Someday We'll Be Together

"Someday We'll Be Together" is a song written by Johnny Bristol, Jackey Beavers, and Harvey Fuqua. It was the last of twelve American number-one pop singles for Diana Ross & the Supremes on the Motown label.[1] Although it was released as the final Supremes song featuring Diana Ross, who left the group for a solo career in January 1970, it was recorded as Ross' first solo single and Supremes members Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong do not sing on the recording. Both appear on the B-side, "He's My Sunny Boy".

"Someday We'll Be Together"
Single by Johnny & Jackey
ReleasedNovember 1961
Recorded1961
GenreDoo-wop, rhythm and blues
Length3:34
LabelTri-Phi
1005
Songwriter(s)Johnny Bristol
Jackey Beavers
Harvey Fuqua
Producer(s)Harvey Fuqua
Johnny & Jackey singles chronology
"Carry Your Own Load"
(1961)		 "Someday We'll Be Together"
(1961)		 "Do You See My Love (For You Growing)"
(1962)
"Someday We'll Be Together"
Single by Diana Ross & the Supremes
from the album Cream of the Crop
B-side"He's My Sunny Boy"
ReleasedOctober 14, 1969
RecordedHitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); June 13, 1969 + additional dates
GenrePop, soul
Length3:14 (original release)
3:33 (remastered)
LabelMotown
M 1156
Songwriter(s)Johnny Bristol
Jackey Beavers
Harvey Fuqua
Producer(s)Johnny Bristol
Diana Ross & the Supremes singles chronology
"I Second That Emotion"
(1969)		 "Someday We'll Be Together"
(1969)		 "Up the Ladder to the Roof"
(1970)
Audio sample
"Someday We'll Be Together"
  • file
  • help
Alternative cover
"Someday We'll Be Together"
Single by Bill Anderson and Jan Howard
from the album Bill and Jan (Or Jan and Bill)
ReleasedJune 1970
Recorded1969
GenreCountry
LabelDecca Records
32689
Songwriter(s)Johnny Bristol
Jackey Beavers
Harvey Fuqua
Producer(s)Owen Bradley
Bill Anderson and Jan Howard singles chronology
"If It's All the Same to You"
(1969)		 "Someday We'll Be Together"
(1970)		 "Dis-Satisfied"
(1971)
"Someday We'll Be Together"
Single by Diana Ross
from the album Diana Extended
ReleasedApril 9, 1994
Recorded1994
GenreSoul, Pop, Dance
Length3:04 (Radio Edit)
8:42 (Album Version)
LabelMotown Records
Songwriter(s)Johnny Bristol
Jackey Beavers
Harvey Fuqua
Producer(s)Frankie Knuckles (Remixer)
Diana Ross singles chronology
"The Best Years of My Life"
(1993)		 "Someday We'll Be Together"
(1994)		 "Take Me Higher"
(1995)

The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart for one week, in the final 1969 issue of Billboard magazine (dated December 27). It would be the last number one hit of the 1960s.[2]

Background

Original version

The song was written by Johnny Bristol, Jackey Beavers, and Harvey Fuqua in 1961; and Bristol and Beavers recorded the song together as "Johnny & Jackey" for the Tri-Phi label that same year. "Someday" was a moderate success in the Midwestern United States, but gained little notice in other venues.

Tri-Phi was purchased by Motown in the mid-1960s. Fuqua, Bristol, and Beavers all joined Berry Gordy's by-then famous record company, and "Someday We'll Be Together" became part of Motown's Jobete publishing catalog. Beavers soon departed for Chess Records, although both Bristol and Fuqua stayed on as songwriters and producers for the label.

Supremes version

In 1969, Bristol was preparing a new version of "Someday We'll Be Together", to be recorded by Motown act Jr. Walker & the All-Stars. Bristol had already recorded the instrumental track and the background vocals when Berry Gordy happened upon the tracks and heard them. Gordy thought that "Someday" would be a perfect first solo single for Diana Ross, who was making her long-expected exit from the Supremes at the time, and had Bristol sequester Ross into the studio to record the song.

Unable at first to get the vocal performance he desired from Diana Ross, Johnny Bristol decided to try something different: he would harmonize with Ross, helping her to get into the mood needed for the record. On the first take, the engineer accidentally recorded both Ross's vocal and Bristol's ad-libs. Bristol and arranger Wade Marcus liked the results, and Bristol had his vocal recorded alongside Ross' for the final version of the song. Bristol's ad-libs and words of encouragement to Ross can be heard in the background throughout the song. When Berry Gordy heard the completed song, he decided to release it as the final Diana Ross & the Supremes song. Neither of the Supremes' remaining members, however, sang on the record. Ross's first solo single instead, released in early 1970, became "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)".

