A Bit of Liverpool explained

A Bit of Liverpool
Type:	studio
Artist:	The Supremes
Cover:	Supremes-liverpool.jpg
Released:	October 16, 1964
Recorded:	1964 in Los Angeles
Genre:	Merseybeat soul R&B
Length:	27:29
Label:	Motown
Producer:	Hal Davis Marc Gordon Berry Gordy
Prev Title:	Where Did Our Love Go
Prev Year:	1964
Next Title:	The Supremes Sing Country, Western and Pop
Next Year:	1965

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 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:^[2]

• "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

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".^[3]

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.^[4] 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)^[5]	71
US Cashbox Top 100^[6]	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. Diana Ross & The Supremes – Let The Music Play: Supreme Rarities 1960–1969 (Motown's Lost & Found). Liner notes. 2008.
3. Popular albums . The San Francisco Examiner . 3 Jan 1965 . 177 . 1 October 2023.
4. Bonds, Ray. Editor. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Black Music. Salamander Books, 1982, UK p.101
5. TOP LP's of 1965 (based on total sales at retail). Billboard. 25. January 14, 2022. worldradiohistory.com.
6. Web site: The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1965 (TOP 100 POP ALBUMS). Cashbox. 31 December 2020.