Soul Walking - Mary Wells | Classic Bands - Mary Wells | Official Site |
Time and legions of other soul superstars have obscured the fact that for a brief moment, Mary Wells was Motown's biggest star. She came to the attention of Berry Gordy as a 17-year-old, hawking a song she'd written for Jackie Wilson; that song, "Bye Bye Baby," became her first Motown hit in 1961. The full-throated approach of that single was quickly toned down in favor of a pop-soul sound. Few other soul singers managed to be as shy and sexy at the same time as Wells (Barbara Lewis is the only other that springs to mind), and the soft-voiced singer found a perfect match with the emerging Motown production team, especially Smokey Robinson. Robinson wrote and produced her biggest Motown hits; "Two Lovers," "You Beat Me to the Punch," and "The One Who Really Loves You" all made the Top Ten in the early '60s, and "My Guy" hit the number one spot in mid-1964, at the very height of Beatlemania.
Mary turned 21 years old as "My Guy" was rising to the top of the charts, and left Motown almost immediately afterward for a reported advance of several hundred thousand dollars from 20th Century Fox. The circumstances remain cloudy years later, but Wells and her husband-manager felt Motown wasn't coming through with enough money for their new superstar; she was also lured by the prospect of movie roles through 20th Century Fox (which never materialized). It's been rumored that Wells was being groomed for the sort of plans that were subsequently lavished upon Diana Ross; more nefariously, it's also been rumored that Motown quietly discouraged radio stations from playing Wells' subsequent releases. What is certain is that Wells never remotely approached the success of her Motown years, entering the pop Top 40 only once (although she had some R&B hits). Motown, for their part, took care throughout the rest of the '60s not to lose their big stars to larger labels.
Wells' departure from Motown was so dramatic and unsuccessful that it has tended to overshadow the quality of her later work, which has almost always been dismissed as trivial by critics. True, it didn't match the quality of her Motown recordings � Smokey Robinson could not be replaced. But her '60s singles for 20th Century Fox (whom she ended up leaving after only a year), Atco, and Jubilee were solid pop-soul on which her vocal talents remained undiminished. She wrote and produced a lot of her late-'60s and early-'70s sessions with her second husband, guitarist Cecil Womack (brother of Bobby), and these found her exploring a somewhat earthier groove than her more widely known pop efforts. She had trouble landing recording deals in the '70s and '80s, and succumbed to throat cancer in 1992.
-- Richie Unterberger of All Music Guide.
01. Come To Me 02. I Don't Want To Take A Chance 03. Bye Bye Baby 04. Shop Around 05. I Love The Way You Love |
06. I'm Gonna Stay 07. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide 08. Bad Boy 09. I'm So Sorry 10. Please Forgive Me |
01. Dear Lover 02. Love Letters 03. Set My Soul On Fire 04. Can't You See (you're losing me) 05. Such A Sweet Thing |
06. Love Makes The World Go Round 07. Good Lovin' 08. Hands Off My Baby 09. Keep Me In Suspense 10. My World Is Empty Without You |
01. Two Lovers 02. Laughing Boy 03. I Don't Want To Take A Chance 04. Bye Bye Baby |
05. The One Who Really Loves You 06. Old Love (let's try it again) 07. Operator 08. You Beat Me To The Punch |
01. Once Upon A Time 02. 'Deed I Do 03. Until I Meet You 04. Together 05. (I love you) For Sentimental Reasons |
06. The Late, Late Show 07. After The Lights Go Down Low 08. Squeeze Me 09. What's The Matter With You Baby 10. You Came A Long way From St. Louis |
01. He's The One I Love 02. Whisper You Love Me Boy 03. My Guy 04. Does He Love Me? 05. How? When My Heart Belongs To You 06. He Holds His Own |
07. My Baby Just Cares For Me 08. I Only Have Eyes For You 09. You Do Something To Me 10. It Had To Be You 11. If You Love Me (really love me) 12. At Last |
01. You Beat Me To The Punch 02. Two Lovers 03. My Guy 04. I Only Have Eyes For You 05. I'll Still Be Around 06. He's The One I Love |
07. Operator 08. Laughing Boy 09. Guess Who? 10. How? When My Heart Belongs To You 11. Everybody Needs Love |
01. Satisfaction 02. Love Makes The World Go Round 03. In The Midnight Hour 04. My World Is Empty Without You Babe 05. Good Lovin' 06. Dear Lover |
07. Where Am I Going 08. Shangri-La 09. On A Clear Day (you can see forever) 10. The Shadow Of Your Smile 11. The Boy From Ipanema 12. Sunrise Sunset |
01. Two Lovers 02. You Beat Me To The Punch 03. Oh Little Boy (what did you do to me) 04. What's Easy For Two Is So Hard For One 05. What Love Has Joined Together 06. You Lost The Sweetest Boy 07. My Guy |
08. The One Who Really Loves You 09. Old Love (let's try it again) 10. I'm A Lady 11. Make Up, Break Up 12. I Feel For You 13. To Feel Your Love 14. Money Talks |
01. Bye Bye Baby 02. I Don't Want To Take A Chance 03. Strange Love 04. The One Who Really Loves You 05. You Beat Me To The Punch 06. Old Love (let's try it again) 07. Two Lovers 08. Operator 09. Laughing Boy 10. Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right 11. Goodbye And Good Luck 12. Your Old Standby 13. What Love Has Joined Together |
14. You Lost The Sweetest Boy 15. What's Easy For Two Is So Hard For One 16. My Guy 17. Oh Little Boy (what did you do to me) 18. Once Upon A Time (w/Marvin Gaye) 19. What's The Matter With You Baby (w/ M Gaye) 20. Whisper You Love Me Boy 21. I'll Be Available 22. When I'm Gone 23. Use Your Head 24. Never, Never Leave Me 25. Dear Lover |
01. The One Who Really Loves You 02. You Beat Me To The Punch 03. Two Lovers 04. Your Old Standby 05. What's Easy For Two Is So Hard For One 06. My Guy |
07. Laughing Boy 08. Once Upon A Time (w/Marvin Gaye) 09. I Don't Want To Take A Chance 10. You Lost The Sweetest Boy 11. Bye Bye Baby |
01. My Guy 02. The One Who Really Loves You 03. You Beat Me To The Punch 04. Your Old Standby 05. Ain't It The Truth |
06. Two Lovers 07. Laughing Boy 08. What's Easy For Two Is So Hard For One 09. What Love Has Joined Together |
01. My Guy 02. My Baby Just Cares For Me 03. I Only Have Eyes For You 04. Shop Around 05. When Your Lover Comes Back 06. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide 07. The One Who Really Loves You 08. I Guess There's No Love 09. You Beat Me To The Punch |
10. Two Lovers 11. Together 12. 'Deed I Do 13. Drop In The Bucket 14. He's The One I Love 15. After The Lights Go Down Low 16. He Holds His Own 17. Does He Love Me? 18. Whisper You Love Me Boy |
01. My Guy 02. You Beat Me To The Punch 03. I Feel For You 04. Old Love (let's try again) 05. Money Talks 06. Two Lovers 07. I'm A Lady 08. You Lost The Sweetest Boy |
09. Make up, Break Up 10. What's Easy For Two Is So Hard For One 11. To Feel Your Love 12. The One Who Really Loves You 13. Oh Little Boy (what did you do to me) 14. Bye Bye Baby 15. What Love Has Joined Together |