The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard

The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard
by Peter Benjaminson

The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard
List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $7.08
You Save: $7.87 (53%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Peter Benjaminson
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-09-01
ISBN: 1556529597
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Lawrence Hill Books

Book Reviews of The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard

Book Review: A Supreme Lost, Then Found
Summary: 5 Stars

Richard Benjamin's book, "The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard," was absolutely fascinating. Because much of this book was comprised of Florence's actual recorded words, there was a certain intimacy designed by the author that made me feel as if I were experiencing the events of her life as I read about them.

I thought I knew everything about the rise (11 chart-topping recordings penned by the songwriting team of Holland, Dozier, and Holland) and fall (depressed welfare mom admitted twice to a mental institution) of Florence Ballard, but soon after I began reading this book, I realized there was much I did not know about this soulful songstress. Ironically, it was Florence's expulsion from this glamorous, world renown singing trio that spawned the creation of the hit Broadway musical and movie, "Dreamgirls," and many best-selling books about the original Supremes -- Florence Ballard, Diana Ross, and Mary Wilson.

While I once harboured resentment about how poorly Florence had been treated, after reading Benjamin's book, "The Lost Supreme," I concluded that rather than focus on the collapse of one individual, I could redirect my attention to the people who were clever enough to use the success of the Supremes as a means to an end -- Diana Ross and Berry Gordy (founder of Motown, the Supremes' recording company). Diana was so ambitious, in fact, that during the ascent of the Supremes, she had an affair with Gordy and bore his child, something she admitted finally during an interview by Oprah Winfrey on Oprah's popular television program.

At the time of the release of Benjamin's book about the lost Supreme, the Guinness Book of World Records listed Diana Ross as the most successful female performer of all time. Billboard Magazine named her Entertainer of the Century. What a contrast to the fate of Florence Ballard, founder of the Supremes, who ended up desperately poor and virtually forgotten due to one misguided, naive, uneducated decision after another. It's true what "they" say, "Only the strong survive."

Summary of The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard

In the months before she died, Florence Ballard, the spunky teenager who founded the most successful female vocal group in history—the Supremes—told her own side of the story. Recorded on tape, Flo shed light on all areas of her life, including the surprising identity of the man by whom she was raped prior to her entering the music business, the details of her love-hate relationship with Motown Records czar Berry Gordy, her drinking problem and pleas for help, a never-ending desire to be the Supremes? lead singer, and her attempts to get her life back on track after being brutally expelled from the group. This is a tumultuous and heartbreaking story of a world-famous performer whose life ended at the age of 32 as a lonely mother of three who had only recently recovered from years of poverty and despair.

Music Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Music Books
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain ImageMusicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
by Oliver Sacks
Knopf Publishing Group; Published: 2008; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.45
Listen ImageListen
by Joseph Kerman, Gary Tomlinson
Bedford/St. Martin's; Published: 2007-02-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.00
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century ImageThe Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century
by Alex Ross
Picador; Published: 2008-10-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.88
Price in other shops: $19.00
Forever Young: Photographs of Bob Dylan ImageForever Young: Photographs of Bob Dylan
by Douglas R. Gilbert, Dave Marsh
Da Capo Press; Published: 2006-10-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.55
Price in other shops: $18.95
Heroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boys ImageHeroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boys
by Steven Gaines
Da Capo Press; Published: 1995-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.15
Price in other shops: $17.95
Handbook for Sound Engineers, Third Edition ImageHandbook for Sound Engineers, Third Edition
by Glen Ballou
Focal Press; Published: 2002-01-21; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops: $125.95
Jazz Anecdotes ImageJazz Anecdotes
by Bill Crow
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1990-05-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.18
Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williams ImageLovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williams
by Paul Hemphill
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2006-08-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $16.00
How to Train Singers/Book and Tape ImageHow to Train Singers/ Book and Tape
by Larra Browning Henderson
Parker; Published: 1991-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $29.95
Price in other shops: $44.95
I, Tina: My Life Story (icon!t) ImageI, Tina: My Life Story (icon!t)
by Tina Turner, Kurt Loder
It Books; Published: 2010-06-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: $13.99
Similar Books and other products
Divided Soul: The Life Of Marvin Gaye ImageDivided Soul: The Life Of Marvin Gaye
by David Ritz
Da Capo Press; Published: 2003-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.92
Price in other shops: $17.50
Temptations, Updated ImageTemptations, Updated
by Otis Williams
Cooper Square Press; Published: 2002-06-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.39
Price in other shops: $17.95
The True Story of Florence Ballard ImageThe True Story of Florence Ballard
by Maxine Ballard Jenkins
Precious4Max Publishing, Inc.; Published: 2009-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.95
The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal ImageThe Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal
by Mark Ribowsky
Da Capo Press; Published: 2010-04-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.48
Price in other shops: $17.95
The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal ImageThe Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal
by Mark Ribowsky
Da Capo Press; Published: 2009-06-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.26
Price in other shops: $26.00
The Story of the Supremes ImageThe Story of the Supremes
by Daryl Easlea
V & A Publishing; Published: 2008-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.33
Price in other shops: $19.95
My Sister Tommie - The Real Tammi Terrell ImageMy Sister Tommie - The Real Tammi Terrell
by Ludie Montgomery, Vickie Wright
Bank House Books; Published: 2005-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $33.22
Price in other shops: $34.99
Motown: Music, Money, Sex, and Power ImageMotown: Music, Money, Sex, and Power
by Gerald Posner
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2005-10-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.97
Price in other shops: $15.95
Dreamgirl and Supreme Faith: My Life as a Supreme ImageDreamgirl and Supreme Faith: My Life as a Supreme
by Mary Wilson
Cooper Square Press; Published: 2000-01-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops: $19.95
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Enduring Soul of the Temptations ImageAin't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Enduring Soul of the Temptations
by Mark Ribowsky
Wiley; Published: 2010-09-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.47
Price in other shops: $25.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories