"Please Mr. Postman" | ||||
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![]() US picture sleeve | ||||
Single by the Marvelettes | ||||
from the album Please Mr. Postman | ||||
B-side | "So Long Baby" | |||
Released | August 21, 1961 | |||
Recorded | April 1961 | |||
Studio | Hitsville U.S.A., Detroit | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:31 | |||
Label | Tamla | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Brianbert | |||
The Marvelettes singles chronology | ||||
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"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, [3] 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. [4] "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" [5] [6] and includes a credit for Brian Holland.
In April 1961, the Marvelettes (then known as the Marvels) arranged an audition for Berry Gordy's Tamla label. Marvels' original lead singer Georgia Dobbins needed an original song for their audition, and got a blues song from her friend William Garrett, which she then reworked for the group. Dobbins left the group after the audition and was replaced. [7] Gordy renamed the group and hired "Brianbert" – Brian Holland and Robert Bateman's songwriting partnership – to rework the song yet again. Freddie Gorman, himself a Detroit postman and another songwriting partner of Holland (before Holland became part of the Holland–Dozier–Holland team) was also involved in the final reworking.
Songwriting credits for "Please Mr. Postman" have been inconsistent. [8] Journalist Ben Fong-Torres credits the song to Holland, Bateman, Gorman, Dobbins and Garrett. [9] The original Tamla 45 single for the Marvelettes' version credits "Dobbins/Garett/Brianbert" as the songwriters, and credits "Brianbert" as producer. The original With the Beatles album cover credited it to just Brian Holland (the 1987 CD release credits it to "Dobbin-Garrett-Garman-Brianbert"). The 1976 Beatles discography book All Together Now credits the songwriting to Holland, Bateman, and Berry Gordy. The 1992 Motown boxed set Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection credits Dobbins, Garrett, Holland, Bateman, and Gorman as the composers. The Songwriters Hall of Fame credits "Please Mr. Postman" to just Holland, Bateman, and Gorman. [10] EMI Music Publishing, the current music publisher of the song, list all five writers in their catalog.
Played in 4/4 time, the song features the common I–vi–IV–V chord progression. [8] The melody is hexatonic, avoiding "blue" notes. [11]
The Marvelettes recording features lead singer Gladys Horton hoping that the postman has brought her a letter from her boyfriend.[ citation needed ] Holland and Bateman – dubbing themselves "Brianbert" – produced the session. [12] The song's rhythm section is made up of piano, electric bass and drums. [13] The commercial failure of Marvin Gaye's 1961 debut album, The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye , led him to spend time as a studio musician for the remainder of the year. [14] Among these efforts was "Please Mr. Postman", on which he plays the drums. [15] Gaye's backbeat is busy throughout the song, playing his snare on the two and four beats while tapping the ride cymbal each half beat. [13] He uses fills to transition the song through sections. The bass mostly alternates between root and fifth chords. An electric rhythm guitar is buried in the mix, only occasionally audible, while handclaps are prominent. [16] Musicologist Walter Everett suggests that the appearance of reverb on the lead vocal at 2:10 is possibly the result of a vocal overdub being "punched into a mismatched circuit". [17]
Motown's Tamla label released the song as a single in the US in August 1961, then on the album of the same name in November 1961. [18] The single was a commercial success, becoming Motown's second million-selling record and its first number-one hit. [12] The song was on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 23 weeks, and peaked at number 1 the week of December 11, 1961. [19] Producer Berry Gordy credited Barney Ales' PR effort with the commercial success of the song. [20] The song's hit status left many at Motown expecting the Marvelettes to be the label's biggest act, though they failed to ever match their first effort. [12]
[W]e were never really given our just dues as Marvelettes. For instance, we never received a gold record for "Please Mr. Postman" ... We didn't think about it much at the time, but looking back I can admit that it really wasn't fair the way the Supremes were put ahead of us in every way. [21]
– Katherine Anderson, 1986
