The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal by Mark Ribowsky

The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal
by Mark Ribowsky

Da Capo Press
Available 06/25/09

Drawing on intimate recollections from friends, family, and Motown contemporaries, Mark Ribowsky charts the Supremes’ meteoric rise and bitter disintegration. He sheds light on Diana Ross‘s relationship with Berry Gordy and her cutthroat rise to top billing in the group, as well as Florence Ballard‘s corresponding decline. He also takes us inside the studio, examining how timeless classics were conceived and recorded on the Motown “assembly line,” and considers the place of Motown in an era of cultural upheaval, when not being “black enough” became a fierce denunciation within the black music industry.