Mary Wilson (album)

Mary Wilson
Studio album by Mary Wilson
Released August 1979
Recorded 1979
Genre R&B/disco/Soul/Funk
Length 32:00
Label Motown
Producer Hal Davis
Mary Wilson chronology
Mary Wilson
(1979)		 Walk the Line
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Mary Wilson is the debut solo album by the founding Supremes member, Mary Wilson, released on the Motown label in 1979.

The album was Wilson's first album recorded after she left the last line-up of the Supremes which included herself, Scherrie Payne and Susaye Greene. The Supremes had released their 29th and last studio album, Mary, Scherrie & Susaye, in October 1976, just nine months before they officially disbanded as a group. During June 1977, Wilson decided to leave the Supremes (who were managed by her then-husband Pedro Ferrer at the time). Prior to her husband becoming the manager of the group, Wilson and Berry Gordy had an argument backstage at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas in 1970 (the same night Diana Ross made her farewell performance with the group to start a solo career). The argument started when Gordy had wanted to replace Jean Terrell (who was already chosen to take Ross's place as lead) with Syreeta Wright. Finally deciding to put her foot down against Gordy, Wilson refused to let Wright take Terrell's place, leading Gordy to state that he was washing his hands of the group, leaving Wilson and her husband to manage the group and keep the group's career alive.

Wilson had decided to begin a solo career after all three members could not agree on the Supremes' musical direction, leaving Payne and Greene to try - unsuccessfully - to find a replacement for Wilson.

Upon leaving the Supremes, Wilson became involved in a protracted legal battle with Motown Records over its management of the Supremes. After an out-of-court settlement, she signed a solo record deal with Motown. Originally, Marvin Gaye was scheduled to produce the album. However, Gaye was preoccupied with his divorce from Berry Gordy's elder sister Anna Gordy at the time, thus leaving her to work with Hal Davis who produced some of The Supremes earlier material as well as having worked with The Jackson 5 and with Michael Jackson on his early solo albums for Motown.

The album was a commercial failure and did not chart. Its lead single, "Red Hot", squeaked into the Billboard R&B singles chart at #95. Another single, "Pick Up the Pieces", failed to chart at all. An extended version of "Red Hot" was made available as a 12-inch single and reached #85 on the disco charts in October 1979.

After the release of Mary Wilson, Wilson began working on her second solo album for Motown with English record producer Gus Dudgeon (who had already produced 4 new tracks for the new album). However, midway through the production of the album, Motown dropped Wilson from their roster in 1980.

Wilson's next album, Walk the Line, would take some 13-years before finally seeing a release in 1992.

Track listing

Side A

  1. "Red Hot" − 6:06
  2. "I've Got What You Need" − 5:08
  3. "You Make Me Feel So Good" − 5:51

Side B

  1. "(I Love A) Warm Summer Night" − 4:07
  2. "Pick Up the Pieces" − 5:01
  3. "You're the Light That Guides My Way" − 3:18
  4. "Midnight Dancer" − 3:08

Singles history

Personnel

Chart history

Name Chart (1979) Peak
position
"Red Hot" US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[2] 95

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2005). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research.
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