Journalist Ben Fong-Torres described the Marvelettes' next song, "Twistin' Postman", as a "calculated follow-up". [9] The song's success led to an expansion in Motown's efforts, with songs like the Miracles "I'll Try Something New" and "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" following in 1962. [22]
Fontana Records released the song as a single in the UK in November 1961. [23]
Billboard listed the song as #22 on their 2017 list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time. [24]
Rolling Stone ranked it at No. 331 on their list of "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". [5]
In 2011, The Marvelettes version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. [25]
According to The Complete Motown Singles – Vol. 1: 1959–1961 liner notes, [26] except where noted:
The Marvelettes
Additional musicians
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"Please Mr. Postman" | |
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![]() Swedish single picture sleeve | |
Song by the Beatles | |
from the album With the Beatles | |
Released | November 22, 1963 |
Recorded | July 30, 1963 |
Studio | EMI, London |
Genre | Rock and roll, R&B |
Length | 2:36 |
Label | Parlophone |
Songwriter(s) | Brian Holland |
Producer(s) | George Martin |
The English rock band the Beatles displayed an early interest in the music of girl groups, covering songs by groups like the Shirelles, the Cookies and the Donays. [34] They added "Please Mr. Postman" to their live repertoire in December 1961, their third Tamla song after the Miracles' "Who's Lovin' You" and Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)". [35]
Having not made it into the British top fifty, few in the UK knew the song "Please Mr. Postman", allowing the Beatles to make it their own among all Liverpool groups. [36] John Lennon sang lead vocal, Paul McCartney and George Harrison providing backing vocals, while all three added handclaps at their head level. [37] In 2004, Billy Hatton of the Four Jays recalled seeing one of the Beatles' first live performances of the song, saying it was "a Wow moment. I was struck by how tight they were. As a semi-pro group, the Four Jays would take a month to start playing a new song really well." [38] Without their knowing it at the time, the Beatles' 7 March 1962 performance of the song on BBC Radio's Here We Go was the first time any Tamla song was played over BBC radio. [39] Beatles author Mark Lewisohn reflects: "Without even realising it (and they'd have been thrilled to know), the Beatles broke the Detroit 'Motown sound' to the British listening public." [40]
In 1963, Beatles manager Brian Epstein approached Gordy for the rights to record several Motown songs, including "Please Mr. Postman", "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" and "Money (That's What I Want)". Rather than the industry standard of two cents, Epstein only offered one and a half cents per record sold. [41] Gordy initially refused, only relenting two minutes before the offer was set to expire. [42]
On 30 July 1963, the band recorded the song for their second UK album, With the Beatles . Recorded in Studio Two of EMI Recording Studios, George Martin produced the session, supported by balance engineer Norman Smith. [43] The band recorded three takes in a similar style to their BBC performance, but found the results unsatisfactory. They altered the arrangement to sound closer to the Marvelettes' version, recording four more takes with a stop-time intro, drum breaks and a coda, the final take seven deemed "best". [44] Due to their different vocal range from the Marvelettes, the Beatles modulate their version into A major. [8] Between recording two takes of overdubs, the band added handclaps while Lennon double tracked his original vocal, [44] take nine marked "best". [43] Martin and Smith mixed the song for mono and stereo on 21 August and 29 October, respectively. [45]
EMI's Parlophone label released With the Beatles in the UK on 22 November 1963, with "Please Mr. Postman" sequenced as the final track on the first side, coming after Till There Was You". [46] In the US, Capitol released The Beatles' Second Album on 10 April 1964, with "Please Mr. Postman" sequenced as the ninth track, between "I Call Your Name" and "I'll Get You". [47] Both releases credit the song only to Holland. [46] [8] Capitol also included the cover as the final track on the US-only four-song EP, Four by the Beatles , released 11 May 1964. [48]
Writing about The Beatles' Second Album, music critic Robert Christgau considers the covers of "Please Mr. Postman" and "Money (That's What I Want)" as two of the Beatles' best ever recordings, "both surpassing the superb Motown originals". [49] Music critic Tim Riley calls the song's beat "tremendous", and that "like all great rock 'n' roll, it sounds perilously close to falling apart at any minute". [50] He writes it is the "most reckless and completely irresistible playing" on the first side of With the Beatles, and "the most flammable rock 'n' roll they've given us since "She Loves You". [50]
