However, Motown was an extremely competitive environment, and groups had to fight to get the best songwriters and studio backing. With a #1 hit under their belt, the Marvelettes initially looked like potential superstars. Wanda Young and Gladys Horton alternated on lead vocals for this group, with Young taking the lead on another hit, Don’t Mess With Bill. But the song includes the unforgettable doo-wop lyric, “de-liver de letter, de sooner de better.” The group is not actually singing but just lip-synching from the record, to tepid clapping from the studio audience. Note that by this point the group was a trio, with Gladys Horton on the right. Postman at a ‘live’ performance in the mid-60s. Here are the Marvelettes singing Please Mr. I’ve been standin’ here waitin’ Mister Postman, so patiently, The premise of the song is rather simple: a young girl’s boyfriend is stationed overseas, and she is inquiring whether the postman has brought a letter from him. As an extra fillip, the drummer on this record (and most of the Marvelettes’ records) was young session musician Marvin Gaye! The record features The Marvelettes with lead singer Gladys Horton, backed by the wonderful Motown house band The Funk Brothers. It became the first Motown record to score the top ranking on the Billboard Hot 100, and was one of the first smash hits by an all-girl group. Regardless of the song’s authorship, it shot up to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard R&B charts. The end result is that between various albums, boxed sets, the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame and the current song publisher (EMI Music Publishing), the songwriting credits are parceled out to at least six different combinations of these people (Berry Gordy even appears as one of the writers in the Beatles’ discography)! ![]() Dobbins re-cast Garrett’s tune as a doo-wop song, and at Motown it was handed over to songwriters Brian Holland, Robert Bateman and Freddie Gorman. Postman? The song was originally a blues tune written by William Garrett, who gave it to his friend Georgia Dobbins, a founding member of the Marvelettes who left before that song was recorded. Postman.Ī fascinating question is: who wrote Please Mr. Gordy renamed the group The Marvelettes, and their first big record for Tamla was the snappy pop song Please Mr. Following some success in local singing competitions, the group was signed in 1961 by Berry Gordy to Motown Records’ Tamla division.
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