Even though the implicit subject of the song was that of Ross comforting a long-distance lover, "Someday We'll Be Together" allowed for other interpretations, one being that Ross and bandmates Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong would one day nostalgically "be together" again. Further, in concert, Ross would suggest that "someday, we'll be together" in regard to contemporary troubles like civil rights and the ongoing demonstrations and protests against the Vietnam War.

Release

"Someday We'll Be Together" was included on the final Diana Ross & the Supremes album, Cream of the Crop (1969). The song was a United States number-one hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 popular singles chart and the R&B singles charts, as well as charting in the top twenty at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart.[3] It also peaked on the Netherlands' MegaCharts at #19 in 1970. "Someday's" B-side, "He's My Sunny Boy", was recorded by Ross, Wilson, and Birdsong for the Love Child album in 1968 and written and produced by Smokey Robinson.

"Someday" charted at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 popular singles chart for one week, on December 27, 1969. It also charted at number-one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart for four weeks, from December 13, 1969 to January 3, 1970. "Someday We'll Be Together" therefore appeared in Billboard as both the final Hot 100 and R&B number-one of the 1960s, and as the first R&B number-one of the 1970s.[4]

Notable live performances

The girl group made their final of several performances throughout the decade with Diana Ross singing lead on the 1960s decennial finale of The Ed Sullivan Show that aired live Sunday, December 21, 1969 on CBS.[5]

"Someday We'll Be Together" was the final number at Diana Ross & the Supremes' farewell concert on January 14, 1970 at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. After the completion of the show, Jean Terrell was presented onstage to the audience as Diana Ross' replacement (alongside Wilson and Birdsong). Thus "Diana Ross & the Supremes" officially split apart, becoming "Diana Ross" (the solo act) and "The Supremes" (the group).

Ross reunited with Wilson and Birdsong in 1983, performing the single for the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special. However this performance was marred by lingering hostility between Ross and Wilson, which Motown insiders report resulted in Ross shoving Wilson out of her way during the on-stage performance. A heavily edited version of this performance was released on the DVD of Motown 25.

Other versions
  • Bill Anderson and Jan Howard recorded a version for the country music market. Their version peaked at #4 on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart in the summer of 1970.
  • Another version, credited to the "already-defunct" group (and fellow Motown act) The Marvelettes, was released in 1970 as well, as a track to the group's final album The Return of the Marvelettes. As with the Supremes version, lead vocalist Wanda Young Rogers was the only group member to sing on the track, with The Andantes used as backing vocalists.
  • In 1992, Diana Ross released a remixed version by legendary DJ Frankie Knuckles. This single peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs.

Personnel

Johnny & Jackey version

Diana Ross & the Supremes version

Bill Anderson and Jan Howard version
  • Vocals by Bill Anderson and Jan Howard
  • Instrumentation by various instrumentalists

The Marvelettes version

Track listing

Supremes version
  • 7" single (14 October 1969) (North America/United Kingdom)
  1. "Someday We'll Be Together" – 3:14
  2. "He's My Sunny Boy" – 2:18

Chart history

See also
  • List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1969 (U.S.)
  • List of number-one R&B singles of 1969 (U.S.)
  • List of number-one R&B singles of 1970 (U.S.)

Bibliography
  • Posner, Gerald (2002). Motown : Music, Money, Sex, and Power. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-375-50062-6.
  • Wilson, Mary and Romanowski, Patricia (1986, 1990, 2000). Dreamgirl & Supreme Faith: My Life as a Supreme. New York: Cooper Square Publishers. ISBN 0-8154-1000-X.
  • Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005", 2006.

References
  1. Bronson, Fred: The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, page 265. Billboard Books, 2003.
  2. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Company. 81 (52): 44. 1969.
  3. The Official Charts Company - Diana Ross and the Supremes - Someday We'll Be Together, retrieved 27 March 2010
  4. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 558.
  5. Guests: Diana Ross & the Supremes (21 December 1969). "The Singing, Soulful Sixties". The Ed Sullivan Show. Season 23. Episode 13. New York City. CBS. WCBS.
  6. Lorrie Morgan - "Someday We'll Be Together" (1983) single at Discogs
  7. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002
  9. "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  10. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  11. "Top 100 Hits of 1969/Top 100 Songs of 1969". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  12. "1969: The Top 100 Soul/R&B Singles". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  13. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
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