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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
In the UK, we tend to think of Mary Wells as a one hit wonder. 'My Guy' was Motown's first ever British hit in the summer of '64. In the US however, things were different. That song just about marked the end of a very worthy run of chart hits.
Mary went to an audition at Motown in 1960, with a song she had written with Jackie Wilson in mind 'Bye Bye Baby'. She could not write music or play any instrument, so they had her sing the song. They signed her as a performing artist there and then, and it became her first release. The record sold steadily for large parts of 1960 and 61, making the R&B top ten and just missing the pop top 40.
The next move was inspired. Mary was teamed with their top songwriter/producer Smokey Robinson. The results took America's charts by storm over the next few years. Eleven more sides made the R&B top 10 (including 3 No 1s). More significantly, all of them made the pop top 40, including a No 1 with 'My Guy', and three more top ten hits. This was the market that Motown wanted.
Other acts like The Miracles and The Marvelettes had broken through, but none of them had consistant pop success like Mary in those early formative years.
Mary's voice is a little hoarse and has an endearing seductive catch. This helped her to crossover to the pops. Mary did a duet album with Marvin Gaye in '64. This was truly the pairing of their top male and top female act at the time. It seems funny to realise that she was the bigger star of the two then. Both sides of a single they released made the charts and are included here.
Mary turned 21 in May of '64. Under the law at the time, her contract had to be renegotiated. She accepted an offer from 20th Century, including a $50,000 advance. It may sound like chicken feed now, but it was a fortune in 1964 dollars. There was some good music and chart success to come, but Mary never again reached the heights she had at Motown. Sadly it seemed she could never find sustained happiness in her personal life. She died of cancer at the age of just 49 in 1992.
This music stands as a testament to the power of Motown in the early 60s. There is so much more to Mary Wells than 'My Guy'.
Mary went to an audition at Motown in 1960, with a song she had written with Jackie Wilson in mind 'Bye Bye Baby'. She could not write music or play any instrument, so they had her sing the song. They signed her as a performing artist there and then, and it became her first release. The record sold steadily for large parts of 1960 and 61, making the R&B top ten and just missing the pop top 40.
The next move was inspired. Mary was teamed with their top songwriter/producer Smokey Robinson. The results took America's charts by storm over the next few years. Eleven more sides made the R&B top 10 (including 3 No 1s). More significantly, all of them made the pop top 40, including a No 1 with 'My Guy', and three more top ten hits. This was the market that Motown wanted.
Other acts like The Miracles and The Marvelettes had broken through, but none of them had consistant pop success like Mary in those early formative years.
Mary's voice is a little hoarse and has an endearing seductive catch. This helped her to crossover to the pops. Mary did a duet album with Marvin Gaye in '64. This was truly the pairing of their top male and top female act at the time. It seems funny to realise that she was the bigger star of the two then. Both sides of a single they released made the charts and are included here.
Mary turned 21 in May of '64. Under the law at the time, her contract had to be renegotiated. She accepted an offer from 20th Century, including a $50,000 advance. It may sound like chicken feed now, but it was a fortune in 1964 dollars. There was some good music and chart success to come, but Mary never again reached the heights she had at Motown. Sadly it seemed she could never find sustained happiness in her personal life. She died of cancer at the age of just 49 in 1992.
This music stands as a testament to the power of Motown in the early 60s. There is so much more to Mary Wells than 'My Guy'.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Mary Wells was one of the early golden girls at Motown. Sadly after leaving Motown she never made quite the same impact. This is a very good album showing why she was so highly rated at Motown. My Guy was the big one of course and she also had a good showing on " You Beat Me To The Punch" another Smokey Robinson song which was covered by ex Searchers lead vocalist Tony Jackson in the UK. It is fantastic that Motown are releasing all their back catalogue and this is well worth a listen.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Mary Wells in 1964 was styled as "the first lady of Motown". It was a title that was well deserved. Her recording of "My Guy" had reached number 5 in the U.K. charts and she was now a trans-Atlantic star. The Beatles named her as their favorite female recording artist and then brought her over to the U.K. to be the opening act in their British theatre tour. My Guy was an excellent recording. It had a somewhat mellow tone and was intamate and soulful. Mary has been recording in Detroit since early 1962 and her records had achieved some success. Her 1962/1963 recordings such as "The One Who Really Loves You", "You Beat Me To The Punch", "Two Lovers", "Operator", "Old Love" and "You Lost The Sweetest Boy" were generally about girls having boyfriend trouble. In these recordings Mary is both sensuous and shy at the same time. Her voice also seems to convey a sad vunerability. Contract problems led Mary to leave Tamla-Motown and her career declined rapidly. In 1983 in an effort to re-establish herself Mary re-recorded her old material with a 1980's sound. The album was called "The Old, The New & The Best Of Mary Wells". This album was not a success. However, it might have been a good idea to include one or two tracks on this C.D. just to compare and contrast her change in style. In 1963, Mary had an album released called "Bye, Bye Baby". She wrote the title song herself and this C.D. includes this track as well as two others "Shop Around" and "I Don't Want To Take A Chance". These three tracks (as well as the rest of that album) have a much rougher gritty sound than her other work and shows her vocal versatility. This C.D. is an excellent overview of her recordings and well worth purchasing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Mary Wells
I love Mary Wells voice, forgot how good she was, some great tracks take me back, really good production on it
Published 4 months ago by Mrs. J. Wilcox
The First Solo Female Motown Star
This is a collection of Mary Wells recordings for Motown, beginning in 1960 with her own composition "Bye Bye Baby". Read more
Published 9 months ago by Colin Cramp
Tamla at it's best
I have the vynil version of these tracks, it's great to have them on cd format.
Published on 3 April 2010 by Mr. Michael R. Poole
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