A-side "Once Upon a Time" Genre Rhythm and blues Label Motown | Released 1964 Length 2:24 | |
Recorded Hitsville USA, Detroit, Michigan; 1963 | ||
"What's the Matter with You Baby" is a 1964 single released by Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells on the Motown label.
Released as a double A-side single alongside "Once Upon a Time", the song gave Gaye and Wells another charted smash.
The song, written by William "Mickey" Stevenson, Clarence Paul, and Barney Ales and produced by Stevenson, has Gaye and Wells going back and forth with Gaye apologizing to Wells for leaving her behind for someone else begging Wells to give him one more chance.
At first, Wells says taking Gaye back would "hurt (her) pride" and that she cannot let him take her out for the night but after Gaye pleads for Wells to come back to him, Wells relents but still passes on him taking her out for the night.
The song begins and ends with the two harmonizing together. It peaked at number nineteen on the U.S. Pop Singles chart when released.