The Classic Motown

and its influence on American

culture
Berry Gordy Jr. b. 1929 in Detroit
His parents came to Detroit from Georgia in 1922

His grandfather was the son of James Thomas Gordy, a

white farmer, his grandmother was a slave working in
Georgia.

His grandfather was also the great-grandfather of

James Earl Carter, Jr., the 39th President of the
United States, making Berry Gordy III and Jimmy
Carter second half-cousins.
 Whilst Berry's siblings were respected
members of the Black community in
Detroit, Berry, dropped out of high school
in the eleventh grade to become a
professional boxer, a profession he
pursued until 1950.

Around 1953 he began composing music,

Gordy with Smokey writing songs and opening the 3-D Record
Robinson Mart, a jazz music store.

Reet Petite He later left the store and began work at

the Lincoln-Mercury plant.
He then met the owner of the Flame Show
Bar talent club, where he met singer
Jackie Wilson.
In 1957, Jackie recorded 'Reet Petite', a
song Gordy had co-written with his sister
Gwen and writer-producer Billy Davis.
 The Flame Show Bar opened in 1949 and was located at
the corner of  John R and Canfield. The Flame was  the
showplace for top Black talent in Detroit during the 50s.
Billie Holiday, T-Bone Walker, Wynonie Harris were a few
of the many great black entertainers that appeared there. 
The Berrys were in charge of the photo concessions at the
Flame. Sisters Gwen and Anna  took the photos with
brothers George and Robert developing the film. It was
during this time the Al Green the club's owner invited
Gordy to write songs for the artists he managed which
included Jackie Wilson. Berry teaming with Roquel "Billy"
Davis began writing at Green's office. Berry would
eventually bring sister Gwen in and the trio would write
several bestsellers „To Be Loved," "Lonely Teardrops,"
"That's Why (I Love You So)" and "I'll Be Satisfied"
establishing themselves as hit writers. At this time Gordy
started doing some of the producing.
 Berry married married Thelma Coleman and
quickly had three children. It was after the
closing of the record store that Gordy went
to work on the assembly line at Ford's
Lincoln-Mercury plant.
 Onthe set of the Flame Show Berry met
Raynoma Liles whom he married soon.
 Through his songwriting connections in 1957, he
discovered The Miracles (originally known as The
Matadors) and began constructing a roster of
potential recording artists.
 In 1959, using an $800 loan from his family, Berry
Gordy formed the first incarnation of his legendary
label Tamla Records, which produced Mary Johnson's
first hit, entitled 'Come To Me‘ in January 1959 .
 First release with an actual Motown label:
"My Beloved," The Satintones (Motown 1000),
February 1960
 He made a decision to keep it in Detroit
rather than move to a music business hub
like New York or Chicago .Gordy started his
company with the most primitive of
recording equipment and facilities and a
bare-bones staff of mostly family.
 His father did the plastering and repairs, and
his sister did the bookkeeping. The vocal
studio was in the hallway, and his echo
chamber was the downstairs bathroom. “We
had to post a guard outside the door,” Gordy
says, "to make sure no one flushed the toilet
while we were recording.
 First hedquoters of Gordy’s record
Hitsville

Machines used at the infancy of the

records used to break the tape
In 1960 Smokey and the Miracles charted with
'Shop Around', which led to Motown's own
label independency.
 Hits began to follow at a rapid pace, with the
Marvelettes 'Please Mr Postman' being an early
example. Marvelettes songs was featured as
cover version on the Beatles album 'With The
Beatles'.
 The Fab Four also included Smokey Robinson's
own composition 'You Really Got A Hold On Me
'.
 Holland-Dozier –Holland
collaboration in songwriting
provided a host of hits to the
Gordy’s empire.

