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Motown M 1042 (A), April 1963
b/w What Love Has Joined Together
(Written by Smokey Robinson and Janie Bradford)
Oriole CBA 1847 (A), July 1963
b/w What Love Has Joined Together
(Released in the UK under license through Oriole Records)
And talking of fascinating Motown story arcs, they don’t come much more intriguing than Mary Wells. As soon as she was paired with Smokey Robinson as her writer and producer, in the first such great Motown teaming-up, 1962 had belonged to her. But the formula – and there was a distinct formula, a kind of midtempo calypso sound – was starting to wear thin.
Mary had scored a string of successive R&B Top Ten hits (The One Who Really Loves You, You Beat Me To The Punch, Two Lovers, Laughing Boy), several of them crossing over to the upper reaches of the pop charts in a dazzling run far exceeding anything any other Motown act could match. Yet in 1963, she hit the commercial doldrums, and if her R&B chart placings remained strong, the pop hits were beginning to dry up as audiences seemingly tired of the same old act. Motown were obviously a little spooked – this was her second single in a little over two months – and, more worryingly, Smokey apparently didn’t know what to do to arrest the slide. He throws everything he’s got in reserve at this, a new recording made after Laughing Boy was slated for release, possibly in response to that record’s perceived shortcomings; he even brings in Janie Bradford, a great songwriter in her own right, to collaborate on a record personally crafted to bring Mary back into the pop chart reckoning. End result? Number 40 with a bullet.
All this goes to show is that the music business is a harsh game. Smokey Robinson had recently gone back over some old musical ground with his own group, the Miracles, to fine effect, using the benefit of hindsight to revisit a previous hit and make some improvements, essentially re-writing You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me as A Love She Can Count On (very different lyrics notwithstanding). Here, he does almost exactly the same thing with Mary Wells – musically, this is Smokey refitting You Beat Me To The Punch, adding in a bunch more ingredients (consciously “Latin” guitars, almost choral backing vocals, and – most noticeably – a rich, rewarding horn section which occasionally touches on the exact same phrases as featured in Louis Armstrong’s later We Have All The Time In The World, which would be beautiful there and which are beautiful here.)
For good measure, Smokey provides another example of his excellent lyrics, a story of the narrator being some guy’s close friend and perpetual rebound almost-sort-of-fling (it’s never quite made clear just how much goes on between them, but I’m thinking not a lot – maybe some very low-key flirting and hand holding, a few hugs, an occasional peck on the cheek, but probably not much more than that); she’s turned to for solace, regular as clockwork, but then straight out of the picture when someone new comes along to turn his head –
– (which, incidentally, is testament to her skill as an actress, because can you imagine someone of sound mind leaving Mary Wells at home to go chase after someone else?! But she sells it so convincingly here that she really carries off the part of the girl he just doesn’t see as anything more than a friend) –
– and the whole song is an inner monologue by Mary’s narrator, about how she’s had enough of this state of affairs and will instead – as revealed in a soaring, inspirational chorus, played against the almost depressing subject matter of the verses – make her move so well that Mister Thicky Can’t-Read-The-Signals over there won’t be thinking about any other women for a long time.
It’s yet another entry in Smokey’s catalogue of relationship vignettes, once again made or broken by the skill of the singer – and Mary Wells not only sings this really well, but she is that character. When she’s on form like this, you believe her in almost anything she does; she’s the nervous girl learning to stand up for herself during the course of You Beat Me To The Punch, and she’s a woman who could have her pick of a thousand wealthy, handsome guys but loves her average joe boyfriend in My Guy, both of which used that believability, that audience connection, to sell shedloads of copies.
It was never like that for Your Old Stand By, and it’s difficult to put your finger on why. (Even Smokey apparently didn’t know.) Certainly, I didn’t like this one all that much to begin with; I think it’s the least “instant” of all Mary’s Motown singles since linking up with Smokey Robinson, the one that takes the longest to get its hooks in, and because it sounds so much like You Beat Me To The Punch and its tune is subtly lovely rather than strikingly so, I had to persevere a bit before I really started to love it; for me, unusually for a big-ticket Motown single, it’s a song that rewards repeated listens, rather than grabbing you by the lapels and proclaiming its greatness.
Others seem to have felt the same way. This is a much-beloved song in Mary’s oeuvre now, but back in 1963 it passed by without much attention being paid to its charms. For whatever reason, the public just weren’t as smitten with Ms Wells as they had been six months earlier, and the record sold only respectably – hardly the success Motown had literally been banking on.
The immediate knock-on effect was that while Smokey wasn’t taken off the Mary Wells job (unlike what would happen the first time he cut a pop chart disappointment with the Temptations, when Get Ready saw him summarily dropped in favour of Norman Whitfield), Motown brass let it be known that Mary was looking for hit material, and other writers were free to pitch potential singles if they so wished. One such “open” pitch, You Lost The Sweetest Boy from the newly-hot Holland-Dozier-Holland team, ended up ousting Smokey’s What’s Easy For Two Is Hard For One as the plug side of Mary’s next single.
