Love, Motown, & The Symphony That Changed the World
"I Hear a Symphony" released today in 1965
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the 1965 single by The Supremes, “I Hear a Symphony.” The song is an allegory for the wonders of a lover, unifying romantic idyll and vocal exhuberance that stretched the abilities of then-22 year old Diana Ross.
Now the 6th #1 hit single for The Supremes, the song was composed by the incomparable Motown Records songwriting team of Brian Holland, his brother Eddie, and Lamont Dozier. They’d been writing since they were teenagers and wrote hits for The 4 Tops, Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves, and others. Dozier said, “We were keeping up not only with what was going on at Motown, but in the world, meaning The Beatles, The Beach Boys…There was definitely a standard…Everything that came out had a signature as well as it had to sound like a hit.” Dozier said they’d regularly go to chamber, opera, and symphony concerts “for song concepts.” Baroque, electronic, ethnic, and orchestral influences became part of “the Motown sound.”
“I Hear a Symphony” was a turning point. Early Motown hits like “Money” and “Please Mr. Postman” were rooted in r’n’b, rock’n’roll, and gospel and sold mostly to teens, but Motown President Berry Gordy saw a bigger picture. Ray Charles had already merged “strings with soul,” but his audience was older. The Beach Boys, Phil Spector, The Beatles, and other British Invasion pop acts cherry-picked ideas from musicals, classical, and the avant-garde (perhaps prophesying the “progressive rock era” when Keith Emerson would do Bartok, Bernstein, and boogie-woogie in one flash). By comparison, Motown was even more pro-active about marrying classical, jazz, and pop/rock to “soul music.” Motown arrangers (Paul Riser, etc.), were inspired by Broadway and the jazz orchestrations of Duke Ellington and George Gershwin. They hired musicians from the Detroit Symphony to join elegance to The Funk Brothers, the Motown house band. “I Hear a Symphony” features the muscular drumming of Benny Benjamin and the the distinctive baritone sax solo of Mike Terry.
Diana Ross says this is one of her favorite Supremes songs to do, and it’s on my list of 12 pieces of music that changed my life.
#birthday #dianaross #supremes #symphony #motown