“Come See About Me” (The Supremes)

Today’s classic song of the day is a Motown classic, “Come See About Me” by the Supremes. This one was written by the legendary songwriting team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, otherwise known as Holland-Dozier-Holland or just H-D-H. Brian and Lamont produced the single and backing was provided by the Funk Brothers, including Earl Van Dyke on piano, Joe Messina on guitar, James Jamerson on bass, Uriel Jones on drums, Jack Ashford on vibes, Hank Cosby on tenor sax, and Mike Terry on bari sax.

Motown released “Come See About Me” in October of 1964. The single went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. It hit #2 on both Billboard’s and Cash Box’s R&B singles charts and was also a number-one hit in Canada.

“Come See About Me” is a typical H-D-H stomper, full of every-beat handclaps and call-and-response vocals from Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Mary Wilson. In many ways it is a somewhat conventional recording, which tells you how good the H-D-H Motown machine was; even their most by-the-book tunes were several cuts above everything else on the radio at the time.

Even though the lyrics are about a breakup, the song is relentlessly upbeat. The singer is pleading for her ex-boyfriend to come back but the song doesn’t sound desperate at all; the lyrics are wedded to a joyful, supremely confident melody. The result is all about smiling through the sadness and looking past today to the future. It’s a keeper.

And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, Diana, Flo, and Mary singing “Come See About Me” live on the December 27, 1964, episode of The Ed Sullivan Show. It was the ladies’ first of seventeen appearances on the show (Ed really liked the girls) and it is a joy to watch.