Musicologist Alan W. Pollack sees the opening shout of "Wait!" as anticipating as the opening shout of "Help!" in the Beatles' 1965 song of the same name. [8] Writer Chris Ingham calls the song "a dense curtain of guitars and harmonies" supported by "a delicious, elastic groove". [51] Writer Jonathan Gould writes that Lennon's strong vocal overpowers the weak lyric, while the band's backing "[explodes] off the record", ultimately "[epitomizing] all that is best about the Beatles' second album." [52] He further writes that, among the covers on With the Beatles, it is the only one that approaches the quality of "Twist and Shout" from Please Please Me . [52] Writer Ian MacDonald dismisses the cover as "[l]acking the loose-limbed playfulness of the original", with a "wall of sound that quickly weights on the ear". [53]
According to MacDonald, [53] except where noted:
"Please Mr. Postman" | ||||
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Single by Carpenters | ||||
from the album Horizon | ||||
B-side | "This Masquerade" | |||
Released | November 8, 1974 | |||
Recorded | September 1974 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 2:50 | |||
Label | A&M 1646 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland, Robert Bateman | |||
Producer(s) | Richard and Karen Carpenter | |||
Carpenters singles chronology | ||||
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Audio | ||||
"Please Mr. Postman - Carpenters" on YouTube |
A hit cover of "Please Mr. Postman" was recorded by The Carpenters, whose version took the song again to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1975. The Carpenters' version resembles an old 1950s rock & roll song. The single was released in late 1974, reached number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts in January 1975, [54] and was the duo's 10th and final million-selling single. The corresponding Horizon album was belatedly released in June 1975 and went Platinum.
The Carpenters' cover version was also sampled by rapper Juelz Santana for his single "Oh Yes". It is used by the Rob, Arnie and Dawn Show to introduce their Listener Mail segment, and was the song by the presenters of the British Saturday morning show SMTV Live to introduce the mailbag section. Reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1975, in a UK television special on ITV in 2016 it was voted number one in The Nation's Favourite Carpenters Song . [55] [56]
A music video of the song, filmed in Disneyland, can be found on the DVD Gold: Greatest Hits (released in 2002), originally packaged as Yesterday Once More (released on VHS and LaserDisc in 1985).
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Brian Holland is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound, and numerous hit records by artists such as Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and The Isley Brothers. Holland, along with Lamont Dozier, served as the team's musical arranger and producer. He has written or co-written 145 hits in US and 78 in the UK.
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 Rogers 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.
"Money (That's What I Want)" is a rhythm and blues song written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, which was the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise. Barrett Strong recorded it in 1959 as a single for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. Many artists later recorded the tune, including the Beatles in 1963 and the Flying Lizards in 1979.
"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.
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.
"You've Really Got a Hold on Me" is a song written by Smokey Robinson, which became a 1962 Top 10 hit single for the Miracles. One of the Miracles' most covered tunes, this million-selling song received a 1998 Grammy Hall of Fame Award. It has also been selected as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It was recorded by the Beatles for their second album, With the Beatles (1963). Many other musicians also recorded versions.
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.
Gladys Catherine Horton was an American R&B and pop singer, notable for being the founder and lead singer of the all-female vocal group the Marvelettes, the first successful Motown girl group.
Wanda LaFaye Rogers, née Young, was an American singer, known for being a member of the Motown all-female singing group the Marvelettes, and after 1965, the lead singer.
