Music lovers at Newark, NJ’s GRAMMY Museum Experience Prudential Center this Tuesday, October 29, 2019 evening are in for a treat. All are ready to take part in a special NJ musical event which features an intimate conversation with a founding member of one of the greatest singing groups of all time, The Supremes — An Evening With…. Mary Wilson!
The GRAMMY Museum’s An Evening With… educational series provides moderated conversations with iconic recording artists about their history, creative process, and current and future projects. Recent An Evening With… events at the Prudential Center have included intimate chats with 2018 New Jersey Hall of Fame honorees The Smithereens and 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Zombies.
The GRAMMY Experience doors open and we make our way into the GRAMMY Museum to view an exhibit entitled Legends of Motown: Celebrating The Supremes which gives visitors a one-of-a-kind look at the life and career of one of the most successful American singing groups of all time — The Supremes.
The exhibit, which runs through April 26, 2020, begins at the start of The Supremes’ career — when they were still known as The Primettes — and takes visitors on a timeline tour leading through the height of their success with Motown.
Featuring rare items from the personal collection of Mary Wilson, numerous artifacts can be seen on display including an exquisite array of outfits worn by The Supremes from the 1960s through the 1970s which range in style from the group’s casual “orange freeze” bugle beaded trousers to a trio of beaded gowns which The Supremes wore on the occasion of meeting Queen Elizabeth. The various outfits and gowns come complete with photos of The Supremes wearing them, and look even more stunning in person than they do on film.
Rounding out the exhibit is a video which plays a conversation with Ms. Wilson in which she describes her personal experiences when she started at Motown in 1964, bringing the history of The Supremes to life and helping to transport music lovers back to Motown’s musical heyday in the 1960s.
Following our visit to the Legends of Motown: Celebrating the Supremes exhibit, we’re invited backstage for an exclusive chat with Ms. Mary Wilson.
When asked if she has any special memories of her times working at Detroit’s Motown Studios which she’d like to share with us, Wilson replies, “Yes!” explaining, “Each year, Motown would have a Christmas party and every artist who was at Motown would attend,” acknowledging, “This was before we became famous, right?”
Adding, “People like Mary Wells, Marv Johnson, and Popcorn Wiley — artists who some people today have no idea who they are — were there, along with The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye,” Wilson explains, “and what would happen is they would give each of us gifts. Each gift depended on how important you were — whether you had any hit records — so in the beginning, we got small transistor radios, but then it escalated to diamond watches and more — but those were the best days, just being with all of the artists. Rarely did we all get to be together, but when we did, it was so much fun.”
We ask Ms. Wilson if she would be willing to share a story about a particular piece in the GRAMMY Museum’s current Legends of Motown: Celebrating the Supremes exhibit, to which she responds, “Oh, there are lots of stories,” before acknowledging, “My favorite items are probably the pink beaded gowns that we wore for our command performance for the Queen Mother. That was special because it was very unusual for Americans to perform for the Royal Family — even today — and this took place back in the ’60s. Not many people got an opportunity to actually meet the Royal Family like that — up close and personal — so it was really a very special and wonderful experience for us.”
With respect to The Supremes’ spectacular gowns currently on display, we ask Wilson to tell us about her new book, Supreme Glamor, which not only contains unique stories about Wilson’s days with The Supremes, but also comes complete with gorgeous photos of the trio and many of their famous outfits.
Says Wilson, “This book is a coffee table book, and it has lots of pictures, including photos of the gowns in the exhibit, in addition to other gowns that are not in the exhibit,” noting, “and what’s so great is we had the gowns photographed so that not only will people get a chance to see each gown itself, but they will even get to see pictures of each bead up close so they can actually peek in there, see each one of the beads, and also see that there are thousands of beads on each gown!”
As we wrap up our chat with Ms. Wilson — who will be appearing this month in Atlantic City with Martha Reeves and The Vandellas — we ask her what she enjoys most about performing, to which she responds, “Just being on stage!” explaining, “You couldn’t be in a better place because in doing what you do, you’re making yourself happy and you’re also making people happy,” before concluding with a smile, “Being on stage, for me, is like being in heaven.”
