1962 Wish You A Merry Christmas

.....Mention Kim Weston to any large group of people and enthusiasts of old school rhythm and blues will likely close their eyes and say, "Ahh, yes", while casual radio-listeners will probably mumble, "Who the hell is Kim Weston?". I was already familiar with the name years ago from rooting around catalogs and compilation record bins for the Christmas truffles of other Motown artists that I knew to exist. It wasn't until the mid-1990's when I came across a German import of rare and previously unreleased recordings that I discovered what I was missing. At first I was afraid it might be simply alternate takes or mixes, since the label is known for returning to the same hit well many times and most of the tracks were by their only three acts to release full Christmas albums during the sixties-- the Miracles, Supremes and Stevie Wonder. Then I noticed not one, but four tracks by Marvin Gaye. That made me give a closer scrutiny and I noticed the Funk Brothers, Kim Weston and a non-album B-side I had been hunting for and the purchase became a done deal.

• 02:35 "WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS" (William 'Mickey' Stevenson)
• performed by Kim Weston
• recorded in 1962 but not contemporarily released
• original source: VACD CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY Motown Master Series 37463-6326-2 (G) 1993
• and my source: the same

.....Some databases state that Weston signed to Motown in 1963, which is guesswork, apparently, since her first solo release was in that year. If you look closely at the previous post, you can see the name Brian Holland (of "Holland-Dozier-Holland" fame) as a co-writing credit for "WHITE HOUSE TWIST". The Brian and brother Eddie had a cousin named Johnny Thornton who recommended a local girl named Agatha Weston. Eddie brought her to Berry Gordy, and, no doubt owing to her background of singing in church, Gordy placed her with the Wright Specials. They released the first two singles on the short lived gospel subsidiary Divinity, but those both came from a 1961 session she didn't take part in. Agatha became Kim and recorded this for producer Mickey Stevenson. Not as slinky or suggestive as Eartha Kitt's "SANTA BABY", or even Dodie Stevens' "MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY", it is easily as seductive despite being nearly belted out as though Whitney Houston were working in a bar filled with longshoremen. With a little more polish she began releasing singles on the company's first label, Tamla, in February 1963 and shifted to Gordy in 1965. She married Stevenson in 1966 and when he was offered a position at MGM's Venture subsidiary, the two left Motown together, reportedly with two albums unreleased.

.....I have to mention that this song is completely unrelated to the standard "WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS". In fact, the title doesn't appear anywhere in the lyrics. There is really only one verse, which is then repeated with the first half spoken. Why they passed on this is beyond me. In the last ten years it has certainly been making up for lost time by appearing on several Motown compilations.