Where the Lady Sings The Blues soundtrack (1972) totally shrugged off her style and usual sound with The Supremes, the Touch Me In The Morning (1973) album steered even further away, completley abandoning her previous combination of R&B/Pop. The mood is mellow, deep and soulful throughout.

The title track Touch Me In The Morning is a masterpiece itself and is one of Dianas' most mememroable and timeless classics. The rhythm builds to the exciting chrous which Diana tackles with style and finesse. After a sluggish start on the U.S charts, Touch Me In The Morning eventually catapulted into pole position, whilst gliding into the U.K Top 10.

Another timeless ballad, All Of My Life became a Top 10 success in the U.K deservedly. This soul classic contains a fantastic, stirring vocal performance from its star whilst the mood quickly turns chilly on the yearning, We Need You.

Of equally strong musical merit was the effective Leave A Little Room, where Diana glides through the verses and is joined by a gospel-influenced choir on the tracks chrous. Diana surprisingly makes her version of The Carpenters, I Won't Last a Day Without You, her own but its the latter half of the album that displays a lot of true artistic flair. Perharps holding onto Lady Sings The Blues in some way, Diana delivers two Jazz/Blues numbers that are both startlingly atmospheric. Her performance is almost dreamy on Little Girl Blue whilst the mood goes deeper and more sombre on the haunting My Baby (My Own). Her striking vocal delivery virtually turns into a subdued howl at the climax of this track.

She then delivers a magnificent, stylish and sophisticated reading of John Lennons' famous classic, Imagine, and then finally the albums winds down to its climax with the startling medley Brown Baby/Save The Children. Both these number are chilly and hauntingly atmospheric and both display Dianas' versatile vocal expertise.

The Touch Me in The Morning album is a fantastic, unique affair all round and was one of her most artistic efforts. And the bonus was it proved to be another massive commercial success where it rapidly jumped into the U.K and U.S Top 10 Album Charts, becoming one of her biggest sellers of that era. A Classic!

Diana Ross' studio albums at Motown Records during the 1970's had always received a mixed reception from critics and had always been somewhat erratic in terms of commercial success. There had been classics such as her stunning solo debut Diana Ross (1970), Surrender (1971), Touch Me In The Morning (1973) and Diana Ross (1976) whilst others such as Everything Is Everything (1970) and Last Time I Saw Him (1973) seemed more like scrappily assembled collections of left-over tracks from various recording sessions.

After the cross-Atlantic Top 5 success of the excellent Diana Ross (1976) LP, Ross was teamed with renowned R&B producer Richard Perry and a diverse range of songwriters. This 1977 studio entry titled Baby It's Me marked a more clear consistency within the startling musical arrangements which varied from pounding percussion and heavy drum beats that contained compelling undertones of pure, pulsating Funk on the blend of uptempo material to haunting string arrangements and gentle piano backdrops on the slower and more intricate tracks. Ross gets ample opportunity to stretch herself and becomes immersed into the varying moods of the album.

Baby It's Me (1977) opens with Gettin' Ready For Love, which became the projects premier single. The cross Disco-Jazz flavoured arrangements of this feel-good number, which had been written by Tom Snowe and Frannie Goulde, contained an easy-going, seamless performance from Ross who glides along the verses and the catchy chrous with ease and style. Gettin' Ready For Love surprisingly only climbed to No.27 in the U.S whilst stalling at just No.23 in the U.K.

You Got It, a song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Linda Laurie, also found its way to being issued as a single in the U.S. Encapsulating R&B/Pop with a slight Disco twinge, Ross sounded slightly more like a showbiz performer than a Soul singer but that charm and unique style and sound of her soft, silky voice shines through. Indeed a catchy number, You Got It all the more surprisingly only made it to No.49 on the U.S BillBoard Charts.

