Outside of the Beatles, the most successful pop-music act of the sixties was the Supremes. They sold more records than a number of their contemporaries at the time — including the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones — and had more number one records charted on Billboard than anyone outside of Elvis and the Beatles at the time (Mariah Carey has since joined this elite group).

In doing so, the Supremes also largely built the house that eventually became Berry Gordy's Motown Records empire.

Surprisingly, although the general story of how these three young women vaulted from the projects of Detroit to fame and fortune is fairly well known, there has never really been an official biography about them. At least not one written by an outside, presumably unbiased source.

Individual memoirs by group members Mary Wilson and Diana Ross, while certainly eye-opening, are also too colored by their own biases — and in Wilson's case, an obviously lingering sense of hurt and even betrayal. The hit musical and eventual motion picture Dreamgirls rectifies this somewhat, but as a work of fiction, is still somewhat flawed in terms of it representing a definitive account.

Phil Spector biographer Mark Ribowsky (He's A Rebel) does a terrific job of mostly correcting this oversight — and setting the record straight with The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal.

While this Supremes bio can hardly be called 100% objective — Diana Ross and Berry Gordy are often painted as villains, while Florence Ballard comes off as something just short of a candidate for sainthood — Ribowsky still treats his subjects in a mostly fair and even-handed way. He also spares little in the way of dishing the often dirty details, which makes this book a real page turner.

The rivalry between Ross and Ballard alone makes for some very fascinating reading. When the initially shy "Diane" begins to come into her own, gradually taking over Ballard's spot as the group's lead singer, Ballard initially sees it as a challenge which she is all too willing to rise to.

Article Author: Glen Boyd

You'll find Blogcritics assistant music editor Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares on his personal blogs The World Wide Glen, and The Rockologist. In a previous life, Glen was a music professional and journalist whose work has appeared in The Rocket, SPIN, Pulse!, and The Source. …

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