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JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS

Mary Wells



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Mary Wells



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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.
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LINKSYEARTITLE
1961Bye Bye Baby
1962The One Who Really Loves You
1962Two Lovers
1963Dear Lover
1963 Live On Stage
1963Two Lovers And Other Great Hits
1964Together: w/Marvin Gaye
1964My Guy
1964Motown Legends: My Guy
1965 Love Songs Of The Beatles
1965Mary Wells
1966Ooh
1966The Two Sides Of Mary Wells
1968Servin' Up Some Soul
1981In And Out Of Love
1990Keeping My Mind On Love
1997My Guy: The Best Of Mary Wells
1998 The Ultimate Collection
1999 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection
1999 Best Of The Best
2000 Early Classics
2001 Dance With Me


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1961 Bye Bye Baby

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


1962 The One Who Really Loves You

1962 Two Lovers

1963 Dear Lover

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


1963 Live On Stage

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


1963 Two Lovers And Other Great Hits

1964 Together: w/Marvin Gaye

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




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1964 My Guy

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


1964 Motown Legends: My Guy

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



1965 Love Songs Of The Beatles

1965 Mary Wells

1966 Ooh

1966 The Two Sides Of Mary Wells

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


1968 Servin' Up Some Soul

1981 In And Out Of Love

1990 Keeping My Mind On Love



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1997 My Guy: The Best Of Mary Wells

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


1998 The Ultimate Collection

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



1999 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection

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



1999 Best Of The Best

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





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2000 Early Classics

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


2001 Dance With Me

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



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