Up the Ladder to the Roof

"Up the Ladder to the Roof"
Single by The Supremes
from the album Right On
B-side "Bill, When Are You Coming Back"
Released February 16, 1970 (U.S.)
Format Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); January 30, 1970 - February 1970
Genre Soul, R&B
Length 3:18
Label Motown
M 1162
Writer(s) Frank Wilson
Vincent DiMirco
Producer(s) Frank Wilson
The Supremes singles chronology
"Someday We'll Be Together"
(1969)		 "Up the Ladder to the Roof"
(1970)		 "Why (Must We Fall in Love) (with The Temptations)"
(1970)
Right On track listing

"Up the Ladder to the Roof" is a 1970 hit single recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. It was the first Supremes single to feature new lead singer Jean Terrell in place of Diana Ross, who officially left the group for a solo career two weeks before the recording of this song in January 1970. This song also marks a number of other firsts: it is the first Supremes single since "The Happening" in 1967 to be released under the name "The Supremes" instead of "Diana Ross & the Supremes", the first Supremes single solely produced by Norman Whitfield associate Frank Wilson, and the first Supremes single to make the United Kingdom Top 10 since "Reflections" in 1967.

Frank Wilson wrote the music for the song, with lyrics written by an Italian-American songwriter from New York City named Vincent DiMirco. The lyrics to the song feature Terrell inviting her lover to be hers forever, through all of the good and bad in life, and eventually into the afterlife, where they will climb "up the ladder to the roof" to be "closer to heaven". Emphasizing the new sound Frank Wilson had crafted for the "New Supremes", "Up the Ladder to the Roof" features a rhythmic instrumental arrangement, with Jean Terrell, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong all providing prominent, ethereal backgrounds for Jean Terrell's leads. The background vocals were composed in layers of harmony. In "Supreme Faith", Wilson wrote that she was surprised to find herself standing in front of a microphone along with Birdsong and Terrell, something the Supremes had not done since the early days. Starting with this lineup Mary Wilson became the sole original Supreme and unofficial leader of the trio.

Unlike Diana Ross, Terrell's singing had its basis in gospel training. During the recording of the song, producer Wilson had to ask Terrell to scale back the number of vocal runs she was doing, because he felt that she was making her delivery "too soulful", and that Motown head Berry Gordy would not think such a record would be accessible to white listeners.

"Up the Ladder to the Roof" rose to number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the soul chart, in the spring of 1970.[1] Outside the US, The Supremes scored a #6 smash with the song in the UK and number eight in Canada.

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1970) Peak
position
Canadian RPM Top Singles 8
UK Singles Chart 6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 10
U.S. Billboard R&B Singles 5
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening 28

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 558.
  2. ↑ Supreme Faith by Mary Wilson
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