Mary Wells Bye Bye Baby

Time and legions of other soul superstars have obscured the fact that for a brief moment, Mary Wells was Motown s biggest star. She came to the attention of Berry Gordy as a 17yearold, hawking a song she d written for Jackie Wilson; that song, Bye Bye Baby, became her first Motown hit in 1961. The fullthroated approach of that single was quickly toned down in favor of a popsoul sound. Few other soul singers managed to be as shy and sexy at the same time as Wells (Barbara Lewis is the only other that s