"When I'm Gone" is a song written by Smokey Robinson and a single he produced twice, one for early Motown star

Mary Wells Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...

The Complete Motown Singles Vol 4: 1964 D liner notes New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records. and the other for fellow Motown vocalist

Brenda Holloway Brenda Holloway (born June 26, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter, who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the soul hits, "Every Little Bit Hurts", " When I'm Gone", and "You've Ma ...

. Holloway's version became a hit while Wells' was aborted after the singer left the label in 1964.

Overview

Song information

"When I'm Gone" was produced under a beat similar to Mary Wells' big hit, "

My Guy "My Guy" is a 1964 hit single by 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 ...

" though this song included hand claps, and was originally recorded by Wells. In the song, the narrator asks her cheating lover what would he do if she were to leave him explaining how everybody around them thinks they're happy in front of the public when inside the woman is suffering from the lover's behavior calling him a "real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" character. She also complains that though he flirts with "every girl that he sees", he comes running back to her when they do him wrong. Throughout the song, the narrator threatens to leave him and in the end repeats the question she asks in the beginning: ''"what are you gonna do when I'm gone?"''

Mary Wells exit and Brenda Holloway's arrival

The song was one of the last records Mary Wells recorded while at Motown. Fresh from the success of "My Guy" and with her Motown contract expiring the year of "My Guy" and its success, Wells decided to terminate her contract with Motown complaining of Gordy refusing to give Wells the royalties she earned during her successful tenure at the label. She argued that her Motown contract was invalid because she'd signed with the company at the age of seventeen. Due to the underage clause, Motown allowed Wells' contract to expire. (Had Wells not exited Motown, "When I'm Gone" would have been her next release, the follow-up to the million-selling "My Guy"). The singer then headed to 20th Century Fox Records after being offered a $500,000 contract that also offered Wells to do movies. Meanwhile, Motown's latest new signed artist, Brenda Holloway, was releasing her first single, "

Every Little Bit Hurts "Every Little Bit Hurts" was originally a 1964 hit single for Motown soul singer Brenda Holloway, written by Ed Cobb. Background Though she was against recording the song again (she recorded it a couple of years before signing with Motown), she ...

", which shot to number 13 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Whitburn, Joel (2004). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 289. After Wells departed, Motown eventually convinced Holloway to record some of Wells' songs, partially due to the fact that Gordy felt Holloway was the next Mary though both singers' vocals differed from each other: Wells' deep, smokey

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typica ...

vocal contrasted with Holloway's lighter soprano. Holloway recorded "When I'm Gone" in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Charts

Brenda Holloway version

Released as a single in 1965, Holloway's version reached #25 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and performed slightly better on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

reaching number 12. Holloway performed her version on the show ''Shivaree'' . It was Holloway's second-biggest Motown chart hit, after ''

''. Wells' version was released to the Motown compilation album, '' Vintage Stock''.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

Mary Wells version

*Lead vocal by

*Background vocals by

The Andantes 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 Ma ...

*Instrumentation by

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

Brenda Holloway version

*Lead vocal by

*Background vocals by

*Instrumentation by

and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

References

{{Mary Wells 1964 singles 1965 singles Motown singles Mary Wells songs Brenda Holloway songs Songs written by Smokey Robinson Song recordings produced by Smokey Robinson 1964 songs