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Motown M 1044 (A), June 1963
b/w (The Man With The) Rock And Roll Banjo Band
(Written by Smokey Robinson)
The Supremes’ endless quest to shake off their “no-hit” nickname continued with another sharp change in direction. Once again, Motown had reacted to the commercial failure of a Supremes single (the baffling “country/doo-wop” trifle My Heart Can’t Take It No More) with yet another abrupt swap-out of writers and producers; for a group still searching for their own individual sound, their own voice, Motown’s repeated switches of personnel can’t have been helping matters.
So, out went Clarence Paul, and in came company vice-president Smokey Robinson. The group already had experience working with Smokey, who’d been their erstwhile neighbour in Detroit’s monolithic Brewster-Douglass council flats; along with a smattering of B-sides, he’d also written and produced a previous Supremes single, Your Heart Belongs To Me, a year previously in May of 1962.
Just like that record, A Breath Taking Guy sounds an awful lot like the stuff Smokey was doing with Mary Wells. Just like that record, this one dented the pop Hot 100 (climbing to a dizzying number 75). Unlike that record, this one is slightly silly. How silly? Look at this.
The song is based around a central “hook” in the chorus, where each of the Supremes gets a solo line in turn – Are you just a breath-taking / First sight soul-shaking / One night love-making / Next day heart-breaking guy? It feels like it’s a hair’s breadth away from sounding enchanting, magical, but it falls just short, and instead Smokey’s well-planned trick play comes across as clunky and artificial, drawing attention to itself. As if to emphasise this, Motown, in their infinite wisdom, initially opted to use the entire lyrics of the chorus as the song’s title. The result was a very cramped label (left) struggling to fit four lines and sixteen words of text. Whether Smokey was arguing for or against this is not recorded.
Whatever the reason, somebody put a stop to this jape fairly quickly, and on later pressings the title became simply A Breath Taking Guy – more commercial, but not really summing up the song half as well. (This, of course, would be a Supremes trait throughout their fast-approaching mid-Sixties heyday; I’m still amazed at the number of people who listen to the irresistible likes of, say, Baby Love or You Can’t Hurry Love without realising they’re dancing to a song of full-on crushing heartbreak.)
Title-based silliness aside, Smokey Robinson is never at his best when he gets carried away with a clever idea – in this instance, that almost-riveting chorus hook, but it could have been anything – at the expense of crafting a song to go with the latest in his box of tricks. That’s the case here; it’s a nice enough little song, very pretty in places, but it’s hard to praise it too much when it’s almost defiantly thin and flat.
I’m being unduly harsh again – I do like the song, though I probably haven’t made that very clear. It’s sweet and charming, and the girls’ harmonies are light and billowy, so it makes for pleasant enough listening without being earth-shattering in any way. Really, it just sounds like something Smokey would have written for Mary Wells a year previously; it’s in the same calypso-tinged midtempo bag, it’s almost optimised for Miss Wells’ phrasing rather than Miss Ross (an unusual criticism for a Smokey Robinson song and production, since he was usually the master of tailoring his words to match a performer’s individual cadences); and it isn’t half as catchy as it thinks it is, meaning it was probably never likely to trouble the upper echelons of the pop charts. In truth, this has “B-side” written all over it.
Between that and the title kerfuffle, which quite possibly killed any chance this had of getting serious radio play (see the promo, right), A Breath Taking Guy ended up costing Smokey the Supremes gig, spelling the end of Robinson’s involvement with the group’s 45s for a number of years. The next time the Supremes came to release a single, it would bear the magic five-word combination that would soon be conquering the world: “(Holland-Dozier-Holland) / THE SUPREMES”. Under the aegis of the HDH team, the “no-hit” Supremes would not only throw off that nickname forever, but also rack up an astounding twelve number one pop hits in less than six years.
A shame for Smokey that he got to be the “before” guy, rather than revelling in that success – but he’d go on to have a banner year in 1964 without these girls, and anyway A Breath Taking Guy, nice though it is, was never in a million years the record that would make that breakthrough.
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.
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Dave L said:
I found that stock copy of the long-title version at a Philadelphia Record Museum in 1976. A busy downtown store, they kept their oldies behind the counter, and you had to come in knowing what you wanted – you couldn’t browse the records themselves, only their catalog.