It’s unclear as to whether Smokey viewed this as something of an insult, or simply a much-needed kick in the pants (he responded by raising his game to hitherto-unhinted at levels with Mary’s next-but-one single, a song which you may have heard of called My Guy); what might have happened after that we’ll never really know, because that was the point that Mary decided to walk away from Motown and sign a fresh contract with Twentieth Century Fox, never to be heard from again at the business end of the charts. Nobody was to know it at this point, but her Motown story – and thus her time on Motown Junkies – is almost over already. At least she would provide us with one of the all-time great big finishes.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
(Or maybe you’re only interested in Mary Wells? Click for more.)
Marvin Gaye “One Of These Days” |
Mary Wells “What Love Has Joined Together” |
DISCOVERING MOTOWN |
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Dave L said:
I agree that this one takes a little time to feel at home with, but you eventually ‘get there’ with it, and it earns its place as an always-welcome Wells’ side. It not only deserved to be a 45 A-side, but belongs on every “Greatest Hits” since too.
The next record, while it wouldn’t become the perennial that My Guy remains, would nevertheless, with one side following the other, keep Mary on the Billboard Pop chart a whopping 29 weeks starting September 28. (Both sides will go Top 30.)
I absolutely love “You Lost The Sweetest Boy”: a beguiling new kind of confident and triumphant Mary walking off with the flesh & blood treasure some stupid girl used and discarded, Diana Ross’s insistent and very identifiable voice in the background vocals, and that ‘happy, dancing’ tambourine right in the center of the mix.
In the second half of this year, Holland-Dozier-Holland begin consistently hitting so many aural oil wells, I wonder Nixon, where you will come up with all the superlatives you’ll need.
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Marie said:
Hi Motown Junkies,
I just wanted to thank you for leaving the nice comment on my blog. It was very much appreciated. I’m going to keep going, but perhaps will post less frequently.
Best wishes for the holidays.
P.S. The older posts will be restored when I return. Did I tell you you’re killing me with these beautifully written entries?
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The Nixon Administration said:
Thanks Marie đŸ™‚ If anyone hasn’t been to Catch That Train And Testify (or The Half Ain’t Never Been Told), it’s highly recommended.
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treborij said:
I never heard this one in the summer of ’63. Weird because You Beat Me To The Punch was the first Motown record I ever bought. I didn’t care for Laughing Boy that much so passed on it (still don’t). Still I was very Mary Wells conscious but I guess our local radio stations never playerd. I totally missed this one until I bought Greatest Hits the following summer and loved it right away.
It’s a weird one though. Smokey has Mary singing these weird stretched out phrases and the melody has an almost modal feel to it (unusual for the time). And I think it catches Mary a bit, especially in the middle section (Darling w-e-e-e-e-l-l-l-l, don’t you know that I can tell). Almost sounds like an Arabic scale. But I’ll give Smokey credit, it’s different. And despite the tentativeness to her vocal, I still love it.
But I’m with Dave L. It’s the next one that grabs me. It’s grabbed me since I bought it back in the day and it still does. I notice you only gave it a “6”. I haven’t yet read your comments on it yet but I look forward to doing so soon.
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The Nixon Administration said:
Treborij, looking at the lyric you quoted, are you thinking of “Two Lovers” instead of “Your Old Stand By”?
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treborij said:
Nixon,
Indeed I did. And I realized just what I did last night, when I decided to start out my late night listening with “Your Old Standby” and realized I had conflated the two songs. What I’m writing in the second paragraph pertains completely to Two Lovers.
No excuse. I think that since I discovered this site (last Friday) I’ve been reading the entries in several hour batches over the weekend and things are starting to run together in my mind.
Anyway, I totally missed “Your Old Standby” when it came out. Weird but the summer of 1963 was a great time for music (especially toward the end of the summer) so it’s not surprising that my yound mind was taken by other things. And the next Mary Wells release is one of my all-time favorite records, so it’s odd I didn’t even hear this one.
The second para is in reponse to “Two Lovers” and I like what you write about it. The twist ending is pretty obvious well before the point. But you said Smokey didn’t bring much new to the table with this one and here’s where I disagree. I think the vocal lines are completely new and I think Mary has a little tentativeness when delivering them, especially in the bridge (the “darling, well” part) But it’s a bold attempt by Smokey to get a different, mysterioso sound to the piece. And it works to some extent but they probably should have done a few more takes so Mary’s delivery would have been effortless. That’ said, I love this tune.
OK, Now I’ll go back to lurking and listening mode.
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The Nixon Administration said:
No need to lurk, I’ve really been enjoying your comments! Hope you’re still enjoying.
