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Tamla T 54115 (B), May 1965
B-side of Operator
(Written by Smokey Robinson)
Tamla Motown TMG 519 (B), June 1965
B-side of Operator
(Released in the UK under license through EMI / Tamla Motown)
A double-sided tribute to Mary Wells, as Brenda Holloway inherits two of Mary’s old songs (and two of my least favourite ones, to boot) and is tasked with making something out of them. As with the A-side, Operator, a creditable and mature cover of a tatty throwaway Mary Wells B-side from the ancient past, here Brenda is handed a sow’s ear and manages to make, if not a silk purse exactly, then some sort of acceptable coin bag or something.
The unreleased original version of I’ll Be Available was the last time we met Mary Wells here on Motown Junkies, and it was a singularly inappropriate way to say goodbye, an exceedingly goofy little song based almost entirely on Smokey Robinson making enormous stretches out of unlikely rhymes (When the U.S. Mail has become un-mailable… I’ll be available!).
It wasn’t great, and any success it had rested solely on Miss Wells’ shoulders, her engaging personality ultimately carrying the daffy material with a smile. So at first blush it seems an unusual pick for Motown’s current project of apparently having Brenda Holloway work her way through the entire Mary Wells catalogue; the risks of an embarrassing mis-step are high.
Instead, as with the A-side, Brenda and Smokey tease out the pain in the song. Suddenly, and most unexpectedly (given that, again, the lyrics haven’t changed one syllable), this isn’t funny any more.
The narrator is a woman who’s willing to sacrifice her dignity and happiness for a one-night stand with some guy we never even get to meet. Whatever I’m doing, she sings (…and whoever you’re screwing, she doesn’t add, but it’s strongly implied), I’ll be available. If you want me, I’m yours, just pick up the phone. The silly rhymes are still silly, but the effect is darkly humorous rather than throwaway slapstick; she’s the poster child for low self-esteem, and she’s desperate.
Brenda doesn’t fit the rigid confines of Mary’s old pre-recorded band track as well as she had on the custom-altered, newly-cut A-side, her voice really much too big for such small and intricate spaces, too strong to be hidden under a bushel by following the blueprint of Mary’s rather more low-key original talk-whisper contralto. But the different approach, which involves taking the song entirely seriously (something you could never have said of the original), works despite itself, and the result, somewhat unexpectedly, is another somewhat sub-par Mary Wells cut transformed into something new, something different but undeniably engaging.
I still wouldn’t go so far as to say I really liked it, but this is another definite improvement on the original, and if these Mary Wells covers were proving to be chart poison for Brenda, well, on this evidence she was at least getting rather better at doing them.
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:
- Mary Wells (September 1964)
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 Brenda Holloway? Click for more.)
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| Brenda Holloway “Operator” |
Billy Eckstine “Down To Earth” |
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Strong disagreement here – I think the song is a delightful bit of fluff and affectionate rhymeplay, quite lacking in the dark undercurrents which you find in it. The song, and Brenda’s reading, are too self-assuredly bouncy to portray low self-esteem; there’s no desperation here, just a cheerful statement of interest. This is certainly not a female equivalent of ‘I’ll work three jobs, seven days a week, and bring my money home to you…’ All she’s offering is her smiling, radiant, playful presence, silly rhymes and all, and if the song’s addressee has any brains at all he’ll take her up on it. I’d go as far as 8 on this one.
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🙂
The song’s addressee sounds like a tosser, though, so he might well say no. Or he might peg the narrator as slightly unhinged – unhealthily obsessed and bordering on stalking – and steer clear…
Did you ever get a chance to check out Mary Wells’ version? In many ways (as I was saying to Dave below) I feel that being exposed to that one first might have prejudiced my view of this one – not in the sense that Mary’s is better (it isn’t, I definitely prefer Brenda’s), but that Mary brings out the lightness and silliness in the wordplay so much that Brenda sounds profound by comparison…
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Alas, no! ‘Looking Back’ seems to have everything but – I bought it after your eloquent encomium of ‘My Heart is Like a Clock’ and it was money well spent!
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Sorry, Dave L, I just realized it was YOU who set me on the track of ‘My Heart is Like a Clock’ – but Steve’s deep appreciation of all facets of Mary Wells was surely also a factor in that very fortunate purchase….
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While “Operator” got me on the first listening, this one took a little longer, but I’d go up to a 7 or 8 on it now.
And like John, I don’t perceive desperation in Brenda, but mature practicality. She’s got her cap set for this guy, but shrewdly assesses he doesn’t have all his wild oats sown, so she tells him to go ahead and do so, maybe get his heart broke a couple times, and when he’s ready for a devoted somebody, Brenda will still be there.
And obviously, the guy is going to be delighted and contented when he learns, on his own terms and on his own timetable, Brenda is the girl for him. She’s offering than a one-night stand, but wants him to deplete his wandering nature first.
It’s a nice record. I do agree that this one, “Operator,” “When I’m Gone,” and “I’ve Been Good To You” reveal that Holloway was deserving of more songs written just for her, and if only Smokey wasn’t stretched so thin in 1965, we’d have them. But what we did get remains very entertaining.
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Re: desperation, or lack of: hrmm, maybe, but those are the feelings I get from Mary’s version, which is done with a smirky lightness of touch that isn’t present here. Maybe it’s another case of me hearing the records in the wrong order – I was very familiar with Mary’s cut before I ever heard this one – but in Brenda’s version, what struck me immediately was the change in tone, the lack of humour compared to the original. “What-EVER I’m doing, when you call me / I’ll have to drop it, I’ll have to stop it” is disturbing to me. (Plus, the guy sounds like a shiftless wanker (“You can write every girl in the whole wide world sweet love letters”), but we don’t get the comic resolution, the comeuppance.) But hey, tomato, tomato.
I think I’d love this site even if someone else was writing it other than me, just because of the sheer quality of the regular posters here – you’re all so very erudite and because I love hearing opinions, finding out what other people think, having my preconceptions challenged.
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Ironically, Smokey did write some songs that seemed to be exclusively for Brenda, but they didn’t get released. “You’ve Changed Me” and “Till Johnny Comes,” both of which dealt with topics that were probably deemed “uncommercial” (or too daring or dark for their time). The last volume of “A Cellarful of Motown” also contains a somewhat unfinished, unfocused “My Baby Moves Me,” that was probably not taken further because Brenda had already decamped or the song was considered unsuitable for her or for any other female singer at the moment.
What we have, though, is “I’ll Be Available,” perhaps a “5” as a composition, but a “6” or “7” as a record because of Brenda’s delivery.
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Steve D. I like the goofy lyrics lol, not my favorite song though…something boring about it.
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Again Brenda delivers a great vocal performance
but this song is bland and never goes anywhere…Like operator it lacks a good hook
And I’m not sure why Motown released these songs
They’re good for album filler but not good enough to release as singles or a b-side…
4/10
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The bouncy piano line is a dead give away that this is a Smokey comp and it sounds very much like it was written for Mary. It was and always has been a fub “listen”.
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“fun” listen
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Stop bashing this song! It’s very clever Smokey songcraft! I always get a smile out of the rhyme of “When the U.S. Mail is (beat) no longer mail-able” and “I’ll be available.” Come on, that’s brilliant! Add to that the incredibly catchy tune and the irresistably danceable groove, and you have an easy 8 (in either version).
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I agree. This song is a good “7”. “5” is too low, and should stand for an average song of any company origin. Average Motown is MUCH higher quality, and should be approximately 7. This is an average Motown song, which has a very good quality.
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