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Motown M 1057 (A), April 1964
b/w What’s The Matter With You Baby
(Written by Clarence Paul, Dave Hamilton, Mickey Stevenson and Barney Ales)
Stateside SS 316 (A), July 1964
b/w What’s The Matter With You Baby
(Released in the UK under license through EMI / Stateside Records)
Motown’s first duet single since Sherri Taylor and Sammy Ward’s long-forgotten Oh Lover back in 1960, this is a fascinating (and fascinatingly weird) release for a number of reasons.
There are several stories to pick up here. Marvin Gaye, for whom this was a first released duet, would go on to find fame and fortune paired up with entirely different singers; Mary Wells was on the verge of leaving Motown in an unprecedented blaze of glory. Once Upon A Time was part of an album project, Together, which saw two of Motown’s hitmakers, Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells, partnered in an attempt to boost each other’s profiles.
Much has been written about who was the bigger name when the LP was (a) recorded and (b) released, but the truth of it seems to be that they were both pretty much on an equal footing; the sessions for Together took place throughout 1963, before the game-changing success of My Guy. Whilst Mary had clocked up lots of time in the Top Ten, Marvin was also a Top Ten artist by the time the sessions started, and if Mary had had the bigger hits, her chart placings were starting to get worse with each successive release, and she’d been seven long months without a single, while Marvin’s career now seemed to be going in the right (i.e. upward) direction. No, in the game of “who was more famous”, I think it’s a case of honours even.
Marketing ploy or not, there’s no denying it’s a great match of voices. Once Upon A Time, which was almost exactly a year old by the time Motown finally released it (likely in the wake of the strong initial reaction to My Guy), is a duet in the strictest sense, Mary and Marvin blending their voices together on every line of the chorus and most of the verses, and the effect is remarkable – warm and harmonious and romantic in a way Marvin’s later legendary duets never quite were. If it’s difficult to state with certainty who was the bigger star, Mary or Marvin, it’s also difficult to separate their performances here; they are as one, neither of them outshining (nor trying to outshine) the other, just singing together as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
(Which it may well have been, of course – rumours abound that the two were more than just duet partners, Marvin’s quote – “I guess you could say the duets were not great for my marriage” – suggestive but leaving room for ambiguity. Whatever the facts, they sound very good together here.)
Indeed, both of them turn in a splendid vocal performance on their solitary solo verse, and then the blending of harmonies throughout the song is highly effective. It’s a song of gratitude, and equally divided gratitude at that, Marvin and Mary both thanking the other for lifting them out of a life of loneliness, so if one had tried to dominate, the song would fall apart; it only works if both of them are exactly as in love and exactly as thankful as the other. Which they are.
A pity, then, that it’s all in the service of such a pedestrian song. It’s a midtempo ballad with calypso touches, more in the style of Wells’ solo material at the time it was recorded rather than Gaye’s, but with hints of bossa nova that pull the whole thing in an MOR rather than pop direction. It’s likely neither Marvin nor Mary was too dismayed by this, especially Marvin (who still harboured real ambitions to sing on the supper club circuit), but it’s a strangely sapping experience.
The melody is quite pretty, but very slight, and the repeated lines in each chorus – I was lonely / So lonely – are strangely disconcerting; the tune in the solo verses is lovely, and gives the leads plenty to work with, especially the descents back into the duet line, but it just feels like there should be more to it. It’s comfortable rather than passionate; all very nice, but it goes absolutely nowhere.
Indeed, it all drifts by without making much of an impression beyond “Ooh, this is quite pretty”, the only really noticeable moment coming courtesy of a lumbering, rudimentary solo at 1:15 from vibes man Dave Hamilton (who picked up a writing credit on this), aiming for the light jazz feel of some of Marvin’s earlier records but instead coming across as jarring and thin.
Taken with the general lack of passion on display to begin with, it makes the whole thing seem more throwaway, less consequential; it’s almost as though the record seems determined to stall its own momentum, diminish its own emotional impact.
The result is an overwhelmingly nice song, unarguably well sung, that just doesn’t work; it’s album filler, rather than a great single, a great duet, the start of Marvin’s long duet legacy or whatever other labels you want to put on it. One gets the sense that Motown may have felt the same way, given the long, long wait between recording and release. The eventual chart performance when the single finally did appear (both sides made the R&B Top 3 and pop Top 20 in America, and this was even a minor hit in Britain, only Motown’s second such success) may have been more to do with the star power of its singers, rather than any great love for the song.
It’s just nice, which isn’t a crime, but which is a crying shame; the two voices go together so well, this really needs a big, soaring chorus, something to show both singers off to their very best. Somewhere in New York, Ashford and Simpson were taking note.
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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A truly enjoyable song and a song that it’s difficult not to hum after hearing it. The combination of Marvin and Mary’s voice at the beginning of the song is priceless.
A 7 at least but I must confess I’m far more into MOR than you are.
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Yes, I like this to a 7 also even though I agree it’s more simple a song than Mary and Marvin deserve. They apply credible work, both, but neither is challenged by it. I like the nice long fadeout, especially in the single version, which is also melancholy in its way since we’re saying goodbye to Mary on the last issued Motown 45 that would carry her name.
