![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/marvin_gaye_mary_wells.jpg\")
One of the things Motown singer Marvin Gaye was most known for was his work within vocal duos. Before his socially-conscious What\u2019s Going On<\/i> era, Gaye concentrated on a more pop-friendly brand of r&b. But his work with Mary Wells, Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell are all important parts of his musical legacy.<\/p>\n
And it was the first of those pairings, Together<\/i> with Wells, where Gaye truly got his biggest break. Prior to the release of Together<\/i>, he had recorded and released four albums for Motown; none charted. He had managed for Top Ten singles on the r&b chart, with one of those making it into the U.S. Top Ten.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce Upon a Time is a lilting, gentle track; subtlety is its primary virtue. It\u2019s tasteful in the extreme, though somel isteners may expect a seeping string interlude, thankfully there isn\u2019t one. A lovely marimba solo enlivens the track, but the alternating vocals are at its center.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeed I Do\u201d is a swinging pop number with some soulful background vocals. And \u201cUntil I Met You (Corner Pocket) is a rousing, jazzy cut that feels like a throwback. \u201cTogether\u201d is more effective, dleivering a soulful character and dialing back the slickness just a bit. \u201c(I Love You) for Sentimental Reasons\u201d is a bit on the syrupy side, but it\u2019s still appealing.<\/p>\n
The brassy \u201cThe Late Late Show\u201d brings some welcome energy to the set, with a bouncy give-and-take vocal. \u201cAfter the Lights Go Down Low\u201d is a slice of big band blues. Wells and Gaye even harmonize a bit. \u201cSqueeze Me\u201d continues on the blues tip; it\u2019s a deep-cut treat. \u201cWhat\u2019s the Matter with You Baby\u201d has a Brill Building pop flavor, Motown style. Another relatively big production number, \u201cYou Came a Long Way From St. Louis\u201d closes the record I nstyle.<\/p>\n
Motown thought a duo album would be an effective way to boost Gaye\u2019s career, and they were right: the album scored positive reviews, and its single, \u201cOnce Upon a Time\u201d b\/w \u201cWhat the Matter With Yyou Baby\u201d was that rare success: both its a- and b-sides charted separately. That chart action helped pave the way for Marvin Gaye\u2019s future successes.<\/p>\n
As a duo, however, Gaye and Wells never capitalized on the success of Together<\/i>. By the time of its release in April 1964, Mary Wells had left Motown (on the sage advice of her husband\/manager); her subsequent career did not flourish.<\/p>\n
Together<\/i> received its first reissue in 1981; Motown reissued it on CD and vinyl in 2015; some CD reissues featured bonus tracks that are (arguably) superior to the core songs. The new monaural 2024 reissue is pressed on 140g vinyl in limited edition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the things Motown singer Marvin Gaye was most known for was his work within vocal duos. Before his socially-conscious What\u2019s Going On era, Gaye concentrated on a more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,64,65,73],"tags":[4189,5533],"class_list":["post-28325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rb","category-reissue","category-review","category-vinyl","tag-marvin-gaye","tag-mary-wells","cat-60-id","cat-64-id","cat-65-id","cat-73-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28325"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28327,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28325\/revisions\/28327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}