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UNRELEASED: scheduled for
Motown M 1065 (B), September 1964
B-side of Whisper You Love Me, Boy
(Written by Smokey Robinson)
Those of you paying more attention than me would have read the heartfelt and lengthy goodbye to Mary Wells that made up the entry on Whisper You Love Me, Boy, and noticed that – because we review both sides of every Motown single separately here on Motown Junkies – the existence of a scheduled B-side to this cancelled, unreleased 45 meant we still had one more Mary song to go.
And you’re right, we do, but, well… firstly, according to the visitor stats, about half as many people read about B-sides as A-sides (which is interesting in itself, but a story for another day), and I didn’t want the farewell tucked away out of sight. And secondly, well, there’s no way I was going to say goodbye to Mary Wells while talking about I’ll Be Available.
This is a very odd selection for what turns out to be The Complete Motown Singles series’ last serving of Mary Wells. An older recording, cut with writer/producer Smokey Robinson back in the spring of ’63 when the pair’s midtempo calypso-tinged collaborations were still lighting up the charts, it was left on the shelf at the time of recording, and it would have been sat in the can for a year and a half by the time it was meant to appear if Motown hadn’t cancelled this single.
I have to say, I don’t really get Motown’s decision to dust this off. Presumably, it was picked in a white-heat frenzy of excitement in the wake of My Guy, as the label filled up its release schedules months in advance to get the follow-ups ready. So, maybe this was the only thing, er, available at such short notice. Maybe it was just pencilled in as a placeholder, to be replaced by one of the oodles of great new songs Miss Wells was bound to cut over the summer of 1964, and of course it never got replaced because Miss Wells actually walked out on the company and there were no new songs.
But whatever the story, this is still a weird choice for an exhumation. It’s not bad, it’s just very slight, and more than a little bit silly; a low-key, twangy, bluesy sort of a scribble, a skit for Mary to show off her sassy, engaging side, without any pretentions above its station.
I’d be amazed if either Smokey or Mary envisioned this as anything other than filler; neither of them is taking this too seriously, and even though I mean that in its most positive sense, it’s still quite daffy. Mary promises the listener that whatever life may bring in the future, she will always be… well, you can guess the rest. It mainly serves to illustrate how few words there are that really rhyme with “available”, leading to some splendidly unrealistic stretches as Smokey (surely knowingly) forces rhyming couplets where no such couplets should ever exist:
When every ship in the sea has become un-sail-able…
…When you need a love that’s un-fail-able…
…When the U.S. Mail is no longer mail-able…
You can call on me, I’ll be available
It’s not a joke, it’s not done tongue-in-cheek, but it is intentionally amusing, and it raises a smile – to match the one Mary’s clearly wearing. So maybe this was the right note for Mary’s Motown career to end on after all? Whatever, there isn’t any more after this, I’m afraid, and so it’s up to us to squeeze as much entertainment as possible from these last dregs. Which, it turns out, is actually quite a bit of entertainment, all things considered.
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!)
COVERWATCH
Motown Junkies has reviewed other Motown versions of this song:
- Brenda Holloway (May 1965)
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.)
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| Mary Wells “Whisper You Love Me, Boy” |
Earl Van Dyke “Soul Stomp” |
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For the record, since “Whisper You Love Me Boy” has been up, I’ve been here several times a day, every day, clicking the flipside just to see if you’d put up the new essay moments earlier and before the alert hit my Yahoo email. Nobody’s more familiar than me, I suspect, with the “Not Found” page. 😮 That’s been my standard since I discovered Motown Junkies. I read everything you put up even if the pending side is as unknown as the terrain of Mars.
I got a very nice pre-owned copy ( M- ) of the Vintage Stock album in 1993, love the entire thing, but definitely flipped for “One Block From Heaven,” a song in my opinion worth no less excitement than the better known “You Lost The Sweetest Boy.”
http://littleurl.info/ps7
Then, a year later, came the Looking Back cd set on Mary, the best Motown has ever done by her, the one to beat if it can be done. Only then did we get to hear the lost Smokey nugget, “My Heart Is Like A Clock,” as well as learn that “I Want You ‘Round,” better known by Marvin and Kim, was actually done by Smokey & Mary first. The entire set is in mono, always a plus with me too.