Berry's kids with the Beatles

 Merging the music as a product with the bussines
 fiting in the socio-cultural circumstances of late
fifties and early sixties
 The assembly line for music
 Wanted to kill the imagery of liquor and drugs
and how some people thought it pertained to
R&B.
 In 1988 Gordy sold the label to MCA
 Change in the 1970s – war, drugs, psyhodelic era,
disco music influenced the step.
 He had literally changed the American music
industry, introducing large numbers of suburban
whites to “black” music.
 Berry did have a five year relationship
with the label singer, Diana Ross.
 The pair had a daughter called Rhonda Ross
Kendrick in 1971.
 Their relationship was part of the company's
backbone, and her eventual decision to leave
Motown was read as an indicator of the label's
declining fortunes.
 Berry's son Kennedy Gordy is the son out of a
relationship with Berry's ex-girlfriend Margaret
Norton. Kennedy is better known as the Motown
musician Rockwell.
 Chess/Checker Records(Started by Polish
immigrant brothers Leonard and Phil Chess in
1947 ). Black Jazz and Blues predominant with
a star Chuck Berry
 Atlantic/Atco founded in 1947 by a Turkish
immigrant Ahmet Ertegun. It was an equal
opportunity record label. Featured Jazz, early
Rock’n’Roll. Stars: Roberta Flack, Ray Charles
 Labels: Vee Jay, Imperial, Checker, King, Ace,
Crown
 Thepopulation shift created a new
demographic group, which developed R&B
music in the late 1940s. In the mid-50s, black
music found its expression in Soul music as a
result of the confluence of R&B, gospel and
doo-wop. At that moment in history, Soul got
associated with the black civil rights
movement through the transformation of
black music into a type of funky affirmation.
 Any analysis of early Motown songs must consider this
interactive recording process and its role in song
creation and structure.
 The other major factor which must be taken into
account when considering the Motown style is the
formative exposure to gospel traditions that was a
part of almost every black musicians' experience at
the time. Vehicle both to entertaiment and spirituality.
 'characteristic form of verse . . . and chorus . . . The
tempo of these gospel songs is usually fast as
opposed to a slower tempo for the traditional hymns.
The rhythm, the rhythmic element of these gospel
songs is almost a predominant one.'
 Motown songs are refered to as secularized
Gospel
 'Motown sound' incorporates various other
stylistic features - the call-response style
between lead and backing vocals; quasi-
improvisatory verse melodies; and the use of
handclaps, fingerclicks and tambourine to
emphasise the 'backbeat' - which are
common to many African- American musical
styles
 choruses consisting of a short repeated
lyric/melodic statement
 Rythm is elevated to the new structural
status: catchy rhythmic or rhythmic/chordal
motifs used as a foundation for either a
complete song, or a particular section of the
song.
 Artist would sit down at the piano, and
basically there were three parts to the song-
the words, the melody that the words were
hung on, and the chord bed
 The achievements of Motown in terms of
chart success, are undeniable. Between
1964 and 1967 Motown records accounted
for, in Nelson George's summary a total of
sixty top fifteen pop chart hits including
fourteen number ones.
The Four Tops
The Temptations
Smokey Robinson and the
Miracles
Gladys Knight and the Pips
The Supremes (Diana Ross)
The Jackson 5
Stevie Wonder
Martha and the Vandelas
Marvin Gaye
 Barrett Strong - Money
(That's What I Want); 2:35
 The Funk Brothers
 The Contours - Do You Love
Me; 2:53
 Mary Wells - My Guy; 2:48
 Jr. Walker & The All-Stars -
Shotgun; 2:59
 Isley Brothers - This Old
Heart of Mine (Is Weak for
You); 2:46
 Jimmy Ruffin - What Becomes
of the Brokenhearted; 3:01
 Chris Clark - Love's Gone
Bad; 2:21
 Rare Earth - Get Ready; 2:48
 A song
Dancing in the Street by Matha and the Vandellas
allegedly refering to the Watts uprising taking
place at the moment which the record company
could not control.
 The Watts Uprising: referred to as the Watts Riot,
a five-day disturbance in the South Central section
of Los Angeles was the first of several eruptions in
American cities in the 1960s. The conflict began
on August 11, 1966, when a confrontation between
local police and an African-American motorist
unleashed a more violent altercation involving
police reinforcements and members of the black
community. Lasted 6 days.
 Other such songs were Nowhere to Run and
Shotgun
 They were not just Party songs as prof.
Susan E. Smith argues. They clearly illustrate
how the sounds of Detroit's streets could
articulate the needs of African Americans

Motown and the cultural politics of Detroit Berry

Gordy's soul music label and the civil rights
movement.
Dancing in the Street - Suzanne E. Smith, Harvard
UP.
 The first American music label owned by an
African-American
 It involved many white people for the first time
accepting black music and musicians in a direct
way - supporting the original product instead of
a cover version.
 In the words of Quincy Jones
The talented people that flowed through
Motown, both the performers on stage and the
writers and producers behind the scene, broke
down the barriers between black and white,
between the R&B world and the 'mainstream',
letting everyone see the beauty of black music.
 We are not going to make Black music. We’re
going to make music for people. We’re going
to make music for the world
 In the late 1950’s, many Blacks enjoyed
rhythm and blues music, but it was routinely
unprofitable and often performed in shabby
venues. Berry Gordy, who would become one
of the greatest entrepreneurs in Michigan
history, would change that. He had a vision
of taking Black-inspired music out of the
slums and giving it broad, national appeal as
a respectable art form.
 Berry Gordy’s philosophy, involved the
targeting of both nightclub patrons and
young fans of cutting-edge rock.
 He controlled every aspect of production,
recording, auditoning, and artists’ image.
 Industrial form of entertainment.
 Created a "charm school" to ensure that its
acts were palatable to the mainstream until
1973, when the label left Detroit and its
decline already had begun.
 Before Motown. A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-60 Lars
Bjorn with Jim Gallert, 2001 U of Michigan Press
 Berry Gordy and the Original Black Label in Popular music
(accessible from JStor)
 Berry Gordy Site
 Dertoit History Web Page
 Motown and the American Culture, Gelard Early, 2004 U of
Michigan Press
 Motown Crossover Hits 1963-1966 and the Creative
Process. Jon Fitzgerald in Popular Music
 Motown:Sex, Music and Money. Gelard Posner
 Our Motown Heritage.Robert Dennis. Motown Museum Page
 The Rise of Motown Records - When Art Met Business, and
One Plus One Made Three. Tom Ersin.