Dreamgirl: My Life As A Supreme by Mary Wilson; Any readers?

So after putting this off for a long time, mostly due to the fact I thought the view would be completely biased and skewed I actually got it recently and read it in 2 days, yes it was that good but it was also too short for my taste.

I'm huge on musician biographies and tell-alls and this was one of those that's obviously pretty legendary. It was first published in 1986 so it's 32 years old but I think it does a good job at creating the atmosphere not only around Motown, but Detroit during the 50's and early 60's. You get a good idea of the personalities of her friends Florence and Diane even before the money/fame came to play. Also the personalities of girls like Betty McGlown and Barbara Martin, who left the group before they found success.

It's a great representation of what a swift rise to the top can do to freindships and loyalties, especially in the case of young girls from the projects with completing personalities and ambitions.

The sacrifices their forced to make to remain on top and the pressure to present themselves as classy and respectable women 24/7.

The role Berry Gordy played in their lives as both manager and father, and his decision to make Diane lead singer.

Also a good look into the demise of Florence and how one could ascend so quickly just to self-destruct, especially in an environment where one feels slighted and for very good reason.

My only hang-ups were Mary's picking apart of Diana's character flaws yet seemingly brushing them under the rug in her case. She mentions Diana's interest in married men yet admits to having 2 relationships with married men. Tom Jones in particular, who when she finds out is married carries on as if it's still ok.

She and Diana, unlike Florence, were terribly sensitive young girls and mired with insecuties but whereas Mary chose to bottle these things in, Diana chose to vocalize and make public what she felt. A trait Mary herself wished she had.

Overall I enjoyed the book, but J. Randall's 'Call Her Miss Ross' was far better and objective, though of course that book delved into Diana's solo years as well vs. just The Supremes.

Anyone else read this book?

 

(1.6 year thread-bump coming....!)

Yes, I read this book many years ago and greatly enjoyed it. It was a big best-seller back in the day, and Mary Wilson was all over the talk-show circuit around 1987.

I agree with you that Mary's was a fascinating and generally well-rounded account, but perhaps flawed in avoiding some of her own character faults (famously, she skips mentioning that Diana Ross lent her a bunch of money in the early-70s when she was down). And yeah, Mary was well-known for being a female lothario, an "everyone gets a turn" type among the Motown family and in the music industry. But I guess it's understandable that she plays that down in her own book.

The reason I'm bumping this (in addition to talk about DreamGirl) is that just today I finished re-reading Mark Ribowsky's excellent The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal (2009). It's a very strong history/biography of the group. Ribowsky certainly doesn't spare anyone's feelings getting to the sometimes hard truth of things, but I also think his account is very even-handed and fair to everyone involved (I would say he's a little [over?]sympathetic to Florence Ballard, as many are because of her tragic demise). Has anyone else read this book? I think it's great.

Maybe we can revive this thread just to talk about any and all Supremes' bios and histories.