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Tamla T 54105 (B), October 1964
B-side of Too Many Fish In The Sea
(Written by Edward Holland Jr.)
Stateside SS 369 (B), January 1965
B-side of Too Many Fish In The Sea
(Released in the UK under license through EMI / Stateside Records)
Further evidence of the Marvelettes’ transitional status in 1964: this B-side is actually a rejected Marvin Gaye track, cut a year and a half ago. As a consequence, the Andantes are here in full voice bulking out the group’s sound, which really only serves to highlight the relative weakness of the Marvelettes’ own slightly ropey backing vocals. Compared to the worldly sass of the A-side, Too Many Fish In The Sea, here they sound like young girls.
But if this is a return to the sound of the mid-’63 Marvelettes – and regardless of when the vocals were actually laid down (nobody knows), that’s how it comes over – well, that’s not unwelcome either. This is essentially an update of Too Strong To Be Strung Along, another early Marvelettes/Holland-Dozier crossover, but it’s a better song – and it’s nicely done, too, a reminder that while the group may have been struggling for both identity and recognition, they could still be relied upon to deliver the goods.
Quite what Marvin would have made of this, I’m not really sure. It’s a simpering pity ballad, a midtempo lament where Gladys Horton’s narrator bemoans the fact she’s so much more sensitive than normal people: while others might need , Gladys is suffering because hers is “the worst need of all”, the need to be kissed and hugged. If Gaye had released this, it would have kept later psychoanalysts busy for weeks.
I’m probably making this sound like a train wreck, an indefensibly narcissistic plea for attention inlaid with harsh, screechy backing vocals. In fact, it’s entirely pleasant and charming: the band are on good form with their pounded pianos and drums and their blaring horns, the cooing Andantes in the verses sound lovely, and the narrator’s self-pity is excused by the fact that (a) yes, being dumped makes you feel as though you’re the first person ever to go through this, that’s exactly what it feels like, cut her some slack, and (b) it’s Gladys Horton.
Gladys does well with it, her unexpectedly smoky and heartfelt exclamation in the middle eight – without love, I can’t exist, no no / It’s been like this every since / You been gone – a particular highlight. The song’s also very short, a one-and-three-quarter minute scribble that’s gone before it has a chance to really grate.
It’ll never be mistaken for a prime bit of classic Marvelettes, and it’s not in the same league as the A-side, but with these girls it’s always good to hear more – and in the absence of an album, well, it’s nice to catch up on what they’d been up to.
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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Like “Tie A String Around Your Finger” and “Little Girl Blue” it’s also a Marvelettes tune that goes right down the rabbit hole after the run of the original single. It was never included in any Marvelettes vinyl album and when Motown’s Yesteryear 45 series was inaugarated in 1972, it disappeared totally till the Deliver The Singles CD set of 1993.
The same fate awaits “No Time For Tears,” “Your Cheating Ways,” “Anything You Wanna Do” and “Paper Boy” and the Marvelettes aren’t the only acts this happens to.
A five is right on the nose. It’s not a bad song, but I confess it’s one that now makes me ask, “You leave ‘Knock On My Door’ in the can, but send out this…?”
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I disagree strongly. I like this song very much. It is one of my favourite early Marvelettes’ flip sides. I’d give it a 6.5. As only whole numbers are allowed, I’d give it a weak 7. Maybe it is a bit of fluff, but I like it a lot.
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Not a bad song, but not a memorable song either. I couldn’t even sing you the chorus right now if you were gonna pay me 1 million bucks (well…maybe I would remember the chorus then lol). Oddly enough the thing I like about this song is the girls bad vocals! IMO it gives this song that sincerity and next-door feel to it because the girls where just being young girls singing about heartbreak and longing for love. Am I making any sense? lol
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There are stronger unreleased tracks on the Marvelettes “Forever More”. Gladys’ vocals are let down by an unmemorable song. Eddie really needed Lamont and Brian for the melody department. I agree with 5/10.
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I like the song very much because I found it at a time when I was obsessively trying to find ANY Marvelettes record. This was before the amazing blessing of the CD age. What I liked (and still like) about the recording is that to me, it gave a hint of what the Marvelettes could have sounded like had H-D-H kept working with the group. I liked that it had a mix of an earlier Motown sound but was also a transition to the revved-up sounds to come.
The biggest kick though was hearing how the group was developing- Gladys was going toward a smoother, more mature sound; still enough of the “Mr. Postman” sound but now there was something new to her voice. I liked also that I could really, and I do mean really hear Katherine’s voice loud and clear. I liked that the Marvelettes had that youthful, not boringly all-the-rough-edges-rounded-to-oblivion sort of sound. That the Andantes were in the mix just made for an oddly appealing contrast.
My only complaint was that the record was too damn short!
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I’ve always loved Gladys and Katherine’s duet.
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I always loved this record an was intrigued by its unavailability. Unless you had the single you didnt have anything. Its length lends itself to replayability and it makes a nice singalong if you know the words.
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If the song is credited to just “Eddie Holland”, are we to assume that he wrote the chords as well? Do we know if he knew how to play piano or guitar? Just as I was getting used to thinking of him as supplying only lyrics to the HDH classics, I’m noticing that this one has a couple interesting chords in his solo-penned songs that I would expect a non-chord player to come up with (e.g. “so I won’t have … have to be lonely”). It’s that iv minor chord that John Lennon got from Smokey (I think) and then couldn’t leave alone.
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sorry about the typo: “I’m noticing that some of his solo-penned songs that I wouldN’T expect a non-chord player to come up with”
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Eddie played the piano. I don’t remember ever seeing or hearing of him playing the guitar. I’m sure he wrote music at times, as well as writing lyrics. This wasn’t the only song that only had his name on the writing credits.
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