a motown classic: kim weston- take me in your arms (rock me a little while)

Kim Weston- ask any avid Motown fan, the ones REALLY additcted to the label's music, about Kim Weston and I'll make a bet that 100% of them will tell you Motown REALLY dropped the ball on a phenomenal talent...

Here is an alternate version of perhaps Kim's best-known song for the company (at least, best-known to the public in general.)




Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While) was a firestorm that came from the forever-astonishing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. Eddie Holland actually put his vocals down first. Notes from the Kim Weston Motown Anthology state that the song was slated for Martha and the Vandellas. The song was then assigned to Kim, and Motown's studio A caught fire and disintigrated.

How the studio didn't burn to the ground as this woman lit fire to the already-burning H-D-H track is a mystery. The commercial version certainly was a firecracker but this alternate version recently released... fire alarms will sound, walls will crumble, speakers will explode, you'll be turned into ashes.

I don't know, maybe Kim decided to just give it hell, maybe H-D-H wanted one more take and Kim was tired and decided if they wanted one more take, then she would give them something they'd never forget. Whatever factored into this take, Kim takes the vocals to asonishingly explosive heights and hits notes that must have brought down any and all aircraft flying in the vicinity of Hitsville U.S.A. Notice too her lightning-fast phrasing going into the choruses (almost like those triple-time raps hip hop artists pull of so easily today.)

People must have really been paying attention to this song because the Doobie Brothers did a cover of the song that accomplished the fantastic feat of sounding thouroughly like a Doobie Brothers original and yet keeping a lot of that fantastic, classic Motown Sound at the same time.

Kim Weston was a woman who was able to shift gears easily between the Motown Sound and ballads and standards. Wonderfully, there have been recent releases on cd to showcase all of her amazing recordings as well as the ones that were kept in the vaults. Here is just one of those tracks that were kept behind, so enjoy and keep the fire extinguisher nearby!

Special notice should be given to Benny Benjamin's explosive drumming on this song. I don't know the correct term for it, but to me it's like a double-time swing beat. To keep that beat in perfect time is amazing enough, but to toss in those trademark Benjamin drum fills is almost unbelievable. I don't know of anyone else who could toss those fills in and make it sound so easy.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• kim weston
• the doobie brothers
• motown
• tamla motown
• holland dozier holland
• northern soul
• r&b
• 60's music
• 60's soul
• rock
• pop
• girl groups
• gordy
• benny benjamin
• teen music
• drums
• drummer
• drumming
• Drum
• Groove

[88duckbill]

Does anyone know if Kim Weston did an album with Marvin Gaye in the 70's? Or was that another duet collaborator? I remember listening to the album but can't remember if it was Kim.

[tomovox]

@88duckbill You might be thinking about an album Marvin did with Diana Ross in the 70's. OR you might be thinking of the album Kim Weston did with Johnny Nash (of "I Can See Clearly Now" fame.)

[Outverb]

@88duckbill - Kim Weston & Marvin Gaye are responsible for one of my all-time favorite songs: "It Takes Two." They released a duet album "Take Two," in 1966.

[tomovox]

@Outverb  That's a great album!

[jmtappenden]

Fab music.Thanks.

[tomovox]

@jmtappenden You are most welcome and thanks for viewing!

[mattforte192]

Another Motown masterpiece in such a large stable! Yeah, I'm biased but I gotta believe James Jamerson is the best bassist of all time, and Benny Benjamin is the greatest drummer (no disrespect to Uriel and Pistol who were also great in thier own right). Some of Benny's strongest and best known tunes speak volumes (besides this one): Uptight; Get Ready; Girl, Why You Wanna Make Me Blue among many. Benny Benjamin, the inventor of the Motown drum sound!

[necktieguy1]

There is no other version of this song but Kim Weston's. Thanks for this post. Don't ever take it away. She was a great talent. I love this song so much.  Thanks, again.

[tomovox]

@jamar22100 I like that idea! Tina is another singer who could sing anything and make you want to listen to it over and over.

[jamar22100]

This track was originally ment for The Vandellas. If this was my track i would have gave it to Tina Turner it would've been another number 1.

[HalosHelios2]

Great Record