Hi... We're the Miracles is the first album by The Miracles, Motown's first group, released on Motown's Tamla subsidiary label in January 1961. It was the first album released by the Motown Record Corporation. The album features several songs that played an important role in defining The Motown Sound and establishing songwriters Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy.
Greatest Hits from the Beginning is a compilation double LP by The Miracles released in 1965. This was the first double album ever released by the Motown Record Corporation. It covers most of the group's hits from their pre-1965 albums, such as "Shop Around", "Who's Lovin’ You", "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" and "Mickey's Monkey", as well as the non-album singles from 1964: "I Like It Like That" and "That's What Love Is Made Of". The album was a success, reaching #21 on the Billboard Pop Album Chart. It was also the first Miracles album to chart on the Billboard R&B Album chart, where it was an even bigger success, peaking at #2.
"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.
"I Want a Guy" is a song written by Freddie Gorman, Berry Gordy and Brian Holland and was the debuting single for Motown girl group The Supremes in 1961. It was also recorded by The Marvelettes on their album Please Mr. Postman. Featuring Diana Ross in lead, the song was a doo-wop ballad similar to what the Supremes had been recording since forming as "The Primettes" two years earlier.
"Way Over There" is a 1960 Motown soul song and single, written by William "Smokey" Robinson, produced by Berry Gordy, and first performed by The Miracles for the Tamla (Motown) label. It was one of The Miracles' earliest charting singles, reaching #94 on the Billboard Pop chart. Motown president Berry Gordy, Jr. had The Miracles record the song several times during its chart run. The first version had minimal orchestration. The second version added strings, and this is the version played by most oldies stations today. Claudette Robinson had several lead parts on this song, answering Smokey's leads with chants of "Come to me, Baby". The song's B-side, "(You Can) Depend on Me", while not charting nationally, did become a popular regional hit in many areas of the country, and Smokey still sings it in his live shows today. "Way Over There" was subsequently recorded by Edwin Starr, The Temptations, The Marvelettes, The Royal Counts, The Spitballs, and Eddie Adams Jr, while "(You Can) Depend on Me" was later recorded by The Temptations, The Supremes, Mary Wells, and Brenda Holloway. The song was also used for the title of Hip-O Select's 2009 compilation: The Miracles – Depend on Me: The Early Albums, which collects the first five LP releases by the group.
Please Mr. Postman is the 1961 studio debut album from Motown girl group The Marvelettes and the sixth album ever released by the company. The focal track is the number-one hit single, "Please Mr. Postman". The album notably features cover versions of label mates The Miracles' "Way Over There" and "I Want a Guy", which was the debut single for fellow Motown girl group The Supremes the same year, and their cover had served as the b-side to "Twistin' Postman" the less successful follow-up to "Please Mr. Postman." Although the original version by The Supremes flopped, The Marvelettes' cover became a regional hit.
Richard Wayne Wylie, often known as Popcorn Wylie, was an American pianist, bandleader, songwriter, occasional singer, and record producer who was influential in the early years of Motown Records and was later known for his work on many records in the Northern soul genre.
"Where Did Our Love Go" is a 1964 song recorded by American music group the Supremes for the Motown label.
Freddie Gorman was an American musician and record producer, most famous as a singer, songwriter for the Motown label in the late 1960s and mid 1970s.
The Satintones were an American R&B group who recorded together in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They are notable as the first group ever to record for the Motown label.
Robert Bateman was an American R&B singer, songwriter and record producer. Among other songs, he co-wrote the hits "Please Mr. Postman" and "If You Need Me".
Then there's the song itself, which bears a certain resemblance to the old Marvelettes song "Please Mr. Postman." And while Portugal. The Man certainly didn't try to pull one over on anybody, and even warned its team about the similarities between the two songs, the band explains why it had to get lawyers involved.
...I have to admit I was somewhat surprised when I heard what the Number One Song was. (Hey Mr Postman) Mind you...