You Beat Me to the Punch

"You Beat Me to the Punch"
Single by Mary Wells
from the album The One Who Really Loves You
B-side	"Old Love (Let's Try It Again)"
Released	1962
Format	7" single
Recorded	Hitsville USA; 1962
Genre	Soul
Length	2:45
Label	Motown
Writer(s)	Smokey Robinson, Ronald White
Producer(s)	Smokey Robinson
Mary Wells singles chronology
"The One Who Really Loves You" (1962) "You Beat Me to the Punch" (1962) "Two Lovers" (1962)

"You Beat Me to the Punch" is a soul single by Motown singer Mary Wells, released on the Motown label in 1962. It was co-written by Smokey Robinson of the Miracles, who was responsible for the majority of hits released by Wells while she was a Motown artist, and another Miracles member, Ronnie White.

Following the success of the previous single, "The One Who Really Loves You", Motown released this record shortly after it was produced and the song performed similar work as "The One Who Really Loves You" did, becoming a Billboard Top 10 Pop smash, peaking at number nine on the pop chart and becoming her first number-one hit on the Billboard R&B singles chart. It also won Wells a Grammy nomination for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording.

Like "The One Who Really Loves You" before it, the song was produced with a mock-calypso beat. It inspired an "answer" song by soul singer Gene Chandler called "You Threw A Lucky Punch" which used the same music and different lyrics and became a Pop and R&B chart hit that year.

Personnel

• Lead vocal by Mary Wells
• Background vocals by the Love Tones (Carl Jones, Joe Miles, and Stan Bracely)
• Written and produced by Smokey Robinson and Ronald "Ronnie" White
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Preceded by "Green Onions" by Booker T. & The MG's

Billboard Hot R&B Singles number-one single September 22, 1962

Succeeded by "Green Onions" by Booker T. & The MG's