tackled disco in the last few incarnations of The Supremes. In 1975 disco was exploding as this new phenomena, Mary, Cindy Birdsong and Scherrie Payne cut the rousing "He's My Man" for their "The Supremes" album with Greg Wright producing. The cut received minor dance floor exposure and major drag queen usage. Not enought to propell the sales of the album or to make a dent in the charts. However that all changed the following year. In 1976 Diana Ross shot up the charts with "Love Hangover" and led the way for Motown to fully back disco recordings. By then Cindy had once again left The Supremes and was replaced by perky Susaye Green. This new line-up recorded their breakthrough disco classic "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking" for the successful album "High Energy." No doubt the classic sounds come from the reuniting of Holland-Dozier-Holland with the girls, and Scherrie's soaring vocals. The song and album were so successful that they quickly released a second album that same year. It had been nearly a decade since The Supremes released more than one album a year and the stakes were high. "Mary, Scherrie and Susaye" did not disappoint. The album, chocked full of disco goodies, spawned four dance floor favorites: "Love I Never Knew You Could Feel So Good," "I Don't Want To Be Tied Down," "You're My Driving Wheel" and my personal favorite, "Let Yourself Go." Naturally with the massive success of this album and the explosion of disco the public waited for a follow-up. But as 1977 came and went it was apparent that The Supremes had finally expired. The reasons are many, the latter groupings of The Supremes were managed by Pedro Ferrer (Mary's husband at the time), Mary was always positioned front and center even though it was Scherrie's vocals that carried the hits, and Motown-Berry Gordy finally tired of promoting "The Supremes" after nearly two decades. But whatever the reasons were disco was deprived of having a slew of hits by America's foremost girl group during it's peak. Motown did see the chance to still make a buck off of the ladies and gave Scherrie and Susaye their own album "Partners" in 1979. That same year Mary finally had her very own solo release. Naturally the lead single was a red vinyl 12" single of "Red Hot." The downtempo disco cut received moderate club play, but failed to peak on the charts, mainly because it was in contrast to the current high energy trend. When listening to the album recently I am reminded of a remark that Berry Gordy once made to Wilson...."Why Mary you know you can't sing!" Not exactly true, Mary just didn't have the range or timbre that one associates with hits. Still Mary has persisted. The following decade was frought with lawsuits (with Motown), an ugly divorce, international touring (as Mary Wilson formerly of The Supremes) and self exploration for Mary. By 1988 Mary had not recorded a solo record in nearly ten years. Ian Levine, a longtime Motown afficionado, was financially poised to start Motorcity Records and Mary was one of the first artists he signed to the new label. The release of the 12" single "Don't Get Mad, Get Even" was no doubt a ploy to cash in on her books and her rivalry with Miss Ross. It didn't work. The single sank quicker than the Titanic. But like the unsinkable Molly Brown Mary rebounded with the 12" single of "Ooh Child." Ian, a true genius, found an old 5 Stairsteps hit that suited Mary's husky vocals and it enjoyed moderate success globally. Ian pulled in too many former Motown artists and stretched himself too thinly and within a few short years the label went under. Mary was label-less and continued the touring and talk show circuit until 1992. That year she inked a deal with the tiny CEO Records for a full length CD. "Walk The Line" was her biggest solo success. Besides the title track she re-cut "Ooh Child" to a slightly different beat. The overall album was strong and solid and proved that Mary could sing! But the tiny Oklahoma label could not meet the demand and the disc is now a collector's item. Since then Mary has continued her personal appearances around the world. Popping up in the news occasionally, like when a freak car accident (she was driving) killed her son and when the Ross-Wilson feud was aired in the public over Diana not inviting Mary or Cindy on the Diana Ross & The Supremes Reunion tour (she instead had Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence-two Supremes she had never performed or recorded with) Mary has kept a rather low profile. Still we love Mary...she has been with us our entire lives. From the black and white days of Ed Sullivan to the teen years of 1970's soul and throughout the disco years. Mary has always bounced back and survived so I'm sure that we'll hear from her again....because she is Supreme! |
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