The Magnificent 7 (album)

The Magnificent 7
Studio album by The Supremes and The Four Tops
Released	September 1970
Recorded	1970
Genre	Soul, R&B
Label	Motown
Producer	Frank Wilson, Duke Browner, Clay McMurray, Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson
The Supremes chronology
Right On (1970) The Magnificent 7 (1970) New Ways but Love Stays (1970)
The Four Tops chronology
Changing Times (1970) The Magnificent 7 (1970) The Return of the Magnificent Seven (1971)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]

The Magnificent 7 is a collaborative album combining Motown's premier vocal groups, The Supremes and The Four Tops. Issued by Motown in 1970, it followed two collaborative albums the group did with The Temptations in the late 1960s. The album featured their hit cover of Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep - Mountain High", which reached #14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Apart from "Knock on My Door" (written by singers Patti Jerome and Joe Hinton), the rest of the tracks on the LP were also covers of rock and soul songs, including the duet by Dinah Washington and Brook Benton "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)", Bobby Scott's "A Taste of Honey", Sly & the Family Stone's "Everyday People", Ed Townsend's "For Your Love" and The 5th Dimension's "Stoned Soul Picnic", as well as hits by other Motown artists: the Tops' own "Without the One You Love (Life's Not Worth While)", the duet "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Gaye's and Kim Weston's "It's Got to Be a Miracle (This Thing Called Love)", The Spinners' "Together We Can Make Such Sweet Music" and former Supremes' band mate Diana Ross' 1970 debut solo single, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)".

"River Deep - Mountain High" was released as a single in the Netherlands, with "Knock on My Door" on the flip side. Two more singles were issued in the United Kingdom in 1972: "Without the One You Love" with "Let's Make Love Now" on the B side; and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" backed by "Where Would I Be Without You, Baby".

Track listing

Side one

1. "Knock on My Door" (Joe Hinton, Patti Jerome) - 2:15
2. "For Your Love" (Ed Townsend) - 2:54
3. "Without the One You Love" (Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland) - 3:10
4. "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" (Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson) - 4:20
5. "Stoned Soul Picnic" (Laura Nyro) - 3:10
6. "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" (Clyde Otis, Murray Stein) - 2:59

Side two

1. "River Deep - Mountain High" (Jeff Berry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector) - 4:15
2. "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (Nickolas Asford, Valerie Simpson) - 2:29
3. "Everyday People" (Sylvester Stewart) - 2:52
4. "It's Got to Be a Miracle (This Thing Called Love)" (Vernon Bullock, Sylvia Moy, William "Mickey" Stevenson) - 3:55
5. "Taste of Honey" (Ric Marlow, Bobby Scott) - 2:57
6. "Together We Can Make Such Sweet Music" (Martin Coleman, Richard Drapkin) - 2:59

Personnel

• Jean Terrell: vocals
• Mary Wilson: vocals
• Cindy Birdsong: vocals
• Levi Stubbs: vocals
• Abdul "Duke" Fakir: vocals
• Lawrence Payton: vocals
• Renaldo "Obie" Benson: vocals
• Frank Wilson: executive producer
• Duke Browner: producer (tracks 1A, 2A, 5B, 6B)
• Clay McMurray: producer (tracks 3A, 6A, 3B, 4B)
• Nickolas Ashford: producer (tracks 4A, 5A, 1B, 2B)
• Valerie Simpson: producer (tracks 4A, 5A, 1B, 2B)
• Various Los Angeles area session musicians: instrumentation
• David Van DePitte, Paul Riser - arrangers

Chart history

Chart	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200	113
UK Albums Chart	6

References

1. The Magnificent 7 at AllMusic
2. DeCurtis, Anthony (1992). The Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely New Reviews : Every Essential Album, Every Essential Artist. Page 685: Random House. ISBN 0679737294.