Diana Ross & The Supremes - Sing Disney Classics (1967)

'Supremes Sing Disney' was not the idea of Berry Gordy, Jr., as you might think, but of Diana Ross, who yearned to do a music album for children. The special project was then started with Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard in early 1967, along the same lines as 'The Supremes Sing Rodgers & Hart', which displayed the worldliness of Motown Records and the true musical diversity of the group. The recording was put on hold for the 'Reflections' personnel change of summer 1967, when Ballard was fired and replaced by Cindy Birdsong, and recording resumed in late 1967 with the new line-up, with the title amended to 'Diana Ross & The Supremes Sing Disney Classics'. Ross sings lead on all the songs except 'Davy Crockett', which was a Wilson lead vocal, and the album was completed and ready to go when Motown Records decided not to release it. Had the album been released in Autumn 1968 as later planned, the cover photograph would have had to reflect that Ballard had been replaced by Birdsong, but the recordings stayed locked in the vaults for 20 years, until some of the songs finally turned up on 'Diana Ross & The Supremes - The Never Before Released Masters' in 1987, following years of pleading from fans. Despite this act of generosity by Motown, three of the songs remained unreleased for many years, but I've managed to track down 'Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah' and 'A Spoonful Of Sugar', (admittedly not as high quality as the other tracks, although I have improved them from their original thin sound), which just leaves 'Chim Chim Cher-ee' still missing. A video of this appeared on Youtube for two days in 2017 before it was taken down by Disney, so if anyone has a copy of it that I could have then it would complete this extremely rare collection.  

Track listing

01 Heigh-Ho (from 'Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs')
02 I've Got No Strings (from 'Pinocchio') 
03 Chim Chim Cher-ee (from 'Mary Poppins') MISSING
04 A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes (from 'Cinderella') 
05 Someday My Prince Will Come (from 'Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs')
06 The Ballad Of Davy Crockett (from 'Davy Crockett, King Of The Wild Frontier') 
07 Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah (from 'Song Of The South') 
08 Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (from 'Mary Poppins')
09 Toyland (from 'Babes In Toyland')
10 When You Wish Upon A Star (from 'Pinocchio')  
11 A Spoonful Of Sugar (from 'Mary Poppins') 
12 The Land Of Make Believe (from 'Peter Pan') 
13 Whistle While You Work (from 'Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs')
14 It Won't Be Long 'Til Christmas (from 'The Happiest Millionaire')