''Diana Ross Sings Songs from The Wiz'' is an album by

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups ...

, released by

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

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

on November 27, 2015. The album features Ross' versions of songs from the film version of the musical ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

'', in which she starred along with

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

. The songs were originally recorded in 1978, produced by Ross,

Suzanne de Passe Suzanna Celeste de Passe (born July 19, 1946, 1947 or 1948) (sources differ) is an American businesswoman, television, music and film producer. De Passe serves as the co-chairwoman of de Passe Jones Entertainment Group. Biography Early life an ...

and

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

winner

Lee Holdridge Lee Elwood Holdridge (born March 3, 1944) is a Haitian-born American composer, conductor, and orchestrator. A 18-time Emmy Award nominee, he has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Daytime Emmy Awards, two News & Documentary Emmy Awards, and one ...

. Motown originally planned to release the album in 1979 (a year after the film's

original soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of ...

) but it was cancelled following low box office returns and highly negative critical response to the film. Ross recorded new versions of "Be a Lion" and "Home" for the album, together with a previously unreleased song, "Wonder, Wonder Why". ''Home'' had been released as part of a 2001 Motown compilation album, while a different version of "Ease on Down the Road" had been released in 1978 as a duet with Michael Jackson. All other tracks remained unreleased until 2015. The reissue was remastered and produced by Andrew Skurow, George Solomon, and Harry Weinger. The album was released ahead of the premiere of '' The Wiz Live!'' (a new adaptation of the 1975 Broadway musical) with newcomer Shanice Williams reprising Ross' role of Dorothy (originally played by

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as " Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical '' The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song "Home" from ...

in the original Broadway play) in the television special that was seen by 11.5 million viewers on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Track listing

''All songs written by

Charlie Smalls Charlie Smalls (October 25, 1943 – August 27, 1987) was an American composer and songwriter, best known for writing the music and lyrics for playwright William F. Brown's 1975 Broadway musical ''The Wiz'' and the 1978 film version of the same ...

, unless otherwise noted.'' #"The Feeling We Once Had" #"He's the Wizard" #"Soon as I Get Home" #Trio Medley: " You Can't Win" / "Slide Some Oil" / "(I'm A) Mean Ole Lion" #"

Ease on Down the Road "Ease on Down the Road" is a song from the 1975 Broadway musical ''The Wiz'', an R&B re-interpretation of L. Frank Baum's ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''. The Charlie Smalls–composed tune is the show's version of both "Follow the Yellow Brick ...

" #"Be a Lion" #"So You Wanted to Meet the Wizard" #"Is This What Feeling Gets? (Dorothy's Theme)" (

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

Nick Ashford Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, ...

Valerie Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, ...

) #"Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News" #"Wonder Wonder Why" #" A Brand New Day" (

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

) #"Believe in Yourself" #"

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. ...

References

{{Authority control 2015 albums Diana Ross albums Funk albums by American artists Gospel albums by American artists

Track listing

See also

References