motown throwback
Thursday, August 21, 2014
53 years ago today, Motown released what would be their first #1 single, “Please Mr. Postman” by The Marvelettes. The lead singer was Gladys Horton, and among the players in the Funk Brothers for the recording were the great James Jamerson on bass and Marvin Gaye on drums.
The Beatles were playing “Please Mr. Postman” early enough that it’s fun to imagine the record traveling across the Atlantic in 1961. It turned up on their second album, With the Beatles, in late 1963:
The Marvelettes’ version made an appearance in a great scene from Mean Streets:
And the Carpenters had a version … oops, out of time!