The surly clerk was not happy to be handed my long list: probably at least five other Supremes titles on it, followed no doubt faithfully, with Tops, Tempts, Vandellas, Marvelettes … you know the names. It wasn’t until I was all the way back in Delran New Jersey (35 miles distance), that I really got to examine the fifty or sixty 45’s bought that trip to find this one was cracked. (Little chance it was deliberate since the clerk surely didn’t examine my every selection out of its sleeve before he bagged them.)
Even if I wanted to, I’d have lost more money in gas and bridge tolls to go back and complain, but I think I had a sense even that long ago of the label’s rarity. I’d find an immaculate copy of the short-title pressing less than a year later, so all was well soon enough, and the song sounds the same no matter the version of label.
I can live with a five 🙂 It’s a sweet song, worthy of side two of the eventual Where Did Our Love Go album. It’s easy to listen to, appropriate a song for a trio 19-year-olds in 1963, and played today, shouldn’t cause any surviving Supreme, or Smokey, to blush.
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The Nixon Administration said:
That sounds amazing – I don’t often get jealous when you talk about finding rare records like this, but I’m certainly jealous now!
I like your last two sentences, which pretty much sum up my feelings for the song. As I explain on the marks page, a 5 from me isn’t a bad result… it was massively close to being a six, I hovered between the two for quite a while – judging by the number of “disagree” votes, maybe I should have gone with six instead? (Or not – the problem with people just disagreeing with a mid-range mark is that I’m not sure if they think I’m being too harsh or too generous… anyone? I don’t bite, I promise!)
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Dave L said:
Nixon, you haven’t yet awarded a score, high or low, that’s bothered me.
What can’t be summed in a random digit -for all of us- is how much a given Motown song plugs into us emotionally …or fails to. And for all of us, our individual lists of ‘bests’ might hone closely but will probably never exactly match. And that’s great. Much as I treasure all the detail in your every review, there should also remain that elusive, intangible something for all of us -even you- that renders us disarmed and stuttering when trying to explain love.
I’m most intrigued when you give your highest mark to something that I might have regarded as sturdy and decent -“Dream Come True” and “Strange I Know,” for instance- which spurs me to reinvestigate the songs for added worth. I consider that a favor you do me.
But I know I won’t be talked out of loving anything I long ago discovered I do. If I could have done cartwheels I would have when, during your review of “Locking Up My Heart,” you awarded a 10 to the Marvelettes’ unreleased “Knock On My Door.” Yet had you dismissed the title as a lost, would-be album filler, I wouldn’t love it a single bit less.
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Marie said:
“Title-based silliness aside, Smokey Robinson is never at his best when he gets carried away with a clever idea . . .
A spot-on description, as usual, MotownJunkies!
Marie
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Nick in Pasadena said:
When I started reading your review, I was annoyed. “Hey, I really like this record! It was one of my favorites on the Where Did Our Love Go album when I played it constantly (at age 13)!”
But your ultimate verdict is spot-on. It’s a pleasant, enjoyable tune, but it doesn’t represent any kind of leap forward in Smokey’s creative energies, and does indeed sound like it was intended for Mary Wells. Good assessment as always.
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The Nixon Administration said:
Thanks Nick. I do like the song, it’s just always been the one track on Where Did Our Love Go that sounds wholly out of place, even among the rather atypical stuff on side two.
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Landini said:
This is another early Supremes favorite of mine. I love the traded off leads during the chorus. I always wish Motown had done more “traded off leads within the same song” songs for the Supremes. I know they wouldn’t have worked as singles but would have been nice for an album track or two. This song always brings to mind the wonderful work that Smokey did with the Jean Terrel led Supremes in the early 70S. I love the Floy Joy album which I think is very underrated. On several songs for that album Smokey employed the “traded off leads within the same song” style. (As you can see that is a favorite musical sub-genre of mine) The track “A Heart Like Mine” features a nice Mary Wilson lead & reminds me of “Breathtaking Guy”.
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david d h said:
for me, this IS another early gem. i love the harmonies and the vocal trade offs. i feel it fit the WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO lp just fine and i am surprised it didnt make the top 40.it’s one of my favorites.
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The Nixon Administration said:
Really? You surprise me – not with it being one of your favourites, just that you feel it fits with the rest of the album. To me, it always felt a bit weird, the most obvious relic of the “no-hit” era shoehorned in alongside the other quirky / wonky / generally obviously pre-fame ballads on Side 2. Horses for courses, I guess!
I really do need to go through all these older entries and add the WDOLG album sleeve, now I come to think of it.
