Written and produced by Smokey Robinson of The Miracles, the song is a woman's dedication to the goodness of her man ("There's not a man today who could take me away from my guy"). Motown mogul Berry Gordy allegedly coerced radio stations into keeping Wells' new records off the airwaves, but she still scored a hit with "Ain't That the Truth" and "Use Your Head." Nevertheless, her relationship contract with 20th Century Fox dissolved the following year. She bounced from label to label and eventually retired (briefly) from music in 1974 to raise her family. Smokey Robinson helped Berry Gordy form Motown Records after they realized how little they were paid by the labels that distributed their songs. In addition to fronting the legendary group The Miracles, Robinson also wrote and produced many of the label's early numbers, including other Wells hits like "The One Who Really Loves You,""You Beat Me to the Punch" and "Two Lovers". In 1965, Robinson wrote a song similar to "My Guy" from a male perspective that was a huge hit for The Temptations: "My Girl".
At the session for the "My Guy" backing track the studio musicians were having issues completing the intro: with the musicians having been playing all day and a half-hour scheduled studio time left, trombonist George Bohannon pointed out to keyboardist Earl Van Dyke that the opening measure of "Canadian Sunset" could be perfectly juxtaposed on the intro's chord changes, and Van Dyke, the session bandleader, expediently constructed an intro incorporating the opening of "Canadian Sunset" and also the "left hand notes" from "Canadian Sunset" composer Eddie Heywood's rendition of "Begin the Beguine". Van Dyke would recall: "We were doing anything to get the hell out of that studio. We knew that the producers didn't know nothing 'bout no 'Canadian Sunset' or 'Begin the Beguine'. We figured the song would wind up in the trash can anyway". When Wells recorded her vocal she sang over the song's outro with a huskiness evoking the line delivery of Mae West: Wells would recall: "I was only joking but the producers said 'Keep it going, keep it going'."
Written and produced by Smokey Robinson of The Miracles, the song is a woman's dedication to the goodness of her man ("There's not a man today who could take me away from my guy"). Motown mogul Berry Gordy allegedly coerced radio stations into keeping Wells' new records off the airwaves, but she still scored a hit with "Ain't That the Truth" and "Use Your Head." Nevertheless, her relationship contract with 20th Century Fox dissolved the following year. She bounced from label to label and eventually retired (briefly) from music in 1974 to raise her family. Smokey Robinson helped Berry Gordy form Motown Records after they realized how little they were paid by the labels that distributed their songs. In addition to fronting the legendary group The Miracles, Robinson also wrote and produced many of the label's early numbers, including other Wells hits like ["The One Who Really Loves You,"](https://hooktube.com/watch?v=PuQt3fgNqik) ["You Beat Me to the Punch"](https://hooktube.com/watch?v=OCUXSdg6PCc) and ["Two Lovers"](https://hooktube.com/watch?v=r84hUrR9EVI). In 1965, Robinson wrote a song similar to "My Guy" from a male perspective that was a huge hit for The Temptations: ["My Girl"](https://voat.co/v/PaddysPub/2084366).
At the session for the "My Guy" backing track the studio musicians were having issues completing the intro: with the musicians having been playing all day and a half-hour scheduled studio time left, trombonist George Bohannon pointed out to keyboardist Earl Van Dyke that the opening measure of "Canadian Sunset" could be perfectly juxtaposed on the intro's chord changes, and Van Dyke, the session bandleader, expediently constructed an intro incorporating the opening of "Canadian Sunset" and also the "left hand notes" from "Canadian Sunset" composer Eddie Heywood's rendition of "Begin the Beguine". Van Dyke would recall: "We were doing anything to get the hell out of that studio. We knew that the producers didn't know nothing 'bout no 'Canadian Sunset' or 'Begin the Beguine'. We figured the song would wind up in the trash can anyway". When Wells recorded her vocal she sang over the song's outro with a huskiness evoking the line delivery of Mae West: Wells would recall: "I was only joking but the producers said 'Keep it going, keep it going'."
Written and produced by Smokey Robinson of The Miracles, the song is a woman's dedication to the goodness of her man ("There's not a man today who could take me away from my guy"). Motown mogul Berry Gordy allegedly coerced radio stations into keeping Wells' new records off the airwaves, but she still scored a hit with "Ain't That the Truth" and "Use Your Head." Nevertheless, her relationship contract with 20th Century Fox dissolved the following year. She bounced from label to label and eventually retired (briefly) from music in 1974 to raise her family. Smokey Robinson helped Berry Gordy form Motown Records after they realized how little they were paid by the labels that distributed their songs. In addition to fronting the legendary group The Miracles, Robinson also wrote and produced many of the label's early numbers, including other Wells hits like "The One Who Really Loves You," "You Beat Me to the Punch" and "Two Lovers". In 1965, Robinson wrote a song similar to "My Guy" from a male perspective that was a huge hit for The Temptations: "My Girl".
At the session for the "My Guy" backing track the studio musicians were having issues completing the intro: with the musicians having been playing all day and a half-hour scheduled studio time left, trombonist George Bohannon pointed out to keyboardist Earl Van Dyke that the opening measure of "Canadian Sunset" could be perfectly juxtaposed on the intro's chord changes, and Van Dyke, the session bandleader, expediently constructed an intro incorporating the opening of "Canadian Sunset" and also the "left hand notes" from "Canadian Sunset" composer Eddie Heywood's rendition of "Begin the Beguine". Van Dyke would recall: "We were doing anything to get the hell out of that studio. We knew that the producers didn't know nothing 'bout no 'Canadian Sunset' or 'Begin the Beguine'. We figured the song would wind up in the trash can anyway". When Wells recorded her vocal she sang over the song's outro with a huskiness evoking the line delivery of Mae West: Wells would recall: "I was only joking but the producers said 'Keep it going, keep it going'."