I was very lucky in 1976 to find, for only four dollars, a still-sealed mono copy of the “Together” album. I believe it’s the only Motown album I have whose inner sleeve has the artwork for the highly controversial -and by most accounts, never released- Stepin Fetchit album, “My Son, The Sit-In.”
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We can only guess too, but my instinct, when it comes to Marvin’s four duet partners, is that his affection toward all of them -especially Tammi- was that of a protective brother, not a would-be suitor. Kim was married, Mary may have been divorced but also had a highly protective stage mother, Tammi was in love with David Ruffin, and beyond flirtatiousness, I don’t think even Marvin would cross Berry by making serious moves on Diana who, by Marvin’s own account, was pregnant and emotional shaky when they made their duets.
Moreover, the impression I get of Marvin in David Ritz biography is someone too ego-drive himself to be comfortable in an affair with a woman of comparable fame and talent.
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Umm from my understanding, Marvin was already involved/married to Anna Gordy and too many eyes were aware of any moves he would try to make. Though he was more interested in doing his own thing, Rather than duets and still at this time hadn’t had a number one and been essentially dry on the charts since Hitch Hike and Stubborn Kinda Fella. Still doing the Motown format known to have dislike ‘tail shaking’ performances, and more of a crooner. This is still a mixed sound of what was yet to be his ‘Style’ when able to do his own thing alone.
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They were indeed married by the time this was released, though not when it was recorded IIRC – but I thought it was widely acknowledged that neither of them was exactly a model of fidelity? Apologies if that’s libellous!
If there’s anyone here who hasn’t listened to Marvin’s 1978 LP “Here, My Dear”, an impossibly fucked-up, rambling, unbelievably ambitious disco-soul-funk-pop-cod-reggae dissection of his relationship with Anna initially conceived as a way to make alimony payments, well, stop reading this and go and buy a copy RIGHT NOW.
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This review is spot-on; I agree with every single word. Listening to this track is like eating candy floss; all sweetness with not a lot of substance, so that when it’s finished you’re still hungry. If anything 5/10 is slightly generous.
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The song isn’t as weak as the review has it. I don’t think I’d give it a “7”, as that would weaken the true 7s that need to be less than 8. I’d give it about 6.6, but keep it at 6 to not cheapen the 7s.
Mary recorded a duet with Smokey Robinson after the Sammy Ward/Sherrie Taylor, and before this. They were billed as “Smokey and Mary”. But, it wasn’t released.
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Oh, I agree with Nixon. I think it’s a great duet serving a middling song. I’d perhaps give it a 6 but no better. This was one single I always flipped.
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You’re right. The other side is much stronger.
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Oh dear… I have a feeling tomorrow’s review is going to cause some dissent. (Which is encouraged, of course.)
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I’ve been waiting a long time for this ‘tomorrow!’ – Yes – unless you give the flip at least a 9, you will certainly get some dissent! – But you are right on the money with this utterly faceless (but beautifully performed) bit of fluff… I might go to 6, out of the sheer pleasure of hearing them sing together… no, no, 5 is quite enough. – By the way, my memory is that in the Philadelphia area – and the Elmira NY area (where I was during the summer of 1964) the flip was the main event. It sure was for me.
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On the strength of Marvin’s and Mary’s wonderful performances alone, this recording deserves a “7.”
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I don’t subscribe to that line of reasoning; I once read a review of a Noel Coward play featuring an all-star cast struggling with second-rate material, the reviewer describing the experience as being like “watching Olympic swimmers trying to perform in six inches of water”, and that’s always stuck with me.
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I read the part of it sounding calypso. This has been my thought for many years. the song could have improved by starting out with seagulls chirping with crashing waves in background. As the song progresses it should have steel drums and orchestra with the andantes & male voices singing oohs and ahhs in background. The guitar and vibes should be a little more upfront or pronounced even with castanets. Eddie Willis doing a guitar backbeat. I think the song should be re-recorded and overdubbed with those affects. It should be released on the annivarsary every year.
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I just love this song. I love the way their voices blend. I mess around with singing a bit & this is a song I enjoy singing along with.
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Nixad hit ir right on the head when he describes it as “comfortable not passionate”.
Think of it as an old (well not too old) couple singing to, and reminiscing with, each other. One would not try to outdo the other. Thats what we have here.
I do remember when this was released. Nobody, and i mean nobody, played this side. The flip was considered side A.
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They played “Once Upon A Time” more in LA on KGFJ, and more in SF/Oakland on KDIA. It got a lot of play on WVON. In my 3 markets, I heard it more than the flip.
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Wow, Robb, I sure wish I had a time machine & could go back & listen to WVON. What a station that must have been. In the late 60s/early 70s I sometimes tuned in the local Wash, DC soul station, WUST, & enjoyed listening to that. I was probably the only 11 year old white boy in the Northern VA suburbs listening to that station. LOL!
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Thid is an 8 in my opinion. Their voices blend perfectly together. Mary doesn’t sound like her 63 voice. She sounds more mature. It’s way ahead of its time. This was a huge hit in Dayton Ohio, and we didn’thear her on the radio again until late 65. Everything in between was her t.v. appearances on shindig and hullabaloo. thank god for television!
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i am with you Paul. Great record! Great blending of voices! Best to you!
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