Motown
1970
Diana Ross
About This Album
The 2002 reissue of Diana Ross' debut solo album (initially released as Diana Ross and later reissued as Ain't No Mountain High Enough), which contains eight bonus tracks, seven of them previously unreleased commercially, demonstrates that Ross and her record label, Motown, tried various approaches to her launch before settling on a record made up almost entirely of songs written and produced by the team of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Even as completed, the original LP still contained one recording, "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You," co-written and produced by Johnny Bristol, who also made a vocal appearance on the track. Bristol had performed the same duties on "Someday We'll Be Together," originally slated to be Ross' debut single, but released instead as a Supremes record in the fall of 1969, when it topped the charts. Ross also spent time in the studio with Bones Howe, producer of the 5th Dimension, and the four bonus tracks included here suggest an interesting alternate LP debut in which she covers two Laura Nyro songs, "Stoney End" and "Time and Love," as well as a song that Howe later cut for a hit on the 5th Dimension, "Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes," and a moody, reflective Jimmy Webb tune, "The Interim." The Bristol track sounds like old Motown, and the Howe tracks sound very different; ultimately, Ross (or Motown, or both) rejected their takes on the solo Ross in favor of Ashford & Simpson, who had her remake some of their old songs for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, notably "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," which went on to become one of her biggest hits. That makes for a happy ending, and the original album remains impressive, but this version provides fascinating insight into alternative sounds for the solo Diana Ross. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Track List (try tracks 3,4,5,6,7,9,11,16 and 19)

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