troubleman84
Proud Member
My tribute/bio to Ms. Wells from the KOP:
MARY ESTHER WELLS
(May 13, 1943 - July 26, 1992)
Origin: Detroit, Michigan
Before Gladys Knight heard it through the grapevine, before Diana Ross stopped in the name of love, before Martha Reeves got people dancing in the streets, people were humming to the melodic sweet soprano of Mary Wells, one of Motown's first starring acts and the first female voice of the "sound of Young America" through a bevy of classic hit singles between 1960 and 1964. Wells' own crossover success was unusual for a black woman at that time but it served as inspiration for several other black female artists who trek bigger heights after Wells became one of the few to break down that door.
Early life
That trailblazing road wasn't easy though. Born on May 13, 1943 in a Detroit ghetto, Wells was raised by a single mother who raised her, a sister and a brother. At the age of two, Wells was diagnosed with meningitis after doctors located it in her spinal regions. This led to her being partially blind, deaf in one ear and temporarily paralyzed. Wells eventually recovered fully and by ten had begun singing in local nightclubs to help her poor family with bills. She also helped out with her mother scrubbing at apartments, which she described as "misery". After her own illness, Wells graduated from Northwestern High School at 17 hoping to be a scientist though she was told that dream was impossible. "The only jobs that were out there for a black girl in Detroit before Motown was as a maid, a nurse or a housewife", she said years later. However, around this time, the Detroit music scene was booming, first with acts such as the Falcons and Jackie Wilson, and then through the now-hallowed halls of Motown where The Miracles and Marv Johnson had attracted some national attention. Wells learned quickly that its founder Berry Gordy had written hit songs for Wilson and sought to earn money as a writer. One night while at Detroit's Twenty Grand club, Wells spotted Gordy and asked him to give Wilson a song she had written with him in mind. Restless after going through auditions to recruit musicians and new label mates, Gordy had Wells sing the song to him acapella. Impressed by Wells' rough but supple voice, he rushed her into a recording studio and had her record the song twenty-two times before he was satisfied with the recording. The song became "Bye Bye Baby" and it helped Wells' budding career as she became the first woman (as well as the first artist) to sign with Motown's own subsidiary (Motown's other subsidiaries included Tamla and Gordy; Tamla had The Miracles' Claudette Rogers and Mabel John). Released in the fall of 1960, "Bye Bye Baby" hit number eight on the R&B chart and crossed over to number forty-five on the pop side giving Wells her first significant success.
"Soften it up a little"
Wells quickly followed up "Bye Bye Baby" with the doo-wop styled "I Don't Want to Take a Chance", which gave the songbird her first top 40 hit peaking at number 33 in 1961. That year, Motown issued her first album under the titles of her first two hit singles and put her on the road with several other Detroit performers including Motown alum The Miracles. At the same time, Motown's success picked up speed after The Miracles released the label's first million-selling hit "Shop Around", and its leader Smokey Robinson was anxious to find a muse to his simple but affective lyricism. After several failed attempts, Berry Gordy decided to team Robinson with Wells, who struggled to find success with her third single, "Come to Me". The duo's first collaboration was the supple "The One Who Really Loves You", which featured Wells singing in a controlled soprano. The song became Wells' first smash single reaching number two on the R&B charts and reaching number eight on the pop chart. After this success, Robinson began teaching Wells how to "soften your voice up a little" sensing there was a different appeal to Wells' voice. In the early years of Motown, many of the recordings were seeped in the traditions of rhythm and blues and doo-wop. As time went on, Berry Gordy began embarking on Motown being "more than an R&B label". He told friends and staff alike he wanted Motown to be listenable "for all audiences" and stopped at nothing to make sure his artists and the label in general get the attention he felt it deserved. Taking their advice, Wells did soften her voice well enough for the "The One Who Really Loves You" follow-up titled "You Beat Me to the Punch", showing her trademark velvet pipes. The song's Caribbean-styled groove provided by Motown's Funk Brothers was as infectious as Wells' voice and the background harmonies of male background vocalists the Love Tones, and along with Smokey's composition and arrangement, made for a winning combination. The song became Wells' first number-one R&B hit, crossed over to number-nine on the pop chart and resulted in a Grammy nomination for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording.
