Ross (1978 album)
Encyclopedia
Ross is a 1978
studio album
/compilation
released by American
singer Diana Ross
on the Motown label. The album was a mixture of older tunes Ross recorded and newer recordings, side A consisting of four tracks recorded in 1978 and Side B of material recorded between the years 1971 and 1975, but remixed and/or extended by Motown in-house producer Russ Terrana specifically for the Ross album. Ross peaked at #49 on the US Pop Albums chart, and #32 on Black Albums.
The album failed to chart in the UK. A different album also titled Ross
was released on the RCA label in 1983.
Several outtakes from the 1978 Ross sessions produced by Hal Davis, Greg Wright and Michael Masser have subsequently been issued on various other albums with Ross. Titles among these include "You Build Me Up to Tear Me Down", "Sweet Summertime Livin'", "Share Some Love", "We're Always Saying Goodbye", "Fire Don't Burn" and "We Can Never Light That Old Flame Again".
Although only enjoying moderate chart success on its original release in 1978, in 2009 "Lovin', Livin' and Givin'" was one of thirteen tracks featured on Almighty Records
' tribute/remix album We Love Diana Ross - The Remix Collection.
While alternate versions of most of the recordings contained on the Ross album have re-surfaced on a number of Motown/Universal Music compilations over the years, the original album in its original form is as yet only available on vinyl - making it the only one of Ross's studio albums for the Motown label not to have been re-released to compact disc.
Side B
is almost an instrumental used as a background for dialogue.
The different versions of the song are as following:
1978 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1978.-January–April:*January 14 – The Sex Pistols play their final show at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom....
studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
/compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
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. The album was a mixture of older tunes Ross recorded and newer recordings, side A consisting of four tracks recorded in 1978 and Side B of material recorded between the years 1971 and 1975, but remixed and/or extended by Motown in-house producer Russ Terrana specifically for the Ross album. Ross peaked at #49 on the US Pop Albums chart, and #32 on Black Albums.
The album failed to chart in the UK. A different album also titled Ross
Ross (1983 album)
Ross is a 1983 album by American singer Diana Ross, her third released on the RCA label. It was released shortly before Ross gave a pair of free concerts in New York's Central Park. The album reached #32 on the US charts, #14 on the US R&B charts and #44 in the UK...
was released on the RCA label in 1983.
Several outtakes from the 1978 Ross sessions produced by Hal Davis, Greg Wright and Michael Masser have subsequently been issued on various other albums with Ross. Titles among these include "You Build Me Up to Tear Me Down", "Sweet Summertime Livin'", "Share Some Love", "We're Always Saying Goodbye", "Fire Don't Burn" and "We Can Never Light That Old Flame Again".
Although only enjoying moderate chart success on its original release in 1978, in 2009 "Lovin', Livin' and Givin'" was one of thirteen tracks featured on Almighty Records
Almighty Records
Almighty Records is a British recording label and remix production team founded in 1989, releasing their first single in the same year. Producing mainly Dance-Pop and Hi-NRG music, the label is best known for releasing remakes and remixes of mainstream pop songs...
' tribute/remix album We Love Diana Ross - The Remix Collection.
While alternate versions of most of the recordings contained on the Ross album have re-surfaced on a number of Motown/Universal Music compilations over the years, the original album in its original form is as yet only available on vinyl - making it the only one of Ross's studio albums for the Motown label not to have been re-released to compact disc.
Track listing
Side A- "Lovin', Livin' and Givin'" (Kenny Stover, Pam Davis) (Extended Remix) – 5:11
- Recorded 1978. Produced by Hal Davis. Arranged by Art Wright. Edited version originally issued on first pressings of soundtrack album Thank God It's FridayThank God It's FridayThe triple album was, unlike the movie, a commercial success. It contained contributions from some of the biggest names in disco at the time, including Donna Summer, Diana Ross, Thelma Houston, The Commodores, and many others....
(Casablanca), May 1978. Overdubbed remix issued on subsequent pressings. Re-remixed for album Ross, scheduled as US Motown single October 1978 (cancelled). Released as A-side single in the UK, Continental Europe and Scandinavia b/w "You Got It" (UK), "After You" (Germany and Scandinavia) and "Top of the World" (France and Italy).
- Recorded 1978. Produced by Hal Davis. Arranged by Art Wright. Edited version originally issued on first pressings of soundtrack album Thank God It's Friday
- "What You Gave Me" (Nickolas Ashford, Valerie SimpsonAshford & SimpsonNickolas Ashford , and Valerie Simpson , were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists....
) – 4:57- Recorded 1978. Produced by Hal Davis. Arranged by Art Wright. Edited version (3:39) released as 7" single b/w "Together" (1978 Remix). Also released as Motown US promo 12" single 12 TMG 1135, including extended remix (6:06) b/w "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (Album version), commercially released as Motown blue vinyl 12" single 1C 052-62 325 YZ b/w "Lovin' Livin' and Givin'" in Germany.
