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Someday We'll Be Together

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"Someday We'll Be Together"
Single by Johnny & Jackey
ReleasedNovember 1961
Recorded1961
GenreDoo-wop, rhythm and blues
Length3:34
LabelTri-Phi
1005
Songwriter(s)Johnny Bristol
Jackey Beavers
Harvey Fuqua
Producer(s)Harvey Fuqua
Johnny & Jackey singles chronology
"Carry Your Own Load"
(1961) 		"Someday We'll Be Together"
(1961) 		"Do You See My Love (For You Growing)"
(1962)

"Someday We'll Be Together" is a song written by Johnny Bristol, Jackey Beavers, and Harvey Fuqua. It was the last of twelve American number-one pop singles for Diana Ross & the Supremes on the Motown label.[1] Although it was released as the final Supremes song featuring Diana Ross, who left the group for a solo career in January 1970, it was recorded as Ross' first solo single and Supremes members Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong do not sing on the recording. Both appear on the B-side, "He's My Sunny Boy".

The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart for one week, in the final 1969 issue of Billboard magazine (dated December 27). It would be the last number one hit of the 1960s.[2]

Background

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Original version

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The song was written by Johnny Bristol, Jackey Beavers, and Harvey Fuqua in 1961; Bristol and Beavers recorded the song together as "Johnny & Jackey" for the Tri-Phi label that same year. "Someday" was a moderate success in the Midwestern United States, but gained little notice in other venues.

Tri-Phi was purchased by Motown in the mid-1960s. Fuqua, Bristol, and Beavers all joined Berry Gordy's by-then famous record company, and "Someday We'll Be Together" became part of Motown's Jobete publishing catalog. Beavers soon departed for Chess Records, although both Bristol and Fuqua stayed on as songwriters and producers for Motown.

Supremes version

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"Someday We'll Be Together"
side-A label
Solid center variant of the UK single
Single by Diana Ross & the Supremes
from the album Cream of the Crop
B-side"He's My Sunny Boy"
ReleasedOctober 14, 1969[3]
RecordedHitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); June 13, 1969 + additional dates
GenrePop, soul
Length3:25 (album/single version)
3:34 (2003 remix)
LabelMotown
M 1156
Songwriter(s)Johnny Bristol
Jackey Beavers
Harvey Fuqua
Producer(s)Johnny Bristol
Diana Ross & the Supremes singles chronology
"I Second That Emotion"
(1969) 		"Someday We'll Be Together"
(1969) 		"Up the Ladder to the Roof"
(1970)
Audio sample
"Someday We'll Be Together"

In 1969, Bristol was preparing a new version of "Someday We'll Be Together", to be recorded by Motown act Jr. Walker & the All-Stars. Bristol had already recorded the instrumental track and the background vocals when Berry Gordy happened upon the tracks and heard them. Gordy thought that "Someday" would be a perfect first solo single for Diana Ross, who was making her long-expected exit from the Supremes at the time, and had Bristol sequester Ross into the studio to record the song.

Unable at first to get the vocal performance he desired from Ross, Johnny Bristol decided to try something different: he would harmonize with her, helping Ross to get into the mood needed for the record. On the first take, the engineer accidentally recorded both Ross's vocal and Bristol's ad-libs. Bristol and arranger Wade Marcus liked the results, and Bristol had his vocal recorded alongside Ross' for the final version of the song. Bristol's ad-libs and words of encouragement to Ross can be heard in the background throughout the song. When Berry Gordy heard the completed song, he decided to release it as the final Diana Ross & the Supremes song. Neither of the Supremes' remaining members, however, sang on the record. Ross's first solo single instead, released in early 1970, became "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)".

Even though the implicit subject of the song was that of Ross comforting a long-distance lover, "Someday We'll Be Together" allowed for other interpretations, one being that Ross and bandmates Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong would one day nostalgically "be together" again. Further, in concert, Ross would suggest that "someday, we'll be together" in regard to contemporary troubles such as civil rights and the ongoing demonstrations and protests against the Vietnam War.

Release

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"Someday We'll Be Together" was included on the final Diana Ross & the Supremes album, Cream of the Crop (1969). The song was a United States number-one hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 popular singles chart and the R&B singles chart, as well as charting in the top twenty at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart.[4] It also peaked on the Netherlands' MegaCharts at #19 in 1970. "Someday's" B-side, "He's My Sunny Boy", was recorded by Ross, Wilson, and Birdsong for the Love Child album in 1968 and written and produced by Smokey Robinson.

"Someday" charted at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 popular singles chart for one week, on December 27, 1969.[5]It also charted at number-one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart for four weeks, from December 13, 1969, to January 3, 1970. "Someday We'll Be Together" therefore appeared in Billboard as both the final Hot 100 and R&B number-one of the 1960s, and as the first R&B number-one of the 1970s.[6]

Notable live performances

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The girl group made their final of several performances throughout the decade with Diana Ross singing lead on the 1960s decennial finale of The Ed Sullivan Show that aired live Sunday, December 21, 1969, on CBS.[7]

"Someday We'll Be Together" was the final number at Diana Ross & the Supremes' farewell concert on January 14, 1970, at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. After the completion of the show, Jean Terrell was presented onstage to the audience as Diana Ross' replacement (alongside Wilson and Birdsong). Thus "Diana Ross & the Supremes" officially split apart, becoming "Diana Ross" (the solo act) and "The Supremes" (the group).

