This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2012) |
"Beechwood 4-5789" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Single by The Marvelettes | ||||
from the album Playboy | ||||
B-side | "Someday, Someway" | |||
Released | July 11, 1962 | |||
Recorded | May 19, 1962 | |||
Genre | Rock and roll, soul, doo-wop, R&B | |||
Length | 2:13 | |||
Label | Tamla T 54065 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson, George Gordy | |||
Producer(s) | William "Mickey" Stevenson | |||
The Marvelettes singles chronology | ||||
|
"Beechwood 4-5789" is a song written by Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson and George Gordy. It was a 1962 hit single for the Motown girl group The Marvelettes on Motown's Tamla subsidiary record label. The song became a hit again when it was covered by the pop duo The Carpenters in 1982.
The song's title is derived from the now-defunct use of telephone exchange names in telephone numbers. In this case, the significant portions of the exchange name were the first two letters of "Beechwood" (BE), and the remainder of the number. In conventional modern use, this telephone number would be 234–5789.
The lyrics are about the singer wanting a man she just met to call her number in order to "have a date, any ol' time." As with all the Marvelettes' other singles during the first phase of the group's career, the lead vocal was by Gladys Horton. The song's co-writer Marvin Gaye played drums on the track, which William Stevenson produced. The single was taken from the group's 1962 album Playboy .
"Beechwood 4-5789" has become a signature hit of Motown's early period, but it was not one of the label's biggest hits. However, it reached the Pop Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 as number 17 in the autumn of 1962. The track also reached the R&B Top Ten where it achieved double A-side status with "Beechwood 4-5789" reaching number 7 and the flip "Someday, Someway" number 8; [1] the latter track was a ballad from the writing-&-production team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Freddie Gorman and featured Berry Gordy Jr's wife Raynoma Liles as organist.
Chart (1962) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard Hot 100 [2] | 17 |
US Billboard R&B | 7 |
"Beechwood 4-5789" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Single by Carpenters | ||||
from the album Made in America | ||||
B-side | "Two Sides" | |||
Released | January 1982 | |||
Recorded | 1980–1981 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 3:06 | |||
Label | A&M 2344 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson, George Gordy | |||
Producer(s) | Richard Carpenter | |||
Carpenters singles chronology | ||||
|
A remake of "Beechwood 4-5789" was featured on Made in America , a 1981 album by the Carpenters whose 1975 remake of the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman" had reached number one.
Although Richard Carpenter typically exercised control over the Carpenters' song choice, the idea to remake "Beechwood 4-5789" was evidently Karen Carpenter's. Mike Curb recalls Karen playing him the original over the phone after telling him: "I've gotta play a song for you! You'll get a kick out of it! It is really fun! It'll bring back memories." When the record ended, Karen asked Curb; "So, what do you think of this as a single?" Although Curb saw no hit potential in a remake of "Beechwood 4-5789" he responded positively to her question, not having the heart to dampen her enthusiasm.
"Beechwood 4-5789" would be issued as the fourth single from Made in America1) on March 2, 1982, Karen Carpenter's thirty-second birthday. The track debuted on the A/C chart in Billboard dated March 27, 1982 and entered the Billboard Hot 100 dated April 24, 1982 at number 83 becoming the twenty-seventh single by the Carpenters to reach the Hot 100, all the group's singles since their major label debut in 1969 having appeared on the chart.
The last single release by the Carpenters prior to Karen Carpenter's February 4, 1983 death, "Beechwood 4-5789" did not become a major hit, rising no higher than number 74 on the Hot 100; the track's A/C chart peak was number 18. "Beechwood 4-5789" did reach number 10 in New Zealand in March 1982 – the single having been released there that February prior to its US issue – making the track the last evident top ten hit by the Carpenters on a major national chart.
A 1960s nostalgia-themed video for the Carpenters' "Beechwood 4-5789" was shot on A&M's Chaplin Stage. The video's setting is divided between a soda shop where a scene shows the song's single to be put in a jukebox by a man and then the couples in their chairs dance and Karen sings, and a young woman's bedroom (implied to be that of Karen's character) where Karen sings seated in front of a dresser. Karen is then shown seated and singing alongside Richard playing the keyboard; the footage is superimposed onto the dresser in the bedroom, making the duo appear miniature, especially alongside a pink Princess telephone. The video ends with Richard and Karen singing along with the band performing in the shop in front of the couples dancing on seats. [3]
Chart (1982) | Peak position |
---|---|
New Zealand (RIANZ) [4] | 10 |
US Cashbox [5] | 88 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [6] | 74 |
US Billboard Adult Contemporary | 18 |
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart, and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young prior to the group signing their first deal. They were the first successful act of Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful female group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, "Please Mr. Postman", one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act.
The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, Jimmy Ruffin, Edwin Starr, the Supremes, the Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers, among others. It is estimated they appeared on 20,000 recordings.
"Baby I Need Your Loving" is a 1964 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song was the group's first Motown single and their first pop Top 20 hit, making it to number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number four in Canada in the fall of 1964. It was also their first million-selling hit single.