- "Never Say I Don't Love You" (Greg Wright, Karin Patterson) – 3:50
- Recorded 1978. Produced by Greg Wright. Arranged by Greg Wright, John Barnes.
- "You Were the One" (Greg Wright, Karin Patterson) – 4:01
- Recorded 1978. Produced by Greg Wright. Arranged by Greg Wright, Jimmie Haskell, John Barnes.
Side B
- "Reach Out I'll Be ThereReach Out I'll Be There"Reach Out I'll Be There" is a 1966 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s and is today considered The Tops' signature song...
" (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,...
, Lamont DozierLamont DozierLamont Herbert Dozier is an American songwriter and record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan. Dozier has either co-written or produced several US Billboard #1 hits.-Career:...
, Eddie Holland Jr.) (1978 Extended Remix) – 5:30- Recorded 1971. Produced by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson. Arranged by Paul RiserPaul RiserPaul Riser is an American trombonist and Motown musical arranger who was responsible for co-writing and arranging dozens of top ten hit records. His legacy as one of the "Funk Brothers" is similar to that of most of the other "Brothers", as his career has been overlooked and overshadowed by the...
. Edited version (3:59) originally released as Motown single, April 1971 b/w "They Long to Be Close to You" and original full-length version (4:50) on album SurrenderSurrender (Diana Ross album)Surrender was a 1971 album by singer Diana Ross, her third solo LP for the Motown label.Ross' previous album, Everything is Everything, failed to generate interest due to Motown's rush and hurried efforts to further Ross' solo career, and did not chart as highly as expected. Surrender, however, was...
, June 1971.
- Recorded 1971. Produced by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson. Arranged by Paul Riser
- "Sorry Doesn't Always Make It Right" (1978 Remix) (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...
) – 3:28- Recorded 1974. Produced by Michael Masser. Arranged by Lee Holdridge, Michael Masser. Originally released as Motown US & UK single, February 1975, b/w "Together".
- "Where Did We Go Wrong" (1978 Remix) (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....
, Tom Baird) – 4:24- Recorded 1973. Produced by Michael Masser. Arranged by Ken Hirsch. Outtake from 1973 album Last Time I Saw HimLast Time I Saw HimLast Time I Saw Him is a 1973 album released by American singer Diana Ross on the Motown Records.-Reception:The album yielded the charted singles "Last Time I Saw Him" and "Sleepin'" and would be the last studio album Ross issued in the next three years until the Diana Ross album, released in...
.
- Recorded 1973. Produced by Michael Masser. Arranged by Ken Hirsch. Outtake from 1973 album Last Time I Saw Him
- "To Love Again" (1978 Remix) (Gerry GoffinGerry GoffinGerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...
, Michael Masser) – 4:04- Recorded 1975. Produced by Michael Masser. Arranged by Lee Holdridge, Michael Masser. Outtake from MahoganyMahogany (1975 film)Mahogany is a 1975 feature film, produced by Motown Productions and released to theaters by Paramount Pictures on October 8, 1975. Directed by Motown founder Berry Gordy , Mahogany stars Diana Ross as Tracy Chambers, a poor African-American woman who rises to become a popular fashion designer in Rome...
OST sessions, 1975.
- Recorded 1975. Produced by Michael Masser. Arranged by Lee Holdridge, Michael Masser. Outtake from Mahogany
- "Together" (1978 Remix) (Michael Masser, Tom Sawyer) – 3:31
- Recorded 1975. Produced by Michael Masser. Arranged by Gene Page. Originally released as B-side of Motown US & UK single "Sorry Doesn't Always Make It Right", February 1975.
Detailed info on track "Lovin', Livin' and Givin"
The version of "Lovin', Livin' and Givin'" in the movie Thank God It's FridayThank God It's Friday
The triple album was, unlike the movie, a commercial success. It contained contributions from some of the biggest names in disco at the time, including Donna Summer, Diana Ross, Thelma Houston, The Commodores, and many others....
is almost an instrumental used as a background for dialogue.
The different versions of the song are as following:
- On the LP Ross (1978) and later as a B-side on the 12" "The Boss" – 5:10 (with its own disco break).
- On the MCA re-issue I'm Coming Out and on the CD Anthology from 1986 (the 5:10 version edited to 3:30 with a progressive synthesizer intro but without the disco break).
- On the European 7" and the US movie soundtrack (4:40 with a 50-second disco break different from the album version break). This version is the one available on the CD Thank God It's Friday (on both the single CD edition and the 2 CD set).
- On the 1983 double LP Anthology (4:00, same as #3 without the progressive synth intro).
- On the original Thank God it's Friday European LP (3:15, with a different arrangement, less synth).
- On the CD The Motown Anthology (same as #5 but longer, 4:40). This one is usually referred to as the film mix, which it isn't. The mostly instrumental version heard in the film would in fact be #7.
Detailed track info, album Ross
- "Lovin', Livin' and Givin'"
- Ross LP version on expanded CD re-issue of album diana (2003 Deluxe Edition)Diana (album)diana is a 1980 album by American R&B and soul singer Diana Ross, released by Motown. Her 11th studio album, it was, and still is, the biggest-selling studio collection of Ross' career.-Conception:...
