My Guy and Mary Wells
December 2, 2008 by EditMotown50
Filed under Mary Wells, Motown 50 Disc 1
Mary Wells was one of Motown’s early successes. Her string of hit singles were largely composed by Smokey Robinson, including the 1964 number one hit “My Guy”. However, although known as the “First Lady of Motown”, she parted company with the label shortly afterwards when reaching the tender age of 21. However, she never reached the level of success she had previously enjoyed with Motown.
Born in Detroit in 1943, she happened upon Berry Gordy in the 20 Grand club. She convinced him to let her record the following day. The split from Motown eventually proved to have been the apex of her success and despite signing for other labels, she largely faded from all but the Oldies circuit. Sadly, she was stricken with throat cancer in 1990 and died two years later.
Sample “My Guy” on Motown 50 here: Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
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Motown seemed to excel at attracting young talent – sometimes really special singers like Mary Wells. But as it seems to happen in so many cases, they burnt themselves out too quickly. This track is one of Motown’s anthems and it well deserves to be on the album.