When I'm Gone

[dinelle_watson]

Hey y'all. Dinelle here. I'm listening to "When I'm Gone" on internet radio and I when I initially heard it, I automatically assumed it was Brenda Holloway singing it, but it was Mary Wells. I was wondering which version came out first, or rather, is this the only version of the song. Any answers?

[Roger Polhill]

Hey y'all. Dinelle here. I'm listening to "When I'm Gone" on internet radio and I when I initially heard it, I automatically assumed it was Brenda Holloway singing it, but it was Mary Wells. I was wondering which version came out first, or rather, is this the only version of the song. Any answers?
This is the first version recorded 6th May 1964. Brenda`s version used the same band track and was recorded the following year. A great song.

[Roberta75]

Hey y'all. Dinelle here. I'm listening to "When I'm Gone" on internet radio and I when I initially heard it, I automatically assumed it was Brenda Holloway singing it, but it was Mary Wells. I was wondering which version came out first, or rather, is this the only version of the song. Any answers?

I also like Bonnie Pointers version Dinelle.

Fondly,

Roberta

[mysterysinger]

and Randy Crawford did a creditable version too as indeed did Barbara McNair.

[RossHolloway]

Ironically, When I'm Gone was the last song Mary Wells recorded before leaving Motown.

[BigAl]

When you listen to songs which Mary recorded but were shelved and then covered by later Hitsville artists [[particularly "When I'm Gone and "Everybody Needs Love") it's evident that the later versions were much better arranged and produced and hers sound more like demos. Had her versions been better made and not shelved they would quite possibly have been hits. It's always puzzled me why, as the company's biggest drawing-card at the time, her versions were not given the same treatment.

[RossHolloway]

When you listen to songs which Mary recorded but were shelved and then covered by later Hitsville artists [[particularly "When I'm Gone and "Everybody Needs Love") it's evident that the later versions were much better arranged and produced and hers sound more like demos. Had her versions been better made and not shelved they would quite possibly have been hits. It's always puzzled me why, as the company's biggest drawing-card at the time, her versions were not given the same treatment.

I don't think that Mary's versions are bad at all, but you have to keep in mind that the Motown sound continued to evolve every year and I think the producers and musicians and singers got better and better year after year as well. They really mastered their craft.

[rrussi]

Brenda's version used the same backing track, but slightly sped-up with an additional string arrangement. Her version of I'll Be Available also used the same backing track as Mary's.