Tags
Motown M 1056 (B), March 1964
B-side of My Guy
(Written by Edward Holland Jr., Mickey Stevenson and Andre Williams)
Stateside SS 288 (B), May 1964
B-side of My Guy
(Released in the UK under license through EMI / Stateside Records)
If the A-side, the eternal My Guy, was Mary Wells’ crowning achievement, then this demented, wide-eyed, and utterly, utterly brilliant record – which turns out to be the unexpected equal of the big hit – is the lasting glory of the career of Andre Williams.
I almost don’t have the words to describe how great Oh Little Boy is, especially if you’ve not heard it before. (Note I said “almost”. You don’t get off the hook that easily. Though I’ll try and keep under the 2,000 word mark this time.)
This is the past and the future of all pop music, stirred in a great big pot by a certified loon, thrown at Mary Wells to interpret, and all in less than three minutes. The very first couple of seconds give the listener some kind of fair warning as to what’s about to happen: the Andantes, augmented on this occasion by Liz Lands, no less, strike up an offbeat, out-of-key chant of “Sh-bop sh-bop!”, a direct lift from the Flamingos’ equally otherworldly I Only Have Eyes For You (and just as out of place on this record as on that one), calling up a world now already disappearing: sock hops, soda fountains, class rings, the golden age of doo-wop. But where the Flamingos’ record uses the weirdness to create a surreal, dreamlike, floating atmosphere, here it’s just deliberately jarring, reflecting the fractured mental state of the narrator.
Oh, the narrator. Mary Wells, already one of the finest actresses in pop music, plays a woman who’s been unceremoniously dumped and is having trouble staying on the right side of crazy. (The aforementioned Andre Williams, who co-wrote and produced this, was and is proudly on the wrong side of crazy, making him an inspired choice to chair this one.) Williams coaxes a brilliant performance out of Mary, dramatically and vocally; her voice is just out of this world on this one, by turns throaty, menacing, off the beat, flat, semi-spoken, semi-spat, alternately self-reliant and helplessly pleading, playing off the backing vocals to invent her own vocal line that has nothing to do with the rest of the tune… it’s not only presaging stuff like Aretha’s Respect but also the likes of Kelis or even Missy Elliott:
A carton of cigarettes
And a tear every now and then
Gives me some relief…
It’s never less than totally captivating. Totally believable, too; Mary’s acting talent I’ve already referenced, but there’s also the music to consider, which completely reflects the subject matter in hand, always veering somewhere between defiant spite and complete mental collapse, Williams keeping the tone just right for whatever emotion the song happens to call for at that precise moment, in the most advanced and natural synthesis of form and function Motown had ever seen.
The chorus is just outstanding, Mary half a beat behind the operatically-enhanced Andantes, letting them carry the woozy, swooning tune while she just toasts over the top of it all, spitting out her words one syllable at a time in something almost approximating rap. “You’re gonna want me back and it’s gonna be too late now here’s what I’m gonna tell you I’m gonna say no no no”, she barks, as we sit and listen, mouths agape.
Most great pop hits would be satisfied there with a job well done, but not this one – so when we’ve already had that chorus twice, Williams and Wells have one more trick up their sleeve for us to really set the tone once and for all. The narrator’s finally lost the plot, the lead vocal disappears, the drums ramp up, mariachi horns kick in; now, for the last time, enter Liz Lands, battering high C for a full six seconds (from 1:50 to 1:56), her single greatest contribution to any Motown record, a miniature aria that sums up the narrator’s mental breakdown and, somehow, fits the song like a glove. “Explosive” doesn’t cover it – the visual image it conjures up is something more akin to that stock footage of the house being destroyed by a nuclear blast.
(And while searching for said stock footage on Youtube, I found this impossibly messed-up Fifties public safety film, which starts out trying to give sensible advice but ends up just showing things being blown up for no reason, and which is pretty much exactly what this record is like. But I digress. (Gee, you think? – The Readers)).
