Words cannot assay the loss of a great soul, an artist who has manifestly changed the world, doing his/her part to leave behind a quotient of light.  All the more so in these dark days, days when so many are unsure what matters, or if anything at all matters.  Mary Wilson, founding member of the Supremes passed this week at 76.

According to The Guardian:

Wilson was born close to the Mississippi Delta, in the town of Greenville, to Sam Wilson, a butcher, and his wife, Johnnie Mae. Mary was still an infant when the family moved first to St Louis, Missouri, and then to Chicago, where a son, Roosevelt, was born.

Sam, however, preferred gambling and the high life to a steady job, so the three-year-old Mary was sent to Detroit to live with her mother’s sister Ivory (known as IV) while Sam, Johnnie Mae and Roosevelt returned to Greenville. By the time Johnnie Mae arrived to take up residence in Detroit, Mary had long come to believe that IV was her real mother. But she joined Johnnie Mae, Roosevelt and a second sibling, Cathy, in a flat in the Brewster Projects, a public housing estate. Attending the local Baptist church, Mary met Aretha, Erma and Carolyn Franklin, the pastor’s talented daughters.

It was in the Brewster Projects, where even the girls formed gangs, that she also met Ballard, a fellow competitor in a local talent show. They were neighbours, as was Diane Ross, with whom they and a fourth girl, Betty McGlown, formed a group called the Primettes, the female counterparts of a local male quartet called the Primes, who included two future members of the Temptations.

And that is only part of the story.  To read the entire obituary in The Guardian, CLICK HERE.

The lyric of the last hit recorded by the Supremes is an elegant tribute to Mary Wilson.

Stoned Love

By The Supremes

Now I wanna tell you of a great love
Oh, it will light up
It will surely light up
The world
If you’ll just believe

Stoned love
(Stoned love)
Mm-hmm
Mm-hmm
Stoned love
Oh, yeah

A love for each other will bring fighting to an end
Forgiving one another, time after time, doubt creeps in
But like the sun lights up the sky with a message from above
Oh, yeah, I find no other greater symbol of this love

Yeah, don’t you hear the wind blowin’?
Mm-hmm
Stoned love, oh, yeah
I tell you, I ain’t got no other
Mm-hmm
Stoned love, oh, yeah

Life is so short, put the present time at hand
Oh, yeah, and if you’re young at heart, rise up and take your stand
And to the man on whose shoulder the world must depend
I pray for peace and love, amen

Can’t you feel it?
Stoned love
I tell you, I ain’t got no other
Uh-huh
Stoned love, oh, yeah

Ooh, ooh, ooh

Ooh (Ooh, ooh, ooh)

If a war ‘tween our nations passed, oh, yeah
Will the love ‘tween our brothers and sisters last?
On and on and on and on and

Mm, mm, mm
Stoned love, yeah
I tell you, I ain’t got no other
Mm-hmm
Stoned love
Can’t you, can’t you, can’t you, can’t you, can’t you feel it?
Mm-hmm
Stoned love
Oh, yeah, stoned, stoned, stoned, stoned
Mm-hmm
Stoned love
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Uh-huh
Stoned love
Oh, yeah, yeah, uh-huh
Mm-hmm

Writer(s): Kenneth Thomas, Frank Edward Wilson

And the back story to Stoned Love is:

“Stoned Love” is a 1970 hit single recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. It was the last Billboard Pop Top Ten hit for the group.  The lyrics of “Stoned Love” were a plea for the people of the world to end conflict and animosity between each other, specifically the Vietnam War. Writer Kenny Thomas chose the term “stone love” to define the concept of an unchanging bond between one another. 

Thomas was a Detroit teenager who had entered some of his songs into a local radio talent show, which record producer Frank Wilson happened to tune into. Wilson arranged a meeting with the young musician at Thomas’ house, where he proceeded to play a number of songs on a guitar that only had two strings. One of the songs he played was an unfinished version of “Stoned Love.” Wilson was very much impressed with the song and came back to Thomas’ house a few days later with, to Thomas’ delight and surprise, Supremes member Mary Wilson (no relation to Frank Wilson.)  — Wikipedia