MOTOWN COUNTRY HITS

From time to time, Motown songs made inroads in the country market with such major hits as Conway Twitty's take on Lionel Richie's THREE TIMES A LADY, Mickey Gilley's interpretation of Smokey Robinson's YOU'VE REALLY GOT A HOLD ON ME and Linda Ronstadt's version of the same writer's standard THE TRACKS OF MY TEARS. In the mid-1970's, Berry Gordy briefly added a country label to the Motown family; called "Melodyland", it logged up a #1 smash for Tennessee-born singer T.G. Sheppard namely TRYIN' TO BEAT THE MORNING HOME.

Following is a list of these and some other outstanding country versions of Jobete copyrights:

AIN'T THAT PECULIAR (Robinson/Tarplin/Moore/Rogers)
by New Grass Revival (EMI America: 1986) US #53 Country

BABY I NEED YOUR LOVING (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by E.D. Wofford (MC/Curb: 1978) US #77 Country

BABY LOVE (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by Joni Lee (MCA: 1976) US #62 Country

I CAN'T HELP MYSELF (SUGAR PIE, HONEY BUNCH) (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by Trisha Lynn (Oak: 1989) US #65 Country
by Billy Hill (Reprise: 1990) US #58 Country

I WISH IT WOULD RAIN (Whitfield/Strong/Penzabene)
by O.B. McClinton (Enterprise: 1973) US #67 Country

I'LL BE DOGGONE (Robinson/Moore/Tarplin)
by Penny DeHaven (Mercury: 1974) US #67 Country

I'VE NEVER BEEN TO ME (Miller/Hirsch)
by Charlene (Motown: 1982) US #60 Country

IT TAKES TWO (Moy/Stevenson)
by Connie Eaton & Dave Peel (Chart: 1970) US #56 Country

THE LAST TIME I SAW HIM (Masser/Sawyer)
by Dottie West (RCA: 1974) US #8 Country

LONELY TEARDROPS (Gordy/Gordy/Carlo)
by Narvel Felts (ABC/Dot: 1976) US #5 Country

MY GIRL (Robinson/White)
by Savannah (Mercury: 1984) US #73 Country

MY GUY (Robinson)
by Lynda K. Lance (Royal American: 1971) US #46 Country
by Margo Smith (Warner Bros: 1980) US #43 Country

OOH BABY BABY (Robinson/Moore)
by Linda Ronstadt (Asylum: 1978) US #85 Country

SAIL ON (Richie)
by Tom Grant (Republic: 1979) US #16 Country

SOMEDAY WE'LL BE TOGETHER (Beavers/Bristol/Fuqua)
by Bill Anderson & Jan Howard (Decca: 1970) US #4 Country

THREE TIMES A LADY (Richie)
by Conway Twitty (Warner Bros: 1984) US #7 Country

TO BE LOVED (Gordy/Gordy/Carlo)
by Peggy Sue (Door Knob: 1978) US #85 Country
by Jeremiah (Chariot: 1988) US #96 Country

THE TRACKS OF MY TEARS (Robinson/Tarplin/Moore)
by Linda Ronstadt (Asylum: 1976) US #11 Country

TRYIN' TO BEAT THE MORNING HOME (Williams/Sheppard/Kahanek)
by T.G. Sheppard (Melodyland: 1975) US #1 Country

YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE (Wonder)
by Marty Mitchell (MC/Curb: 1978) US #34 Country

YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by The Dixie Chicks (Columbia: 1999) US #60 Country

YOU'VE GOT TO MOVE TWO MOUNTAINS (Gordy)
by Dave Peel (Chart: 1971) US #56 Country
by Jimmy Russell (Charta: 1976) US #99 Country

YOU'VE REALLY GOT A HOLD ON ME (Robinson)
by Mickey Gilley (Epic: 1984) US #2 Country

This list does not include songs authored by Jimmy Webb during his tenure as a Jobete staff writer.

Chart positions courtesy of Joel Whitburn and Billboard Communications

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Hear audio extracts of these songs on our website

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Please remember as always that these lists are based on songs controlled by EMI in the U.S. and that control of certain copyrights varies by territory.

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ROCK ON !
Alan Warner

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