''Walk the Line'' is the second and final solo studio album released by former

Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful ...

member Mary Wilson in 1992 on the independent CEO Records label. The album was Wilson's first solo album to be released since her debut album, '' Mary Wilson'', in 1979 on

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

. Wilson had begun work on a second solo album in 1980, working with English record producer,

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, "Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US No ...

. Dudgeon had produced 4 tracks for the album but Motown dropped Wilson from the label before the album was completed. After leaving Motown, Wilson almost signed with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

in 1987, recording three songs for the label: "Sleeping in Separate Rooms", "Stronger in a Broken Part" and "The One I Love". All three songs remain unreleased by professional sources. In 1987, Wilson recorded the song "Don't Get Mad, Get Even" for Nightmare Records (which later turned into

Motorcity Records Motorcity Records is a British record label formed by producer Ian Levine in 1989. The label aimed to record new material with former Motown artists. History Levine, a Motown fan since his childhood in the 1960s, was offered a chance to recor ...

) and later signed with the company founded by

Ian Levine Ian Geoffrey Levine (born 22 June 1953) is a British songwriter, producer, and DJ. A moderniser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of Hi-NRG, he has written and produced records with sales totalling over 40 million. ...

. Wilson recorded and released her cover version of the

Five Stairsteps The Five Stairsteps, known as "The First Family of Soul" and later "The Invisible Man's Band", was an American Chicago soul group made up of five of Betty and Clarence Burke Sr.'s six children: Alohe Jean, Clarence Jr., James, Dennis, and Kenn ...

's classic hit " Ooh Child" on the Motorcity label in 1989 but never recorded a full album for the label. Wilson soon after signed with CEO Records (Cooper Entertainment Organization) and released ''Walk the Line'' in 1992. A day after ''Walk the Line'' was released, CEO went into bankruptcy. Wilson later claimed that she had no knowledge of the label's financial troubles and stated that she was coerced into signing with them for the release. Because of the bankruptcy issue with the label, ''Walk the Line'' fell out of place on the Billboard charts despite Wilson's promotion efforts. Although six original songs were recorded for the release, the album features covers of " Ooh Child", "You Keep Me Hangin' On",

Glenn Medeiros Glenn Alan Medeiros (born June 24, 1970) is an American former musician, singer, and songwriter who achieved chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is best known on the national and international music scene for his 1987 global s ...

and The Jets 1989 single "

Under Any Moon "Under Any Moon" is a single by Glenn Medeiros and the Jets, released in 1989. Written by Diane Warren, the song was released as a single only in the United Kingdom. It was included on the soundtrack for ''The Karate Kid Part III ''The Kar ...

" from The Jets album ''

Believe Believe may refer to: *Belief, a psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true, with or without proof for such proposition *Faith, a belief in something which has not been proven Arts, entertainment, and me ...

'' and ''

The Karate Kid Part III ''The Karate Kid Part III'' is a 1989 American martial arts film, martial arts drama (film and television), drama film, the third entry in the The Karate Kid (franchise), ''Karate Kid'' franchise and a sequel to ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986). ...

'' soundtrack as well as

Jennifer Holliday Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American actress and singer. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as ''Dreamgirls'' (1981–83), ''Your Arms Too Short to Box with God'' (1980–1981) and later became a su ...

's song "

I Am Changing "I Am Changing" is a song from the second act of the long-running Broadway musical ''Dreamgirls''. Written by Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen, the song was performed by the character Effie White, originally portrayed on Broadway by Jennifer Holliday ...

" from the original ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,Gro ...

broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

play. During the recording sessions, Wilson recorded an updated version of The Supremes' #1 single " Love Child", complete with vocal rap by Ako Mack (the background track was the same one as used by Sweet Sensation on their 1990 cover of the song). This track was however replaced in favor of another Supremes #1 hit, "

You Keep Me Hangin' On "You Keep Me Hangin' On" is a song written and composed by Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was first recorded in 1966 by American Motown girl group the Supremes, reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. American rock band Vanilla Fudge ...

" which she performed at ''

It's Showtime at the Apollo English auxiliary verbs are a small set of English verbs, which include the English modal verbs and a few others. Although definitions vary, as generally conceived an auxiliary lacks inherent semantic meaning but instead modifies the meaning of an ...

''. Ako Mack contributed a rap verse to the album cut "The Stare". Wilson also performed "Walk the Line" on ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

'' and released music videos for the song and another album cut "One Night with You". On September 11, 2013, the album's title track, "Walk the Line", was released to Wilson's

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

page.

Track listing

# "Walk the Line" (Dee Harvey, Tena Clark) - 4:00 # "The Stare" ''featuring Ako Mack(Anthony Smith, Dyna Brein, Ted Jacobs) - 3:08 # "

" ( Holland-Dozier-Holland) - 3:48 # "One Night With You" (

Antonina Armato Antonina Armato is an American songwriter, record producer, music producer and businesswoman. She is the co-founder and member of Rock Mafia, a record production/songwriting team. Antonina is credited for writing and producing for artists begin ...

, Rick Neigher) - 3:44 # "All Over Now" (

Randy Waldman Randy Waldman (born September 8, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. In 2019, Waldman's arrangement of the " Spider-Man Theme" on his ''Superheroes'' album garnered the Grammy Award f ...

, Suzi Carr) - 3:44 # " Ooh Child" (

Stan Vincent Stan Vincent (born Stanley Grochowski, 1944) is an American record producer/arranger best known for the Top Ten hits " I'm Gonna Make You Mine" by Lou Christie and "O-o-h Child" by Five Stairsteps. He is also a composer notably having written "O-o- ...

) - 4:35 # "

" (

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award. Wa ...

) - 4:12 # "Shelter Me" (Jack White, Mark Spiro) - 3:17 # "Bodyguard" (Geoff Hurley) - 3:27 # "

" (

Henry Krieger Henry Krieger (born February 9, 1945 in New York City) is an American musical theatre composer. He most notably wrote the music for the Broadway shows ''Dreamgirls'' (1981, with lyrics and book by Tom Eyen), ''The Tap Dance Kid'' (1983), and ''S ...

Tom Eyen Tom Eyen (August 14, 1940 – May 26, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and director. He received a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for ''Dreamgirls'' in 1981. Eyen is best known for works at opposite ends ...

) - 3:45

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walk The Line (Album) 1992 albums Mary Wilson (singer) albums