| It was Motown, not just Ms. Ross, who dove into the Great American Songbook. The Supremes released two excellent albums, "The Supremes Sing Rodgers and Hart" and "Diana Ross and The Supremes Sing and Perform Funny Girl," both later released on CD in an Expanded Editions. Their live shows (and many Motown artists' live shows), as well as television appearances, included at least a few songs from the Songbook. Marvin Gaye's "When I'm Alone I Cry," The Temptations "In A Mellow Mood," The Four Tops' "Lost and Found," "Motown Celebrates Sinatra" and others are entirely devoted to Songbook songs, and Anthologies by Billy Eckstine, Barbara McNair, Mary Wells, Brenda Holloway and others all contain Songbook tracks. At the time, Motown was accused of trying to "cross over" by recording these songs, but most are excellent interpretations. |
