UMe releases another Supreme(s) winner. Get going a Go-Go!

Label this gem truly supreme. Make that Supremes. UMe continues to reissue the old, the forgotten, the important recordings that must be heard.cid:image003.jpg@01D2A719.7D954040

Now up:  The Supremes A’ Go-Go, the group’s first-ever No. 1 album (and first by an all-female group) featured the chart-topping “You Can’t Hurry Love” and covers of fellow Motown artists’ hits; the new version includes covers of Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones

By the time Motown released the group’s ninth studio album, on August 25, 1966, the group had already scaled the charts with hits like “Where Did Our Love Go?,” “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “Back in My Arms Again” and “I Hear a Symphony.”

The Supremes A’ Go-Go solidified Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard’s hold on the American and global marketplace, the first of their albums to go to No. #1 on the Billboard 200, marking the first LP by an all-female group to do so, spawning two Top 10 hits in the No. 1 “You Can’t Hurry Love” and the No. 9 “Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart.”  The album also featured the trio tackling an array of hit cover material, mostly from their Motown stablemates the Four Tops, the Temptations, Martha & the Vandellas, Barrett Strong and the Isley Brothers, but also contemporary hitmakers Nancy Sinatra (Lee Hazlewood’s “These Boots are Made for Walkin’”) and the McCoys (Bert Berns and Wes Farrell’s Brill Building chestnut “Hang on Sloopy”).

UMe will now reissue the classic album in a deluxe, expanded two-CD edition, featuring the original 12 tracks, featuring both the stereo album, along with rare mono album mixes, alternative vocal versions and mixes, as well as a duet of “Shake Me Wake Me (When It’s Over)” with the Four Tops. There are also rarely heard album outtakes, such as covers of fellow ‘60s stalwarts Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” and the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satsifaction.”

The Supremes A’ Go-Go remained on the Billboard chart for 60 weeks, going on to sell 3.5 million around the world, including one million in the U.S., knocking off The Beatles’ Revolver from the top spot for the honors. It also went to #15 in the U.K. album charts, with “You Can’t Hurry Love” peaking at #3 on the U.K. singles chart.

The production represented the peak of the fabled Motown team, headed by producers Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier, the Funk Brothers and even the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on hand.Image result for vintage supremes

This expanded edition will also contain two 24-page booklets. The first chronicles the album’s production and success, as well as a timeline, and both rare and never-before-seen photos. The second booklet is a recreation of the Supremes 1966 tour book.

Said All Music’s Bruce Eder about the album, referring to its winning formula of having The Supremes cover Motown’s greatest hits: “In fact, back in the days when vinyl was the only game in town, used copies of this record sold faster and better than any of their other common ’60s LPs, and for good reason.”