This isn't lip-synced, Mary is singing this live. Considering the quality of sound equipment available at this moment in time, everyone did a great job. This sounds great, and Mary is spot-on, too.
@@UPBEATFOREVER what do you mean they don't sound legit? Mary Wells is singing really clearly here, and it doesn't sound exactly the same as she does in the recording played by every DJ across the airwaves, and you can tell she's singing live in this video if you listen to her singing style; she's performing it a bit differently, but I think she sounds better except for 1 bit near the beginning where she went slightly off key. That all convinces me she is not lip syncing here. It's a live performance. I don't think lip syncing was done so much back then anyway. Listen properly to her singing here, and then listen to the recording which is always played on the radio; there's a difference to the sound and her performing. Maybe you don't believe it because it sounds too good to be real. Anyway, the comment you replied to was made 14 years ago!
This was written by Smokey Robinson. Smokey is amazing, he wrote so many great songs for so many other artists at motown. Not only did he write great hits for himself and his group the miracles, but he also helped everyone else at motown. He really played a huge role in making motown what it was.
Her voice is so pure, so unique, nobody sings like her. I am serious. I love the way she enunciates her words in her songs. This and "You beat me to the punch" are my favorite songs.
Mary Wells was the first female Superstar at Motown Records and her songs were stunning and Mary was always great to see in concert over the years! Bravo Mary and you are missed!!!
How lucky was I to see her and others in concert over the years. The originalFabulous 4 Tops at ACY (Atlantic City to insiders, lol), and Diana Ross many times.
+Emmanuel Mukendi I took your advice and looked it up: www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6091979/motown-records-first-no-1-single-mary-wells
+Ike Wilson Just like written on the link you sent me yourself, "My Guy" was Motown's first number one hit on the *Billboard Charts* in 1964, not their first number one hit EVER. "Please Mr. Potsman" was the first number one hit on the Motown Label in 1961. Wich proves my point.
This song was a monster hit in 1964. Great feat considering the pop radio stations in the US were dominated by the British Invasion of the time. Very touching, even today. Sweet and pure.
What a monster hit this was on the streets of New York City. I remember starting second grade in September and hearing this song, EVERYWHERE!. It was a warm and sunny, end of summer, and life was good. This song made it even better.
Love it when we’re treated to rare Live footage of the musical greats of the past….Mary had such smooth, beautiful vocals. Being born in ‘68, I wasn’t aware of her original release until the early 80’s(1982) because I actually heard a cover of “My Guy” first done by the awesome, Sister Sledge. Then, it actually dawned on me that I heard this “My Guy”-tune somewhere before. After borrowing some books on Motown history, etc…(when we ACTUALLY had to go into a real library to research answers😂😆)…I put two and two together and realized it was Mary Wells’ original that I had heard as a little kid from the radio and my Mom playing her 45rpm record of this very song. AND!…it was just a couple more years into the future from that moment in ‘82…that I figured out just WHY “My Guy” had such a familiar flow I thoroughly enjoyed, and would enjoy for a lifetime….because it was written by a HUGE favorite musical artist I loved since I was around 4 or 5….the GREAT, Smokey Robinson! It was just the year prior, in ‘81…that I had bought the 45 of Smokey’s,”Being With You”, a tiny white Teddy Bear and drafted up a school boy crush Valentines Day letter for one of the prettiest girls in my 8th grade class at Ilima Intermediate here in Hawai'i🫣😍😀 🤭. Being the shy, introvert loser I was…(and, kinda still am😬😬😬😬🤦🏽😆and, yet, ALWAYS the Hopeless Romantic)…I had, eventually, chickened out and left the teddy bear tucked into her school desk where it stuck out a little bit, along with the 45 record and the note. The note, being nervous and just BURSTING with full blown anxious energy, had been rolled into a tight 4-5 inch….”thing”, that NOW….embarrassingly, resembled an amazing replica of one of Cheech and Chong’s signature spliff’s from one of their iconic film masterpieces we’ve all come to know, and love😳😳😶🌫️ 🤭🤘🏾 Before I knew it…..I saw the 45 rpm record, which was found by one of the male students(apparently, I did not put it far enough into her desk, and, unknowingly to myself, it fell onto her chair), being shown around to a few students…which, in my 12yr old “horror-nightmarish-stressed-out” little brain. …started to freak me out into panic mode🥸🥶😱🫥 So, to my during lunch recess…a handful of my amazingly compassionate compadres were flinging the 45rpm record back and forth to one another like a fresbie having a jolly ol’ good time😂🤣😁 But….I did see her walking off campus clutching the bear, which did ease some of the tightness that had been putting a constant bear hug around my chest up until that point😀
No auto tune, lip synching here.....just pure talent......don't make singers like this anymore.....or rather, the music industry doesn't want singers like this anymore.....
Look at the lyrics, they're so simple, the production sounds soooo dated, and on top of that, whichever album this song is from, probably doesn't have a concept to it. See you're just full of nostalgia, but their musical skills were so inferior
Ofcourse, a day without Motown is unthinkable. And I do love the unforgettable Mary Wells, who so sadly left the label in 65 and died much too young in 92.
