From diana-web.com:

BLUE, A NEVER-BEFORE-RELEASED 1972 DIANA ROSS ALBUM OF JAZZ STANDARDS, IS DISCOVERED IN THE MOTOWN VAULT




Debuts More Than Three Decades After Being Recorded.

For more than 30 years, rumors have circulated of a never-issued Diana Ross album of jazz standards recorded around the time of her triumphant star turn in Lady Sings The Blues. Recently, these archival recordings were discovered in the Motown vault. The resulting album, Blue (Motown/UMe), marks the long-overdue debut of what David Ritz, esteemed author and writer of the album’s liner notes, calls “some of the most emotionally satisfying music Ross has ever made.”

Recorded in late 1971 and early 1972, the album that is now being released as Blue was originally envisioned as a companion to the No. 1 soundtrack LP to Lady Sings The Blues, a box office hit that earned a Best Actress Oscar® nomination for Ross. Blue was produced, arranged and conducted by Gil Askey, who did the same for the Lady Sings The Blues soundtrack and who had conducted Supremes shows in the past and would conduct Ross’ solo shows in the future. Blue includes all twelve of the original tracks – all of which are previously unreleased, plus four bonus cuts from the recording sessions which took place in late 1971 and early 1972.

But perhaps because the tracks were considered too jazzy, a result of Ross delving so deeply into her film portrayal of Billie Holiday, a decision was made to return Ross to pop music. In 1973, she did just that and “Touch Me In The Morning” shot to #1. Blue never saw the light of day.

Blue premieres Ross’s renditions of Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It,” the Gershwins’ “I Loves Ya Porgy,” and Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen’s “But Beautiful” as well as “What A Diff’rence A Day Makes,” “No More,” “Had You Been Around,” “Can’t Get Started With You.” (“Had You Been Around,” the album’s lone Motown original, is performed by Michelle Allar in Lady Sings The Blues.) Also debuting are bonus tracks “Easy Living,” “He’s Funny That Way” and Duke Ellington’s “Solitude.” Each of these tracks had been recorded during the soundtrack sessions but was left out of the film and off the soundtrack album.

Blue’s “You’ve Changed,” “My Man (Mon Homme),” the Gershwins’ “Love Is Here To Stay” and the fourth bonus track, “T’Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do,” were heard in alternate versions on the Lady Sings The Blues soundtrack album. Rodgers & Hart’s “Little Girl Blue” and Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” would later appear in alternate versions on 1973’s Touch Me In The Morning and 1976’s Diana Ross, respectively.

The release of Blue completes, finally, an important chapter in the career of one of the most popular singers in the history of popular music.

Blue will be widely available at traditional music retail beginning on June 6, 2006.

Diana Ross “Blue” UPC tbd

Blue is a surprise discovery, an unreleased masterpiece of jazz and pop standards recored by Diana Ross in 1972 after the filming ofher Oscar-nominated performance in “Lady Sings The Blues”. Classic versions of American classics by an American icon!

1. What A Diff’rence A Day Makes
2. No More
3. Let’s Do It
4. I Loves Ya Porgy
5. Smile
6. But Beautiful
7. Had You Been Around
8. Little Girl Blue
9. Can’t Get Started With You
10. Love Is Here To Stay
11. You’ve Changed
12. My Man (Mon Homme)

Bonus Tracks
13. Easy Living
14. Solitude
15. He's Funny That Way
16. T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do

It's amazing how many unreleased albums there are inside the Motown vaults.I heard that there is a Michael Jackson solo album,recorded in 1973 and produced by Stevie Wonder.They need to get this stuff out there!!

DavidEye said:

Unreleased MJ album!

There`s probably lots of Martha Reeves songs in the vaults, i read in the "Spellbound" booklet that she had to record A LOT of songs before the original artists recorded them, just to hear what they sounded like.
Imagine her singing "The love you save" or "Don`t leave me this way"

I would also like to see the "Motown superstars sings motown superstars" LP released on cd, where Ross sings "For once in my life"
By the way, have you heard her (Ross) version of "This christmas" from one of the motown christmas compilations?

I wonder who the musicians are?

Thank you, Icicle!

So now we know what it is!

Look forward to hearing it...

I hope she releases new material soon, too.

i can't wait to hear this!

Icicle said:

The unreleased Michael Jackson album includes the planned first single "Buttercup".There is also an unreleased Marvin Gaye album from 1979.It is titled "Love Man" and was said to be very funky and dance-oriented.In late '79,they even released the first single ("Ego Trippin Out"),but the album was cancelled.There's an unreleased Mary Jane Girls album from 1986,it is titled 'Conversation' and was produced by Rick James.We could start a whole thread on all the unreleased Motown albums,imo.

onenitealone said:

Hi
I knew you would like this

Yeah, i`ve been wondering about the "Blue" album, i can`t wait to get my hands on that one!

I heard the new album would be released by mother`s day, hope to see the tracklisting soon, diana-web.com is the place to find news on Ross.

Motown always rereleasing or just releasing old stuff instead of promoting the new artists correctly...

Some old/new or is it new/old...whatever...music from Diana Ross! Wooooohooooo!

I can't wait!!!