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Tomorrow's the day! Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music are proud to present the worldwide CD premiere of Diana Ross and The Supremes' Sing and Perform "Funny Girl": The Ultimate Edition.
Let us take you back in time to 1968, when nobody - no, nobody was gonna rain on their parade.
With new member Cindy Birdsong joining Miss Ross and Mary Wilson, the group released no fewer than five albums that year, all of which showcased their extraordinary versatility. One of those LPs was to be their only full-length tribute to a classic Broadway score - and what a tribute it was from three of Motown's "greatest stars." Diana Ross & The Supremes Sing and Perform "Funny Girl" featured the group's dynamic renditions of Jule Styne and Bob Merrill's showstoppers including "People," "Don't Rain on My Parade," "I Am Woman," "Sadie, Sadie," and "The Music That Makes Me Dance." The sizzling and brassy album was recorded under the aegis of composer Styne and Motown founder Berry Gordy and was originally released to coincide with the big-screen film adaptation of the musical. The LP placed the songs out of show order and with numerous lyrical alterations yet captured the bright and bold spirit of the source material. Unbelievably, though, it became The Supremes' only studio album to never be released on CD anywhere in the world...until now!
Diana Ross & The Supremes Sing and Perform "Funny Girl": The Ultimate Edition is a deluxe 2-CD celebration of this Motown-meets-Broadway gem. Greatly building upon the digital-only Expanded Edition issued in 2014, The Ultimate Edition boasts:
- The original U.S. stereo mix,
- The rare U.K. mono mix (with an extended version of Diana's tour de force "People" which composer Styne called "equal in every way to Streisand's or anyone else's"),
- The Supreme Mixes reinstating Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong's original vocals not heard in 1968; and
- Bonus tracks including previously unreleased alternate versions of "Cornet Man," "His Love Makes Me Beautiful," and "Sadie, Sadie" as well as live performances of "I'm the Greatest Star" and the Fanny Brice standard "My Man."
The Ultimate Edition has been produced by the team of Andrew Skurow, George Solomon, and TSD's Joe Marchese (The Supremes' Ultimate Merry Christmas) and freshly remastered by Kevin Reeves who mixed the entirety of the second disc. It's all topped off with a sumptuous 32-page full-color booklet housed in the digipak. Designed by George Solomon and John Sellards, it's packed with an exclusive introduction by Mary Wilson, two new essays placing the album in the context of Diana Ross and The Supremes' career and tracing the Broadway-to-Hollywood journey of Funny Girl, an interview with the late Jule Styne, and a host of beautiful, previously unpublished full-color photos. Take a look at our sneak-peek video here (and make sure your volume is on)! If you can't view the video below, just click here.
Diana Ross & The Supremes Sing and Perform "Funny Girl": The Ultimate Edition is due on September 25 from Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records. It's the definitive tribute to this tuneful treasure from America's most successful vocal group of all time. You can order directly from the good folks at Real Gone at this link or below at Amazon. Hey world, here it is!
Diana Ross & The Supremes Sing and Perform "Funny Girl": The Ultimate Edition (Real Gone Music/Second Disc Records RGM-1112, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)
CD 1
Original U.K. Mono Album (Tamla Motown TML 11088, 1969)
- Funny Girl
- If a Girl Isn't Pretty
- I Am Woman
- The Music That Makes Me Dance
- Don't Rain on My Parade
- People
- Cornet Man
- His Love Makes Me Beautiful
- Sadie, Sadie
- I'm the Greatest Star
Original U.S. Stereo Album (Motown MS 672, 1968)
- Funny Girl
- If a Girl Isn't Pretty
- I Am Woman
- The Music That Makes Me Dance
- Don't Rain on My Parade
- People
- Cornet Man
- His Love Makes Me Beautiful
- Sadie, Sadie
- I'm the Greatest Star
CD 2
The Supreme Mixes
- Funny Girl
- If a Girl Isn't Pretty
- I Am Woman
- The Music That Makes Me Dance
- Don't Rain on My Parade
- People
- Cornet Man
- His Love Makes Me Beautiful
- Sadie, Sadie
- I'm the Greatest Star
- Cornet Man (Bonus Track) (Alternate)
- His Love Makes Me Beautiful (Bonus Track) (Alternate)
- Sadie, Sadie (Bonus Track) (Alternate)
- I'm the Greatest Star (Bonus Track) (Live T.C.B. Outtake)
- My Man (Bonus Track) (Live - January 13, 1970, Frontier Hotel, Las Vegas, NV)
Tracks 1-6, 10-15 previously issued on digital expanded edition, 2014
Tracks 7-9 previously unreleased
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A Wonderful collection, finally on CD. Love THE SUPREME MIXES the best, great to hear after 50 years .Thanks for giving the background vocal details and more, with credit where do. Perhaps this may lead to (finally) a release of THE BLACKBERRIES shelved Motown LP (digital or CD).
It's wonderful to finally have Funny Girl on cd. I was a bit disappointed 😞in the Supremes mixes. I couldn't hear any Mary or Cindy on the title cut and If A Girl Isn't Pretty. Mary and Cindy 's total performance time on this project can't be more than 5 minutes.
The Blackberries and Andantes,etc. we're used on so many Supremes recordings from 1967-69, that I wonder if Cindy was ever in a recording studio until the Jean Terrell era.
Thanks for the comment. We are also very happy that Funny Girl is finally on CD.
Mary and Cindy weren’t on the first two tracks. It doesn’t mean they didn’t record them. Perhaps they were erased when the Andantes or Blackberries recorded. We did our best to keep it just the three Supremes so we didn’t put back in vocals that weren’t by them. I think they are well represented. They might be absent from the first two tracks but they are very present on others where they were muted on the 1968 mix. Specifically I am woman, the music that makes me dance, cornet man, and his love makes me beautiful. Cindy did record in the Diana Ross and the Supremes era and you hear tracks with her voice on each of their albums. You will hear more of her and Mary on future expanded/ultimate editions. We hope to keep them coming!