The first lady of Motown
Wells and Robinson then released a third consecutive top ten hit with the equally infectious "Two Lovers", whose lyrics seemed controversial during the 1960s though the song only talked of one man with two different sides rather than two actual men. That song ended up charting at number-seven on the pop chart and stayed at number-one on the Billboard R&B chart for four weeks becoming her biggest hit of the time. For a woman, who as a child scrubbed floors to earn pay and lived in a poor tenement project, she had already come a long way. Wells was often the main attraction to the Motortown Revue shows. Her effective performances were a hit with audiences displaying a rougher quality than was shown in her embellished pop recordings. To make her performances more glamorous, Wells, along with other Motown artists, were taken to what is now called "charm school" where Maxine Powell had Wells and fellow acts such as members of The Marvelettes, The Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas train to "behave and act properly" and be so distinguished that they'll "be able to perform in front of kings and queens". Because Wells was the only female solo star of the company (and its biggest star overall at this point), the singer carried a lot of responsibility and quickly learned from Powell's teachings. Wells began wearing glamorous dresses and was performing in a sexier but restrained way that was effective as the singer was placed on non-Motown rock 'n' roll bills quickly gaining a big pop following in the process.
In 1962, Wells' second album, The One Who Really Loves You, was released and due to buzz around the hit singles, the album peaked at a pleasing number-eight on the pop album chart, selling over a million copies making it Motown's first successful album (it was also the first Motown album to ever chart) in spite of the fact that Wells' face, as well as the faces of many Motown and black contemporary pop and R&B acts, were not shown on the covers (Wells' first two albums showed cartoons and paintings). Due to this groundbreaking success, Wells had become one of the few recording acts to be regularly played on pop radio stations while still keeping a strong R&B fan base. In 1963, Wells' star as a performer rose and singles such as the top 20 hit "Laughing Boy" and its top 30 follow-ups "You Lost the Sweetest Boy" and "What's So Easy for Two Is So Hard for One" kept her shining star on the rise. Gordy saw Wells as his ticket to mainstream success and struggled to find the hit that will make her a "superstar". Finally in early 1964, Gordy and Robinson found that hit in a simple ditty about a woman defending her love for a "simple guy". Titled "My Guy", the song was recorded while Wells was still under 21. Released that March, it began a slow but budding rise to the top. In May of 1964, it replaced Louis Armstrong's "Hello Dolly" as the new number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, it also spent seven weeks atop the Cashbox R&B chart*, and its success reached international audiences as the song hit number-five in the UK selling over two million copies and becoming Wells' signature song. Success for Wells at Motown peaked after the release of her duet album with rising Motown singer Marvin Gaye on the album, Together, featuring the two-sided hit, "Once Upon a Time"/"What's the Matter with You Baby", which showed the soulful urgency of Wells' earlier material. For Wells to hit number-one at the same time the Beatles had invaded America was astonishing. For the Beatles, who had always admired Wells, it was understandable. The same year "My Guy" crossed over to the UK, the group called Wells their favorite American singer and asked Wells to tour with them in England which she happily accepted thus this made her the first Motown star to tour in England. Wells would have a close friendship with all four members and later released a tribute album.
