"Reflections" is a 1967 song recorded by The Supremes for the

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

label. It was the first Supremes record released under the new billing, ''Diana Ross & the Supremes'', and is among their last hit singles to be written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland (H–D–H). It peaked at number 2 on the United States ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop singles chart and number 5 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1967.

Background

This single, released at the height of the

Summer of Love The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people, mostly young people sporting hippie fashions of dress and behavior, converged in San Francisco's neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury. ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and the Vietnam War, was the first Supremes' release to delve into psychedelic pop; H–D–H's production of the song, influenced by the

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

sounds of bands such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys, represented a shift in Motown's pop sound during the latter half of the 1960s. The

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

influence is apparent in the song's arrangement. Although it is sometimes cited as one of the first mainstream pop recordings to feature a

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

, the unusual sounds on the track were generated on a

test oscillator A signal generator is one of a class of electronic devices that generates electrical signals with set properties of amplitude, frequency, and wave shape. These generated signals are used as a stimulus for electronic measurements, typically used i ...

and treated with effects. The Supremes' label

did eventually purchase a Moog III synthesizer in December 1967.

Release and reception

"Reflections" peaked during the late

summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

and early fall of 1967. Making the highest debut on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the week of August 6, the song reached number 2 on the week ending September 9, 1967. One place short of being the group's 11th American number 1 single, "Reflections" stalled at the penultimate position for two weeks behind Bobbie Gentry's " Ode to Billie Joe", which Diana Ross re-recorded as a solo for the ''Reflections'' album. The single peaked at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "electronic effects are put to much use on this new outing from the Detroit mill, and the feedback play adds a cute appeal to the steady throbbing blues lament for an old love." The first nationally televised performance to feature Ballard's replacement

Cindy Birdsong Cynthia Ann Birdsong (born December 15, 1939) is an American singer who became famous as a member of The Supremes in 1967, when she replaced co-founding member Florence Ballard. Birdsong had previously been a member of Patti LaBelle & The Blueb ...

as a member of The Supremes on

American television Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. , household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. ...

, now billed as "Diana Ross & the Supremes," was on an episode of the ABC

variety program Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

'' The Hollywood Palace''. The episode was hosted by entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. and first broadcast on September 26, 1967. A 2003 remix of the song, running 3:16, contains the looped section that closes the 2:50 hit version in the fade-out, features a cold closing as originally recorded. The first part of this song was used in the title sequence of '' China Beach'' that ran in the US from 1988 to 1991. It was also sampled in "Uh Huh Oh Yeh," the opening track on Paul Weller's eponymous debut solo album released in 1992.

Track listing

*7-inch single (July 24, 1967) (North America/United Kingdom) #"Reflections" – 2:50 #"Going Down for the Third Time" – 2:30

Personnel

*Lead vocals by

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

*Background vocals by Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard *Instrumentation by the Funk Brothers ** Earl Van Dyke – Wurlitzer electric piano,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

** James Jamerson – bass guitar ** Richard "Pistol" Allen – drums ** Joe Messina – guitar ** Jack Ashford – percussion

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reflections (The Supremes Song) 1967 singles The Supremes songs Songs written by Holland–Dozier–Holland Motown singles Psychedelic soul songs 1967 songs Song recordings produced by Brian Holland Song recordings produced by Lamont Dozier Television drama theme songs