Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1964
When I'm Gone (Motown song)
Buy When I'm Gone (Motown song) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
"'When I'm Gone'" is a song written by Smokey Robinson and a single he produced twice, one for early Motown star Mary WellsThe Complete Motown Singles Vol 4: 1964 [CD liner notes]. New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records. and the other for fellow Motown vocalist Brenda Holloway.The Complete Motown Singles Vol 5: 1965 [CD liner notes]. New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records. Holloway's version became a hit while Wells' was aborted after the singer left the label in 1964.
Overview
Song information
"When I'm Gone" was produced under a beat similar to Mary Wells' big hit, "My Guy" though this song included hand claps, and was originally recorded by Wells. In the song, the narrator asks her cheating lover what would he do if she were to leave him explaining how everybody around them thinks they're happy in front of the public when inside the woman is suffering from the lover's behavior calling him a "real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" character. She also complains that though he flirts with "every girl that he sees", he comes running back to her when they do him wrong. Throughout the song, the narrator threatens to leave him and in the end repeats the question she asks in the beginning: '"what are you gonna do when I'm gone?"'Mary Wells exit and Brenda Holloway's arrival
The song was one of the last records Mary Wells recorded while at Motown. Fresh from the success of "My Guy" and with her Motown contract expiring the year of "My Guy" and its success, Wells decided to terminate her contract with Motown complaining of Gordy refusing to give Wells the royalties she earned during her successful tenure at the label. She argued that her Motown contract was invalid because she'd signed with the company at the age of seventeen. Due to the underage clause, Motown allowed Wells' contract to expire. (Had Wells not exited Motown, "When I'm Gone" would have been her next release, the follow-up to the million-selling "My Guy"). The singer then headed to 20th Century Fox Records after being offered a $500,000 contract that also offered Wells to do movies. Meanwhile, Motown's latest new signed artist, Brenda Holloway, was releasing her first single, "Every Little Bit Hurts", which shot to number 13 on the U.S. 'Billboard' Hot 100.Whitburn, Joel (2004). 'The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 289. After Wells departed, Motown eventually convinced Holloway to record some of Wells' songs, partially due to the fact that Gordy felt Holloway was the next Mary though both singers' vocals differed from each other: Wells' deep, smokey contralto vocal contrasted with Holloway's lighter soprano. Holloway recorded "When I'm Gone" in Detroit.Charts
Brenda Holloway version
Released as a single in 1965, Holloway's version reached #25 on the U.S. 'Billboard' Hot 100 and performed slightly better on the R&B chart reaching number 12. Holloway performed her version on the show 'Shivaree' . It was Holloway's second-biggest Motown chart hit, after 'Every Little Bit Hurts'. Wells' version was released to the Motown compilation album, 'Vintage Stock'.Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Personnel
Mary Wells version
*Lead vocal by Mary Wells*Background vocals by The Andantes
*Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
Brenda Holloway version
*Lead vocal by Brenda Holloway*Background vocals by The Andantes
*Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
References
Category:1964 singles
Category:1965 singles
Category:Motown singles
Category:Mary Wells songs
Category:Brenda Holloway songs
Category:Songs written by Smokey Robinson
Category:Song recordings produced by Smokey Robinson
Category:1964 songs
Buy When I'm Gone (Motown song) now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1964