An Evening with Diana Ross
Encyclopedia
An Evening with Diana Ross is a 1977
live double album released by American
singer Diana Ross
on the Motown label. Recorded live at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles during the international tour of Ross' celebrated one-woman show, for which she was awarded a special Tony Award
after the show's run at Broadway
's Palace Theater, followed by an Emmy
-nominated TV special of the same name, the album showcased Ross' live performances for the second time as a solo performer (1974's Live At Caesars Palace
is the first). It was the last live album Ross released until 1989's Greatest Hits Live, released before Ross returned to Motown that year. Note: "Someday We'll Be Together
" is mentioned as a track on the album from Diana's Supremes hits medley, she doesn't actually sing the song. She speaks over the song's instrumentation and backing vocals while introducing singer and Motown label mate, Smokey Robinson
, an audience member that evening.
The Point
The Working Girls (Billie Holiday
, Josephine Baker
, Ethel Waters
, Bessie Smith
)
The Supremes - 6:28
Reach Out
1977 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....
live double album released by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
on the Motown label. Recorded live at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles during the international tour of Ross' celebrated one-woman show, for which she was awarded a special Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
after the show's run at Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
's Palace Theater, followed by an Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-nominated TV special of the same name, the album showcased Ross' live performances for the second time as a solo performer (1974's Live At Caesars Palace
Live at Caesars Palace
Live at Caesars Palace is a 1974 live album released by American singer Diana Ross during her performance at Las Vegas' Caesars Palace. It was Ross' first of two live albums she recorded for the Motown label.-Track listing:Side A:...
is the first). It was the last live album Ross released until 1989's Greatest Hits Live, released before Ross returned to Motown that year. Note: "Someday We'll Be Together
Someday We'll Be Together
"Someday We'll Be Together" is a song made popular as the last of twelve number-one singles for Diana Ross & the Supremes on the Motown label. It is the final Supremes song featuring Diana Ross, who left the group for a solo career in January 1970...
" is mentioned as a track on the album from Diana's Supremes hits medley, she doesn't actually sing the song. She speaks over the song's instrumentation and backing vocals while introducing singer and Motown label mate, Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
, an audience member that evening.
Side A
- "Overture" - 2:35
- "Here I Am" (Burt BacharachBurt BacharachBurt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
, Hal DavidHal DavidHarold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
) - 1:02 - "I Wouldn't Change A Thing" (Johnny BristolJohnny BristolJohnny Bristol , was an American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
) - 1:50 - "The Lady Is a TrampThe Lady Is a Tramp"The Lady Is a Tramp" is a show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical Babes In Arms in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green. This song is a spoof of New York high society and its strict etiquette...
" (Lorenz HartLorenz HartLorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
, Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
) - 2:00 - "Touch Me in the MorningTouch Me in the Morning"Touch Me in the Morning" is a popular song recorded by Diana Ross on the Motown label. It became her second solo number-one single in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973....
" (Michael MasserMichael MasserMichael Masser , a former stockbroker, is a composer and producer of popular music. He attended the University of Illinois College of Law, but left to pursue his interest in music...
, Ron MillerRon Miller (songwriter)Ronald Norman Miller was an American popular songwriter and record producer, who attained many Top 10 hits with ballads written for Motown artists in the 1960s and 1970s....
) - 2:54 - "Smile"/"Send In The ClownsSend in the Clowns"Send in the Clowns" is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music, an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night. It is a ballad from Act II in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she...
" (Charlie ChaplinCharlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
, Geoffrey Parsons, John TurnerJohn Turner (lyricist)John Turner was the pseudonym used by the English lyricist James John Turner Phillips.He ran the Peter Maurice Music Company whose most important lyricist was Geoffrey Parsons. The company specialized in adapting songs originally in foreign languages into the English language. He would usually...
)/(Stephen SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
) - 4:30 - "Love HangoverLove Hangover"Love Hangover" was the fourth number one single for Motown singer Diana Ross. It was released in March 1976, and rose to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Soul Singles and Hot Dance Club Play charts simultaneously....
