What Good Am I Without You

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1964 single by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston

"What Good Am I Without You"

Single by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston

from the album Take Two

B-side

"I Want You 'Round"

Released

September 30, 1964

Recorded

May 10, July 10 & September 11, 1964

Studio

Hitsville USA, Detroit, Michigan

Genre

Rhythm and blues

Label

Tamla 54104

Songwriter(s)

William "Mickey" Stevenson, Alphonso Higdon

Producer(s)

William "Mickey" Stevenson

Marvin Gaye singles chronology

"Baby Don't You Do It"
(1964)

"What Good Am I Without You"
(1964)

"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
(1964)

Kim Weston singles chronology

"Love Me All the Way"
(1963)

"What Good Am I Without You"
(1964)

"Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)"
(1965)

"What Good Am I Without You" is a Motown duet between singers Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston.^[1] The song was released as a single in late 1964 and became the first duet Marvin and Kim recorded, a couple of years before the duo recorded the breakthrough hit, "It Takes Two". The song came after the departure of Mary Wells, who had left Motown that year shortly after releasing a successful duet album with Gaye. The single was featured on Gaye and Weston's only LP together, Take Two and peaked at number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and number 28 on the Cashbox R&B chart) when it was released. The single was co-written and produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson.^[2]^[3]^[4] The b-side, "I Want You 'Round", was also included on Take Two.

According to Billboard, the "lyrics carry great tale and story is well told by [the] duo to powerful rock beat."^[5]

Credits

Lead vocals by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston
Background vocals by The Andantes: Marlene Barrow, Jackie Hicks and Louvain Demps
Produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson
Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

References

^ What Good Am I Without You at Discogs
^ The Complete Motown Singles Vol 4: 1964 [CD liner notes]. New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records.
^ Allmusic review
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 225.
^ "Singles Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. October 10, 1964. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-04-02.

Marvin Gaye

Studio albums

The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye (1961)
That Stubborn Kinda Fellow (1962)
When I'm Alone I Cry (1964)
Hello Broadway (1964)
How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You (1965)
A Tribute to the Great Nat "King" Cole (1965)
Moods of Marvin Gaye (1966)
In the Groove (1968)
M.P.G. (1969)
That's the Way Love Is (1970)
What's Going On (1971)
Trouble Man (1972)
Let's Get It On (1973)
I Want You (1976)
Here, My Dear (1978)
In Our Lifetime (1981)
Midnight Love (1982)
Dream of a Lifetime (1985)
Romantically Yours (1985)
Vulnerable (1997)
You're the Man (2019)

Duet albums

Together (with Mary Wells, 1964)
Take Two (with Kim Weston, 1966)
United (with Tammi Terrell, 1967)
You're All I Need (with Tammi Terrell, 1968)
Easy (with Tammi Terrell, 1969)
Diana & Marvin (with Diana Ross, 1973)

Compilations

Greatest Hits (1964)
Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (1967)
Marvin Gaye and His Girls (1969)
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's Greatest Hits (1970)
Super Hits (1970)
Anthology (1974)
Marvin Gaye's Greatest Hits (1976)
Motown Remembers Marvin Gaye: Never Before Released Masters (1986)
The Marvin Gaye Collection (1990)
The Norman Whitfield Sessions (1994)
Love Starved Heart: Rare and Unreleased (1994)
The Very Best of Marvin Gaye (1994)
The Master (1961–1984) (1995)
Marvin Gaye: The Love Songs (2000)
The Complete Duets (2001)
The Very Best of Marvin Gaye (2001)

Live albums

Marvin Gaye Recorded Live on Stage (1963)
Marvin Gaye Live! (1974)
Live at the London Palladium (1977)
Marvin Gaye at the Copa (2005)
What's Going On Live (2019)

Video albums

The Real Thing: In Performance (1964–1981) (2006)

US/UK top
ten singles

"Pride and Joy"
"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
"I'll Be Doggone"
"Ain't That Peculiar"
"Your Precious Love"
"If I Could Build My Whole World Around You"
"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
"You're All I Need to Get By"
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
"Too Busy Thinking About My Baby"
"That's the Way Love Is"
"Abraham, Martin and John"
"The Onion Song"
"What's Going On"
"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"
"Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)"
"Trouble Man"
"Let's Get It On"
"You Are Everything"
"Got to Give It Up"
"Sexual Healing"

Family

Marvin Gay Sr. (father)
Alberta Gay (mother)
Anna Gordy Gaye (first wife)
Denise Gordy (son's birth mother)
Nona Gaye (daughter)
Frankie Gaye (brother)
Gordon Banks (brother-in-law)

Related
topics

Discography
Songs
Albums
Songs by Marvin Gaye
Albums produced by Marvin Gaye
Songs produced by Marvin Gaye
Personal life
Death
Tributes
Songs in memory
The Marquees
Harvey Fuqua
Tammi Terrell
Leon Ware
Marvin's Room
Marvin Is 60: A Tribute Album
Divided Soul
Sexual Healing Tour

Category

v t e Marvin Gaye singles
1960s: (Tamla)	1961 "Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide" 1962 "Sandman" "Soldier's Plea" "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" "Hitch Hike" 1963 "Pride and Joy" "Can I Get a Witness" 1964 "You're a Wonderful One" "Once Upon a Time" "What's the Matter with You Baby" "Try It Baby" "Baby Don't You Do It" "What Good Am I Without You" "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" 1965 "I'll Be Doggone" "Pretty Little Baby" "Ain't That Peculiar" 1966 "One More Heartache" "Take This Heart of Mine" "Little Darling (I Need You)" "It Takes Two" 1967 "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" "Your Unchanging Love" "Your Precious Love" "You" "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You"/"If This World Were Mine" 1968 "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" "You're All I Need to Get By" "Chained" "Keep On Lovin' Me Honey" "You Ain't Livin' till You're Lovin'" "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" 1969 "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By" "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" "That's the Way Love Is" "Abraham, Martin and John" "What You Gave Me" "How Can I Forget"
1970s: (Tamla)	1970 "Gonna Give Her All the Love I've Got" "The Onion Song" "California Soul" "The End of Our Road" 1971 "What's Going On" "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" "Save the Children" 1972 "You're the Man" "Trouble Man" "I Want to Come Home for Christmas" 1973 "Let's Get It On" "You're a Special Part of Me" "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" "Come Get to This" 1974 "You Sure Love to Ball" "My Mistake (Was to Love You)" "Don't Knock My Love" "You Are Everything" "Distant Lover" 1976 "I Want You" "After the Dance" "Since I Had You" 1977 "Got to Give It Up" 1978 "Pops, We Love You (A Tribute to Father)" 1979 "A Funky Space Reincarnation" "Anger" "Ego Tripping Out"
1980s: (Tamla/ Columbia)	1981 "Praise" "Heavy Love Affair" 1982 "Sexual Healing" 1983 "My Love Is Waiting" "'Til Tomorrow" "Joy"
Posthumous	1985 "Sanctified Lady" "It's Madness" "Just Like" 1986 "The World Is Rated X" 1991 "My Last Chance" 1994 "Lucky, Lucky Me" 1995 "This Love Starved Heart Of Mine(It's Killing Me)" 2001 "Music" 2005 "Let's Get It On (The M.P.G. Groove Remix)" 2015 "Where Are We Going"
Category