|
|
|
|
Northern Soul, Northernsoulinoz, Northern, Tamla, Tamlamotown, Twisted Wheel, Lambretta
As with the Tammi Terrell Northern Soul tribute, as featured in the last Night Shift “Soul Spot-Light”, Kim Weston is also well known for her duets with Marvin Gaye. Kim also recorded with Johnny Nash (My Time / We Try Harder), has had many great hits in her own right and is arguably the finest female soul singer ever known. Born in Detroit, Michigan on the 20th December 1939 and growing up in the neighbourhood known as “Black Bottom”, Kim was originally known as Agatha Natalie Wilson, a name that obviously would not have conjured up the desired effect for a young rising female Soul singer. Kim developed her very special style as lead singer with the “Wright Specials” gospel group, which has obviously remained a big influence throughout her career. A lady of many talents, Kim was torn between choosing a singing or acting career and was eventually persuaded to join Motown by Johnny Thornton, a cousin of Motown producers Eddie and Brian Holland. I guess the world owes Johnny a very big favour, for without his influence, we may never have been privileged to hear Kim’s many recordings and her fiery rhythm and blues, gospel inspired vocals, that we know and love so much. Kim’s good fortune with the great Motown producers continued when in 1967 she married William “Mickey” Stevenson, another all-time great writer and producer from the Motown stable, they did however later divorce in the 1970s’. In her early days Kim had her the first taste of success recording “Love me all the way” (1963). In 1964 Kim was offered the Jo Hunter/Mickey Stevenson composition “Dancing in the streets”, which she turned down. It was then picked up by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (after being reworked by Holland-Dozier-Holland to suit a girl group rendition). History shows the recording was a smash hit for Martha and the Vandellas, it quickly reached number two in the US charts (1964), laying the foundation for a string of future hits and assisting Martha and the girls to become one of the most popular female groups ever. Kim went on to join Marvin Gaye’s Soul Revue and in 1965 had a big hit with “Take me in your arms (& rock me a little while)”, followed up a year later with "Helpless”, recorded on the “Gordy” label (this one is still played everywhere and is a great “Northern” classic).
Whilst with Motown Kim was produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland on a number of classic dance tracks, which made good use of her rich and clear gospel voice. Everyone will of course be familiar with her duets with Marvin Gaye, not forgetting the 1967 smash “It takes two”, a personal favourite of mine and one which still has them rushing to the dance floor today. Ironically, Kim’s husband Mickey Stevenson then persuaded her to join him in a new venture at MGM. Unfortunately history shows this was not to be a wise decision, for success with this label was nothing like that enjoyed with Motown, (although one highlight was the recording of “Lift every voice and sing” which was adopted as the Negro populations anthem). Further attempts to revive Kim’s popularity with releases on Volt and “People & Pride” unfortunately again did not recapture the success enjoyed during her Motown days. Other great but not so well remembered recordings include Smokey Robinson’s “Looking for the right guy” and the haunting and unforgettable mid tempo “A thrill a moment” (if you have not heard this one, then do yourself a big favour and go get it). Kim was for a time an active performer in the UK, often working with Brenda Holloway (still does) and has always been appreciative of the support shown to her in the North of England. After performing at an all-nighter in Manchester she did a radio interview, during which she explained how “back home” in the US, Soul singers such as herself are shown little respect. In 1964 Motown expressed it’s thanks to Dave Godin and his UK “Tamla Motown Appreciation Society” by pressing a limited edition 45 featuring songs from Motown artists and sound bites with expressions of thanks from Kim, the Supremes, Eddie Holland and The Contours, all who thanked Dave for his excellent work promoting Motown throughout the UK and for being such a “swinging fellow”.
The late 1960’s and early 1970s’ saw something of a change in direction for Kim, in 1968 she returned to her love of acting and performed with the travelling company of “Hallelujah Baby” and then recorded an album of jazz favourites with the “Hastings Street Jazz Experience”. Kim’s more recent Soul recordings were with the “Nightmare” label of Ian Levine, and in 1987 Kim was the first ex Motown artist to record with Ian Levine on the MotorCity label, on which she and many other Motown artists were persuaded to re-record their original hits. (A rather ambitious and relatively unsuccessful project. But you have to hand it to Levine, no-one else ever had the imagination or guts to try it). In 1989 Kim recorded tracks on Motor City such as "Emotion" and then paired with Frankie Gaye (Marvin’s Brother), recording another and excellent rendition of ‘It takes two”. In 1991 Motown released a retrospective Kim Weston “Greatest hits and rare classics” and Fantasy records have reissued much of Kim’s past work on Stax. Kim is not only a beautiful performer but also a beautiful person and for many years has worked (without any desire for recognition) for public good. Her busy schedule includes directing a summer program for youths known as the “Festival for Performing Arts”, a program she founded way back in 1977 which began in Detroit working with youth gangs in a borrowed office at North-Western High School. The program was developed by Kim to help put youths aged between 14 to 21 on the right track and remunerates them with the minimum wage for up to six-weeks. In Kim’s owns words the program “let’s the kids see what happens behind the stage, before you get to the lights and screaming fans”. Kim also takes pleasure working in community theatres and directs two choirs at her local church, the “True Light Temple”.
Footnote |
