The closing track of Side One “He Holds His Own” is the version cut before the Supremes a year later, but Mary continues to captivate listeners with her husky smooth vocals backed by The Four Tops AND Supremes. Either one would have been the perfect follow-up single to “My Guy”. The first two tracks of Side One “He’s The One I Love” and “Whisper You Love Me Boy” are among the finest tracks Mary cut at Motown.

Track listing No.Originally released as “My Guy” was topping the charts, this LP could have gone much further up the charts (peaking at #111 although her “Greatest Hits” LP out simultaneously hit #18) if Mary did not decide to leave Motown. The album was simultaneously released along with his eponymous solo effort M.P.G., on Gaye's thirtieth birthday. It was the original album release of 'Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By,' which later appeared on Easy. Among the ladies Gaye sung with were Mary Wells (the hits 'Once Upon a Time' and 'What's the Matter With You Baby'), Kim Weston ('What Good Am I Without You?' and 'It Takes Two') and Tammi Terrell ('Your Precious Love' and 'Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By'). Marvin Gaye and His Girls is a 1969 compilation album of duets recorded by Marvin Gaye and various female singers on the Tamla label. Better to track down Ichiban’s Dear Lover: The Atco Sessions, which has all the soul sides from The Two Sides of Mary Wells, plus all four of her Atco singles and a couple of unreleased tracks, to boot. The failure of this record to be satisfying falls directly on the head of whoever had the idea for Wells to sing standards. Better to let her stick to the sweet soul and leave the standards to the pros. The standards side is semi-interesting Wells can sing the songs chosen well enough, but ultimately the tunes are too slickly produced and she’s no Carmen McRae or Dinah Washington.

Fair enough, everyone involved had to know that the only hope Wells had of selling records was to capture some “My Guy” magic in a bottle, and the best way to catch it was to follow the formula. Only her raw take on “In the Midnight Hour” and the lovely ballad “Dear Lover,” which is a very New York-sounding slice of sophisticated soul powered by Wells’ best vocal on the album, stray very far. On side one producer Carl Davis doesn’t stray far from the Motown sound Wells was associated with her cover of Deon Jackson’s “Love Makes the World Go Round” and the Supremes’ “My World Is Empty Without You Babe” hew the closest to that label’s punchy and compressed style, but “Good Lovin’” and “Satisfaction” aren’t far off. Side one is covers of soul and rock hits of the day (plus the single “Dear Lover”) side two is made up of jazz standards and show tunes.

Her only album for Atco, The Two Sides of Mary Wells, was cut in 1966 and does indeed feature two sides of Mary Wells. Mary Wells will forever be known as a Motown artist, but after she left the label in 1964 she cut some very good singles for 20th Century and Atco.

Mary wells greatest hits rar