The Marvelettes were reduced to a quartet when Juanita Cowart decided to leave at the start of the year. A further temporary change of personnel occurred when Wanda Young took maternity leave. Rosalind Ashford (one of the Vandellas) replaced her for studio recordings, whilst Florence Ballard (a Supreme) took her place for live performances.
The group released three singles during the year, plus two albums. The first is notable for the inclusion of a song co-written by Holland, Dozier and Holland, who began their very fruitful co-operation in early 1963. Their song “Locking Up My Heart” was the B-side to the Holland-Dozier composition “Forever”. The group then recorded a Berry Gordy song, “My Daddy Knows Best”, which was released in July, with on the B-side “Tie A String Around Your Finger”, co-written by Holland, Dozier, Holland and Bradford. The third release was a Smokey Robinson song entitled “As Long As I Know He’s Mine”, backed by another Holland, Dozier, Holland number “Little Girl Blue”. All three songs entered the charts, with the Smokey Robinson composition reaching number three on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart.
Their fourth studio album, “The Marvelous Marvelettes”, was released in 1963, followed by a live album “The Marvelettes Recorded Live On Stage”. Without hitting the heights, the group was maintaining a regular chart presence. Then, at the end of the year, Gladys Horton made a decision that had unforeseen consequences.
Lamont Dozier explained what happened in an interview published in American Songwriter magazine. 1963 was the year that songs written by Dozier and the two Holland Brothers started to have an impact at Motown. As we have seen, the Marvelettes were one of the groups that had already recorded some of their compositions. Dozier cut a demo of a song that, as Dozier remembers it, the songwriting trio had written specifically for the Marvelettes and took it to Gladys Horton, the Marvelette’s lead singer. He was very disappointed to hear her say: “Oh, honey, we don’t do stuff like that. And it’s the worst thing I ever heard.”
It was the practice at Motown at that time for the songwriters to pay for any demos they cut that were not chosen for recording by one of the Motown artists. So, Dozier started to consider who else might like to record the song. He managed to persuade the Supremes to record it, adding their vocals to the backing track already cut.
Diana Ross didn’t like it at all. It was written for Horton and was too low for Ross’ voice. The other girls weren’t happy at being presented with the complex backing vocals that Dozier had worked out for the Marvelettes. Dozier’s solution was to tell them just to sing “Baby, Baby, Baby”. After the recording was complete, Diana Ross went to Berry Gordy to complain.
Brian Holland told a different version of the story, in which the song was written for the Supremes, but in Mary Wilson’s register. (Interestingly, Wilson herself thinks it was for the Marvelettes). Holland agrees that Dozier’s backing vocals were simplified and that Diana Ross was unhappy with the song. After the recording was complete, however, he remembers Diana Ross running to Berry Gordy to tell him how good it was. Dozier’s version rings truer, but, in any event, it was bad news for the Marvelettes either way.
Fortunately for Dozier and the Holland Brothers, Berry Gordy took a listen to the track and predicted a top ten hit, and the single was scheduled for release in 1964. The song was called “Where Did Our Love Go”.