" (Marilyn McLeod, Pam SawyerPam SawyerPamela Sawyer, an American-based songwriter from Romford, East London.Sawyer worked with artists at Motown Records from 1967 to 1977. Before Motown she had been involved in hit records for the Young Rascals and Lulu, and wrote with Lori Burton with whom she also recorded as the Whyte Boots.Sawyer...
) - 4:49
Side B
- "Girls" (John PhillipsJohn Phillips (musician)John Edmund Andrew Phillips , was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter and promoter . Known as Papa John, Phillips was a member and leader of the singing group The Mamas & the Papas...
) - 1:20
The Point
- "Everybody's Got 'Em" (Harry NilssonHarry NilssonHarry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
) - 1:05 - "Me And My Arrow" (Nilsson) - 1:17
- "Lifeline" (Nilsson) - 3:01
- "Everybody's Got 'Em" (Reprise) (Nilsson) - 1:07
The Working Girls (Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"....
, Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters was an American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.Her best-known recordings includes, "Dinah", "Birmingham Bertha",...
, Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
)
- "Lady Sings The BluesLady Sings the Blues (song)"Lady Sings the Blues" is a song written by jazz singer Billie Holiday, and jazz pianist Herbie Nichols.It is the title song to her 1956 album, released on Clef/Verve Records ....
" (Holiday, Herbie NicholsHerbie NicholsHerbie Nichols , was an American jazz pianist and composer who wrote the jazz standard "Lady Sings the Blues". Obscure during his lifetime, he is now highly regarded by many musicians and critics.-Life:...
) - 1:00 - "T'Ain't Nobody's bizness If I DoAin't Nobody's Business"Ain't Nobody's Business" or "Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness if I Do" is an eight-bar vaudeville blues song that became an early blues standard. It was written in the 1920s by pianist Porter Grainger, who had been Bessie Smith's accompanist, and Everett Robbins. The song was first recorded October 19,...
" (Grainger, Prince, Williams) - 1:02 - "I Cried For YouI Cried for You"I Cried for You" is a song by Georgian born songstress Katie Melua, and was the second single from her second album, Piece by Piece. The single is a double A-side consisting of "I Cried for You", which is one of Melua's own compositions, and a cover of The Cure's song "Just like Heaven", the...
" (Arnheim, Freed, Lyman) - 0:53 - "Aux Iles Hawaii" (Bastia) - 1:00
- "Stormy Weather" (Harold ArlenHarold ArlenHarold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
, Ted KoehlerTed KoehlerTed L. Koehler was an American lyricist.-Life and career:Koehler was born in Washington, D.C. He started out as a photo-engraver but was attracted to the music business, where he started out as a theater pianist for silent films. He moved on to write for vaudeville shows and Broadway, and he also...
) - 1:50 - "Jump In The Pot (And Let's Get Hot)" (Instrumental) - 0:23
- "I Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl" (Brymn, Smalls, Williams) - 2:13
- "My ManMon Homme"Mon Homme" is a popular song known by its English translation, My Man. The song was originally composed by Jacques Charles, Channing Pollack, Albert Willemetz, and Maurice Yvain.-History:...
" (Jacques CharlesJacques CharlesJacques Alexandre César Charles was a French inventor, scientist, mathematician, and balloonist.Charles and the Robert brothers launched the world's first hydrogen-filled balloon in August 1783, then in December 1783, Charles and his co-pilot Nicolas-Louis Robert ascended to a height of about...
, Channing Pollack, Albert WillemetzAlbert WillemetzAlbert Willemetz was a French librettist.Albert Willemetz was a prolific lyricist. He invented a new type of musical, with a humorous and "sexy" style...
, Maurice Yvain) - 2:18
Side C
The Motown Story - 4:52- "Motown Overture"
- "Money (That's What I Want)Money (That's What I Want)"Money " is a 1959 hit single by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. The song was written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, and became the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise....
" (Janie BradfordJanie BradfordJanie Bradford is an American songwriter, most known for her tenure with Motown. With Berry Gordy, she co-wrote "Money ", originally recorded by Barrett Strong and used by The Beatles on their second album With The Beatles...
, Berry GordyBerry GordyBerry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
) - "Please Mr. PostmanPlease Mr. Postman"Please Mr. Postman" is the debut single by The Marvelettes for the Tamla label, notable as the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. The single achieved this position in late 1961; it hit number one on the R&B chart as well. "Please Mr...
