Diana Ross: The Unauthorized Biography [Hardcover]

The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because so much of it is taken from his second Diana Ross book. This author has made the legendary Diana Ross the subject of his writing three separate times. His scathing tale of the dark side of Diana Ross called, "Call Her Miss Ross" joined Mary Wilson's "Dreamgirls" as a front and back assault on her persona and reputation. The Lady survived and carried on. Now Mr. Taraborrelli is back again with another biography on Diana. One can't help but wonder if this time the author was trying to capitalize on the much anticipated Dreamgirls movie and its ensuing interest in the group that inspired the play/movie; The Supremes.
This time around the author attempts to put in perspective her private relationship with her singing partners, her parents, Berry Gordy and a few peers at Motown. Taraborelli offers his insight and analysis to his well researched tome to portray a more understandable Diana Ross.

It would be a more interesting book if there were fewer familiar passages from "Call Her..". Sometimes as I read I felt a little cheated. I found re-reading the "Call Her.." passages a little frustrating. Mr. Taraborelli includes inforamtion about the complexities of the backstory on the Supremes that was not included in his previous book. There are also quotations from Florence Ballard that may help to repair the demonization of his subject that he helped to create.

The most insightful information was the details of the relationshiop (if that's what it can be called) between Diana and Berry Gordy. The young singer was deeply criticized, manipulated, financially exploited and simultaneously praised by her mentor, lover and father figure. Breaking away from Berry Gordy's bed was probably the best career move Diana Ross ever made. If you read the book you'll see why.
A myth that the author destroys is Mary Wilson's assertion that all three girls were best friends and that Diana's jealousy, self interest and greed drove a wedge between them. In this book the author reports that Diana, Mary and Florence were not the best of friends. They had a common goal and each possesed a different philosphy as to how that goal should be accomplished. Diana emerges as the savvy, strong-willed leader of the three. Who worked harder than her counterparts and approached the business of show with a more practical view. She wanted it more. Perhaps it can be said the she needed it more and was willing to comply with Gordy's abuse to get it. Gordy emerges as a man Ross both deeply loves and resents. The literary documentation on Ross' career and persona needs this more balanced portrayal of Miss Diana Ross.

What absolutely incited my ire regarding this book is the "free pass" he seems to give the duplicitous Mary Wilson. In one of the final chapters he asserts that Mary Wilson is "nobody's victim". He mentions how hard she works to carry on the Supreme's legacy , etc. He places the blame squarely on Diana's shoulders for the failure of the Return to Love Tour by claiming that if Diana Ross wanted Mary along she could have made it happen. I would ask the author why he thinks Diana Ross should continually subject herself to Mary's public assaults? I would also ask him how long he would keep a friend that publicy aired dirty laundry that they knew would have an impact on his credibility and career? Personally, I think the fact that Diana was even willing to share a stage or have sustained contact with Mary shows her growth as a human being. It is untrue that Diana "needed the money" as some have claimed. He must understand that "Diane" has a ton of private and embarrassing information that could publicly hurt Mary but chooses not to come forward with it. I wonder if his hesitation to give a more balanced view of Miss Wilson is to keep the door of dirt open for his next attack on Diana. For a more balanced view of the Return to Love fiasco and details concerning Mary Wilson's shenanigans around the tour please read Tom Andrahtas' A Lifetime To Get Here. Given J. Randy's level of research I am suprised he didn't contain this info in his analysis of this media fiasco.

What I am sure that many readers will find shocking is just how financially broke Diana Ross was when she left Motown. Though she may have recieved preferential treatment by Berry Gordy she certainly did not make the money her hard work and talent warranted. Presently, Miss Ross is a wealty woman, a legendary performer, an icon and a superstar even without a solid hit since 1984. This is a testament to her trailblazing career and the legacy she and the Supremes created more than 40 years ago.
I have no doubt that the author loves Diana's career. His association with her name has paid off three separate times! But if he is her biggest fan (as he asserts) then no wonder her record sales have slipped! I am disgusted by his mercenary attachment to her but compelled to read about Diana Ross....so..... I'm very sorry Diana, really.

This new Diana Ross bio from Taraborrelli had several new interesting additions. For example: Florence Ballard's surprise birthday party in Las Vegas the day before she was officially fired, in depth details about Ross' troubled relationship with her father and Ross paying for Ballard's daughter Michelle's brain surgery.

Having read Taraborrelli's first Ross bio, I was startled by the fact that several significant events were left out, apparently in an effort to paint a kinder Diana Ross and a gentler Berry Gordy:

1. Florence Ballard's eavesdropping on Berry Gordy and alleged underworld figures in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1966.

2. Ballard attacking Ross in the Supremes' dressing room during an Ed Sullivan Show taping after Ross stepped on and crushed Ballard's earring (by accident according to observers).

3. Ross pulling a power play during the taping of a TV commercial in Detroit's Brewster Projects in which Ross pirated Wilson and Ballard's dialogue. In this new book, Ross tells Gordy during the ill-fated '67 Vegas engagement: "...they seem to dislike me so much. Both of them. What did I ever do to them? What's so bad about me?"

4. Ross instigating a big scene with an uninvited (Mary brought Flo in an effort to patch things up) and very pregnant Ballard at a party at Gordy Manor in Detroit in 1968 that ended with Wilson and Ballard being ejected by bodyguards on Berry Gordy's orders. So much for Ross, according to this new book, not being happy with the way Ballard left the Supremes.

In this new bio, it is revealed that before Ross and Ballard's last phone conversation in 1974, they had spoken in 1971. What did they talk about then? The author leaves us hanging.

It's not that Tarraborelli doesn't call Ross on the carpet at times. For instance he takes her to task for upstaging Ballard at her own funeral. He did leave out Ross upstaging Adam Ant on Motown 25 in 1983 with her impromptu bump and grind during his song spot. Also, interestingly, Tarraborelli made no mention of Ross' fondling of rap diva Lil' Kim's breast during a televised music awards show in 1999. Ironically, in one of the book's recent color photos, Ross appears to be wearing an outfit surprisingly similiar to the one Lil' Kim wore during the groping incident.

On the whole, I feel the book is a good effort. It should definitely be read with the earlier book. It may seem that I don't like Diana Ross but on the contrary I have a great love and respect for her, the Supremes and the whole of Motown. I am happy and relieved to see she appears to have rebounded and recovered from her demons.

You would expect a biography by a star's admittedly "biggest fan" to be fawning and sycophantic, a hagiography. Equally, you might think that the story of a celebrity which bills itself as "unauthorized" would be prurient and salacious, a story befitting a tabloid.

"Diana Ross: An Unauthorized Biography" brings those two ingredients together in this life study of the unchallenged queen of Motown, and happily the result is neither one extreme nor the other. Author Taraborrelli makes no secret of his life-long admiration for his subject, but plainly his has not been an uncritical evaluation of her life and works. So, while he does present her various tribulations sympathetically, he does not sacrifice any detail, as his famously-private subject herself would. (Taraborrelli notes that she told a publisher once that an autobiography appealed to her so long as it did not have to contain any "personal details"!)

Whilst Taraborrelli clearly delights in reporting her personal and musical triumphs he goes further than simply recording her amazing feats. He analyses her music with an expert ear. If you've experienced the sensation of enhancing your enjoyment of a good wine having been guided as to what to appreciate and enjoy, you'll get much the same feeling when (it's unlikely to be if) you revisit Ross' classic hits armed with Taraborrelli's "tasting notes".

This book may well show that there is little to love about one of pop's most infamous divas, but it stresses again and again that there is plenty to admire about her musical contribution.