Recorded - February 24 and 25, 1967
Released - March 20, 1967
#1 for week of May 13, 1967.
If you recall in my overview of 1967, I mentioned how many decidedly non-hippie and/or countercultural folks were trying to cash in on the counterculture. Well, here we have a motion picture called, The Happening, the title song of which was performed by The Supremes. While I haven't had a chance to see the film yet, (Apparently it was a flop), I can say that I highly doubt its cast had ever experienced a real "Happening.
A "Happening", in this 1966-1967 period was a gathering of open-minded and free-spirited individuals. Music, art, and poetry were commonplace, as was recreational drug use. So in other words, you can't really expect The Supremes to be able to sing about these topics from first hand experience.
"The Happening", the title song of the above film, was written by four people. Three of those were the tried and true Holland-Dozier-Holland team, with the addition of the film's musical director Frank De Vol. Perhaps as a result of this additional songwriter, things are a bit different this time around. Although that's not necessarily a good thing.
My major issue with "The Happening" is that it sounds like a tailor-made song to a film, not a standalone pop song. Just like "Love Is Here And Now You're Gone", "The Happening" was once again recorded in Los Angeles, but this time, there is none of that classic Motown sound present. Sure, there may be a very tasty sounding guitar and harpsichord part that opens the song and continues throughout. Yet this is soon overshadowed by a way too prominent orchestral section, which sounds as non-Motown as you can get.
Vocally, there is even more signs that Diana Ross is overshadowing the other two Supremes, with her vocal mixed higher than Florence or Mary's. Well, "The Happening" turned out to be the last Supremes song that was credited to the group as a whole. Starting with their next singe, the superb "Reflections", their releases bore the name "Diana Ross & The Supremes". This change in name was made all the more clear by Florence Ballard's firing from the group in July of 1967.
Now, you may get the assumption that I dislike this song. However, this isn't at all the case. I just feel that it lacks that classic sound that made The Supremes music so appealing in the first place. This lack of identity plus the fact that a very non-countercultural band is singing about a very countercultural phenomenon just makes the song feel a bit unauthentic to me.
The remainder of 1967 and much of 1968 would be times of diminished success for The Supremes. Worst of all, their original songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland departed from Motown around early 1968. Thus, The Supremes future was left a bit in the dark. To see what happened next in their history, and how/if they got out of this slump, tune in to late 1968 on this blog.
Final Verdict - "The Happening" features some nice guitar lines, and it certainly is full of energy. However, I also feel it sounds very unauthentic and lacks much of The Supremes' identity. I think it's a decent enough number, but it certainly isn't The Supremes' best, nor do I feel it deserved to hit #1.
Coming Up Next - "Groovin'" by The Young Rascals.
Until Next Time - I'm Dr. Rock, and I'm a happenin' guy -
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