Surrender (Remaster) Diana Ross

• 1 Surrender 02:52
• 2 I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You 03:20
• 3 Remember Me 03:31
• 4 And If You See Him 02:52
• 5 Reach Out I'll Be There 05:34
• 6 Didn't You Know (You'd Have To Cry Sometime) 03:04
• 7 A Simple Thing Like Cry 03:04
• 8 Did You Read The Morning Paper? 03:50
• 9 I'll Settle For You 03:06
• 10 I'm A Winner 03:13
• 11 All The Befores 04:44
• Total Runtime 39:10

Info for Surrender (Remaster)

Diana Ross’s third solo album is one of the best of her career, and the absolute best of her early 1970s output. Not only that, but it’s one of the best Motown albums of the era, period. This, my friends, is a work of classic soul, featuring the strongest singing Diana Ross would do until the end of the decade and some of the finest songs by writing/producing team Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Ashford & Simpson had, of course, delivered Diana’s first solo LP, and while there’s not a single song here stronger than the first album’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” this album as a whole is far superior, more complex piece of work.

Perhaps Surrender isn’t generally placed in the category of great Motown albums because it lacked a massive hit single. Though “Remember Me” was a Top 20 hit and two other songs made the Top 40, none of them are as instantly recognizable as later hits like “Touch Me In The Morning” and “Upside Down.” At the time, it was probably also lost due to the fact that it was one of four Diana Ross albums (three studio and one TV special soundtrack) released in less than two years. It’s a shame that none of the songs caught on the way “Ain’t No Mountain…” had, as a stronger single might have helped push the album up the charts and increase its visibility.

Surrender is also important because it’s the last true soul album Diana Ross would record for several years. This is due to the fact that her entire career was about to vault to the next level thanks to her starring role in 1972’s Lady Sings the Blues. In the wake of her Oscar-nominated movie and #1-selling soundtrack, the singer’s entire vocal style would change; she would lose much of the breathy, raw power of her early recordings and replace it with a smooth, sophisticated style that leaned much more toward pure pop than R&B. Surrender, therefore, is the end of the first phase of Diana’s solo career – a portrait of the singer as young, exciting, vital woman bursting onto the music scene alone in the spotlight – and if it had to end, at least it came with one of the best collections she would ever release.

„A nice early-'70s date from Diana Ross, who at that time was unaffected by her diva/show business persona and was sticking to singing. She turned in effective, unadorned, soulful leads on several songs, with the title tune cracking the R&B Top 20 and pop Top 40. Ross would later turn to a more exaggerated, self-conscious, mock-sophisticate style, but on her early Motown albums, she retained the mix of innocence, anguish, and sexiness that made her a legendary vocalist.“ (Ron Wynn, AMG)

Recorded 1971 in Los Angeles, CA. and New York, NY
Produced by Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson

Digitally remastered

Diana Ross
While still in high school Ross became the fourth and final member of the Primettes, who recorded for Lu-Pine in 1960, signed to Motown Records in 1961 and then changed their name to the Supremes. She was a backing vocalist on the group's early releases, until Motown boss Berry Gordy insisted that she become their lead singer, a role she retained for the next six years. In recognition of her prominent position in the Supremes, she received individual billing on all their releases from 1967 onwards.

Throughout her final years with the group, Ross was being groomed for a solo career under the close personal supervision of Gordy. In late 1969, he announced that Ross would be leaving the Supremes, and she played her final concert with the group in January 1970. The same year, following the relative failure of "Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand)", Ross began a long series of successful solo releases with the US chart-topping "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". She continued to enjoy success with lightweight love songs in the early 70s, with "I'm Still Waiting" topping the UK charts in 1971, and "Touch Me In The Morning" becoming her second US number 1 in 1973.

In April 1971, she had married businessman Robert Silberstein. Motown's plan to widen Ross' appeal led her to host a television special, Diana!, in 1971. In 1972, she starred in Motown's film biography of Billie Holiday, Lady Sings The Blues, winning an Oscar nomination for her stirring portrayal of the jazz singer's physical decline into drug addiction. However, subsequent starring roles in Mahogany (1975) and The Wiz (1978) drew a mixed critical response. In 1973, she released an album of duets with Marvin Gaye, though allegedly the pair did not meet during the recording of the project. She enjoyed another US number 1 with the theme song from Mahogany, subtitled "Do You Know Where You're Going To", in 1975.

Her fourth US chart-topper, "Love Hangover" (1976), saw her moving into the contemporary disco field, a shift of direction that was consolidated on the 1980 album Diana, produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic. Her choice of hit material continued to be inspired and the 80s started with a major hit, "Upside Down", which rooted itself at the top of the US chart for a month, and reached number 2 in the UK. Similar but lesser success followed with "I'm Coming Out" (US number 5) and "It's My Turn" (US number 9), although she enjoyed another UK Top 5 hit with the jaunty "My Old Piano". The following year a collaboration with Lionel Richie produced the title track to the movie Endless Love.

This album contains no booklet.