Happy 50th Anniversary to Diana Ross’ eponymous debut solo album Diana Ross, originally released June 19, 1970.
January 14, 1970, the New Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada—it was a night to remember.
Having breezed through a showcase of their own charters and several notable standards, The Supremes greeted a rapturous throng of family, friends, fans, industry peers and the music press at the conclusion of their performance. The trio’s journey from their threadbare beginnings as the “No-Hit Supremes” to the only other act of the 1960s to rival The Beatles was the stuff of popular music legend.
And now, it was all over—sort of. The crown jewel of Motown Records was splitting in two.
That same evening, Cindy Birdsong, Diana Ross, and Mary Wilson introduced the gathered crowd to the incomparable Jean Terrell. The vocalist had been working closely with Birdsong and Wilson for nearly a year behind the scenes in preparation for the launch of Right On, The Supremes inaugural, post-Ross effort due out in the spring of 1970.
At the same time, Ross’ own hotly anticipated solo step-out Diana Ross was also being readied for release too. These developments stretched back to early 1967 when a change in the group’s marquee—from “The Supremes” to “Diana Ross and the Supremes”—denoted a shift in the internal dynamics within the threesome. Fast forward to that bittersweet evening in January, much was being made of this “farewell” at the Frontier Hotel. It was assuredly the end of an era and the beginning of a new age.
Once all the glitter and tinsel from that occasion had been packed away, Ross turned her focus back to applying the final touches to her eponymous debut. The singer was aware of the assumed public perception that her star power would carry her to an easy victory. However, Ross wanted more than “easy,” she yearned to make an artistic statement and find commercial triumph. With the whole of Motown pouring considerable resources into it, Diana Ross promised to be an album predicated on the quality of its content and Ross’ magnetism.
Sessions for Diana Ross began in the fall of 1969. Four gifted songwriter-producers got an opportunity to pitch ideas for the LP: Bones Howe, Johnny Bristol, Valerie Simpson and Nickolas Ashford. Howe—a talent from outside of the Motown sphere—had used his Midas touch on records for The 5th Dimension at the tail end of the 1960s and it was presumed he could muster up some magic for Ross. Howe cut four tracks on her which included “The Interim,” “Love’s Lines, Angles and Rhymes,” “Time and Love,” and “Stoney End”; the quartet was scripted by Cheryl Ernst Wells, Dorothea Joyce and Laura Nyro respectively.
As strong as the selections came out, this crop of soul-pop finery was shelved, and Howe departed from the project. “Time and Love” later surfaced in 2000 on the two-disc compilation Diana Ross: The Motown Anthology; two years on, “Time and Love” was restored to the deluxe reissue of Diana Ross in 2002 alongside the other three Howe outtakes.
Next up was Ashford & Simpson; the husband-wife team had first encountered Ross as a Supreme when they’d contributed tracks to their fifteenth studio set, Love Child (1968). An instant creative bond sprang up between Ross and the in-house duo and it was decided that they would helm Diana Ross.
Operating in a support capacity to Ashford & Simpson was another fellow Motown staffer, Johnny Bristol; he appeared as a primary writer, co-producer and backing vocalist on “These Things Will Keep Me Loving You,” initially rendered by The Velvettes in 1966. Interestingly, one of Bristol’s previous pieces had come into consideration as a contender for Ross’ LP: “Someday We’ll Be Together.” That song ended up assigned to The Supremes as their curtain call number with Ross; she went on to lay down vocals for “These Things Will Keep Me Loving You” in late 1969 instead. It became the first of an eventual 11 tracks to be included on the finished product.
Under instruction from the “Hitsville, U.S.A.” magnate Berry Gordy, Ashford & Simpson were to politely expound on the label’s trademark radio friendly sound on Diana Ross and take advantage of the album format. The ultimate goal was to court a fresh audience, but not alienate Supremes devotees in the process.
