In keeping with a promise made
to the legendary artist/author and original and founding member of the
Supremes, Mary Wilson, Motown/UMe announce the release of
Mary Wilson: Expanded Edition, available for pre-order today, HERE. In time for what would have been Mary Wilson’s 77th Birthday, March 6, we celebrate her birthday and honor her history and legacy with the first of her album projects.
Ms. Wilson, who retained ownership of her solo recordings,
wanted to make the album – and much more - available to her many fans around the world.
Mary Wilson: Expanded Edition
is a newly compiled version of her solo album, originally released by
Motown in 1979, that will now be available on all digital platforms for
the first time. Added to the
album are eight incredible bonus tracks, four
of them unreleased, including the legendary tracks recorded as a
follow-up to the album produced by Gus Dudgeon (Elton John, Joan
Armatrading, Chris Rea,
et al). Featured as the lead single is a
brand-new song, “Why Can’t We All Get Along,” produced by Richard Davis
and co-written with Angelo Bond, who previously had great success as a
co-writer with General Johnson and Greg Perry
for “Bring The Boys Home.”
Mary Wilson, who had many fond memories around recording her solo debut,
was so excited about the release of this album
that, after finalizing details with UMe, she created an impromptu
“teaser,” posting what was to be her final
YouTube video.
“I finally decided how to work with Universal, and they are going to
release new Mary Wilson recordings,” she said. “Yes! At last! At last,”
adding that the expanded version of the album,
known by her and to fans as “Red Hot,” referring to its lead single,
will include the Dudgeon productions – and something new. “It was four
wonderful songs that were never released… and I also have some other
songs, some surprising new songs… Thank you Universal
for chiming in with me and helping this come true. Hopefully some of
that will be out on my birthday, March 6th... I’ve got my fingers crossed.”
Sadly, the world mourned the sudden passing of Mary Wilson on February 8th, which also marked the 56th
anniversary of The Supremes’ #1 hit, “Stop! In the Name Of Love.” She
was a world-renowned singer,
best-selling author, a humanitarian, artist rights advocate,
philanthropist, cultural ambassador for the U.S. appointed by Colin
Powell, but she was best known as a “Supreme.” She was the
co-founder of the original Supremes, along
with Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, which signed to Motown in January
1961, making this year their 60th anniversary.
The group broke down barriers by becoming the
world’s most popular female singing trio, with an unprecedented string
of 12 number one hits, 33 top 40 singles, a record breaking 5
consecutive number ones, and the first number one album
for a female group. Mary Wilson is the only member with the group from
their signing in 1961 to their disbanding in 1977. Their legendary
history is the foundation for dozens of books, movies, and even three
Broadway musicals.
But the often-overlooked history
is of the solo careers of Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. Ballard had
previously released an album on ABC Records while, upon leaving the
Supremes, Mary Wilson released her self-titled
solo album debut on Motown, her label for the previous 18 years. Mary Wilson
had the potential of becoming a dance classic. Famed Motown Producer Hal
Davis, known for #1 hits on the Jackson 5, Thelma Houston and Diana
Ross crafted a lush disco album for Wilson, with six dance tracks and a
mid-tempo ballad. Wilson recorded the album
while pregnant with her youngest son, Raphael, and for the album’s
cover shoot she was wrapped in a jacket to hide the pregnancy.
“Red Hot” was the obvious lead
single. But just prior to the release of the album the infamous Disco
Demolition Night took place at Comiskey Park in Chicago on July 12,
1979. The “Disco Sucks” movement impacted the release
of Mary Wilson, and the single reached #85 on the dance chart
and #95 on the R&B chart. This new collection retrieves for history
the song’s rare 12” and 7” mixes, which were unique from the album’s
version. Despite being loved by fans, and the release
of a second single, “Pick Up the Pieces” in the U.K., the Mary Wilson album did not get the recognition it deserved.
In 1980, Mary Wilson headed to
Europe to record with Elton John’s producer, Gus Dudgeon. The late
Dudgeon, who started as Decca Records’ in-house recording engineer,
became a key creative collaborator with Elton John,
producing seven No. 1 albums, in addition to creating masterworks with
David Bowie, Joan Armatrading, Chris Rea, and many more.
Wilson wrote in her second autobiography,
Supreme Faith: Someday We’ll Be Together, “I was very excited
about these four songs. It wasn’t the formula disco of my first
album. Two of the songs were big ballads. The other two were rock and
roll in the style of Tina Turner’s mid-eighties hits;
I was certainly ahead of the time.” Three of the four songs were never
released. The fourth song, “You Dance My Heart Around the Stars,” first
made available in 2015 on a collection of the co-writer’s, Steve
Kalinich, a frequent collaborator of the Beach Boys,
is considered one of Wilson’s finest performances.
In 1986 Mary Wilson wrote her best-selling autobiography,
Dreamgirl: My Life As A Supreme, followed by two more books, Supreme Faith: Someday We’ll Be Together,
and Supreme Glamour. Although Mary continued to record and
release music through the rest of her career, fans have continually
requested to hear this music. These songs remain among the most
requested items in the Motown catalog.
While
recording more music over the last 10 years, Mary Wilson reconnected
with Richard Davis, executive of Gold Forever Music, a publishing
company established
by Eddie Holland after leaving Motown. In the early days of Motown,
Holland-Dozier-Holland was the songwriting team responsible for The
Supremes’ string of hit records.
While
Mary continued to record, she kept a journal with her most personal
thoughts, perspective, outlook, philosophy on life, beliefs based
on her experiences and topics of the day.
Richard Davis discussed this song with Wilson. Mary told Davis and
Bond that their lyrics were able to capture and articulate her feelings into song and help her tell her story.
As she was watching and writing about her
feelings about the political unrest and the division in the country,
Mary felt strongly about releasing “Why Can’t We All Get Along,” now in
the hopes of spreading a positive message through
music.
TRACKLISTING:
Mary Wilson
Mary Wilson: Expanded Edition
1. Red Hot (6:06)
2. I've Got What You Need (5:08)
3. You Make Me Feel So Good (5:51)
4. (I Love A) Warm Summer Night (4:07)
5. Pick Up the Pieces * (5:01)
6. You're the Light That Guides My Way (3:18)
7. Midnight Dancer (3:08)
------------------
#1-7: Produced by Hal Davis
* Co-Produced by Hal Davis & Bobby Belle
Originally issued as Motown M7-927 R1 (1979)
----------
Bonus Tracks
The Red Hot Singles
8. Red Hot 7” Single Version (3:53)
9. Red Hot 12” Disco Version
- Remixed by Rusty Garner (7:12)
10. Red Hot 12” B-Side Promo Version
- Remixed by Rusty Garner (3:53) – previously unreleased commercially
----------
The Gus Dudgeon Sessions – previously unreleased except **
11. You Dance My Heart Around the Stars** (4:34)
12. Save Me (3:53)
13. Love Talk (4:05)
14. Green River (3:36)
----------
The Richard Davis Sessions – previously unreleased
15. Why Can’t We All Get Along Single version (4:50)
Mary Wilson’s Self-Titled Solo Album Makes Its Digital Debut
Includes
8 Bonus Tracks Featuring Rare Remixes, the Never-Before-Released Gus
Dudgeon Sessions and a Brand-New song, “Why Can’t We All Get Along”
