Mary Wells: "My Guy" (1964)

"My Guy" is a 1964 number-one hit single recorded by Mary Wells for the Motown label. Written and produced by Smokey Robinson of The Miracles, the song is a woman's dedication to the goodness of her man ("There's not a man today who could take me away from my guy").

The single became the biggest hit ever for Wells, Motown's first female star, and reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. The song led the Cashbox Magazine R&B chart for seven weeks. "My Guy" also happened to be Wells' last hit single for Motown, excepting duets she recorded with label mate Marvin Gaye. An option in her recording contract allowed Wells to terminate it at her discretion after she reached her twenty-first birthday on May 13, 1964. Encouraged by her ex-husband, Wells broke her Motown contract and signed with 20th Century Fox in hopes of higher royalties and possible movie roles. However, Wells' career never again reached the heights it had at Motown, and she never again had a hit single as big as "My Guy".

As one of Motown's signature hits, "My Guy" has been covered often, with versions by The Supremes, Sister Sledge, Petula Clark, Claudine Longet, Aretha Franklin, Margo Smith, and more having been recorded over the years. The cover version of the song with the biggest chart impact in the United States was by Sister Sledge in 1982 (#23). One notable cover, used in the Whoopi Goldberg film Sister Act, substitutes "My Guy" with "My God", transforming the song into a faux-gospel number. In 1980, Amii Stewart and Johnny Bristol recorded it as a duet in a medley with another Motown classic, the Temptations' "My Girl"; it reached only #63 in the U.S. Wells herself re-recorded the song in a funk rendition for her 1984 album, I'm a Lady.

In 1999, "My Guy" was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame.


- Lyrics:

Nothing you can say,
Can tear me away,
From my guy.
Nothing you could do,
'cause I'm stuck like glue,
To my guy.
I'm sticking to my guy,
Like a stamp to a letter,
Like birds to there feathers,
We, stick together,
I'm tellin you from the start,
I can't be torn apart from my guy.

Nothing you could do,
Could make me be untrue,
To my guy.
(My Guy)
Nothing you could buy,
Could make me tell a lie,
To my guy
(My Guy)
I gave my guy,
My word of honor,
To be faithful,
And I'm gonna,
You'd best be believing,
I won't be deceiving,
My guy.

As a matter of opinion,
I think he's tops,
My opinion is,
He's the cream of the crop,
As a matter of taste,
To be exact,
He's my ideal,
As a matter of fact.

No muscle bound man,
Could take my hand,
From my guy.
(My guy)
No handsome face,
Could ever take the place,
Of my guy,
(My guy)
He may not be a movie star,
But when it comes to being happy,
We are,
There's not a man today,
Who can take me away,
From my guy.

No muscle bound man,
Could take my hand,
From my guy.
(My guy)
No handsome face,
Could ever take the place,
Of my guy,
(My guy)
He may not be a movie star,
But when it comes to being happy,
We are,
There's not a man today,
Who can take me away,
From my guy.
(what'cha say?)

There's not a man today,
Who could take me away,
From my guy.
(Tell me more!)

There's not a man today,
Who could take me away,
From my guy.