Diana Ross - Everything Is Everything (1970) [2008, Remastered & Expanded Edition]

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Diana Ross - Everything Is Everything (1970) [2008, Remastered & Expanded Edition]

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Diana Ross - Everything Is Everything (1970) [2008, Remastered & Expanded Edition]

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"Everything Is Everything" is the second album by Diana Ross, released in 1970. After the huge success of her self-named album and its accompanying two singles, Motown rushed the release of this album. It reached #42 in the USA (#5 R&B) and sold over 200,000 copies. The track "I'm Still Waiting" was a UK #1 single in 1971 for four weeks and her rendering of Aretha Franklin's "Call Me (I Love You)" was nominated for a Grammy in 1971 in the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category. Diana would record "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" before Barbra Streisand did for her "The Way We Were" album released in 1974. Diana apparently had also predated Streisand on two Laura Nyro songs like "Stoney End". Deke Richards was commissioned to produce "Everything is Everything" as slightly more pop than her soulful debut with Ashford & Simpson. This album also reached it #42 on the Billboard 200, #5 on the Black Album Chart and #31 on the UK Albums Chart. An expanded edition of the album featuring remixes and unreleased material had its first CD release in the US on June 17, 2008.

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Diana Ross - Everything Is Everything (1970) [2008, Remastered & Expanded Edition]

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Fresh from her career-defining role in the Supremes, Motown issued Diana Ross' Everything Is Everything in 1970, within months of her self-titled solo debut of earlier the same year. This time, veteran Motown multitasker Deke Richards was brought in with hopes of equaling the unqualified success that the staff team of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson had with Diana Ross particularly the songs "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Rather than drawing exclusively from their stable of in-house writers, Richards split the duties between himself and a variety of Hitsville U.S.A. stalwarts including Berry Gordy and Marvin Gaye as well as significant outside input from the likes of John Lennon-Paul McCartney, Burt Bacharach-Hal David, and fellow Motor City soul stirrer Aretha Franklin. The upbeat opener, "My Place," swings steadily behind the frisky rhythm section replete with Jack Ashford's signature timekeeping on tambourine. Sprightly strings underscore Ross' similarly agile and inviting lead vocals. In deference to the pink glamour shot adorning the front, Ross reveals an earthier image on the funky "Ain't No Sad Song." It is a perfect example of producer Hal Davis' ability to capture the essence of the singer's sensuality, a feat he repeated to even greater effect a few years later on his production of the R&B/pop crossover chart-topper "Love Hangover." The infectiously cheery "Everything Is Everything" has the slightly quirky feel of a Laura Nyro composition, although it was actually written by a female friend of Berry Gordy. The Marvin Gaye-Anna Gaye co-penned "Baby It's Love" is one of several outstanding deep cuts flawlessly blending the unmistakably vintage Motown sound with a comparatively modern arrangement. The Beatles remakes show contrasting sides to Ross' talents: "Come Together" pulls no punches with an extended brassy and sassy reading, directly contrasted by the empathetic and heartfelt take of "The Long and Winding Road." Ross and Richards' sultry collaboration on Aretha Franklin's "I Love You (Call Me)" make for the finest contribution here from either participant. Although Everything Is Everything failed to exceed or even meet the chart achievements of its long-playing predecessor, many enthusiasts consider it to be a worthy companion.

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Diana Ross - Everything Is Everything (1970) [2008, Remastered & Expanded Edition]

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..."Everything Is Everything" became something of a “lost” album for awhile, garnering little attention from anyone aside from die-hard Diana Ross fans and not getting a proper reissue until 2008. That’s unfortunate, because it’s an interesting entry in the Ross discography and there are certainly some cuts that merit rediscovery. "Everything Is Everything" is, without a doubt, dated; the very title of the album, a popular catchphrase of the day, indicates as such. Really, it’s closer in spirit to latter-day Diana Ross and The Supremes albums than to 1970’s Diana Ross, because there’s not necessarily a theme to the work as a whole; even Deke Richards would later say, “I began to feel knots in my stomach when I knew there would be no overall concept to the album.” The songs of Diana Ross told the story of a young woman emerging into solo stardom through a collection of exciting, passionate performances. "Everything Is Everything" instead is more of a showcase of what Diana Ross could do with a song as an interpreter.

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Diana Ross - Everything Is Everything (1970) [2008, Remastered & Expanded Edition]

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Diana Ross - Everything Is Everything (1970) [2008, Remastered & Expanded Edition]

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