There’s so much to love here. The drums on the heavy beat as if the world’s about to end, the jangling, detuned guitars that sound as if there’s something broken somewhere in the mix, the blurry rhythm that feels somehow intoxicated, the two almost but not quite totally separate vocal lines dovetailing with almost surgical precision yet giving the chaotic impression of a jumbled, off-the-cuff screed of passion… this is a record you can listen to a hundred times and still get something new out of it on the 101st play.
Motown’s best ever B-side, and – even in light of the perfect pop precision of My Guy – quite possibly Mary Wells’ best ever record. A genuine masterpiece, and a fitting end to a bunch of brilliant careers.
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.)
Mary Wells “My Guy” |
Martha & the Vandellas “In My Lonely Room” |
DISCOVERING MOTOWN |
---|
Like the blog? Listen to our radio show! |
Motown Junkies presents the finest Motown cuts, big hits and hard to find classics. Listen to all past episodes here. |
Dave L said:
Bravo!
This was so monumentally different from the A-side, it scared the living hell of you, especially if you were only 10. It went right on Wells’ Greatest Hits album with “My Guy” by mid-April of ’64, in stores nearly two months before the My Guy proper album (Motown 617).
Whether or not Williams was crazy, he damn sure was unique. You need no more than the first ten seconds of this to know you’re in another world, far removed from HDH or Smokey territory. “My Guy” deserves its 10, certainly, but it’s no surprise by 1964 how competently Mary could ace a Smokey song. She’d never had a hit with Williams (did anybody else?) yet she throws herself into this performance fearlessly.
I think it was Charles Laughton that once told Bette Davis, “never stop daring to hang yourself.” This record proves Mary was made of the same kind of bravery.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Robb Klein said:
Mary did a good job on it. And, it is certainly very different from the typical mid 1964 Motown fodder. But, it’s a matter of taste. It is interesting. But, I don’t like it very much. I disagree that it’s Andre Williams’ best Motown production. I like his work with The Creations much better. I like Williams’ work with The Four Holidays(Four Hollidays) , and most of his Golden World work much better.
LikeLike
treborij said:
Wow! This is an amazing track! It has an almost apolcalyptic tone. My Guy b/w Oh Little Boy is a real yin/yang release. I remember when I first played the B side, I didn’t like it. But when it showed up later that summer on the silver Greatest Hits LP and I kept hearing it, it really grew on me.
I actually agree that it’s a 10. Mary’s performance is so riveting and unhinged. And it wasn’t until I got the Singles box that I found out it was Liz Lands who sang that operatic stuff in the middle.
The amazing thing is that this track wasn’t included on the Looking Back boxed set. It’s truly one of Mary’s crowning moments. Wonder why.
LikeLike
Landini said:
I’m with Robb on this one. Never really cared for it. I thought she was a better uptempo singer rather than ballad singer. I wonder what Brenda Holloway would have done with this.
LikeLike
144man said:
This record is so wonderfully quirky, but I can only give it 9/10 because it is an inferior edit.
The best version I’ve heard appears on the 1964 UK Tamla Motown mono LP “Mary Wells’ Greatest Hits” (TML11032), which lasts a whole 22 seconds longer than the single, mainly due to Liz Lands’ part consisting of two lines rather than one. This is the version that thoroughly deserves a 10/10 rating.
LikeLike
treborij said:
>>The best version I’ve heard appears on the 1964 UK Tamla Motown mono LP “Mary Wells’ Greatest Hits” (TML11032), which lasts a whole 22 seconds longer than the single, mainly due to Liz Lands’ part consisting of two lines rather than one. <<
What????? How can this be? It never appeared anywhere else?
LikeLike
144man said:
The full Liz Lands section appears on the stereo CD Mary Wells’ Compact Command performances. Unfortunately, the track is edited to be the same length as the single with the result that the end is missing from the CD.
