Mary Wells
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| Mary Wells | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Mary Esther Wells |
| Also known as | Mary Wells Womack |
| Born | May 13, 1943 Detroit, Michigan |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, United States |
| Died | July 26, 1992 (aged 49) Los Angeles, California |
| Genre(s) | R&B, pop, soul, Motown, disco |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1960-1990 |
| Label(s) | Motown, 20th Century Fox, Atco, Jubilee, Reprise, Epic, Motorcity |
| Associated acts | Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Cecil Womack, Bobby Womack |
Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer who sung a repertoire that included R&B, soul, rock 'n' roll, doo-wop, funk and disco and whom defined the early sound of Motown Records in the early sixties. Along with Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, The Supremes, and The Four Tops, Wells was said to have been part of the charge in black music onto radio stations and record shelves of mainstream America bridging the color lines in music at the time[1].
With a string of hit singles mainly composed by Smokey Robinson - among them "Two Lovers" (1962), the Grammy-nominated "You Beat Me to the Punch" (1962) and her signature hit, "My Guy" (1964) - she became recognized as "The First Lady of Motown" until her departure from the company in 1964, at the height of her popularity.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Humble beginnings
Mary Esther Wells was born near Detroit's Wayne State University[2] on May 13, 1943 to a domestic mother and an absentee father. One of three children, she caught spinal meningitis at the age of two and struggled with partial blindness, deafness in one ear and near paralysis. During her early years, Wells' family grew up in a poor residential Detroit district. By age 12, Wells was helping her mother with housecleaning work[3]. She described the ordeal years later:
"Daywork they called it and it was damn cold on hallway linoleum. Misery is Detroit linoleum in January--with a half-froze bucket of Spic-and-Span."[4]
—Mary Wells
Wells used singing as her comfort from her pain and by age ten had graduated from church choirs to performing at local nightclubs in the Detroit area. Wells graduated from Detroit's Northwestern High School at the age of 17 and set on sights of becoming a scientist but already hearing about the success of Detroit musicians such as Jackie Wilson and The Miracles decided to try her hand at music as a singer-songwriter.
[edit] Early career
In 1960, Wells approached Tamla Records founder Berry Gordy at Detroit's Twenty Grand club with a song she had intended for Jackie Wilson to record, since Wells knew of Gordy's collaboration with Wilson. However, a tired Gordy insisted Wells to sing the song in front of him. Impressed, Gordy had Wells enter Detroit's United Sound Studios to record the single, titled "Bye Bye Baby". After a reported twenty-two takes, Gordy signed Wells to the Motown subsidiary of his expanding record label and released the song as a single in late 1960 where it eventually peaked at number-eight on the R&B chart in 1961 later crossing over to the top fifty on the pop singles chart where it peaked at number forty-five.
Wells' early Motown career insisted on a rougher R&B production that predated her more smoother sound of her bigger hit recordings. Wells became the first Motown female artist to have a top forty pop single after the Mickey Stevenson-penned doo-wop single, "I Don't Want to Take a Chance", hit number thirty-three. In the fall of 1961, Motown issued her first album and released a third single, the blues-styled ballad "Strange Love". However when that record bombed, Gordy set Wells up with The Miracles' lead singer Smokey Robinson. Though she was hailed as "the first lady of Motown", Wells was technically Motown's second female signed act: Detroit blues-gospel singer Mabel John signed to the then-fledging label a year prior to Wells' arrival. However, Wells' early hits did make her the label's first female star and its first fully successful solo artist.
[edit] Success
Wells' teaming with Robinson began a succession of hit singles the duo would collaborate on in the following two years. Their first collaboration, 1962's "The One Who Really Loves You", was Wells' first smash hit, peaking at number-two on the R&B chart and number-eight on the Hot 100. The song featured a calypso-styled soul sound that would define Wells' early hits. Later famous for releasing songs with a repetitive sound, Motown later released the similar-sounding "You Beat Me to the Punch", which became her first R&B number-one single and peaked at number nine on the pop chart. The success of "You Beat Me to the Punch" helped to make Wells the first Motown star to be nominated for a Grammy Award as the song was nominated in the Best Rhythm & Blues Recording category.
Then in late 1962, Motown released "Two Lovers". The single became Wells' third consecutive single to hit the top ten of Billboard's Hot 100 where it peaked at number-seven and became her second number-one hit on the R&B chart. This help to make Wells the first female solo artist to release three consecutive top ten singles on the pop chart. Wells' second album, also titled The One Who Really Loves You, was released in 1962 and peaked at number-eight on the pop albums chart, making the teenage singer a breakthrough star and gave her clout in the Motown label. Wells' success in Motown was recognized when she became a headliner during the first string of Motortown Revue concerts, starting in the fall of 1962. The singer showcased a rawer stage presence that contrasted from her more softer R&B recordings.
Wells' success continued in 1963 where she hit the top twenty with the doo-wop ballad "Laughing Boy" and scored three top forty singles that year including "Your Old Standby", "You Lost the Sweetest Boy", and "What's So Easy for Two Is So Hard for One". The latter song's a-side, "You Lost the Sweetest Boy", was one of the first hit singles composed by the successful Motown songwriting and producing trio Holland-Dozier-Holland though Robinson remained Wells' primary producer.
