Kim Weston | |
|---|---|
 Kim Weston in 1965 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Agatha Nathalia Weston |
| Born | December 20, 1939 |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1961–present |
| Labels | |
Kim Weston (born December 20, 1939) is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. [1] In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)", and with her duet with Marvin Gaye, "It Takes Two".
Born Agatha Nathalia Weston in Detroit, Michigan, United States, she was signed to Motown in 1961, scoring a minor hit with "Love Me All the Way" (R&B No. 24, Pop #88). [1] [2] "Love Me All the Way" was a originally the b-side to "It Should Have Been Me", however, it was switched when a DJ reacted to "Love Me All the Way". [3] Weston's biggest solo hits with Motown were "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" (R&B No. 4, Pop No. 50, [1] [4] later covered by the Isley Brothers; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Jermaine Jackson; the Doobie Brothers; and Phil Collins), and "Helpless" [1] (R&B No. 13, Pop No. 56, entered Cashbox March 26, 1966, previously recorded by The Four Tops on their album, Four Tops Second Album ). She is notable for singing the hit "It Takes Two" with Marvin Gaye in 1966, [1] and for her later recording of the Black National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing". [5] It was the success of "It Takes Two" that caused Motown to partner Gaye with Tammi Terrell, spawning even more success for the label.
Weston left Motown in 1967, [1] and later sued the company over disputes about royalties. She and her then-husband William "Mickey" Stevenson (former A&R head at Motown) both moved to Los Angeles and began their career with MGM Records, with Stevenson running his own label at MGM. [6] [2] [7] [1] Weston cut a couple of singles for MGM, "I Got What You Need" "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". This 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, [1] and also made an album of duets with Johnny Nash. Weston declined in charts by the time new singles were released, [4] and Weston reportedly relocated to Israel, where she worked with young singers. [2] She also participated in a musical called Sound and the Kidnapped African. [2]
Weston made a guest appearance on The Bill Cosby Show (1969–1971), in episode No. 50 in March 1971. [8]
Along with many former Motown artists, she signed with Ian Levine's Motorcity Records in the 1980s, [1] releasing the single "Signal Your Intention", which peaked at No. 1 in the UK Hi-NRG chart. It was followed by the album Investigate (1990), which included some re-recordings of her Motown hits as well as new material. [1] 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).
Kim Weston was inducted into the inaugural class of the Official Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame at Cleveland State University in August 2013.
Studio albums
Compilations
Live releases
Chart singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [11] [12] | U.S. R&B [12] [11] | 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 [13] | - | |
| 1966 | "Helpless" | 56 | 13 | - | |
| 1967 | "It Takes Two" (duet with Marvin Gaye) | 14 | 4 | 16 | Take Two |
| 1967 | "I Got What You Need" | 99 | - | - | |
| 1968 | "Nobody" | - | 39 | - | |
| 1969 | "We Try Harder" (duet with Johnny Nash) | 135 | - | - | |
| 1970 | "Danger, Heartbreak Ahead" | - | 49 | - | |
| 1970 | "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" | 120 | 50 | - | |
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William "Mickey" Stevenson is an American former songwriter and record producer for the Motown group of labels from the early days of Berry Gordy's company until 1967.
The Originals, often called "Motown's best-kept secret", were a successful Motown R&B and soul group during the late 1960s and the 1970s, most notable for the hits "Baby I'm for Real", "The Bells", and the disco classic "Down to Love Town." Formed in 1966, the group originally consisted of baritone singer Freddie Gorman, tenor/falsetto Walter Gaines, and tenors C. P. Spencer and Hank Dixon. Ty Hunter replaced Spencer when he left to go solo in the early 1970s. They had all previously sung in other Detroit groups, Spencer having been an original member of the (Detroit) Spinners and Hunter having sung with the Supremes member Scherrie Payne in the group Glass House. Spencer, Gaines, Hunter, and Dixon were also members of the Voice Masters. As a member of the Holland–Dozier–Gorman writing-production team, Gorman was one of the co-writers of Motown's first number 1 pop hit "Please Mr. Postman", recorded by the Marvelettes. In 1964 the Beatles released their version and in 1975 the Carpenters took it to number 1 again. In 2006, "Please Mr. Postman" was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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Diana & Marvin is a duets album by American soul musicians Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, released October 26, 1973 on Motown. Recording sessions for the album took place between 1971 and 1973 at Motown Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. Gaye and Ross were widely recognized at the time as two of the top pop music performers.
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American music artist Marvin Gaye released 25 studio albums, four live albums, one soundtrack album, 24 compilation albums, and 83 singles. In 1961 Gaye signed a recording contract with Tamla Records, owned by Motown. The first release under the label was The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye. Gaye's first album to chart was a duet album with Mary Wells titled Together, peaking at number forty-two on the Billboard pop album chart. His 1965 album, Moods of Marvin Gaye, became his first album to reach the top ten of the R&B album charts and spawned four hit singles. Gaye recorded more than thirty hit singles for Motown throughout the 1960s, becoming established as "the Prince of Motown". Gaye topped the charts in 1968 with his rendition of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", while his 1969 album, M.P.G., became his first number one R&B album. Gaye's landmark album, 1971's What's Going On became the first album by a solo artist to launch three top ten singles, including the title track. His 1973 single, "Let's Get It On", topped the charts while its subsequent album reached number two on the charts becoming his most successful Motown album to date. In 1982, after 21 years with Motown, Gaye signed with Columbia Records and issued Midnight Love, which included his most successful single to date, "Sexual Healing". Following his death in 1984, three albums were released posthumously while some of Gaye's landmark works were re-issued.
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The Girl Most Likely is Claudja Barry's second studio album, released November 1977. It was launched by the single "Take Me in Your Arms" and was released just shortly after a duet between Barry and her label-mate Ronnie Jones, a cover of Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston's "It Takes Two". It was felt that the album was short of another hit single, and Korduletsch & Evers quickly produced "Johnny, Johnny, Please Come Home" which would be issued early 1978 as the second single. This would replace the track "I'll Be Dancin' No More" on later LP-pressings.
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