Ross reunited with Wilson and Birdsong in 1983, performing the single for the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special. However, this long anticipated performance was cut short mostly owing to lack of rehearsal after more than a decade of the group being apart. There is much speculation regarding the onstage exchange that took place between Ross and Wilson, but some audience members report it resulted in Ross shoving Wilson during the on-stage performance. A heavily edited version of this performance was aired on national television and released on the DVD of Motown 25.

Other versions

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"Someday We'll Be Together"
Single by Bill Anderson and Jan Howard
from the album Bill and Jan (Or Jan and Bill)
ReleasedJune 1970
Recorded1969
GenreCountry
LabelDecca Records
32689
Songwriter(s)Johnny Bristol
Jackey Beavers
Harvey Fuqua
Producer(s)Owen Bradley
Bill Anderson singles chronology
"Love Is a Sometimes Thing"
(1970) 		"Someday We'll Be Together"
(1970) 		"Where Have All Our Heroes Gone"
(1970)
Jan Howard singles chronology
"Rock Me Back to Little Rock"
(1970) 		"Someday We'll Be Together"
(1970) 		"The Soul You Never Had"
(1970)
"Someday We'll Be Together"
Single by Diana Ross
from the album Diana Extended
ReleasedApril 9, 1994
Recorded1994
GenreSoul, Pop, Dance
Length3:04 (Radio Edit)
8:42 (Album Version)
LabelMotown Records
Songwriter(s)Johnny Bristol
Jackey Beavers
Harvey Fuqua
Producer(s)Frankie Knuckles (Remixer)
Diana Ross singles chronology
"The Best Years of My Life"
(1993) 		"Someday We'll Be Together"
(1994) 		"Take Me Higher"
(1995)

Personnel

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Johnny & Jackey version

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Diana Ross & the Supremes version

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Bill Anderson and Jan Howard version

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The Marvelettes version

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  • Lead vocals by Wanda Young Rogers
  • Background vocals by the Andantes: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps
  • Instrumentation by the Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Track listing

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Supremes version

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  • 7" single (14 October 1969) (North America/United Kingdom)
  1. "Someday We'll Be Together" – 3:14
  2. "He's My Sunny Boy" – 2:18

Chart history

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Certifications

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Supremes version

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[31] Platinum 2,000,000[30]
Summaries
Worldwide — 3,000,000[32]

See also

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Bibliography

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  • Posner, Gerald (2002). Motown : Music, Money, Sex, and Power. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-375-50062-6.
  • Wilson, Mary and Romanowski, Patricia (1986, 1990, 2000). Dreamgirl & Supreme Faith: My Life as a Supreme. New York: Cooper Square Publishers. ISBN 0-8154-1000-X.
  • Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005", 2006.

References

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  1. ^ Bronson, Fred: The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, page 265. Billboard Books, 2003.
  2. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Vol. 81, no. 52. Nielsen Company. 1969. p. 44.
  3. ^ Ribowsky, Mark (2009). The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81586-7.
  4. ^ The Official Charts Company - Diana Ross and the Supremes - Someday We'll Be Together, retrieved 27 March 2010
  5. ^ "Billboard". 27 December 1969.
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 558.
  7. ^ Guests: Diana Ross & the Supremes (21 December 1969). "The Singing, Soulful Sixties". The Ed Sullivan Show. Season 23. Episode 13. New York City. CBS. WCBS.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ Lorrie Morgan - "Someday We'll Be Together" (1983) single at Discogs
  9. ^ Jay Warner (2006). American Singing Groups: A History from 1940s to Today. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 458. ISBN 0634099787. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Go-Sets National Top 40". Go-Set. 21 February 1970. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  11. ^ "Every Unique AMR Top 100 Single of the 1969". Top 100 Singles. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6110." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  13. ^ "Alþýðublaðið - 19. Tölublað (26.01.1970)". Alþýðublaðið (in Icelandic). 26 January 1970. p. 2. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  14. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Supremes The" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  15. ^ "Diana Ross & The Supremes – Someday We'll Be Together" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  16. ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  17. ^ "Supremes: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  18. ^ "R'N'B SINGLES" (PDF). Record Mirror. January 10, 1970. p. 15. Retrieved January 17, 2022 – via worldradiohistory.com.
  19. ^ "The Supremes Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  20. ^ "The Supremes Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  21. ^ "The Supremes Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  22. ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles". Cashbox. December 27, 1969. Archived from the original on 8 September 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  23. ^ "The CASH BOX Top 50 In R&B Locations". Cashbox. December 20, 1969. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  24. ^ "100 TOP POPS: Week of January 10, 1970" (PDF). Record World. worldradiohistory.com. January 10, 1970. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  25. ^ "Top 50 R&B: Week of December 20, 1969" (PDF). Record World. worldradiohistory.com. December 20, 1969. p. 45. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  26. ^ "Billboard HITS OF THE WORLD". Billboard. 11 July 1970. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  27. ^ "The Supremes Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard.
  28. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  29. ^ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1969". Cashbox. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  30. ^ J. Randy Taraborrelli (4 September 2008). Diana Ross: An Unauthorized Biography. Pan Macmillan. p. 210. ISBN 9780330470148. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  31. ^ "American single certifications – Supremes – Someday We'll Be Together". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  32. ^ Joseph Murrells (1984). Million Selling Records from the 1900s to the 1980s: An Illustrated Directory. London: B.T. Batsford. p. 292. ISBN 0-7134-3843-6.
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