The title track, Baby It's Me, spins into mainstream Funk though Ross surprisingly doesn't quite sound comfortable or at ease with this number which had been penned by Donald Dunn and Charles C Smith. Ross is backed by an uncredited male vocalist who virtually sings along with her through the duration of the song, probably to add some spark and ignition to the recording but though Baby It's Me is average to listen to, it also somehow comes off flawed and lacking in some way.

Far better is the haunting, atmospheric tone of Too Shy To Say, written by fellow Motown colleague and the genius himself, Stevie Wonder. Ross inserts herself effectively into this mellow compostion of lush strings, electric keyboards and synthesizers.

The highly infectious Your Love Is So Good For Me was a sparse Disco number that combined red hot, compelling Funk with a strong, pulsating bassline and heavy, repetitive drum beats. Ross sounds the perfect Disco Diva and Your Love Is So Good For Me gave a mere taste of things to come on future Disco-oriented albums, The Boss (1979) and diana (1980). Your Love Is So Good For Me became a popular club hit though despite its fire and potential stopped again at just No.49 on the U.S Top 100.

Richard Perry obviously wanted Diana Ross to maintain her identity and a certain familiarity with mainstream buyers. and with the bouncy Top Of The World (a superb track that would have made an ideal choice for release as a single) and exotic All Night Lover, Ross sounds like shes back with The Supremes with her angelic, yearning and vulnreable-sounding performances on both tracks. The latter was penned by Jerry Ragovoy and Len Roberts, All Night Lover is instantly contagious with its bright and commercial-like R&B/Pop sound.

During the 70's Diana Ross had become something of what many described as a black Barbara Streisand with her extravagent, showbiz-inspired concerts and Confide In Me really carried that ideally supper-club type sound that didn't work for many die-hard Soul/R&B fans. However Ross is in glorious voice throughout, igniting this otherwise rather kitsch number.

The mood then darkens, becoming deeper and sombre in its tone on the Bill Walters number, The Same Love That Made Me Laugh. Ross sounds in complete dispair and fittingly sullen throughout the track which adds to the intensity of the chilly and atmospheric musical arrangements. A remarkable recording that is very untypical for Ross and is quite possibly the cream of the crop on this album.

More mellower in its tone is the final dramatic affair of the album, Come In From The Rain, an exalting ballad written by Carole Boyer Sayer and Melissa Manchester. Ross' voice brims with emotion, coating the dazzling, tempo-shifting orchestrations.

Baby It's Me (1977) is highly glossy and sophisticated but Ross' voice retains that soulful edge that always managed to ignite even the most mediocre track she recorded at Motown. That sassy, funky side to Ross is still evidently there on the energetic, upbeat offerings such as Gettin' Ready For Love, You Got It, Your Love Is So Good For Me, Top Of The World and All Night Lover whilst also displaying her effortless flair for ballads on diverse numbers such as the haunting The Same Love That Made Me Laugh, the atmospheric Too Shy To Say and the exalting Come In From The Rain.

All in all, Baby It's Me is another pleasing effort that was a fantastic follow-up to her previous LP Diana Ross (1976). However Baby It's Me was less successful commercially, landing at No.18 on the U.S Album Charts whilst disappointingly failing to even chart altogether in the U.K - a market in which she had always been a consistent seller.

Even so, Baby It's Me is now one of her most popular studio albums amongst fans.

diana ross in full disco regalia even launching a 12" single from this production, she's better & more fabulous than never before, beautiful ballads & vivaceous uplifting songs to make us dance like never before. is miss ross joining the chain of disco acts.

Motown Records - 1972 / 1977 - Songs Include : Touch Me In The Morning / All Of My Life / We Need You / Leave A Little Room / I Won't Last A Day Without You / Little Girl Blue / My Baby My Baby My Own / Imagine / Medley : Brown Baby / Save The Children / Gettin' Ready For Love / You Got It / Baby It's Me / Too Shy To Say / Your Love Is So Good For Me / Top Of The World / All Night Lover / Confide In Me / The Same Love That Made Me Laugh / Come In From The Rain