It is well known that Mary Wells was kept off the radio after she exited Motown as she made many, many hit worthy recordings after...I know as I have them all and Mary sounded great on them & was great in concert over the years!
Still know every word of this tune; 50 years later. Mary, loved you all the way, from the very start. Hope all is well in your Celestial world of song.
I loved her music! I saw an interview of her shortly before her death. She had lost most of her voice. She was very worried about her little girl! RIP Mary...so missed
The summer of '64 was a pivotal moment in my life, & this song was a huge part of it!! I was 12, a talent show in Morris Park, Philly. Bonnie, you won!!!
You can tell by the movements of her face that she wasn’t lip-syncing, Mary was actually singing this live. Smokey was a fantastic writer and producer. He wrote so many great songs for so many acts at Motown, and this song fitted Mary Wells perfectly with her angelic voice.
**Mary Wells** **UnSung** And **UnRecognized** She Had A Beautiful, Pure, Natural, GOD-GIVEN Voice That Man Could Not Imagine Nor Imitate!!!!** She Had Her "Highs And Lows" But Her Music Will **Forever Blend With The Test** Of **Time.**
Reminds me of around the time shortly before I turned 14, crushes on girls, the usual stuff at that age. 1964 was quite a year. How great it is to see this lady sing live for the first time. She was, and still is, my favorite female Motown artist.
I cant imagine life without Mary Well's Oldies back in the late 70's playing on my 8 track in my 65 Impala in EMF, it just wouldn't have been the same. Love it!!
Complete and utter class!! An absolute master class in smooth, easy, cool vocals. From an era when the young were young and fun was fun (>10 years before my birth). Makes me wish I was there.
May 13th: Happy birthday R&B-Soul Singer Mary Esther Wells, The Queen of Motown (1943-1992) Grammy Hall of Fame, Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award; the song "My Guy" has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Thank you and God bless. RIP. Thanks for the upload, Dj Jazzy Bless. Blessings
P.S. i loved Mary Wells, she came to Sacramento all the time she was great and such a nice woman. She looked beautiful up to the end. R.I.P. Mary you are still heard and remain in our hearts XOX God bless and much love.
I loved her growing up, couldn't crank her music up loud enough!!!! luckily my parents did too so I got away with it once in awhile. ❤❤❤❤ lots of love Mary Wells!!!
This brings back memories to me too,including watching her sing this on Shindig.It is exactly like I remember it.It is hard to forget Mary Wells.Always thought she was very attractive.A great singer too.
May 16, 1964 - Mary Wells started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with her signature hit, "My Guy". Written and produced by Smokey Robinson, it made No.5 in June of 1964 in the UK. Mary became recognized as "The Queen of Motown" until her departure from the company in 1964, at the height of her popularity. She was one of Motown's first singing superstars.
this women singing style was slick. i truly think the way she pulled this off was ahead of her time. she is also stunning. she looks like a uniquely rare woman
lol, this song is so fierce. "There's not a man today who can take me away from my guy..." Love how she sings it lower at the end. So timeless. God bless you, Mary.
May 13: Happy birthday Singer Mary Wells; Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award; the song "My Guy" is in the Grammy Hall of Fame." (1943-1977) Thank you and God bless. Thanks for the upload / video Dj Jazz blues. RIP Mary Wells, Motown Queen. Blessings
One day i was driving with my GF who liked R&B & Two lovers came on the radio. The song grabbed my attention and I fell in love instantly with Mary Wells' music. How ironic is it that the sweetest voice of all time, succumbed to throat cancer?
It's great that after almost 50 years it seems like yesterday to you and able to remember things like that, as I've met many people who can't. Hoping I'm always blessed with a tomorrow to able to do that one day. I only know this song, as I grew up on my father's Motown music in the '90s.
Why should she rest in peace? I hope her next life is super exciting with all the glitter and glamour that she deserves. Let's face it...an eternity of peace can be mind numbing and depressing.
This is what we had for "Music Videos" in the 60's. No short movie with plot and special effects like today. Just filming the artist, sometimes with just one camera, as they perform it or lip sync it. And there was no dedicated music outlet like MTv or otherwise back then. You'd likely see this on Shindig or Hullabaloo, then maybe again 9 months later if you caught some rerun. You saw it once, heard it a dozen times on AM radio, and spent a dollar on the 45 record if you liked it. No tapes. No digital. No downloads. No internet. No RU-vid. Just a black and white TV with rabbit ears. Mary's not lip sync'd here. The instrumental parts were nearly always prerecorded. That band part was, many times, my job in Hollywood. The band made a recording that was very close to the original but deliberately a small bit different (all real instruments, no synthesizers, not much in guitar pedals). We might move the key or tempo a bit col voce. The artist(s) sang to the recording. Like what we think of as Karaoke today. This was a pretty involved audio engineering project in the early 60's. Mic a live singer as she moves through stage blocking and play the bax through monitors (not in-ear but floor or even ceiling suspended). All that was essentially separate from the filming part of the project. That had it's own bunch of experts making the thing work. A thousand people made this song and video recording project possible. Not the least of whom were the groovy chick dancers in the background. They seemed a fixture in all 60's videos. Thanks all you unknowns behind the curtain.
