"Reflections" is a 1967 song recorded by American

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

group

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

for the

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

label. The single release was the first Supremes record credited to "Diana Ross and the Supremes", and the song was one of the last Motown hits to be written and produced by

Holland–Dozier–Holland Holland–Dozier–Holland, often abbreviated as H-D-H, was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the ...

before they left the label. It peaked at the #2 position on the United States' ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop singles chart as well as the #5 slot on the UK Singles Chart in September 1967.

Background

This single, released at the height of the Summer of Love and long, hot summer of 1967 and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, was the first Supremes' release to delve into psychedelic pop;

'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 The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

, represented the beginning of a shift in Motown's sound towards psychedelia. 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 invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

, the electronic sounds on the track were generated with a test oscillator treated with

tape echo Delay is an audio signal processing technique that records an input signal to a storage medium and then plays it back after a period of time. When the delayed playback is mixed with the live audio, it creates an echo-like effect, whereby the o ...

. Motown did, however, eventually purchase a Moog III synthesizer in December 1967.

Release and reception

"Reflections" peaked on the charts in the late summer and early autumn of 1967. Making the highest debut on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the week ending August 12, the song reached number 2 in the week ending September 9, 1967. One place short of being the group's eleventh American number one, "Reflections" stalled at the penultimate position for two weeks behind

Bobbie Gentry Bobbie Gentry (born Roberta Lee Streeter; July 27, 1942) is an American retired singer-songwriter. She was one of the first female artists in the United States to compose and produce her own material. Gentry rose to international fame in 1967 ...

's " Ode to Billie Joe", which

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

would cover for the ''Reflections'' album. "Reflections" also peaked at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is 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 Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause and effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handle ...

play adds a cute appeal to the steady throbbing blues lament for an old love." The first nationally televised performance to feature

Florence Ballard Florence Glenda Chapman (''née'' Ballard; June 30, 1943 – February 22, 1976) was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown vocal female group the Supremes. She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the group, including ten number- ...

's replacement Cindy Birdsong as a member of the Supremes (now billed as "Diana Ross & the Supremes") was on an episode of the ABC

variety show 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 Hollywood Palace'' was an hourlong American television variety show broadcast Saturday nights (except September 1967 to January 1968, when it aired on Tuesday nights) on ABC from January 4, 1964, to February 7, 1970. Titled ''The Satur ...

'' first broadcast on September 26, 1967. A 2003 remix of the song, running 3:16, features a cold closing as originally recorded instead of a fade-out. "Reflections" was used as the theme song for the television series '' China Beach'' from 1988 to 1991. It was also sampled in "Uh Huh Oh Yeh," the opening track on

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

's 1992 eponymous debut solo album.

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

*Backing vocals by Mary Wilson and

*Instrumentation by

the Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

: ** Earl Van Dyke –

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from 1954 to 1983. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is conceptually similar to ...

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

, test oscillator **

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases un ...

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

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales

Other versions

A 1985 version by American singer Evelyn Thomas reached No. 18 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

included the song on his 1994 all-covers album ''

Songs A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usuall ...

'', which samples the original version's "beeping" intro.

References

External links

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