Departing Motown
With the success of her Motown recordings, Gordy sought to build Wells' reputation up higher. But Gordy was hit with a shock when Wells made murmurs that she was leaving the label due to not being awarded sales for her hits, primarily for "My Guy". She also felt trapped in her decision-making. According to reports, Wells' ex-husband Herman Griffin had an unusual control over her and some say Griffin forced Wells to leave Motown though reports have varied. A lawsuit and a counter-suit between artist and label ensued with Wells assuring that Motown had not wanted her to earn the millions of dollars Wells had earned with the label. Gordy insisted that he hadn't kept money from Wells or other artists saying that he was using the money for investments in building Motown and claimed he had been fair with artists and musicians over money. Wells then argued that their 1960 contract, which Wells had signed at only 17, proved to be invalid and therefore Motown couldn't keep her regardless. Due to this discovery, the case, which dragged into early 1965, ended with Wells winning the suit and was allowed to leave Motown with a lump sum of cash. Just like that, Wells' Motown career stopped short after peaking with "My Guy". Unfortunately, as Wells' career continued with 20th Century Fox Records, her career began faltering as groups like The Supremes and The Temptations found mainstream success following Wells' hasty exit. Wells' Motown departure influenced Gordy to keep his grip on his artists with long-term contracts though this would leave to more problems as other artists began leaving due to the same issues that had caused Wells' exit. Wells later contended that the money used for her hits went into building The Supremes into a popular act though that is debatable. What is known, however, is that Wells, who was offered a $500,000 contract and a purported movie deal with 20th Century Fox, saw promises given to her shattered. Though she had some charted success with "Ain't It the Truth" and "Use Your Head" in 1965, Wells struggled to have substantial success. That same year, she caught tuberculosis and was bedded for three months before returning to the stage. In 1966, Wells left 20th Century Fox and signed with Atlantic Records' Atco subsidiary releasing The Two Sides of Mary Wells, which featured the top ten R&B hit "Dear Lover". The deal also ended abruptly and by 1968, now married to Cecil Womack, Wells switched labels again this time with one-time hot label Jubilee Records where she co-produced Servin' Up Some Soul co-writing her last sixties hit, "The Doctor" with Womack. By 1974, Wells had temporarily recorded some singles with Reprise Records but nothing came of that deal and in 1975, she retired from performing to raise her family though it was speculated Wells suffered from depression, physical battery and subsequent heroin abuse during her 10-year marriage to Cecil, which included three children.
Mary's Last Stance
By 1979, Wells had divorced Cecil Womack and returned on the road. In early 1981, Wells was given a contract with CBS Records. Signing with the label's Epic subsidiary, Wells released the disco album, In and Out of Love in 1982, featuring the Rick James/punk-funk influenced "Gigolo", which became a hit in dance clubs and discotheques across the country. Though no other hits came out after "Gigolo", Wells continued a periodical recording schedule while her touring performances were once again a success. After appearing briefly on the "Motown 25" special in 1983, Wells began performing in bills with several of her former Motown alum while recording for Ian Levine's Motorcity Records in later years. During this time, Wells began dating her ex-husband's brother Curtis. In 1985, Wells gave birth to the couple's only child, Sugar. Much like her relationship with Cecil, Curtis was abusive towards Mary. Wells had tried committing suicide a few times in her life, she also had a notorious chain-smoking habit and was known to smoke two packs of Menthol cigarettes a day. In 1990, Wells had quit her heroin habit and had left Curtis vowing to raise their daughter on her own with her own mother Geneva looking after them in Los Angeles. That year, while performing with Martha Reeves, Wells' voice began having problems and during her last performances, barely sung in a whisper though her fans cheered her on by singing the songs to her. After the tour, Wells went to a local hospital and received grim news when she learned that she had developed throat cancer. Devastated but determined to spread word out about her illness, Wells wore a mouthpiece that allowed her to talk, if only in a whisper, hoping for a miracle to her illness. After several unsuccessful surgeries, Wells' finances were drained and she was in trouble of losing a modest home in the San Fernando Valley district of Los Angeles. Like many performers of her generation, Wells had no medical insurance. Help for her to keep her home and help in continued surgery came in donations from artists such as Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Dionne Warwick, Anita Baker and Motown friends such as Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, The Temptations and Martha Reeves. In 1991, she made her final public appearance in front of a room of Congressmen pledging for them for funds in cancer research. After settling another lawsuit with Motown Records that same year for royalties, Wells' health began fading. By June of 1992, she was rushed to a community hospital where she caught pneumonia and stayed bed-ridden for the remaining six weeks of her life.
Sadly on July 26, 1992, Mary Wells died in her hospital bed due to complications from her throat cancer and a weakened immune system. She was only 49 years old.
Epilogue
Despite her Motown career only lasting four years, her life ending so tragically at a young age, and her rough upbringing and struggles, Mary Wells has left a lasting impact on music lovers with her sweet, sultry vocals. Surviving through even the hardest of times, Wells' legacy is that of one who was determined to get through anything with a smile and few complaints. Wells is laid to rest at L.A.'s Forest Lawn Cemetery.
