Post by Emerald City on Mar 4, 2006 22:24:10 GMT -5
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Profile: Kim Weston
Born: Agatha Natalie Weston, Dec 20th 1939, Detroit
Genres: Motown, Soul, R&B, Pop, Jazz
Instruments: Vocals, Piano
Early Years: Agatha Natalie Weston, started singing in her church choir at age three, and by her teenage years was directing the church choir before joining a touring gospel group called the Wright Specials. The group went on to record two 45’s for gospel imprint Divinity entitled ‘That’s What He Is To Me’/ ‘Pilgrim Of Sorrow’ and ‘Ninety Nine And A Half Just Won’t Do’/’ I Won’t Go Back’.
Success: After being asked to record some demos by a friend who had connections with a cousin of Brian and Eddie Holland, Kim signed with Tamla in 1962 and then scored her very first Billboard chart entry with "“It Should Have Been Me”/Love Me All the Way." The following year, she recorded her first duet with Marvin Gaye, "What Good Am I Without You” written by husband Mickey Stevenson. Her next two singles “A Little More Love” and “A Thrill A Moment” failed to garner the publics attention but at the same time Kim had possible hit songs taken from her, (by husband Mickey to show there was no favoritism) the most infamous being Dancing In The Streets that was given to Martha And The Vandellas. After recording various jazz and standard type songs, Kim enjoyed her biggest solo hit in 1965 with "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" which earned her a spot on Hullabaloo, then followed it up in 1966 with the equally soulful "Helpless". Both songs helped give her strong reputation among soul collectors however by 1966, she cut an entire album of duets with Marvin Gaye, entitled Take Two, which produced the Top Five R&B classic "It Takes Two".
Later Years: Upon leaving Motown in 1967, Weston and her husband, William "Mickey" Stevenson, moved to MGM, but a pair of albums there “For the First Time” and “This Is America” (which included a rendition of the Black National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing") proved to be commercial failures. Weston subsequently recorded for Volt, “Kim Kim Kim”, People “Big Brass Four Poster” (an album of jazz standards with the Hastings Street Jazz Experience) all without much success.
Today she appears sporadically, often alongside former Motown colleagues Mary Wilson, Martha Reeves and Brenda Holloway
***Other Facts***
* Despite the time spent at Motown, Kim never had a solo album released
* Her career was one of the lengthiest of any of the second tier artists, spanning from the early 60’s before the creation of the classic Funk Brothers line up and up to the Golden Era
* In 1987, Weston became the first of many Motown artists to work with British producer Ian Levine on the Motorcity label, re-recording many of her old hits for the Northern soul market
***Songs, and Charts: ***
Pop
"Love Me All the Way” #88 - (1963)
"Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)" #50 - (1965)
"Helpless" #56 - (1966)
"It Takes Two" with Marvin Gaye #14 - (1966)
R&B
"Love Me All the Way” #24 - (1963)
"Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)" #4 - (1965)
"Helpless" #13 - (1966)
"It Takes Two" with Marvin Gaye #4 - (1966)
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Song choice of the month:
Just Loving You 
From The Motown Anthology 
