“Love Child” (Diana Ross & the Supremes)

Today’s classic song of the day is one of the first socially conscious tunes of the late ’60s by a major R&B artist. The song is “Love Child” and it was recorded and released by Diana Ross & the Supremes in September of 1968. The single was a global smash, hitting #1 in Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and, in the U.S., on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 charts.

Unlike yesterday’s socially conscious song of the day (the Temptations’ “Ball of Confusion“), “Love Child wasn’t part of the psychedelic soul sound; this single predates that development by a year or so. It does feature lyrics relevant to the times however; instead of singing about love lost or found, “Love Child” is about the effects of an illegitimate pregnancy. It’s a powerful song with a powerful performance by Ms. Ross.

“Love Child” was the Supremes’ first number-one hit since replacing Florence Ballard with Cindy Birdsong and adding Diana Ross to the group’s official name. After a handful of lesser-performing singles (including “Reflections” and “In and Out of Love”), Motown chief Berry Gordy brought together a team of songwriters and producers, dubbed the Clan, to craft the Supremes’ next single. That team consisted of R. Dean Taylor (better known for his solo hit, “Indiana Wants Me“), Frank Wilson (who had his own solo record with “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)“), Pam Sawyer, Deke Richards, and Henry Cosby. Interestingly, fellow Supremes Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong don’t sing on the recording; instead, the group of studio singers called the Andantes performed backup vocal duties.

As noted, the lyrics for “Love Child” were particularly intense with the singer, herself born out of wedlock, asking her boyfriend to wait because she doesn’t want to have a “love child” herself:

Started my life
In an old, cold run down tenement slum
My father left, he never even married mom
I shared the guilt my mama knew
So afraid that others knew I had no name

This love we’re contemplating
Isn’t worth the pain of waiting
We’ll only end up hating
The child we may be creating

Love child, never meant to be
Love child, (scorned by) society
Love child, always second best
Love child, different from the rest 

The “Love Child” single sold more than a half million copies in its first week of release and went to to sell more than two million copies by the end of the year. The Clan found a winning formula with this one and kicked off an era of more socially conscious music at Motown.

So here’s your daily bonus video of the day, a barefoot Diana Ross and the equally barefoot Supremes (they’re poor, you see) performing “Love Child” on the season premiere episode of The Ed Sullivan Show on September 29, 1968. It’s a lip sync thing but still worth watching.