MOUNT PLEASANT, MI – When Mary Wilson looks back at the Motown phenomenon that keeps the founding member of the iconic Supremes onstage 50 years later, 'it's amazing to see how it evolved,' she said.
“This is music that grew from the days of slavery, from the spirituals to the minstrels to R&B, gospel and jazz. Then Mr. Berry Gordy took the resulting doo-wop and with the young musicians, songwriters and singers who flocked to him created a new genre in 1959.”
It’s a life the young girl from Detroit’s projects details in not one but two autobiographies and another in the works, a coffee-table book that further explores the Supremes’ experience against the backdrop of their elegant gowns.
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At 8 p.m. Saturday, June 8, it will bring her to the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant with Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Association and Mitch Ryder on the “Where the Action Is” tour. Tickets, available at the box office, by calling 800-585-3737 and at StarTickets outlets, cost $39, $35, $26 and $14.
And she said hits like “Baby Love,” “Stop! In the Name of Love” and “Love Child” elevated her at a time when many African-Americans were considered second-rate citizens.
“A little Jewish woman came up and told me that she had allowed her children to listen to our music,” Wilson remembered, and someone hearing it was astounded.
“This was a time in the civil rights movement when most black performers worked what was called the ‘chitlin' circuit.’ But Motown was different. It wasn’t just the artists out there but super musicians and songwriters, and Mr. Berry Gordy was taking us all to a different place.”
Through word-of-mouth and disc jockeys such as Alan Freed and Dick Clark, “we were accepted in American society.
“It’s happened in other ethnic groups, too. We were looked on as good as anyone else and I’ve spent a lifetime rubbing shoulders with people I’d never have met any other way. Those times were changing and we were part of that change.”
Fellow Supremes Florence Ballard has since died and Diana Ross long ago launched a solo career but Wilson continues, not just in music but on the platform her fame as a Supreme offers.
In addition to the group’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and her part in creating a traveling exhibit of the gowns, Wilson served as a cultural ambassador under Secretary of State Colin Powell and now is a spokesperson for Humpty Dumpty Institute’s landmine clearing project.
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She still records, too, with one of her latest songs, “Darling Mother (Johnnie Mae),” drawing attention on iTunes.
“I listen to what I grew up with and it’s fun to sing to audiences who feel the same way,” Wilson said. “And they’re bringing a new generation. I’m very happy to still be a part of it.”