"You're All I Need to Get By" is a song recorded by the American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and released on Motown Records' Tamla label in 1968. It was the basis for the 1995 single "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" from Method Man and Mary J. Blige.
"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" is a 1968 single released by American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, on the Tamla label in 1968. The B-side of the single is "Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl" from the duo's United LP. The first release off the duo's second album: You're All I Need, the song—written and produced by regular Gaye/Terrell collaborators Ashford & Simpson—became a hit within weeks of release eventually peaking at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart, the first of the duo's two number-one R&B hits. In the UK "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" reached number 34.
"Ain't That Peculiar" is a 1965 song recorded by American soul musician Marvin Gaye for the Tamla (Motown) label.
"Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" is a Motown song written by Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, and Janie Bradford. The song was first recorded by The Temptations as a track on their 1966 album Gettin' Ready. Eddie Kendricks sings lead on the recording, which was produced by Whitfield. Jimmy Ruffin also recorded a version with The Temptations providing background vocals in 1966. It remained unreleased until 1997.
"Stubborn Kind of Fellow" is a 1962 song recorded by Marvin Gaye for the Tamla label. Co-written by Gaye and produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" became Gaye's first hit single, reaching the top 10 of the R&B chart and the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1962.
"Please Mr. Postman" is a song written by Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland and Robert Bateman. It is the debut single by the Marvelettes for the Tamla (Motown) label, notable as the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. The single achieved this position in late 1961; it hit number one on the R&B chart as well. "Please Mr. Postman" became a number-one hit again in early 1975 when The Carpenters' cover of the song reached the top position of the Billboard Hot 100. "Please Mr. Postman" has been covered several times, including by the British rock group the Beatles in 1963. The 2017 song "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man draws on "Please Mr. Postman" and includes a credit for Brian Holland.
That Stubborn Kinda Fellow is the second studio album by Marvin Gaye, released on the Tamla label in 1963. The second LP Gaye released on the label, it also produced his first batch of successful singles for the label and established Gaye as one of the label's first hit-making acts in its early years.
"My Guy" is a 1964 hit single by American singer Mary Wells for the Motown label. Written and produced by Smokey Robinson of The Miracles, the song is a woman's rejection of a sexual advance and affirmation of her fidelity to her boyfriend, who is her ideal and with whom she is happy, despite his ordinary physique and looks.
"There's a Kind of Hush" is a popular song written by Les Reed and Geoff Stephens. Originally recorded by Stephens' group the New Vaudeville Band in 1967 as a neo-British music hall number, this version of the track became a hit in Australia and South Africa. However, in the rest of the world, a near-simultaneous cover was a big hit for Herman's Hermits. The song was a charted hit again in 1976 for The Carpenters.
"Tell Me a Lie" is a song composed by Mickey Buckins and Barbara Wyrick. Originally recorded by Lynn Anderson for her 1974 What a Man My Man Is album, it was released later that same year as a single by Sami Jo Cole, who took it to number 21 on both of the major U.S. pop charts. It also charted in Canada (#17). Cole's version was also an Adult Contemporary hit, reaching number 14 in the U.S. and number 27 in Canada.
"I Believe You" is a love ballad composed by Don and Dick Addrisi which was a 1977 single for Dorothy Moore; taken from her self-titled Dorothy Moore album. "I Believe You" reached #5 R&B and crossed over to the US Pop Top 30 at number 27. The track also reached number 20 in the UK.
"634-5789 " is a soul song written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper. It was first recorded by Wilson Pickett on December 20, 1965 and included on his 1966 Atlantic Records album The Exciting Wilson Pickett with backing vocals by Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles. The single reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart and number 13 on the Hot 100 singles chart.
"Twistin' Postman" is a song recorded by Motown singing group The Marvelettes, who released it in 1961, and was the follow-up to their smash debut single, "Please Mr. Postman".
"When You're Young and in Love" is a song composed by Van McCoy which first became a Top 40 hit single for the Marvelettes in 1967: a remake by the Flying Pickets would reach the UK Top Ten in 1984.
Playboy is the third album by the Motown girl group The Marvelettes, released in 1962. It capitalized on their hit singles "Playboy" and "Beechwood 4-5789". It also includes the single "Someday, Someway" and "Forever", a heartfelt standard that would be released the following year as the B-side of the single "Locking Up My Heart" and join the A-side on the charts. Other compositions include "Goddess of Love", "Cry Over You", and "Mix It Up". George Gordy, William "Mickey" Stevenson and Marvin Gaye, who had produced "Beechwood 4-5789" all did some work on the Playboy LP as well.
"Heaven Must Have Sent You" is a song written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland when at Motown, and first recorded by The Elgins in 1966. It was also a 1979 disco hit single by Bonnie Pointer.
"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" is a song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye from his fifth studio album of the same name (1965). It was written in 1964 by the Motown songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, and produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. The song title was inspired by one of the actor and comedian Jackie Gleason's signature phrases, "How Sweet It Is!"