R.I.P. Ms. Mary Wells
MARY ESTHER WELLS
(May 13, 1943 - July 26, 1992)
Origin: Detroit, Michigan
Before Gladys Knight heard it through the grapevine, before Diana Ross stopped in the name of love, before Martha Reeves got people dancing in the streets, people were humming to the melodic sweet soprano of Mary Wells, one of Motown's first starring acts and the first female voice of the "sound of Young America" through a bevy of classic hit singles between 1960 and 1964. Wells' own crossover success was unusual for a black woman at that time but it served as inspiration for several other black female artists who trek bigger heights after Wells became one of the few to break down that door.
Early life
That trailblazing road wasn't easy though. Born on May 13, 1943 in a Detroit ghetto, Wells was raised by a single mother who raised her, a sister and a brother. At the age of two, Wells was diagnosed with meningitis after doctors located it in her spinal regions. This led to her being partially blind, deaf in one ear and temporarily paralyzed. Wells eventually recovered fully and by ten had begun singing in local nightclubs to help her poor family with bills. She also helped out with her mother scrubbing at apartments, which she described as "misery". After her own illness, Wells graduated from Northwestern High School at 17 hoping to be a scientist though she was told that dream was impossible. "The only jobs that were out there for a black girl in Detroit before Motown was as a maid, a nurse or a housewife", she said years later. However, around this time, the Detroit music scene was booming, first with acts such as the Falcons and Jackie Wilson, and then through the now-hallowed halls of Motown where The Miracles and Marv Johnson had attracted some national attention. Wells learned quickly that its founder Berry Gordy had written hit songs for Wilson and sought to earn money as a writer. One night while at Detroit's Twenty Grand club, Wells spotted Gordy and asked him to give Wilson a song she had written with him in mind. Restless after going through auditions to recruit musicians and new label mates, Gordy had Wells sing the song to him acapella. Impressed by Wells' rough but supple voice, he rushed her into a recording studio and had her record the song twenty-two times before he was satisfied with the recording. The song became "Bye Bye Baby" and it helped Wells' budding career as she became the first woman (as well as the first artist) to sign with Motown's own subsidiary (Motown's other subsidiaries included Tamla and Gordy; Tamla had The Miracles' Claudette Rogers and Mabel John). Released in the fall of 1960, "Bye Bye Baby" hit number eight on the R&B chart and crossed over to number forty-five on the pop side giving Wells her first significant success.
"Soften it up a little"
Wells quickly followed up "Bye Bye Baby" with the doo-wop styled "I Don't Want to Take a Chance", which gave the songbird her first top 40 hit peaking at number 33 in 1961. That year, Motown issued her first album under the titles of her first two hit singles and put her on the road with several other Detroit performers including Motown alum The Miracles. At the same time, Motown's success picked up speed after The Miracles released the label's first million-selling hit "Shop Around", and its leader Smokey Robinson was anxious to find a muse to his simple but affective lyricism. After several failed attempts, Berry Gordy decided to team Robinson with Wells, who struggled to find success with her third single, "Come to Me". The duo's first collaboration was the supple "The One Who Really Loves You", which featured Wells singing in a controlled soprano. The song became Wells' first smash single reaching number two on the R&B charts and reaching number eight on the pop chart. After this success, Robinson began teaching Wells how to "soften your voice up a little" sensing there was a different appeal to Wells' voice. In the early years of Motown, many of the recordings were seeped in the traditions of rhythm and blues and doo-wop. As time went on, Berry Gordy began embarking on Motown being "more than an R&B label". He told friends and staff alike he wanted Motown to be listenable "for all audiences" and stopped at nothing to make sure his artists and the label in general get the attention he felt it deserved. Taking their advice, Wells did soften her voice well enough for the "The One Who Really Loves You" follow-up titled "You Beat Me to the Punch", showing her trademark velvet pipes. The song's Caribbean-styled groove provided by Motown's Funk Brothers was as infectious as Wells' voice and the background harmonies of male background vocalists the Love Tones, and along with Smokey's composition and arrangement, made for a winning combination. The song became Wells' first number-one R&B hit, crossed over to number-nine on the pop chart and resulted in a Grammy nomination for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording.