“Operator,” “Old Love Let’s Try It Again,” “What Love Has Joined Together,” “He Hold His Own,” “Whisper You Love Me Boy,” “When I’m Gone,” “Honey Boy,” “Everybody Needs Love” and “I’ll Be Available” …that’s a lot of songs to discover later that Mary was first with. But while subsequent versions may be more fixed in the memory, Mary did okay by all of them.
Furious as he may have been at the time, I’d like to think even Berry Gordy wouldn’t wish the career nosedive and oblivion on Mary that came to be after 1964. In any discussion of Motown history, there’s no shaking the melancholy attached to Mary’s goodbye. We just have to live with it.
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Clearly I have to get my hands on ‘Looking Back..’ I don’t know Mary’s version of this song, but I used to own a 45 of Brenda’s – and I must say, I love the song unreservedly – and particularly enjoy the stanza you quote. Worthy of Cole Porter or W. S. Gilbert. Hurrah for splendid absurdity! Dave, I suspect I won’t rest easy until I’ve heard ‘My Heart is Like a Clock.’ I would also like to backpedal to the ‘My Guy’ album, which I do still have, and mention another slight but delightful song, the one that opens the album: ‘He’s the Boy I Love.’ Definitely fluff, but my inner nerd rejoices at lines like: ‘Now you may like the guy who dresses hot.. And that’s (gorgeous pause) all right, but I’ll keep the one I’ve got….’
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Along with Looking Back, there in the first half of the 90s, I also snatched up CD versions of More Hits By The Supremes (Motown 627), and because I didn’t even have them on vinyl, Mary Wells Sings My Guy (Motown 617), Marvelous Marvelettes (Tamla 237) and Come And Get These Memories (Gordy 902). They were obviously remainers because they were in the ‘long box’ packaging CDs came retailed in so very long ago. Boy, am I glad I got them when I did (and wish I’d gotten more), because they don’t come cheap on eBay now.
All in all, I’ve got a lot more to be contented about in my collection, than a here-and-there instance of something urgent that got away.
In addition to many never-before-released items on Looking Back, there’s a generous sampling of tracks from her studio Motown albums that, in their vinyl form are now forbiddingly costly, when you can even find them. So yes, it is recommended. The included booket, until Peter Benjaminson’s announced biography on Wells ever gets here, does a decent job too of telling her story.
Here’s “My Heart Is Like A Clock”
To my ears, and many others, Ross is as clear in the background of this one as she is on “You Lost The Sweetest Boy.”
What you call your ‘inner nerd’ I call my inner romantic. No, I wouldn’t want some rugby team witnessing me lip-syncing along with my Wells material, but in a world a little tougher and meaner each day, romantics have to their oases where we can find them.
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Many thanks, Dave, it’s going into my Amazon shopping basket. What a BEAUTIFUL song. By the way, one of the treasures I did hang on to was an original copy of MLP-600, Mary’s first album and the first issued on the Motown label. I probably destroyed its resale value permanently by inscribing my last name after the ‘Dear John’ on the front cover.. Apologies to the next generation, since I’M certainly never going to sell it. Wow, ‘My Heart is LIke a Clock’ is one haunting song. Talk about romantic oases!!
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I’ll agree with this assessment and add that this tune is one of a couple that Brenda Holloway does better than Mary. Brenda takes hold of this song, wonky scansion and all, and puts a jazz flavor into it. She doesn’t let go from start to finish. This site has added a great deal to my appreciation of Mary Wells, but when I hear Brenda’s version, it reinforces my opinion that, if I had to choose…
I would go with the beautiful “Whisper You Love Me, Boy” as the proper farewell to the great Ms. Wells.
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While certainly not one of her best recordings, I find Mary’s and Brenda’s versions both deserving of “6.”
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Even after hearing Mary’s version on “Looking Back 1961-1964” it didnt make me forget about Brenda’s recording. She is my hands-down favorite and a damn fine looking woman if i havent said so before.
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