Quote Originally Posted by Motown Eddie View Post
If Mary Wells had stayed with Motown, I'm sure that all of her hits would've been done by the in-house writer/producers at the label. I could easily see "Dear Lover" being recorded and having great potential on the 'R&B charts' by Barbara Acklin instead of Mary [[since Barbara's best known hit singles were written & produced by Carl Davis who co-wrote "Dear Lover").
And really, the reason for "Dear Lover' was to recapture and duplicate that Motown feeling and sound. Had Mary remained at Motown, she would have had "The Real Thing" in terms of songs supplied by Motown writers. The only time a Motown artist recorded a non-Motown song was when a Motown producer wanted to do a cover of another artist's hit.