During that year, Wells recorded a session of successful b-sides that became as known as her hits including "Operator", "What Love Has Joined Together", "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right" and "Old Love (Let's Try It Again)". Wells and Robinson also recorded a duet together titled "I Want You 'Round", the duet would be re-recorded by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston.
[edit] 1964: Brief superstardom
In 1964, Wells recorded and released her landmark single, "My Guy". The song became her landmark single reaching number-one on the Cashbox R&B chart for seven weeks becoming the number-one R&B single of the year and the song successfully crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100 where it eventually replaced Louis Armstrong's "Hello Dolly!" to hit number-one on that chart where it stayed for two weeks. To build on the song's building success, Motown released a duet album Wells recorded with fellow Motown singing star Marvin Gaye on the album, Together. The album peaked at number-one on the R&B albums chart and hit number forty-two on the pop albums chart and yielded the double-sided hits "Once Upon a Time" and "What's the Matter With You Baby".
"My Guy" was one of the first Motown songs to break over the other side of the Atlantic where it eventually peaked at number-five on the UK chart making Wells an international star that year. Around this time, despite competition, The Beatles publicly stated that Wells was their favorite American singer and soon she was giving an invitation to open for the group during their tour of the United Kingdom thus making Wells the first Motown star to perform in the UK. Wells was only one of three female singers - Brenda Holloway and Jackie DeShannon being the others - to open for The Beatles. Wells gained friendships with all four Beatles members and later released a tribute album, Love Songs to the Beatles in mid-decade.
When describing Wells' landmark success in 1964, former Motown sales chief Lucy Gordy Wakefield replied:
"In 1964, Mary Wells was our big, big artist, I don't think there's any audience with an age of 30 through 50 that doesn't know the words to My Guy."[5]
—Lucy Gordy Wakefield (1992)
[edit] Departing from Motown
Ironically during her landmark year, Wells was dealing with friction while in Motown over her original recording contract which she signed at seventeen. Wells was also reportedly mad that the money made over from the success of "My Guy" was being used to benefit promotion for The Supremes, who were then starting to break out of their "no-hit" phase with the release of the hit, "Where Did Our Love Go". Though Gordy reportedly tried to renegotiate with Wells, the singer took the advice of her ex-husband, former Motown singer Herman Griffin, and asked to be let go of her contract with Motown.
A pending lawsuit would keep Wells away from the studio for several months with Wells and Gordy going back and forth over the regularities over the contract and Wells fighting to gain larger royalties from earnings she made during her tenure with Motown. Finally, Wells invoked a clause that allowed her to leave the label telling the court that her original contract was invalid since Wells reportedly signed with Motown with a paper towel. Wells won her lawsuit and was awarded a fair settlement and was allowed to leave Motown Records officially in early 1965, which afterwards, Wells accepted a lucrative $500,000 contract with 20th Century Fox Records.
[edit] Career struggles
A tiresome Wells worked on material with her new record label while dealing with other issues, including being bedded for weeks suffering from tuberculosis. Wells' first 20th Century Fox release, an eponymous release, featured the modest hits "Ain't It The Truth", the b-side "Stop Taking Me for Granted", the lone top 40 hit, "Use Your Head" and "Never, Never Leave Me". However, the album flopped as did the Beatles tribute album she released not too long afterwards. After a tenuous and stressful period in which Wells and the label battled over creative differences and withdrawal after Wells' records failed to chart successfully - rumors have hinted Motown may have threatened to sue radio stations for playing Wells' post-Motown music [6] - the singer asked to be let go in 1965 and left with a small settlement.
Wells' film career never truly panned out - she had one bit part in the 1967 film, "Catalina Caper" - and Wells decided to continue her singing career signing with the Atlantic Records subsidiary Atco Records. Working with producer Carl Davis, Wells scored her final top ten R&B hit with "Dear Lover", which also became a modestly successful pop hit, peaking at number fifty-one. However, much like her tenure with 20th Century Fox, the singer struggled to come up with a follow-up hit and in 1968 she left the label for Jubilee Records, where she scored her final pop hit, "The Doctor", a song she co-wrote with then-husband Cecil Womack, of the famed Womack family. Two years later Wells left the label for a short deal with Warner Music subsidiary Reprise Records and released two Bobby Womack-produced singles before deciding to retire from music altogether by 1974 to raise her family.
[edit] 1980s: Brief comeback
In 1977, Wells divorced from Cecil Womack and a year later went out on the road again with her boyfriend, Cecil's younger brother Curtis backing her up. Performing in local California venues, Wells was spotted by CBS Urban president Larkin Arnold in 1981 and offered her a contract with the CBS subsidiary Epic Records. Wells accepted the contract and ended her seven-year retirement with the release of In and Out of Love, in October 1981. The album sparked a somewhat career rebirth and yielded Wells' biggest hit in years, the funky disco single, "Gigolo".
