Mary Wells - NEVER, NEVER LEAVE ME (1965)
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- Опубликовано: 1 май 2024
- NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED - (45 - 20th Century-Fox 570 and LP - 20th Century-Fox 4171) After a successful, hit-making five years with Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Mary Wells abruptly left the company in hopes of greener pastures (and larger royalties) with 20th Century-Fox Records. Along with a whopping $200,000 cash advance from the label, there was also the vague dangling carrot of possible motion picture opportunities. The union with 20th Century-Fox lasted only a year in which a total of two albums and six singles were issued. The recording sessions which were held in New York and Chicago, produced some rather nice results but nowhere near the impact that Motown was able to create with Wells. The third single release from February 1965 was a wonderful double-sider, 'Never, Never Leave Me' b/w 'Why Don't You Let Yourself Go'. Uncredited producer for the recording was that of Chicago based, Carl Davis. No arranger was noted. The record received substantial radio play with televised performances that propelled the disc to peak at #54 on the Billboard 'Top 100' and #15 on their R&B chart. The plug side was composed by husband and wife team, Mickey Gentile and Jennie Lee Lambert. In 2012, record industry consultant, Kevin Goins, interviewed composer, Mickey Gentile while preparing the liner notes that would accompany the 'Mary Wells 20th Century Fox' CD compilation. According to Gentile, Burt Bacharach had asked him to come up with a track to fill a then upcoming Dionne Warwick album. Mickey cut a demo recording of 'Never, Never Leave Me' with Dionne's sister, Dee Dee Warwick providing the vocal. Some time later at an office visit, Mary Wells happened to be nearby within earshot, and after hearing the demo, snatched it off the turntable and placed it in her purse right in front of Mickey and his wife and co-writer Jeannie Lambert. And the rest is as they say.....history.
The audio for this video was lifted from the 1965 stereo 20th Century-Fox LP. While the record sleeve and labels indicate 'stereo', sadly, there is virtually no separation on this and all of the other tracks other than a minuscule bit of 'rechanneled stereo' during playback.
* Thank you to RUclips channel 'LMJXXX' for their uploaded 1965 video segment of Mary Wells performing 'Never, Never Leave Me' on NBC-TV's 'Hullabaloo'.
* Thank you to Kevin Goins sharing his interview notes regarding the creation of 'Never, Never Leave Me'. 
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One of her best..R.I.P. Mary 🙏
A fantastic Mary Wells song!!!! So so disappointed that after leaving Motown these great singles never reached the status they should have.
Just a beautiful song...
WOW!! Thank you so much for including my chat with Mickey Gentile from (gasp!) 12 years ago. I interviewed so many industry folks for the liner notes and sadly only two are still with us (songwriter Sidney Barnes and music promoter Tony Russi). Mr. Gentile was an absolute gentleman. BTW - rumor had it that Gene Page arranged "Never..." but couldn't find any proof. Thank you Anthony. You made my day!
No wonder I have loved this song for years! If Gene Page worked on this you know it’s special! He was truly an underrated composer/producer/arranger. His version of the “Close Encounters” was beautiful and ethereal as opposed to Meco’s brassy and militaristic recording.
Kevin, thank you for all that you do and have done documenting and keeping the music history alive.
@@Avatar610 Indeed! Gene was a master arranger!
BTW - I should clarify that the session for "Never..." took place in LA, while Mary was on a promo tour. She and Carl Davis were dating at the time.
@@kevingoins9858 maybe William Sargent will pull up the session contract and get all of the recording information once and for all.😉
This a great two-sided single. You should definitely add “Why Don’t You Let Yourself Go”, which is a great Rudy Clark tune. I also bought a Mary Wells ‘stereo’ album only to find it rechanneled - how on earth did that stupid label not record her on stereo for her first album at 20th?
Maybe one day in the future, someone related to those involved with this recording will be out digging in their garage or backyard shed and find the dusty tape box with the final mix of the stereo album. Sigh........