Kim Weston

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kim Weston

Background information
Birth name Agatha Natalie Weston
Born December 20, 1939(1939-12-20)
Origin Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genre(s) Soul
Occupation(s) Singer
Instrument(s) Vocals
Years active 1963 – present
Label(s) Motown, MGM, Stax, Motorcity
Associated acts Marvin Gaye

Kim Weston (born Agatha Natalie Weston, December 20, 1939, in Detroit, Michigan) is an African American soul singer, and Motown Records alumna. She was signed to the record label in 1963, scoring a minor hit with "Love Me All the Way" (R&B #24, Pop #88). Her biggest solo hits with Motown were "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" (R&B #4, Pop #50, 1965; later covered by The Isley Brothers, Blood, Sweat & Tears and The Doobie Brothers) and "Helpless" (R&B #13, Pop #56, 1966; previously recorded by The Four Tops on their Second Album LP). Her biggest claim to fame was singing the classic hit "It Takes Two" with Marvin Gaye in 1966 and her later recording of the Black National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing." It was the success of "It Takes Two" with Marvin Gaye that caused Motown to seek Tammi Terrell to replace her as his singing partner, which spawned even more success for the label.

Weston left Motown in 1967 and later sued the label over disputes about royalties. She and her then-husband Mickey Stevenson (former A&R head at Motown) both went to MGM Records. Weston cut a couple of singles for MGM, "I Got What You Need," and "Nobody," which went largely unnoticed due to lack of airplay and promotion. She made an album for the label, This Is America, which included her popular version of the Black National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing," was released as a single and featured in the movie Wattstax. All the money from the single was donated to the United Negro College Fund.

She recorded several more albums for various labels, Stax/Volt among them, and also made an album of duets with Johnny Nash. None of these recordings charted, and Weston reportedly relocated to Israel, where she worked with young singers.

Along with many of her fellow Motown alumni/alumnae, she signed with Ian Levine's Motorcity Records in the 1980s, releasing the single Signal Your Intention which peaked at #1 in the UK Hi-NRG charts. It was followed by the album Investigate (1990) which included some re-recordings of her Motown hits as well as new material. A second album for the label Talking Loud (1992) was never released although all the songs were included on the compilation The Best Of Kim Weston (1996).

Today she is a disc jockey on a local Detroit, Michigan radio station, where she sponsors the summer events at Hart Plaza. She also tours sporadically, often alongside former Motown colleagues Mary Wilson, Martha Reeves and Brenda Holloway. She is also featured on the 2006 four CD release of the Motortown Revue series.

[edit] Discography

Standard albums

  • 1966: Take Two (duet album with Marvin Gaye)
  • 1967: For the First Time
  • 1968: This Is America
  • 1970: Big Brass Four Poster
  • 1970: Kim Kim Kim
  • 1990: Investigate

Compilations

  • 1991: Greatest Hits & Rare Classics
  • 1996: The Very Best of the Motorcity Recordings
  • 2003: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Kim Weston
  • 2005: Motown Anthology

Singles

Year Single Chart positions Album
U.S. U.S. R&B UK
1963 "Love Me All the Way" 88 24 -
1964 "What Good Am I Without You"
(duet with Marvin Gaye)		 61 28 - Take Two (1967)
1965 "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" 50 4 -
1966 "Helpless" 56 13 -
1967 "It Takes Two"
(duet with Marvin Gaye)		 14 4 16 Take Two

[edit] Further reading

Languages