The first lady of Motown
Wells and Robinson then released a third consecutive top ten hit with the equally infectious "Two Lovers", whose lyrics seemed controversial during the 1960s though the song only talked of one man with two different sides rather than two actual men. That song ended up charting at number-seven on the pop chart and stayed at number-one on the Billboard R&B chart for four weeks becoming her biggest hit of the time. For a woman, who as a child scrubbed floors to earn pay and lived in a poor tenement project, she had already come a long way. Wells was often the main attraction to the Motortown Revue shows. Her effective performances were a hit with audiences displaying a rougher quality than was shown in her embellished pop recordings. To make her performances more glamorous, Wells, along with other Motown artists, were taken to what is now called "charm school" where Maxine Powell had Wells and fellow acts such as members of The Marvelettes, The Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas train to "behave and act properly" and be so distinguished that they'll "be able to perform in front of kings and queens". Because Wells was the only female solo star of the company (and its biggest star overall at this point), the singer carried a lot of responsibility and quickly learned from Powell's teachings. Wells began wearing glamorous dresses and was performing in a sexier but restrained way that was effective as the singer was placed on non-Motown rock 'n' roll bills quickly gaining a big pop following in the process.
In 1962, Wells' second album, The One Who Really Loves You, was released and due to buzz around the hit singles, the album peaked at a pleasing number-eight on the pop album chart, selling over a million copies making it Motown's first successful album (it was also the first Motown album to ever chart) in spite of the fact that Wells' face, as well as the faces of many Motown and black contemporary pop and R&B acts, were not shown on the covers (Wells' first two albums showed cartoons and paintings). Due to this groundbreaking success, Wells had become one of the few recording acts to be regularly played on pop radio stations while still keeping a strong R&B fan base. In 1963, Wells' star as a performer rose and singles such as the top 20 hit "Laughing Boy" and its top 30 follow-ups "You Lost the Sweetest Boy" and "What's So Easy for Two Is So Hard for One" kept her shining star on the rise. Gordy saw Wells as his ticket to mainstream success and struggled to find the hit that will make her a "superstar". Finally in early 1964, Gordy and Robinson found that hit in a simple ditty about a woman defending her love for a "simple guy". Titled "My Guy", the song was recorded while Wells was still under 21. Released that March, it began a slow but budding rise to the top. In May of 1964, it replaced Louis Armstrong's "Hello Dolly" as the new number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, it also spent seven weeks atop the Cashbox R&B chart*, and its success reached international audiences as the song hit number-five in the UK selling over two million copies and becoming Wells' signature song. Success for Wells at Motown peaked after the release of her duet album with rising Motown singer Marvin Gaye on the album, Together, featuring the two-sided hit, "Once Upon a Time"/"What's the Matter with You Baby", which showed the soulful urgency of Wells' earlier material. For Wells to hit number-one at the same time the Beatles had invaded America was astonishing. For the Beatles, who had always admired Wells, it was understandable. The same year "My Guy" crossed over to the UK, the group called Wells their favorite American singer and asked Wells to tour with them in England which she happily accepted thus this made her the first Motown star to tour in England. Wells would have a close friendship with all four members and later released a tribute album.
Departing Motown
With the success of her Motown recordings, Gordy sought to build Wells' reputation up higher. But Gordy was hit with a shock when Wells made murmurs that she was leaving the label due to not being awarded sales for her hits, primarily for "My Guy". She also felt trapped in her decision-making. According to reports, Wells' ex-husband Herman Griffin had an unusual control over her and some say Griffin forced Wells to leave Motown though reports have varied. A lawsuit and a counter-suit between artist and label ensued with Wells assuring that Motown had not wanted her to earn the millions of dollars Wells had earned with the label. Gordy insisted that he hadn't kept money from Wells or other artists saying that he was using the money for investments in building Motown and claimed he had been fair with artists and musicians over money. Wells then argued that their 1960 contract, which Wells had signed at only 17, proved to be invalid and therefore Motown couldn't keep her regardless. Due to this discovery, the case, which dragged into early 1965, ended with Wells winning the suit and was allowed to leave Motown with a lump sum of cash. Just like that, Wells' Motown career stopped short after peaking with "My Guy". Unfortunately, as Wells' career continued with 20th Century Fox Records, her career began faltering as groups like The Supremes and The Temptations found mainstream success following Wells' hasty exit. Wells' Motown departure influenced Gordy to keep his grip on his artists with long-term contracts though this would leave to more problems as other artists began leaving due to the same issues that had caused Wells' exit. Wells later contended that the money used for her hits went into building The Supremes into a popular act though that is debatable. What is known, however, is that Wells, who was offered a $500,000 contract and a purported movie deal with 20th Century Fox, saw promises given to her shattered. Though she had some charted success with "Ain't It the Truth" and "Use Your Head" in 1965, Wells struggled to have substantial success. That same year, she caught tuberculosis and was bedded for three months before returning to the stage. In 1966, Wells left 20th Century Fox and signed with Atlantic Records' Atco subsidiary releasing The Two Sides of Mary Wells, which featured the top ten R&B hit "Dear Lover". The deal also ended abruptly and by 1968, now married to Cecil Womack, Wells switched labels again this time with one-time hot label Jubilee Records where she co-produced Servin' Up Some Soul co-writing her last sixties hit, "The Doctor" with Womack. By 1974, Wells had temporarily recorded some singles with Reprise Records but nothing came of that deal and in 1975, she retired from performing to raise her family though it was speculated Wells suffered from depression, physical battery and subsequent heroin abuse during her 10-year marriage to Cecil, which included three children.
Mary's Last Stance
By 1979, Wells had divorced Cecil Womack and returned on the road. In early 1981, Wells was given a contract with CBS Records. Signing with the label's Epic subsidiary, Wells released the disco album, In and Out of Love in 1982, featuring the Rick James/punk-funk influenced "Gigolo", which became a hit in dance clubs and discotheques across the country. Though no other hits came out after "Gigolo", Wells continued a periodical recording schedule while her touring performances were once again a success. After appearing briefly on the "Motown 25" special in 1983, Wells began performing in bills with several of her former Motown alum while recording for Ian Levine's Motorcity Records in later years. During this time, Wells began dating her ex-husband's brother Curtis. In 1985, Wells gave birth to the couple's only child, Sugar. Much like her relationship with Cecil, Curtis was abusive towards Mary. Wells had tried committing suicide a few times in her life, she also had a notorious chain-smoking habit and was known to smoke two packs of Menthol cigarettes a day. In 1990, Wells had quit her heroin habit and had left Curtis vowing to raise their daughter on her own with her own mother Geneva looking after them in Los Angeles. That year, while performing with Martha Reeves, Wells' voice began having problems and during her last performances, barely sung in a whisper though her fans cheered her on by singing the songs to her. After the tour, Wells went to a local hospital and received grim news when she learned that she had developed throat cancer. Devastated but determined to spread word out about her illness, Wells wore a mouthpiece that allowed her to talk, if only in a whisper, hoping for a miracle to her illness. After several unsuccessful surgeries, Wells' finances were drained and she was in trouble of losing a modest home in the San Fernando Valley district of Los Angeles. Like many performers of her generation, Wells had no medical insurance. Help for her to keep her home and help in continued surgery came in donations from artists such as Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Dionne Warwick, Anita Baker and Motown friends such as Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, The Temptations and Martha Reeves. In 1991, she made her final public appearance in front of a room of Congressmen pledging for them for funds in cancer research. After settling another lawsuit with Motown Records that same year for royalties, Wells' health began fading. By June of 1992, she was rushed to a community hospital where she caught pneumonia and stayed bed-ridden for the remaining six weeks of her life.
Sadly on July 26, 1992, Mary Wells died in her hospital bed due to complications from her throat cancer and a weakened immune system. She was only 49 years old.
Epilogue
Despite her Motown career only lasting four years, her life ending so tragically at a young age, and her rough upbringing and struggles, Mary Wells has left a lasting impact on music lovers with her sweet, sultry vocals. Surviving through even the hardest of times, Wells' legacy is that of one who was determined to get through anything with a smile and few complaints. Wells is laid to rest at L.A.'s Forest Lawn Cemetery.
R.I.P. Ms. Mary Wells
ldsmile:
