MARY WELLS (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992)

Mary Esther Wells

(May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992)

Her signature hit, "My Guy," is known to virtually all Americans who came of age in the 1960s, and she notched a string of other hits in collaboration with Motown's prolific songwriter and producer, William "Smokey" Robinson...

Born on the near westside of Detroit, her family was poor, and, even though she had she contracted spinal meningitis at the age of three and had to remain in bed for two years; as well as suffered from tuberculosis as a young woman, by the time she was 12 years old, she had began to help her mother with housecleaning work.

Mary Wells was another Detroit Northwestern High grad

"Daywork they called it," Wells was quoted as saying in Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music. "And it was damn cold on hallway linoleum. Misery is Detroit linoleum in January--with a half-froze bucket of Spic-and-Span."

Wells used singing as her comfort from her pain and by age 10 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 her sights on becoming a scientist, but after hearing about the success of Detroit musicians such as Jackie Wilson and The Miracles, she decided to try her hand at music as a singer-songwriter.

 

When she was 16, she met an assistant to Motown owner Berry Gordy Jr., and wangled an appointment to pitch one of her songs to Gordy in person. Gordy decided to give her a shot... It required 22 takes to coax a usable rendition from the nervous young vocalist, but Gordy's judgment was vindicated when "Bye Bye Baby" rose to the R&B top ten and even cracked the pop top 50 in 1960...

Wells' early Motown recordings reflected a rougher R 'n B sound that predated the smoother style of her biggest hits.

Wells became the first Motown female artist to have a Top 40 pop single after the Mickey Stevenson-penned doo-wop song, "I Don't Want to Take a Chance", hit No. 33 in June,1961...

Barry Gordy had Mary team-up with Smokey Robinson leading to a succession of hit singles over the following two years. Their first collaboration, 1962's "The One Who Really Loves You", was Wells' first smash hit, peaking at No. 2 on the R&B chart and No. 8 on the Hot 100...

In late 1962, "Two Lovers" became Wells' third consecutive single to hit the Top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100, peaking at No. 7 and becoming her second No. 1 hit on the R&B charts. This helped to make Wells the first female solo artist to have three consecutive Top 10 singles on the pop chart. The track sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Motown had released "You Beat Me to the Punch" a few months earlier--The song had become her first R&B No. 1 single and peaked at No. 9 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 when the song received a nod in the Best Rhythm & Blues Recording category.

Check out Mary and Smokey in 1985 doing a medley of their tunes...

In 1964, Wells recorded "My Guy". The Smokey Robinson song became her trademark single, reaching No. 1 on the Cashbox R&B chart for seven weeks and becoming the No. 1 R&B single of the year. The song successfully crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, where it eventually replaced Louis Armstrong's "Hello, Dolly!" at No. 1, where it remained for two weeks. The song became Wells' second million-selling single...

When "My Guy," topped the pop charts for two weeks in May of 1964, at the height of the "British invasion," Wells became the first Motown artist to appear across the Atlantic when she opened for the Beatles on a 1964 British tour...

Departure from Motown

(According to Wikipedia)

Ironically during her most successful year, Wells was having problems with Motown over her original recording contract, which she had signed at the age of 17. She was also reportedly angry that the money made from "My Guy" was being used to promote The Supremes, who had found success with "Where Did Our Love Go". Though Gordy reportedly tried to renegotiate with Wells, the singer still asked to be let go of her contract with Motown.

A pending lawsuit would keep Wells away from the studio for several months, as she and Gordy went back and forth over the contract details, Wells fighting to gain larger royalties from earnings she had made during her tenure with Motown. Finally, she invoked a clause that allowed her to leave the label, telling the court that her original contract was invalid since she signed while she was still a minor. Wells won her lawsuit and was awarded a settlement, leaving Motown officially in early 1965, whereupon she accepted a lucrative ($200,000) contract with 20th Century Fox Records.

Part of the terms of the agreement of her release was that she could not receive any royalties from her past works with the label, nor use of her likeness to promote herself.

The last chapters of Wells' life were tragic ones. A heavy smoker, she also battled heroin addiction for a time...

In 1990, Wells recorded an album for Ian Levine's Motorcity Records,

but her voice began to fail, causing the singer to visit a local hospital. Doctors diagnosed Wells with laryngeal cancer Wells was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1990...

In the summer of 1992, Wells' cancer returned and she was rushed to the Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital in Los Angeles with pneumonia. With the effects of her unsuccessful treatments and a weakened immune system, Wells died on July 26, 1992 at the age of 49. After her funeral, which included a eulogy given by her old friend and former collaborator Smokey Robinson, Wells was laid to rest in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park...

Wells earned one Grammy Award nomination during her career, and in 1999 the Grammy committee inducted Wells' "My Guy" into the Grammy Hall of Fame, assuring the song's importance. Wells was given one of the first Pioneer Awards by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1989. A year later, the foundation raised more than $50,000 to help with Wells' treatment after her illness had wiped out all of her finances. In 2006, she was inducted into the Michigan Rock & Roll Legends online Hall of Fame. Mary Wells' biggest hit, "My Guy", was voted a Legendary Michigan Song in 2009...

Check out this Mary Wells documentary
by TV-ONE...

R.I.P. MARY WELLS...

YOU ARE A LEGEND

 
Read more: Mary Wells Biography http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608004331/Mary-Wells.html#ixzz1uiWdwrUC

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