The Supremes - My World Is Empty Without You [Alt Strings]

[MrJamzyboi]

This is beautiful:) Thankyou

[TheReturnOfBigBear]

No Andantes here, Flo was Missing from the session, Marlene Barrows (The Marvelettes) filled in, Miss Mary Moo'd in The Background though!

[mowestjohn]

The Detroit Symphony Orchestrsa deserve a hell of a lot of credit for thier beautiful work on the supremes records=long may they live.

[Individuell83]

@mowestjohn yes some strings are simply amazing

if you listen to reflections

the strings are not too clear but there is a BBC documentary about the song and they play the string track seperatly for a short time just amazing

same with Baby Doll oder Ask The Lonely

[mowestjohn]

The Detroit Symphony Orchestrsa deserve a hell of a lot of credit for thier beautiful work on the supremes records=long may they live.

[TheBeau1957]

@RedRoosterRoad: Read Mary's book Jack, she was THERE.

[TheBeau1957]

Mary Wilson wrote in her book that it was her, and one of the Andantes that sang backup on this recording. Florence Ballard never showed up due to an illness. Berry Gordy was furious, and called in one of the Andantes, Motown's in-house backup group. Berry was satisfied with the product, and made sure Flo knew it. The rest is history.

[RedRoosterRoad]

@TheBeau1957 I wouldn't believe that.

[tofelt]

as much as i LOVE the vocals, esp. listening to DIANA, there is something so, searching for the RIGHT word, so EXOTIC about the musical arrangement of this song. MOTOWN NEVER gets OLD.

[latino6604]

I absolutely love the strings, especially the climax at 1:26 or so. I kinda wish they released the original with the strings in the forefront instead of the drums/clarinet. Amazing mix!

[CarlsBarkley]

Nice job on this mix.

There's almost too much going on with the violins and bg voices in this record. So you can see why they kept the strings and bg vocals low in volume. It's amazing how such a depressing lyric and dark arrangement became the huge that hit it did. Maybe it was marketing, the uptempo beat, and the timing of its release while the group was on a hot streak of hits.

[fannycraddock99]

Excellent. 5*

[blackshepherd09]

yall need to stop.i mean really..there are three women on this song..mary flo and diane. you would think after 45 yrs you folks would let it rest. and dont bother to send me any e mail cursing as I will not even open them and they will be deleted.

[youneedhead]

true all the supremes were used on these recordings until flo was kicked out it says so in the book

[xwsftassell]

That's incredible.

[tayishere202]

wow this is truly a precious Gem, so amazing thank u so much for sharing

[JSG1951]

I agree.

[JJinLFintheOC]

According to Motown legend (and from stories I heard from people who were there), that's NOT Mary and Flo - it's Mary and Marlene Barrow, one of the Andantes. During the "I Hear a Symphony" sessions, Flo started not showing up for recordings. At first, BG would cancel the session, but after a while he figured he'd bring in a third girl, mix them very low into the background, and no one would be the wiser...

[JJinLFintheOC]

...when that seemed to work, he started bringing in the Andantes to backup Ross, especially when they were on the road performing - seeing how it was cheaper to fly one Supreme than three. I believe "Any Girl In Love" from IHAS is all-Andantes. And according to Randy Taraborelli, the "Merry Christmas" album (recording around the same time) is 90% Andantes.

[JonathanLGardner]

Everyone knows it is Flo. You can even hear it hear. Flo is on this. It has been confirmed. That was simply urband legend

[BotMai]

Huh?

I guess some people can't hear the difference.

And especially on the song you mentioned ... "Any Girl In Love".

It's so apparent that those voices are Mary and Flo's ... I'm surprised that anyone would even question something so obvious.

[blkshepherd]

it is indeed Mary and Flo.on Any Girl in Love and diane back during that time diana sang her lead and joined her and Flo in the background to give a fuller sound. later it just became Mary and Flo. the extra full oooooew in the song Any Girl in Love is none other than a young diana.ooewin with mary and flo..guess thats why it has such a full sound. but again its mary flo and diane in the back and of course on lead. chaka does that too sing lead and background. also Silver Bells all 3.

[kurtsupreme]

@blkshepherd What's this? You defending the legacy of the legendary SUPREMES??? Do you have a fever? Do you only have moments to live? Am I imagining this? Are you sure that you are allright?????????????????????

[MarvelettesDude]

on Any Girl In Love it was not all andantes i could hear flo but there was atleast one andante present becuase the backs were low

[DetroitD60]

It was actually Mary Wilson, Diana Ross and Florence Ballard ONLY on the recording for "My World Is Empty Without You". This was confirmed by Andy Skurow and Harry Weingartner of Universal after they analyzed the original master tapes. Tapes

[kingofthetemptations]

The Only time The Andantes did backing for the Supremes was on the Merry Christmas album and after Flo left

[Individuell83]

and at makes no difference now =D

[tummielvr]

If Mary and Flo were so below par, answer me this oceanbound222, why would Barry even bother to sign them to his label to begin with

[best1forward]

because he wanted diana at motown...and he more or less had to sign up the other two to get her...read mary's book, berry's book and other motown staff of the time...one employee is actually quoted as saying 'now, don't go breaking up those girls"or words to that effect. it is in call her miss ross at the beginning of the book .

[cangas160162]

Gilipoyas subnormal!!

[Individuell83]

my world is empty without you Flo, Mary and Diana.

This mix is so great you can hear the excat played instruments by the funk brothers and Mary and Flo both nearly equal good.

Love it 5*

[oceanbound222]

It is past your bedtime.

[Individuell83]

shut up insignificant anything!

you're no one's attention worth!

[AndyMM2008]

Now now children :P Let's all calm down and respect each others opinons :)

Flo and Mary made valuble contributions to several tracks but I think you have to concede that this isnt their shining moment.

[oceanbound222]

Seriously, I can only imagine how much greater this song would have been with the fabulous voices of the Andantes doing the back-up.

[Individuell83]

I'm never respectlos but I can't stay it if someone is respectlos to an other no supreme fan likes oceanbound and that's not wonder if he handle mary and flo and cindy and jean and the others as shit

the supremes were Flo Mary and Diana or Cindy but not only Diana. If he don't like Flo and Mary maybe he do but he shouldn't be respectlos but he is and that's why nobody likes him

[oceanbound222]

the background voices sound so average, a total lack of spark and excitement. When one is hearing the track with the lead vocal, one does not pay attention to the background voices. But, here that is all one has to hear. I am this close to calling a full-fledged ear plug alert !

[AndyMM2008]

Granted, the BG vocal performance on this track is less than average but I've mixed this to bring out the string track. I was unable to remove the backing vocals and I dont think their presence removes any of the magic from the track. Those vibes, strings, guitars and drums are what this track are all about.

[JonathanLGardner]

I agree Flo and Mary's performance is below average and POOR especially consider their GREAT abilities. BUT I think it works as they sound gloomy and depressed and it it is such a sharp contrast to Diana's lead.

THANKS SO MUCH as I have ALWAYS LOOOOOOOOOVED the strings on this song, probably the best string arrangement on a song, Florence Ballard's (of The Supremes) single LOVE AIN'T LOVE and FOREVER FAITHFUL both also featuring GREAT string sections

[FujikoYakushi]

@oceanbound222 OH excuse me I pay plenty of attention to the harmonizing vocalist! Diana's voice alone is just God-Awful

[motownbaby]

Nice....but i hear why they turned down the BG'S on this one! they are a little all over the place. Maybe this is one they didn't have alot of time to learn!

[DDTVDETROIT]

The Funk Brothers love it