Separate from “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand),” penned just for Diana Ross, Ashford & Simpson culled six selections—“You’re All I Need to Get By,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Something on My Mind,” “I Wouldn’t Change the Man He Is,” “Keep An Eye,” “Dark Side of the World”—from their own impressive stable of songs for the album. This sextet of compositions all sported antecedent renditions from Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Syreeta Wright, Sondra “Blinky” Williams, The Supremes and The Velvettes. Three more pieces—“Now That There’s You,” “Where There Was Darkness,” “Can’t It Wait Until Tomorrow”—emerged from Simpson’s own standalone LP Exposed (not unveiled until 1971) to round out Diana Ross.
Although recycling material handled by other artists wasn’t an uncommon practice for the period, it was still an audacious choice given that Ross could have pushed for exclusive song stock written just for her. But she trusted Ashford & Simpson to revise the gathered content to her specifications; it also didn’t hurt that Ross had a hand in approving each of the entries presented to her. Once given the go-ahead from Ross, Ashford & Simpson spared no expense in constructing a host of aural environments ideally suited to her taste.
Whether set to a median or a balladic tempo, all the arrangements on Diana Ross burst with symphonic color. From the gossamer spun soul of “You’re All I Need to Get By,” to the supper club R&B of “Something on My Mind,” and over to the ornate black pop of “Dark Side of the World,” the musical structures Ashford & Simpson supply to Ross demonstrate their singular understanding of how to musically frame her unique vocal tone. Putting aside Ashford & Simpson’s impeccable productions, it is Ross’ way with a lyric that bestows a human heart to every song featured on this collection.
Excusing “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand),” a paean to brotherly love that introduces Diana Ross, the rest of the record deals topically with romantic love. There is drama (“Keep an Eye”) and conflict (“I Wouldn’t Change the Man He Is”), but there’s also joy (“These Things Will Keep Me Loving You”) and freedom (“Where There Was Darkness”). The latter elements are at their most eloquent on the centerpiece of Diana Ross: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”
Backed by a gorgeous blend of orchestral and gospel curio, Ross makes her declaration of eternal love through spoken word and a rousing chorus of “ah-ah-ah-ah’s.” By the time “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” reaches its amorous peak—the album version runs six minutes and eighteen seconds long—Ross has taken the listener through the emotive states of conviction, passion, strength, and vulnerability. Without question her version surpasses Gaye and Terrell’s originating iteration.
It isn’t hard to assume that Ross knew that she had something special on her hands with her self-titled long player. Once the effort was packaged with its striking cover—a Harry Langdon photograph that offered a semi-deconstructed approach to Ross’ hallmark glamor—her transformation from teen idol to grown-up superstar was subsequently complete.
The campaign for Diana Ross officially commenced in April of 1970 when “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” entered record shops. While it later became a concert evergreen for Ross, there was mild disappointment that “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” only managed to climb as high as the twentieth position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart; it fared better on the U.S. R&B Singles Chart where it landed comfortably within its upper regions.
Diana Ross’ second single thankfully performed to expectation: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” shot to the summit of both the pop and R&B charts in America. Overseas, the United Kingdom, a market predisposed to Ross’ charms as a Supreme, welcomed the single into the Top 10 of the U.K. Singles Chart. And the cherry atop the cake of the single’s reign was its eventual GRAMMY award nomination in 1971 for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Slotted in between the unveiling of “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” Diana Ross was released on June 19, 1970 to solid reviews and sales. A string of sell-out dates to promote the LP followed before Ross was quickly ushered back into the confines of the recording studio to start tasking over her sophomore affair issued in November of that same year, Everything Is Everything. In the slipstream of Diana Ross, further accolades and achievements came Ross’ way, all of it owed to her indefatigable work ethic that made her into the archetype that she is today.
Regarding Diana Ross itself, the long player is as vital now as it was 50 years ago. It was the first of its kind—an event album for a black woman in popular music. Every notable figure to come after Ross—Donna Summer, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Brandy and Beyoncé—has consciously (or unconsciously) looked to Ross’ eponymous song cycle for inspiration. Such is its power that Diana Ross remains an enduring statement of musical aptitude and excellence, a testament to its creator’s ever-present artistic ambition.
LISTEN: