Bye Bye Baby (Mary Wells song)

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“Bye Bye Baby”
Single by Mary Wells
from the album Bye Bye Baby I Don't Want to Take a Chance
Released December 1960
Format 7" single
Recorded 1960
Genre Soul
Length 3:00
Label Motown
M 1003
Writer(s) Mary Wells
Producer Berry Gordy
Mary Wells singles chronology
"Bye Bye Baby"
(1960)		 "I Don't Want to Take a Chance"
(1961)

"Bye Bye Baby" is the debut single by R&B singer Mary Wells, released in December of 1960 on the Motown label. The song was one of Motown's earliest hit singles and showcased a much rougher vocal than what would come from the singer during her later years.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Recording

In 1960, 17-year-old Mary Wells was a nightclub singer struggling to make ends meet in Detroit. Aspiring to be a singer-songwriter, she decided to write a song for fellow Detroit singer and R&B star Jackie Wilson. Spotting Motown staffer Robert Bateman, Wells was taken by Bateman to Motown Records' official studio to meet its CEO Berry Gordy, who after hearing her sing the song in front of him acapella was convinced to record the song with the teenage singer as the official vocalist rather than Wilson. Recording the song in the style she had envisioned Wilson to sing it, she reportedly recorded the song over 26 times before she recorded a version Gordy could release.

[edit] Release and reaction

Released in December of 1960, the song became an R&B hit reaching number eight on the Billboard R&B singles chart and crossed over to pop stations where it peaked at number forty-five. It was significant for the fact that it was the first single released under one of the Motown subsidiaries nationally after the label's first singles was released through distributing labels such as United Artists.

[edit] Credits

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