"Ain't That Peculiar" is a 1965 song recorded by the American

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

ian

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

for the Tamla (Motown) label.

Background

The single was produced by

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

, and written by Robinson, and fellow Miracles members Bobby Rogers, Pete Moore, and Marv Tarplin. "Ain't That Peculiar" features Gaye, with

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 M ...

on backing vocals, singing about the torment of a painful relationship. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' said that "penetrating hard-drive dance beat backs another soulful, first-rate Gaye performance." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as a "rollicking, rhythmic pop-blues romantic handclapper about a love-struck fella who can't get along without his gal." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that "The Detroit beat gets going in high speed on this marvy Gaye slice."

Chart success

The single was Gaye's second U.S. million seller successfully duplicating its predecessor " I'll Be Doggone", from earlier in 1965 by topping ''

s Hot R&B Singles chart in the fall of 1965, peaking at number 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It became one of Gaye's signature 1960s recordings, and was his best-known solo hit before 1968's " I Heard It Through the Grapevine".

Diamond Reo version

Hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band Diamond Reo from

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

released their version of "Ain't That Peculiar" in early 1975. The single peaked at No. 44 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on February 8 of the same year, becoming their only hit. The Diamond Reo version is considered one of the first recordings to use the

talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the so ...

Other versions

*A cover by all-female rock band Fanny on their 1972 album ''

Fanny Hill ''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure'' – popularly known as ''Fanny Hill'' – is an erotic novel by the English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748 and 1749. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London,Wagne ...

'' reached number 85 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. *A cover by R&B singer Stevie Woods reached number 54 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B Singles chart in 1984. *A cover by English singer Mari Wilson reached No. 78 on the UK Singles Chart in 1984. *A cover by New Grass Revival peaked at number 53 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart in 1986.

Personnel

*Lead vocals by

*Background vocals by

: Marlene Barrow, Jackie Hicks and Louvain Demps *Guitar by Marv Tarplin * Horn arrangements by Willie Shorter *Other 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 ...

**Bass by

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases un ...

Conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

s by Eddie "Bongo" Brown **Drums by Uriel Jones **Guitar by Eddie Willis and Robert White **Organ by Johnny Griffith **Piano by Earl Van Dyke **Tambourine by Jack Ashford

References

1965 songs 1965 singles 1975 singles Songs written by Marv Tarplin Songs written by Bobby Rogers Songs written by Smokey Robinson Songs written by Warren "Pete" Moore Marvin Gaye songs New Grass Revival songs Mari Wilson songs Song recordings produced by Smokey Robinson Tamla Records singles Big Tree Records singles {{1960s-R&B-song-stub