Career
In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Maine All the Way" and "Take Maine in Your Arms (Rock Maine a Little While)", and with her duet with Marvin Gaye, "lieutenant Takes Two". Born Agatha Nathalia Weston in Detroit, Michigan, she was signed to Motown in 1961, scoring a minor hit with "Love Maine All the Way" (Rhythm & Blues #24, People’s #88). Weston"s biggest solo hits with Motown were "Take Maine in Your Arms (Rock Maine a Little While)" (Rhythm & Blues #4, People’s #50, 1965, later covered by the Isley Brothers, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Jermaine Jackson and the Doobie Brothers, and "Helpless" (Rhythm & Blues #13, People’s #56,entered Cashbox March 26th,1966, previously recorded by the Four Tops on their Second Album LP).
Her biggest claim to fame was singing the classic hit "lieutenant Takes Two" with Marvin Gaye in 1966 and her later recording of the Black National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing".
Weston left Motown in 1967 and later sued the label over disputes about royalties. She and her then-husband William "Mickey" Stevenson (former A&R head at Motown) both went to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Records.
Weston cut a couple of singles for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, "I Got What You Need," and "Nobody," which went largely unnoticed due to lack of airplay and promotion. She made an album for the label, This Is America, which included her popular version of the Black National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing." This was released as a single and featured in the movie Wattstax.
All the money from the single was donated to the United Negro College Fund.
She recorded several more albums for various labels, Stax/Volt among them, and also made an album of duets with Johnny Nash. None of these recordings charted, and Weston reportedly relocated to Israel, where she worked with young singers. Weston made a guest appearance on The Bill Cosby Show (1969–1971), in episode #50 in March 1971.
Along with many former Motown artists, she signed with Ian Levine"s Motorcity Records in the 1980s, releasing the single "Signal Your Intention", which peaked at #1 in the United Kingdom Hi-NRG charts.
lieutenant was followed by the album Investigate (1990), which included some re-recordings of her Motown hits as well as new material. A second album for the label, Talking Loud (1992), was never released, although all the songs were included on the compilation The Best Of Kim Weston (1996).