Following our chat, we take our seats inside the intimate GRAMMY Museum Experience performance space for tonight’s An Evening With…. Mary Wilson! presentation.
Mark Conklin — Artist Relations and Programming director for The GRAMMY Museum Experience — welcomes the audience to tonight’s event exclaiming, “You’re in the right place at the right time!”
Explaining that the GRAMMY Museum is “an actual working museum which celebrated it’s two-year anniversary last week,” Conklin notes, “We’re here for education — we have programs on songwriting, vocal performance, hip-hop performance, and the music business,” before talking to the sold-out crowd about the the Museum’s current Legends of Motown: Celebrating the Supremes exhibit.
The members of the audience leap to their feet as Conklin introduces Mary Wilson, who responds to the sea of smiling faces before her by stating, “Hi! Wow — how wonderful!”
Conklin begins by asking Wilson to talk about her recent appearance on TV’s Dancing with the Stars.
Recalls Wilson, “It was absolutely fabulous! We bonded — all of us.” Noting, “It was much too short, but I did enjoy it,” Wilson explains, “I did the cha-cha and there are certain criteria that you have to meet — you have to look stiff — and judge Len Goodman’s critique was that my legs were not straight, but I was getting down!” before noting, “I was taught well by my coach, Brandon Armstrong. We had choreography at Motown, so I knew how to do the steps — it just had been a long time!”
Conklin asks Wilson to tell the audience about the time she and The Supremes traveled to England to meet the Queen Mother. Says Wilson about the experience, “It was very exciting to perform for the Royal Family — we were three black girls who grew up in the projects in Detroit — and on the show we had The Supremes, Engelbert Humperdinck, Diahann Carroll, and Petula Clark.”
Going on to note, “The Supremes started wearing hairpieces — because black hair is not easy when you travel — and after we did our performance, Princess Margaret stopped me and said loudly, ‘Is that a wig you’re wearing?’ She said it so loud — I’ll always remember that — and the next day there was a picture of me in the London papers giving Princess Margaret a look. I didn’t expect that coming from a princess — you know, ‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it’?”
When asked to discuss her early musical background, Wilson recalls, “My dad, who raised me — I heard him play records, and I would sing along with them. When I was an eight- or nine-year-old kid, I heard Joe Williams singing, and when I woke up, I thought I wrote a song.” After singing a line of Williams’ “All Right, OK, You Win,” for the crowd — “It’s all right/It’s ok” — Wilson acknowledges, “I never realized it was my dad who influenced me.”
Conklin asks Wilson about her recording days at Detroit’s Motown Studios to which Wilson replies, “When we were recorded ‘Where Did Our Love Go’ — our first hit record — we didn’t like it. We thought we were really good, but the song didn’t have that R&B sound. It was pop — bubblegum — and we wanted to be more soulful, but we knew if we didn’t get a hit, our parents were going to send us to college!”
When asked about the first time she heard herself on the radio, Wilson recalls, “We lived in a 14-story building, and there were eight buildings in our project, and ‘Where Did Our Love Go’ was coming out of every window!” recognizing, “We saw how a hit record changed lives.”
Conklin reminds Wilson about how both Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg “both told stories of when they first saw black women on TV,” before asking, “Did you know that you were having an impact on young girls?”
Wilson replies, “Back then, I knew there was something that people were seeing in us. Black wasn’t beautiful yet — this was the ’60s — but TV put us out there in front.” Recalling, “TV exposure was important,” Wilson explains, “We understood that we were not just representing the black community — we did have something to do with women — but it wasn’t just black women.”
After a fan yells out “Love you, Mary!” and Wilson responds with a smile, Conklin says, “I’m going to say a name, and you say whatever comes to your mind.”
“Smokey Robinson.”
“Great writer.”
“The Temptations.”
“They are our brothers.”
“Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.”
“We still work together. We’ll be in Atlantic City on November 16.”
“The Four Tops”
“The love of my life — Duke Fakir and I were engaged.”
“Dreamgirls.”