" (Robert Bateman, Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian HollandBrian HollandBrian Holland is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland. That songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound and numerous hit records by artists such as Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops,...
) - "I Want You BackI Want You Back"I Want You Back" was released in 1969 and in early 1970s became a number-one hit single recorded by The Jackson 5 for the Motown label. The song, along with a b-side cover of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "Who's Lovin' You", was the only single from the first Jackson 5 album, Diana Ross Presents...
" (The Corporation) - "Fingertips" (Clarence PaulClarence PaulClarence Otto Pauling , better known as Clarence Paul, was a songwriter and record producer for Detroit's Motown Records....
, Henry Cosby)
The Supremes - 6:28
- "You Keep Me Hanging On" (Holland-Dozier-HollandHolland-Dozier-HollandHolland–Dozier–Holland is a songwriting and production team made up of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian Holland and Edward Holland, Jr. They are considered to be one of the greatest songwriting teams in popular music...
) - "Baby LoveBaby Love"Baby Love" is a 1964 song recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label.Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland ,...
" (Holland, Dozier, Holland) - "Someday We'll Be TogetherSomeday We'll Be Together"Someday We'll Be Together" is a song made popular as the last of twelve number-one singles for Diana Ross & the Supremes on the Motown label. It is the final Supremes song featuring Diana Ross, who left the group for a solo career in January 1970...
" (Johnny Bristol, Jackey Beavers, Harvey FuquaHarvey FuquaHarvey Fuqua, was an African-American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, record producer, and record label executive.Fuqua founded the seminal R&B/doo-wop group the Moonglows in the 1950s...
) - "Stop! In the Name of LoveStop! In the Name of Love"Stop! In the Name of Love" is a 1965 song recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label.Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Stop! In the Name of Love" held the number-one position on the Billboard pop singles chart in the United States from March 21, 1965...
" (Holland, Dozier, Holland) - "You Can't Hurry LoveYou Can't Hurry Love"You Can't Hurry Love" is 1966 song originally released by The Supremes for the Motown label.Written and produced by Motown production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song topped the United States Billboard pop singles chart and in the UK in the top 5, released and peaking late summer in 1966...
" (Holland, Dozier, Holland) - "Reflections" (Holland, Dozier, Holland)
- "My World Is Empty Without YouMy World Is Empty Without You"My World Is Empty Without You" is a 1965 song recorded and released as a single by The Supremes for the Motown label.-Overview:Written and produced by Motown's main production team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song's slow tempo accompanies a somber lyric which delves into the feelings of...
" (Holland, Dozier, Holland) - "I Hear a SymphonyI Hear a Symphony"I Hear a Symphony" is a 1965 song recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label.Written and produced by Motown's main production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song became the sixth number-one pop hit on Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in the United States for two weeks from November 14,...
" (Holland, Dozier, Holland)
Reach Out
- "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)"Reach Out and Touch " was the debut solo single for Motown singer Diana Ross, released in April 1970.Ross, having just left The Supremes after a decade of serving as that group's lead singer, went through a difficult situation trying to piece a solo album together...
" (Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson) - 2:49
Side D
One Giant Step- "The Music In The Mirror" (Hamlisch, Kleban) - 3:35
- "What I Did For Love" (Hamlish, Kleban) - 2:17
- "Improvisations" - 1:19
- "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three" (Hamlisch, Kleban) - 2:59
- "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)"Theme from Mahogany " is a song written by Michael Masser and Gerald Goffin, and recorded by American singer Diana Ross as the theme to the 1975 Motown/Paramount film Mahogany...
" (Gerald Goffin, Michael Masser) - 1:15 - "Ain't No Mountain High EnoughAin't No Mountain High Enough"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is an R&B/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla Motown label. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, becoming a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes...
" (Ashford, Simpson) - 4:05
Personnel
- Diana Ross - vocals
- Gregg Wright - keyboards
- Marty Harris - piano
- Gene Pello - drums
- Louis Spears - bass
- Jerry Steinholtz - conductor
- John Colins - guitar
- The Jones Sisters-backing vocals