- 7" version on album Anthology
- European 7" version on Thank God It's Friday soundtrack reissue
- Thank God It's Friday full-length European LP mix on The Motown Anthology.
- Ross LP version on expanded CD re-issue of album diana (2003 Deluxe Edition)
- "What You Gave Me"
- Ross album mix unavailable on CD
- 12" Version on expanded CD re-issue of album diana (2003 Deluxe Edition)Diana (album)diana is a 1980 album by American R&B and soul singer Diana Ross, released by Motown. Her 11th studio album, it was, and still is, the biggest-selling studio collection of Ross' career.-Conception:...
- 7" version on album Anthology.
- "Never Say I Don't Love You"
- On CD re-issue of album To Love Again (2003 Expanded Edition)To Love Again (Diana Ross album)"To Love Again" is a 1981 compilation album by Diana Ross, produced by Michael Masser. Following the success of 1980's diana produced by Chic the set was released in early 1981 and consisted of old and newly recorded love songs by the Motown diva...
- On CD re-issue of album To Love Again (2003 Expanded Edition)
- "You Were the One"
- On expanded CD re-issue of album diana (2003 Deluxe Edition)Diana (album)diana is a 1980 album by American R&B and soul singer Diana Ross, released by Motown. Her 11th studio album, it was, and still is, the biggest-selling studio collection of Ross' career.-Conception:...
- On expanded CD re-issue of album diana (2003 Deluxe Edition)
- "Reach Out I'll Be There"
- Ross album mix unavailable on CD
- Original version on album SurrenderSurrender (Diana Ross album)Surrender was a 1971 album by singer Diana Ross, her third solo LP for the Motown label.Ross' previous album, Everything is Everything, failed to generate interest due to Motown's rush and hurried efforts to further Ross' solo career, and did not chart as highly as expected. Surrender, however, was...
(different mix) - Mix #2 on Anthology (1986) and The Motown Anthology
- Mix #3 on Forever Diana
- "Sorry Doesn't Always Make It Right"
- Ross album mix unavailable on CD
- Original 7" mix on The Motown Anthology
- Ross mix but without harmonica on Anthology
- Covered by Gladys Knight and the Pips on their 1978 album The One and OnlyThe One and Only (Gladys Knight & the Pips album)-Charts:AlbumSingles-External links:* at Discogs...
- "Where Did We Go Wrong"
- Ross album mix unavailable on CD
- First take on CD re-issue of album Last Time I Saw Him (2007 Expanded Edition)Last Time I Saw HimLast Time I Saw Him is a 1973 album released by American singer Diana Ross on the Motown Records.-Reception:The album yielded the charted singles "Last Time I Saw Him" and "Sleepin'" and would be the last studio album Ross issued in the next three years until the Diana Ross album, released in...
- "To Love Again"
- On CD re-issue of album To Love Again (2003 Expanded Edition)To Love Again (Diana Ross album)"To Love Again" is a 1981 compilation album by Diana Ross, produced by Michael Masser. Following the success of 1980's diana produced by Chic the set was released in early 1981 and consisted of old and newly recorded love songs by the Motown diva...
- On CD re-issue of album To Love Again (2003 Expanded Edition)
- "Together"
- Ross album mix unavailable on CD
- Short version on CD re-issue of album To Love Again (2003 Expanded Edition)To Love Again (Diana Ross album)"To Love Again" is a 1981 compilation album by Diana Ross, produced by Michael Masser. Following the success of 1980's diana produced by Chic the set was released in early 1981 and consisted of old and newly recorded love songs by the Motown diva...
Personnel and production
- 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:...
– executive producer - Suzee Wendy IkedaSuzee IkedaSuzee Ikeda is an American singer who was the first Asian-American solo artist at Motown. However, she is best known for her work "behind the scenes" at Motown with such acts as Michael Jackson and The Temptations.-Biography:...
– producer assistant - Russ Terrana – mix
- Jack Andrews – mastering
- Mixed and mastered at Motown Recording Studios, Hollywood, California
- Rickey Ricardo Gaskins – artwork (illustration)
- Brenda Boyce – art direction
- Tony Jones – art direction
Album
| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... |
49 |
| U.S. Billboard Black Albums Chart Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... |
32 |
Sources and external links
- Discogs.com entry, 1978 album Ross
- rateyourmusic.com entry 1978 album Ross
- Discogs.com entry single "Reach Out I'll Be There"
- rateyourmusic.com entry "Reach Out I'll Be There".
- Discogs.com entry single "Sorry Doesn't Always Make It Right"
- rateyourmusic.com entry "Sorry Doesn't Always Make It Right".
- Discogs.com entry single "Lovin' Livin' and Givin'"
- rateyourmusic.com entry "Lovin' Livin' and Givin'".
- Discogs.com entry single "What You Gave Me"
- rateyourmusic.com entry "What You Gave Me"