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Damecia said:
I have to agree with this verdict. I have always loved this unusual chorus, but it falls flat just like the verses. I’m not to keen on the style Miss Ross was trying to sing with either.
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144man said:
I have just fallen madly and passionately in love with the version that appears on the Marvelettes’ “Forever More” anthology. Wanda’s voice is so right for the song, and the arrangement is stunning. It’s going to be a long time before the single gets reviewed here.
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Ray said:
I concur. Wanda did a wonderful job with the 1970 update of this song. The single version edits out portions of the instrumental intro, so you need to get the RETURN OF THE MARVELETTES album to hear the full version. Sadly we just received word that Wanda has passed at age 78. RIP and thank you for the music
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tomovox said:
Wow. Such sad news about Wanda’s passing. Very nice though to see the love for her version of this song.
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Ricky said:
Awesome track but their live rendition is hot. I too like the Marvelettes (well Wanda Rogers) version of the song it’s better than the original q little.
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Mickey The Twistin' Playboy said:
I love the girls’ harmonies on this and that each one was given a line to sing. That’s something not long after we’d never get to hear again on a single. One of the better pre-WDOLG tracks. 7/10/
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Robert said:
I’d give it a 7. I’ve always loved this one, since the first time I heard it on the ’74 Anthology album. It was my first time hearing Flo’s voice singing lead. When she died, the obituary in Time magazine called her “silky-voiced background singer for the Supremes.” Just thinking about that line brings back so many memories. At the time of her death, this song was the only example I had of her “silky” voice out front instead of in the background. And the description surely fits here.
Robert
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bogart4017 said:
Wonderful record. Even hearing it today makes me nostaglic for those thrilling days of yesteryear….
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Roy M. said:
Must disagree with you; just a “5″ ?! Breath Taking Guy is one of my all time favorite Supremes tunes! Smokey Robinson’s lyrics and the Supremes’ singing are a fantastic combination. This tune did not do well, but one gets a chance to hear the individual voices of the group during the part “Are you just a breath taking” (Diana), “first sight soul shaking” (Florence) “one night love making” (Diana), “next day heart breaking” (Mary) “guy” (the entire group). I’ve played this song for women, and they totally identify with the story; a guy who loves them for one night, then acts like he doesn’t know them the next day. I personally would give the song a “9″, since the rating of “10″ seems to be reserved for the mega-hits.
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Bob J. said:
I always loved this one as well. I don’t feel like it was out of place on the album. If any tune was the odd man out, I’d vote for “Your Kiss of Fire” which, to me, was the only song on the LP that I had no use for.
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Abbott Cooper said:
I distinctly remember hearing this one for the first time, and many times more, on AM radio station WNJR, located in Newark, New Jersey but heard clearly throughout New York City. The copy (copies) the station possessed had the label with the longform title, which the DJs struggled to pronounce every time the record was played. It was laughable, and I recall the DJs having fun stumbling through it. As for the song, a “7” to me. Loved the line handoffs between the gals. This side made investing in the record a little easier considering what was coming on the reverse side.
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Robb Klein said:
I’d give this a “7”. It’s above average.
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R. Mark Desjardins said:
I’ve heard Diana Ross sing this long title song to Smokey during one of her tv specials and it is always SO cool. Hit or not, I like it!
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Slade Barker said:
A very apt, very smart review.
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tomovox said:
After a never-ending succession of so-so records and a couple of nearly-good tunes, this is the one that made me sit up and hit “repeat” more than once. For me (and no doubt, me alone,) this is a 9. Everything hangs just right here. Diana Ross is finally given something pitched in the lower ranges of her voice and with a molasses-tempo that allows her to d-r-a-w out each and every syllable at her leisure. Flo and Mary are given room to flex and solo spots as well.
The band track laid out by the Funk Brothers is probably everything Smokey imagined his Harry Belafonte-inspired productions would sound like when he first came up with the idea. By this time, the band had this thing down to an exact science. Isolating the record itself from the fact that this was Motown and Smokey grafting The Mary Wells Sound onto an attempt at a hit for the Supremes, this is as perfect a pre-1964 Motown record as you could get.
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Robb Klein said:
I have no doubt that Smokey first started writing this song with Mary Wells in mind, Maybe after that, Berry came to him asking for a high-quality song to get The Supremes a hit.
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tomovox said:
That would definitely explain the wholesale change in musical direction for the Supremes. Just finished reading about the song in The Complete Motown Singles liner notes a few minutes ago; I didn’t realize it fared so poorly on the charts- but I love it all the same.
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