The song became a smash at dance clubs across the country, which took the song's 12" mix to number thirteen on Billboard's Hot Dance/Club Singles chart and number-two on the Hot Disco Songs chart. An three-minute edited radio version was released to R&B radio stations in January of 1982, which helped the song get a modest showing at number sixty-nine. It turned out to be Wells' final charted single.
After the parent album failed to chart and/or released concurrent follow-ups - the Motown-styled "These Arms" was released but was quickly withdrawn after the album tanked - Wells' Epic contract fizzled out though she still had one more album in her CBS contract and in 1982, she released the covers album, Easy Touch, which featured a more adult contemporary flavor. Leaving CBS in 1983, she would go on recording for smaller labels but Wells gained newfound success as a touring performer. In 1989, she was awarded a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation during its inaugural year.
[edit] Final years
In 1990, the same year Wells recorded an album for Ian Levine's Motorcity Records, she discovered voice problems while on the road in Canada. Doctors diagnosed Wells with larynx cancer. Treatments on her disease ravaged her voice, which forced Wells to quit her music career. Since Wells had no health insurance, her illness wiped out her finances forcing the singer to sell her home. Struggling to continue treatment, her old Motown friends including Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, members of The Temptations and Martha Reeves, personally donated to support her with the help of admirers and worshipers such as Dionne Warwick, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin and Bonnie Raitt.[7] The same year, a benefit concert was held by fellow worshiper and Detroit R&B singer Anita Baker. Wells was also given a tribute by friends such as Stevie Wonder and Little Richard while on The Joan Rivers Show.
The following year, Wells brought a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Motown for royalties the singer felt she didn't receive upon leaving Motown Records in 1964. Motown eventually settled the lawsuit by giving the singer a six-figure sum. That same year, she testified for the United States Congress to encourage government funding for cancer research:
"I'm here today to urge you to keep the faith. I can't cheer you on with all my voice, but I can encourage, and I pray to motivate you with all my heart and soul and whispers."[8]
—Mary Wells
In the summer of 1992, Wells' cancer returned and she was rushed to the Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital in Los Angeles for pneumonia. With the effects of her unsuccessful treatments and a weakened immune system, Wells died on July 26, 1992 at the age of forty-nine. After her funeral, which included an eulogy giving by her old friend and former collaborator Smokey Robinson - he sung a somber "My Guy" during the eulogy - Wells was laid to rest. She is buried in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
[edit] Awards and accolades
Though Wells has been eligible for induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - she was nominated twice in 1986 and 1987 - the singer hasn't been considered for induction. Wells earned one Grammy Award nomination during her career and in 1999, the Grammy committee inducted Wells' "My Guy" to the Grammy Hall of Fame assuring the song's importance. Wells was giving one of the first Pioneer Awards by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1989. A year later, the foundation raised over $50,000 to help with Wells' treatment after her illness had wiped all of her finances. In 2006, she was inducted to the Michigan Rock & Roll Legends Hall of Fame.
[edit] Personal life
Wells married twice. In 1960, Wells married fellow Motown singer Herman Griffin. The marriage was troubled partially due to the couple marrying while still in teenage years. By 1964, Wells and Griffin had divorced. Despite rumors, Wells never dated fellow Motown singer Marvin Gaye, who would go on to have successful duet partnerships with Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell and Diana Ross after Wells' exit. In 1966, Wells married her longtime boyfriend, singer-songwriter Cecil Womack, formerly of The Valentinos and younger brother of R&B legend Bobby Womack. Wells' marriage lasted until 1977 and resulted in three children. Ironically enough, Wells began an affair with another Womack brother, Curtis Womack, in 1979. Their relationship was reportedly abusive. After the birth of her youngest child to Curtis, she split from the singer and focused on being a single mother prior to her 1992 death. Mary had four children: sons Cecil, Jr. and Harry and daughters Stacy and Sugar.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Top 40 albums
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[edit] Top 40 singles
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[edit] References
- ^ "Mary Wells, 49, the Pop Singer Who Made 'My Guy' a 1960s Hit". Retrieved on 2008-09-10.
- ^ Mary Wells
- ^ http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608004331/Mary-Wells.html
- ^ "Mary Wells". Retrieved on 2008-09-10.
- ^ "Mary Wells, 49, the Pop Singer Who Made 'My Guy' a 1960s Hit". Retrieved on 2008-09-10.
- ^ http://www.classicbands.com/wells.html
- ^ "Mary Wells, 49, Recording Star For Motown Records In 1960S", The Seattle Times (1992-07-27). Retrieved on 2008-08-07.
- ^ http://www.classicbands.com/wells.html Classic Bands: Mary Wells
[edit] External links
- Mary Wells at the Internet Movie Database
- CMG Worldwide
- History of Rock page on Mary Wells
- Mary Wells at Allmusic
- Mary Wells at Discogs
- Mary Wells at Find A Grave
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Wells, Mary |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wells, Mary Esther |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Singer-songwriter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 13, 1943 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Detroit, Michigan, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 26, 1992 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Los Angeles, California |
