The Velvelettes were formed in Detroit in 1961 by two students at Western Michigan University, Mildred Gill and Bertha Barbee. Mildred invited her sister Carolyn and her friend Betty Kelly to join, while Bertha recruited her cousin Norma Barbee. Carolyn was chosen to be the group’s lead singer. They were later helped by Robert Bullock, a fellow student at the University, who happened to be Berry Gordy’s nephew, to secure an audition at Motown.
The group was signed by Motown at the end of 1962. Their first recording session was in early 1963, with Mickey Stevenson in charge, which resulted in the release in July of “There He Goes”, backed by “That’s The Reason Why”, on the IPG label, featuring Stevie Wonder on harmonica. It was a competent first release, with a good B-side, but it didn’t make an impression.
So Berry Gordy switched responsibility for the group’s production to Norman Whitfield, seeking a more up-tempo sound. That proved an excellent decision, as the next two singles, released on the VIP subsidiary label, both charted.
“Needle in a Haystack”, co-written by Mickey Stevenson and Norman Whitfield, was released in September, peaking at number forty-five on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and number thirty-one on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. The single also entered the charts in Canada and Australia. The B-side “Should I Tell Them”, co-written again by Stevenson and Whitfield and produced by Stevenson, was taken from the early 1963 sessions.
Earlier that summer, Betty Kelly had been asked to sit in for Annette Beard for the Martha & the Vandellas recording of “Dancing in the Street”. The arrangement was made permanent in September and the Velvelettes were reduced to a quartet.
The follow-up single, “He Was Really Saying Somethin’”, was issued in December, backed by “Throw a Farewell Kiss”. The A-side was written by Whitfield, Stevenson and Eddie Holland and produced by Whitfield, who rejected the first version of the backing track and supervised a re-cut version on December 3rd, with the Velvelettes adding the vocals four days later. The B-side backing track was recorded much earlier, in October 1962, with Freddie Gorman lined up to add the vocal track. Now, two years later, the Velvelettes added vocals to the Whitfield/Holland composition instead of Gorman. The single was a minor hit, reaching number sixty-four on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and number twenty-one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart, which had just been re-instated, in early 1965. The group started the year in the charts, with their 1964 release “He Was Really Sayin’ Somethin’” reaching number sixty-four on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and number twenty-one on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. The follow-up in May charted, but did less well, only making it to number ninety-five on the Billboard Hot 100 and number thirty-four Billboard R&B Singles charts. “Lonely Lonely Girl Am I” was co-written by Norman Whitfield, Eddie Kendricks and Eddie Holland. A strong team, you would think, but the song didn’t take off. The second VIP release of the year was “A Bird in the Hand (Is Worth Two in the Bush)”. It is another Whitfield song, a bouncy dance tune full of fun. It failed to chart, however, which left the group on a downward trend.
As a result, the group had an album release cancelled in 1966, with only one single, “These Things Will Keep Me Loving You”, being issued on the Soul label. It was written by Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Bristol and Sylvia Moy, and was produced by Fuqua and Bristol. Although it charted in the UK and the USA, it was the group’s last Motown release.
Sandra Tilley left to replace Rosalind Ashford in the Vandellas, and Carolyn Gill married Richard Street from the Temptations in November 1969. That signalled the beak-up of the Velvelettes. A double CD of the Velvelettes’ songs was issued by Tamla Motown in the UK in 2004, offering forty-eight tracks, including all their best songs.