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Landini said:
I always thought this was an interesting record especially with the moody, exotic guitar opening. When she sings the first line you think the song is going to be in a minor key. While we are on the subject of Mary Wells, I always thought it was tragic how her life/career went after leaving Motown (no commercial success at other labels, failed marriages, poverty, illness). Jerry Wexler admitted that when she came to Atco records they couldn’t really do much for her. I think she was a very talented singer but needed a certain production style to fit her voice that was unique to Motown. PS — I thought Gladys Knight & the Pips did a nice remake of this tune on their “Everybody Needs Love” album.
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Robb Klein said:
I thought that Alantic/ATCO did a great job with Mary, by sending her to Barrett Strong and Sonny Sanders (ex-Motowners) and Carl Davis in Chicago. I think her ATCO cuts are pure Chicago Soul (my 2nd love after Motown), and her 2nd best quality cuts after Motown. Interesting that I didn’t really like her material after ATCO, and what came in between, was 20th Century Fox, and they sent her to Robert Bateman and Andre Williams along with Sonny Sanders (ex-Motowners), recording in Detroit. Starting with Jubilee, her singing was still good, but, I thought the songwriting started deteriorating.
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Landini said:
Hi! I’ll have to listen to her Atco stuff. I’ve never really heard much. I think it is sad how people who write about her, tend to blame all her problems on her decision to leave Motown. The young woman was barely out of her teens. People really should have been watching out for her. Even the guy at 20th Century Fox records seemed to think it was all her fault that she failed commercially there. I often wonder what would have happened if she had stayed at Motown. Would they have begun to neglect her once the Supremes starting having hits? I would have loved to have seen her hook up again with Smokey Robinson in the early 70s. The stuff he was producing for the 70’s Supremes (Floy Joy etc) sounds like it might have worked for her.
On Miss Wells’ post-Motown career, there are rumors that Bery Gordy was strong arming DJ’s not to play her records.
By the way, I like Chicago Soul too. Have you ever read Robert Preuter’s book about it. It is quite good & very detailed. I always thought that Jan Bradley’s “Mama Didn’t Lie” sounded like a Mary Wells song. Anyway, all the best to you friend!
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Robb Klein said:
Yes, I’ve read Bob’s book (also his book on Chicago R&B. I resided in Chicago from 1959-67, and Bob is a friend of mine. Most of Mary’s ATCO cuts sound like a cross between Motown and Carl Davis’ Okeh/Brunswick sound. Barrett Strong and Sonny Sanders had a big part in all of those. Sanders arranged most (if not all of them). Dear Lover did fairly well. None of the rest did. I also heard that Berry Gordy put pressure on his distributors and people with connections in radio and with DJs to not push anything by her. It is very sad. I liked virtually all her 20th Century for and ATCO material very much.
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Landini said:
Hey buddy. Did you ever hear the album Mary Wells did in the early 80s? I think it was supposed to be a Quiet Storm-urban style album. Would be curious to hear it. On Carl Davis-Chicago soul I noticed that he was sometimes able to help revive a career like Jackie Wilsons. I thought Jackie made some of his best stuff there. His older stuff sounds really dated to my ears. Is it true that Higher And Higher was made with moonlighting Motown musicians?
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Robb Klein said:
By coincidence, my record company, Airwave Records, was talking with Mary about recording for us in 1980 and 1981. She spent some time at our offices. Unfortunately, we never did record her (we had recorded loads of ex-Motowners-Freddie Gorman, Scherrie Payne, Art Posey, Cesar Valentino, Bobby Belle, as several of us owners had worked at Motown). The last commercial release i know of by Mary was a late Dico-style single on Epic Records “Gigolo” (from 1978). I don’t remember her having any ’80s releases.
Yes. Jackie Wilson’s “Higher and Higher” was recorded at United Sound Studios in Detroit, and James Jamerson, Benny Benjamin, Eddie Willis and The Andantes all participated in the recording. That was also true for “Since You Showed Me How To Be Happy” and “I’ve Lost You”. But, Carl Davis’ regular Chicago session players were excellent, and Wilson’s cuts recorded in Chicago (“Whispers”, “I Don’t Want To Lose You Now”, Because of You” and the rest, sound just as good to me.
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Abbott Cooper said:
As I recall, “Use Your Head” from 20th Century received a lot of airplay on the pop stations in NYC. Sadly, and approximately 50 years later, that song is the only post-Motown Mary Wells song I remember listening to as her career continued hurtling off to oblivion.
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bogart4017 said:
To all: “Old Love” as recorded by Gladys Knight & The Pips was not on the “Everybody Needs Love’ Lp. However it was included on “Silk & Soul” appox 1 year later.
Mary Wells “Gigolo” recorded for Epic records was not released in 1978 but in 1982 as a single and was featured on the well received Lp “In and Out of Love”.
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