Cindy Birdsong in 1965, recording two relatively successful albums, 1966's "Over the Rainbow" and 1967's "Dreamer" scoring modest charted singles such as "All or Nothing", "Take Me a Little While" and "I'm Still Waiting". Starting in mid and late 1967, Birdsong began to appear as a stand-in vocalist for Supremes founder Florence Ballard when Ballard's bout with alcoholism caused her to miss important gigs. In 1967, Birdsong abruptly left the Bluebelles to join Diana Ross and the Supremes as Ballard's official replacement. Birdsong said that the remaining Bluebelles were angry with her for not telling them about joining the Supremes and refused
Birdsong (novel) Sunday Telegraph", "The Times Literary Supplement", "The Spectator" and "The Scotsman". American and other international press reviews were similarly positive. The novel's popular reception was similarly positive. "Birdsong" came 13th in a 2003 BBC survey called the Big Read, which aimed to find Britain's favourite book. It received an "Also Mentioned" credit in "The Observer" 2005 poll of critics and writers to find the "Best British book of the last 25 years" (1980–2005). "Birdsong" was listed in "The Telegraph" as one of the most consistently high selling books of 1998–2008, continuously in the top 5,000 sales figures. Reviews of the