KIM WESTON

Kim Weston was a Motown singer best known for “It Takes Two,” her 1967 duet with Marvin Gaye.

She was born Agatha Nathalia Weston in Detroit on December 20, 1939. She started singing in her church’s choir at age three. During her teenage years, she belonged to a touring gospel group called the Wright Specials.

Weston signed with Motown in 1961, scoring a minor hit two years later with “Love Me All the Way.” In 1964, she recorded her first duet with Marvin Gaye, “What Good Am I Without You.” It, too, became a minor hit. Weston then made a tactical error when she refused Motown’s offer to record “Dancing in the Street,” which became a huge hit for Martha & The Vandellas.

Weston’s 1965 single, “Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While),” hit #4 on the Billboard Rhythm & Blues chart but reached only a modest #50 on the pop side. Its relative lack of chart success notwithstanding, “Take Me in Your Arms” would garner substantial airplay on Oldies/Classic Hits radio in the decades to come. The song also re-entered the charts in 1975, when the Doobie Brothers remade it.

In late 1965, Weston and Marvin Gaye teamed up again. They recorded “It Takes Two” over three sessions: on November 27 and December 6, 1965, and on March 2, 1966. Motown released the single on its Tamla subsidiary on December 4, 1966. Early the next year, it shot to #4 R&B and #14 pop, giving Kim Weston her all-time biggest hit. Like “Take Me in Your Arms,” “It Takes Two” would also become a staple of Oldies radio.

Weston left Motown in 1967 and would later sue the label over royalty disputes. She and her then-husband, William “Mickey” Stevenson (former A&R head at Motown), signed with MGM Records. Her two most successful singles there, “I Got What You Need” and “Nobody,” were not nearly as big as her Motown hits due to a lack of airplay and promotion. She also made two albums at MGM, For the First Time and This Is America. The latter included Weston’s version of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” which came out as a single and was featured in the movie Wattstax. Proceeds from the record went to the United Negro College Fund.

Weston subsequently recorded for Stax/Volt, James Brown’s People Records, and Johnny Nash’s Banyan Tree label. She also made an album of jazz standards with the Hastings Street Jazz Experience. None of that material was commercially successful and, during the ‘70s, Kim Weston disappeared from the music business and reportedly moved to Israel.

In 1987, Weston became the first of many vintage Motown acts to work with the British producer Ian Levine at his Motorcity label. She re-recorded many of her old songs for the Northern Soul market, but also did some new material. Weston would make two albums for Motorcity, Investigate (1990) and Talking Loud (1992). The latter was unreleased, but all her Motorcity tracks would come out on the 1996 compilation, The Best of Kim Weston. 

In 2013, she was inducted into the inaugural class of the Official Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame at Ohio’s Cleveland State University.

Along with Doobie Brothers, other acts who recorded “Take Me in Your Arms” include the Isley Brothers, Blood Sweat & Tears, Jermaine Jackson, and Phil Collins. In 1990, Rod Stewart & Tina Turner did a remake of “It Takes Two,” which became a huge hit in Europe, New Zealand, and Australia.

Rock critic Dave Marsh included “It Takes Two” in his 1989 book, The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made.

Charted singles:

“Love Me All the Way” (1963) R&B #24, Pop #88
“What Good Am I Without You” (duet with Marvin Gaye, 1964) R&B #28, Pop #61
“Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)” (1965) R&B #4, Pop #50
“Helpless” (1966) R&B #13, Pop #56
“It Takes Two” (duet with Marvin Gaye, 1967) R&B #4, Pop #14
“I Got What You Need” (1967) Pop #99
“Nobody” (1968) R&B #39
“We Try Harder” (duet with Johnny Nash, 1969) Pop #135
“Danger Heartbreak Ahead” (1970) R&B #49
“Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” (1970) R&B #50, Pop #120