LikeLike
The Nixon Administration said:
The plot thickens! Armed with that information, I just found this version on Youtube, and it’s not an alternate edit, it’s a completely different take (and not just a different lead vocal take – Mary, Liz and the band are *all* different than on the 45):
For my money, I very much prefer the 7″ version.
LikeLike
144man said:
That sounds very much like the stereo take on the Compact Command CD. The version on the mono LP sounds better than that and lasts 2 minutes 59 seconds.
LikeLike
The Nixon Administration said:
Yeah, sorry to be confusing, that’s the version from the CD you mentioned. (Youtube doesn’t have the mono LP edit at the time of asking.)
LikeLike
John Plant said:
Delighted by your analysis of this very operatic masterpiece. I was an opera fanatic long before I discovered Motown, and this song certainly brings both worlds together- and not just because of Liz Lands. The charged tremulous emotion in Mary’s voice as
she sings about those cigarettes is pure verismo, late 19th century Italian opera, and those No’s are right out of Tosca. Hurrah for excess! 20th Century Fox certainly missed the boat – on the evidence of this record Mary Wells could have incinerated the screen. Your essays on both sides of this 45 are fully worthy of their subjects – since we’re in operatic territory, bravissimo! Bis!
LikeLike
Dave L said:
😦
Rest in peace.
Both Nickolas Ashford and Esther Gordy Edwards passed away this week.
LikeLike
m.l. ford said:
When I first heard “Oh Little Boy……”, I liked it immediately, the opening background chorus adlib sounds like the Flamingo’s “I Only Have Eyes For You” it does it through the whole record just about. The middle part towards the end, the brass horns sounds Mexican.
LikeLike
Damecia said:
Everytime I read one of your reviews I like to listen to the song so I can judge by ears and not by reputation and because I’m so young I never heard 75% of these songs until now. lol.
So I never heard this song before. As I’m listening, I kid you not, I have to rewind after 15 seconds because this song is that good. I was hooked almost instantly. This song is the TRUTH!!!
Mary’s delivery here is terrific because just when you think you know what she’s gonna do she does the complete opposite. And the high note is to die for! I like “Midnight Johnny” by Liz Lands, but I like Connie Haines version better.
Wonderful song and great B-Side to a great song. Could this be the best A-B side in Motown history????
LikeLike
The Nixon Administration said:
I think so, yes. For my money, there are two others in the future which come close, where both sides were looking at scores of ten out of ten (meaning they’re in my personal top fifty); one of them eventually made it, one of them had to settle for a 10/9 split. But I think this one is probably the best.
Anyway. Glad you enjoyed! I’m hopefully going back on the radio soon, where I’ll be evangelising about this track some more.
LikeLike
Damecia said:
Great! Please let me know when you do. I would love to hear it.
LikeLike
The Nixon Administration said:
I’ll be talking Motown (and Motown Junkies) on Radio Cardiff again this Saturday morning (UK time) – exact times TBC. Still firming up on how people can listen online (later on!), I’ll post details as soon as I have them.
LikeLike
The Nixon Administration said:
(…and if people want to hear what happened last time (back in December), you can listen again online: http://screencast.com/t/Vd5reoAS)
LikeLike
Dave L said:
This is one of those reviews I find myself coming back to read several times more. I love it when you love any Motown record this much. If only Mary had lived to read this.
🙂
LikeLike
The Nixon Administration said:
Thanks Dave, I really appreciate it. 🙂
I gave this record a spin on Radio Cardiff the weekend before last, and the spot went down so well I’ve been invited to permanently co-host the show, which is nice. Anyway, you can listen here if you’ve not heard it already:
LikeLike
bogart4017 said:
Glad you got the Flamingos connection. That always tripped me out. This is the second single i can think of in the rock and roll era where someone played this close to a nervous breakdown (1st being “I Put a Spell On You” by Screaming Jay Hawkins) and possibly the best. Damn song still makes me nervous lo these many years later.
LikeLike
Steven C. Majors said:
This got plenty of play in our neighborhood when this 45 first came out. It was a 2 sided hit in Washington DC.
LikeLike