Together (Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells album)

Together is the first and only studio album released by the duo team of American Motown artists Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells. It was released on the Motown label on April 15, 1964. The album brought Gaye together with Wells, an established star with a number-one pop hit to her name (1964's "My Guy"), singing mostly standards and show tunes, in the hopes that Gaye would benefit from the exposure.[1]

Together
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 15, 1964
RecordedFebruary – April 1963
StudioHitsville U.S.A. (Detroit, Michigan)
GenreSoul
Length28.25
LabelMotown
ProducerWilliam "Mickey" Stevenson; Clarence Paul on "Once Upon a Time"
Marvin Gaye chronology
Greatest Hits
(1963)
Together
(1964)
Hello Broadway
(1964)
Mary Wells chronology
Greatest Hits
(1964)
Together
(1964)
Mary Wells
(1965)
Singles from Together
  1. "Once Upon a Time" / "What's the Matter with You Baby"
    Released: April 14, 1964

This album became the first charted album credited to Gaye, peaking at number 42 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and yielding two top 20 singles, "Once Upon a Time" and "What's the Matter with You Baby". Shortly afterwards, upon reaching twenty-one, Wells, who received bad advice from her former husband and manager, left Motown. The label had to find another duet partner for Gaye, enlisting Kim Weston for one album, Take Two, also consisting of similar material, but later yielding a longer-lasting pairing of Gaye with Tammi Terrell, with more contemporary material.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Record Mirror[2]

Track listing edit

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Once Upon a Time"Barney Ales, Dave Hamilton, Clarence Paul, William "Mickey" Stevenson2:32
2."'Deed I Do"Walter Hirsch, Fred Rose3.00
3."Until I Met You"Freddie Green, Donald Wolf3:26
4."Together"Buddy G. DeSylva, Lew Brown, Ray Henderson2:49
5."(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons"William Best, Deek Watson2:35
6."The Late, Late Show"Roy Alfred, Murray Berlin2:42
7."After the Lights Go Down Low"Phil Belmonte, Leroy Lovett, Allen White2:53
8."Just Squeeze Me (Don't Tease Me)"Duke Ellington, Lee Gaines2:32
9."What's the Matter with You Baby"Barney Ales, Clarence Paul, William "Mickey" Stevenson2:24
10."You Came a Long Way from St. Louis"John Brooks, Bob Russell2:52

Personnel edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Together – Marvin Gaye,Mary Wells | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  2. ^ Jopling, Norman (17 October 1964). "Marvin Gaye & Mary Wells: Together" (PDF). Record Mirror. No. 188. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.