A Bit of Liverpool explained

A Bit of Liverpool, released as With Love (From Us to You) in the UK, is the third studio album by the Supremes, released in the fall of 1964 on the Motown label. It was produced by Berry Gordy with Hal Davis and Marc Gordon doing the mixing.^[1]

The Supremes performed the Beatles' "Eight Days a Week" on several television shows including Shindig and Hullabaloo, though the song did not make the album. The album featured covers of recent hits by British Invasion acts and also included two songs originally by Motown artists that had been covered by British groups: "Do You Love Me" (a UK hit for both Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, and the Dave Clark Five; and "You Really Got a Hold on Me" (an album track by The Beatles).^[2] The album just missed the Top 20 in the U.S., peaking at No. 21. While not quite as prolific as the Beatles, the Supremes enjoyed three albums charting simultaneously in 1964–65.

Track listing

Side One

1. "How Do You Do It?" (Mitch Murray)
2. "A World Without Love" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
3. "The House of the Rising Sun" (Traditional)
4. "A Hard Day's Night" (Lennon, McCartney)
5. "Because" (Dave Clark)
6. "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" (Smokey Robinson)

Side Two

1. "You Can't Do That" (Lennon, McCartney)
2. "Do You Love Me" (Berry Gordy, Jr.)
3. "Can't Buy Me Love" (Lennon, McCartney)
4. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (Lennon, McCartney)
5. "Bits and Pieces" (Dave Clark, Mike Smith)

Unreleased recordings from the A Bit of Liverpool sessions:^[3]

• "I Saw Him Standing There" – featuring Florence Ballard on lead vocals
• "Not Fade Away" – featuring Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson on lead vocals

Personnel

• Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson – lead and backing vocals
• Berry Gordy, Hal Davis and Marc Gordon – producers

Critical response

The critical response to the album has been poor. Among contemporary reviews, an anonymous reviewer in the San Francisco Examiner commented "the selection, 'You Can't Do That' rates the first slot on the album; the others just exist".^[4]

In 1982, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Black Music described A Bit of Liverpool as one of "several banal albums" recorded in the midst of their run of hits.^[5] In 2008 author Mark Ribowsky, in his book on the Supremes, described the album as "a jolly old mess reeking of self-conscious preening" ^[6] and the 2011 edition of The Encyclopedia of Popular Music rated the album 2 out of 5 stars.

Chart history

Year-end charts

Chart (1965)	Rank
US Top LPs (Billboard)[7]	71
US Cashbox Top 100[8]	83

Notes and References

1. Book: The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal . registration . 176. Mark Ribowsky . Da Capo Press. 27 Apr 2010 . 9780306815867 . 24 September 2012.
2. Ribowsky, M. (2008). The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal. United States: Hachette Books. Chapter 12.
3. Diana Ross & The Supremes – Let The Music Play: Supreme Rarities 1960–1969 (Motown's Lost & Found). Liner notes. 2008.
4. Popular albums . The San Francisco Examiner . 3 Jan 1965 . 177 . 1 October 2023.
5. Bonds, Ray. Editor. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Black Music. Salamander Books, 1982, UK p.101
6. Ribowsky, M. (2008). The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal. United States: Hachette Books. Chapter 12.
7. TOP LP's of 1965 (based on total sales at retail). Billboard. 25. January 14, 2022. worldradiohistory.com.
8. Web site: The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1965 (TOP 100 POP ALBUMS). Cashbox. 31 December 2020.