Don't Mess with Bill

"Don't Mess with Bill" is a million-selling Gold-certified 1966 single recorded by The Marvelettes for Motown Records' Tamla label.[1] Written and produced by Smokey Robinson, "Don't Mess with Bill" features a lead vocal by Wanda Young. The single peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1966, and at number three on Billboard's R&B singles chart. "Don't Mess with Bill" was the Marvelettes' final Top 10 single.[2][3]

"Don't Mess with Bill"
Single by The Marvelettes
from the album The Marvelettes Greatest Hits
B-side"Anything You Wanna Do"
ReleasedNovember 26, 1965
RecordedHitsville USA; June 1965
GenreSoul, pop
Length2:51
LabelTamla
T 54126
Songwriter(s)Smokey Robinson
Producer(s)Smokey Robinson
The Marvelettes singles chronology
"Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead"
(1965)
"Don't Mess with Bill"
(1965)
"You're the One"
(1966)

Background

The titular "Bill" referenced is not an allusion to the song's author, Bill "Smokey" Robinson.[1] Robinson reports that he chose the name because it fit the lyrics, not because it was his.

Cash Box described it as a "funky medium-paced pop-blues shuffler about love-struck gal who serves notice on one and all to leave her fella alone."[4]

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart (1965-1966) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100 7
US Top Selling Rhythm & Blues Singles (Billboard) 3

Other versions

References

  1. The Complete Motown Singles Vol 5: 1965 [CD liner notes]. New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 379.
  3. Don't Mess with Bill at Allmusic
  4. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. December 18, 1965. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  5. Liner notes. The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 5: 1965, Hip-O Select – B0006775-02, USA, 04 Aug 2006
  6. The Spinners Live! LP


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