“I love the movie,” replies Wilson, joking, “It wasn’t about The Supremes — because I didn’t get paid,” before adding, “but I was one of the girls to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ and ‘baby, baby’ all the way to the bank for 50 years!”
Here, Wilson performs a stunning a cappella rendition of the song, “Here’s to Life.”
As she sings, “No complaints/And no regrets/I still believe in chasing dreams/And placing bets/But I have learned/That all you give/Is all you get/So give it all you’ve got,” Wilson stands and walks closer to the crowd — her beautiful warm alto voice entrancing the audience before she concludes by singing “Here’s to life/Here’s to love/Here’s to you!”
The crowd erupts into applause, standing in appreciation for this intimate and heartfelt performance.
Conklin follows up by opening the floor to audience questions.
One audience member asks Wilson about her relationship with Supremes’ colleague Diana Ross, to which Wilson thoughtfully replies, “We both love each other. I say all the time that Diane, Flo, and I shared so much — we grew up together and then our lives took different directions — but we still love one another.” Explaining, “It’s a special kind of love,” Wilson acknowledges, “We are on this earth together — why not love those who are here?” before stating to the crowd, “Thank you for loving us.”
Another audience member asks if — like the current Broadway show which spotlights The Temptations, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg — there might be a Broadway show in the future which focuses on The Supremes, to which Wilson responds, “So far it hasn’t happened, but we’re looking into it now.”
A woman in the audience puts a smile on Wilson’s face when she and her husband stand and she reveals, “Ms. Wilson — I was one of your backup singers in 1989, and Charlie, here, was your keyboard player. We met because of being on tour with you, and now we have three kids and 27 years of married life!”
Wilson then takes a moment to recognize Fallyn, a young singer in the audience, who participated in the GRAMMY Museum’s summer Music Industry Program for students aged 13 to 18. After Fallyn impresses the audience by singing a segment of The Supremes’ “Baby Love,” Wilson concludes tonight’s program by telling Fallyn and the rest of the enthralled crowd, “Keep on daring to dream!”
As Wilson snaps selfies and signs autographs with fans, we chat with several members of the crowd including Fallyn, 15, who talks about getting the opportunity to sing for a member of the The Supremes, by exclaiming, “That was really cool! It’s special, and it’s humbling. Ms. Wilson is so kind — she’s the sweetest — and so down to earth.”
Acknowledging, “I like listening to The Supremes’ music,” Fallyn relates, “As a 15-year-old I can relate to it — songs like ‘Where Did Our Love Go’ and ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ — the lyrics are so simple, but heartfelt… and timeless!”
We also chat with another member of tonight’s audience, singer Melba Moore, who explains, “Mary and I are great friends. I’m very shy, and she’s very outgoing — she is always encouraging me!”
Adding, “The song she sang tonight, ‘Here’s to Life,’ was perfect for her — it was the first time I heard her sing it,” Moore concludes by noting, “and the Celebrating the Supremes exhibit here is wonderful — I loved it!”
Additional audience members also weigh in on tonight’s special event with Mary Wilson.
Declares Sonya from Somerset, for example, “This was a wonderful evening! It was educational and informative, and I really enjoyed it.”
Diane from North Brunswick agrees adding, “I grew up in downtown Newark, and I go back with The Supremes — we’re the same age — and I remember when I first heard them on the radio, I thought they were grown ups, but really they were just girls when they were just starting out.”
Karen from Branchburg remarks, “Mary Wilson was magical this evening. She’s terrific — and a little feisty, too!”
Acknowledging, “This is my second time at the GRAMMY Museum Experience,” Karen contends, “I like that programs like this give you a whole different feel for a performer.”
Lastly, we chat with Andrea from Branchburg who declares, “Mary Wilson looks fantastic and she sounds fantastic! I loved this very intimate experience,” before concluding, “It’s something you just can’t experience anywhere else.”
To learn more about Mary Wilson, please go to marywilson.com. For information on events at Newark, NJ’s GRAMMY Museum Experience Prudential Center — including the Legends of Motown: Celebrating the Supremes exhibit which is on display from now until April 26, 2020 — please click on grammymuseumexp.org.
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