Motown Records Motown Records Historical Perspective

Motown Records

Motown Records – Historical Perspective Founded by Barry Gordy, Jr. , in 1959 n Based in Detroit, MI n First record label to be exclusively African-American owned and operated n Achieved this success during the civil rights strife of the early 1960’s n

Motown Records – Historical Perspective, continued 1964 Civil Rights Act n Established 6 th grade education as minimum voting requirement n Forbids discrimination in public places (restaurants, hotels, rest rooms) n Equal Employment Opportunity Commission created n Authorizes aid for school desegregation n Also 1964: Poll tax outlawed

Motown Records – Historical Perspective, continued Other Civil Rights Issues, 1965: n Voting Rights Act n LBJ’s “War on Poverty” n Job Corps, VISTA, Head Start, Upward Bound n Criminal Justice Act n Food Stamp Act n Housing Act (urban renewal projects)

Motown Records Founder Barry Gordy, Jr n n Born in Detroit, 1929 Producer / songwriter Publishing company 1959: Founded Motown Records in Detroit, MI

Motown Records – early success 1959: Motown reaches the top 100 with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, “Bad Girl” n 1960: Gordy co-writes, records and distributes Motown’s first huge hit: the Miracles’ “Shop Around. ” n Motown is thus established as an important independent label n

The Miracles: Shop Around Released in 1960 n Written by Berry Gordy & Smokey Robinson n Prior to this, Robinson & the Miracles had a Top 100 hit with “Bad Girls” (written by Robinson) n

Mary Wells: My Guy Released in 1964 n This song was also written by Smokey Robinson n Mary Wells was 16 when she signed on with Motown n

Motown “Girl Groups” The Marvelettes “Please Mr. Postman” This song was Motown’s first #1 pop hit

Martha & the Vandellas: Heatwave This group was from Detroit (home of Motown), & Martha happened to by the secretary for Motown! This song was written by the songwriting team Holland – Dozier - Holland

Martha & the Vandellas: Dancing in the Street Released in 1964 n Written by the songwriting team of Stevenson/Gaye/Hunter n Other members included Annette Sterling, Rosalind Ashford, & Gloria Williamson This song was later covered by Van Halen

Motown “Girl Groups” The Supremes

Where Did Our Love Go? The Supremes (continued) n n n Originally a local group, the “Primettes” Written by Holland – Dozier - Holland Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, Betty Mc. Glown (and later Barbara Martin) First hit “Where Did Our Love Go” – 1964 (15 days after the Civil Rights Act was passed!)

Stop! In the Name Of Love The Supremes - #1 Hits n n n Where Did Our Love Go (64) Baby Love (64) Come See About Me (64) Stop! In the Name of Love (65) Back in My Arms Again (65) I Hear a Symphony (65) n n n You Can’t Hurry Love (66) You Keep Me Hangin’ On (66) Love is Here and Now You’re Gone (67) The Happening (67) Love Child (68) Someday We’ll be Together (69)

Motown’s “house band” The Funk Brothers n The “Funk Brothers” were comprised of a number of excellent studio musicians; the personnel changed over the years. Benny Benjamin, James Jamerson, Joe Hunter, Larry Veeder, Hank Crosby Robert White, Danny Turner, Earl Van Dyke, Uriel Jones, James Jamerson

Motown’s songwriting team. Holland-Dozier-Holland n n Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland Wrote many songs for the Supremes and other Motown artists

Motown – image makers Maxine Powell, modeling coach Cholly Atkins, Choreographer and dancer Maurice King, Musical direction, Artist development

The Motown Sound – Characteristics: “The Sound of Young America” Strong rhythm section n Use of horns (meaning saxophone and brass instruments) n Strong lead vocals with backup singers n Gospel-style “Call and response” n Production influenced by Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” n

Motown and Civil Rights n n Gordy recorded MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and another collection of MLK’s speeches Ongoing concern with supporting civil rights movement and with the “image” of young African. Americans However… n The vast majority of Motown lyrics were NOT politically-oriented.

Junior Walker and the All-Stars: Shotgun Junior Walker (tenor sax) recorded for Motown’s subsidiary label “Soul. ” Walker was the only Motown instrumentalist to record under his own name Junior Walker (sax), Victor Thomas (keyboard), Willie Woods (guitar), and James Grave (drums)

The Temptations This former doo-wop group became one of Motown’s most successful vocal groups Otis Williams, Elbridge Bryant, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams (Elbridge Bryant eventually replaced by David Ruffin. ) n n

The Temptations: My Girl Released in 1965 n Written by Smokey Robinson & Ronald White n The Temps sported a Gordy-created image n – Professional, respectable, attractive

The Temptations: Get Ready Released in 1966 n Written by Smokey Robinson n Listen to the way the voices interact with one another & the instruments n – Is there a call & response element to the Temptations songs?

The Temptations: I Can’t Get Next To You Released in 1969 n Written by Whitfield & Strong n Can you hear a move toward ‘funk’? n What other influences can you hear? n

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles Smokey Robinson’s high, sweet tenor voice was a trademark of the Miracles’ sound. One of the first Motown groups, and one of their first great successes Robinson (second from right) also was a songwriter for the Motown label.

The Miracles: The Tracks of My Tears Released in 1965 n Written by Robinson, Tarplin, & Moore n Listen to Smokey’s high, emotional voice – where have we heard vocal styles like that before? n Listen to the production – how would you describe it? n

The Miracles: Ooh Baby Released in 1965 n Written by Robinson & Moore n Another great example of the emotional, intense, power of Robinson’s voice & songwriting n

The Miracles: I Second That Emotion Released in 1967 n Written by Robison & Cleveland n Listen to how Robinson has used the horns & other instruments to create a ‘mood’ or ‘feel’ n Listen to the production of these songs – is it different from the Temps? n

The Miracles: The Tears of a Clown Released in 1970 n Written by Robinson, Cosby, & Wonder n Cosby was Hank Cosby, Stevie Wonder’s producer n Listen to the lyrics here – who does Robinson compare himself to? n

The Four Tops n n Another ex-doo-wop group, the Four Tops’ first recording was actually for the Chess label Levi Stubbs, Renaldo Benson, Lawrence Payton, Abdul Fakir

The Four Tops: I Can’t Help Myself Released in 1965 n Written by Holland – Dozier – Holland n What marks the Four Tops as different from the Miracles or the Temps? n – Vocal style? – Production? – Instrumentation?

The Four Tops: It’s the Same Old Song Released in 1965 n Written by Holland – Dozier – Holland n Is there a gospel influence here? n What about blues or dance influences? n

The Four Tops: Reach Out I’ll Be There Released in 1966 n Written by Holland – Dozier – Holland n Listen to the way the singers layered the vocals n – This helps to create a thick texture – Have we heard this style of singing before? Where?

Motown Records - heyday, mid-1960’s By the mid-60 s, the Motown label was a huge success story: n 8 record labels n A management service and publishing company n 14 #1 singles on the pop charts, 64 -67 n 20 #1 singles on the R&B charts, 64 -67 n 1966: 75% of ALL Motown’s releases made the charts n 1967: Motown grosses 21 million dollars n An estimated SEVENTY per cent of Motown’s records are sold to a white audience.

Gladys Knight and the Pips The “Pips” were Gladys’ brother Bubba, and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten Their song “Heard it Through the Grapevine” was later made a huge hit by Marvin Gaye They eventually left Motown and recorded for the Buddah label (early 70 s)

Gladys Knight & the Pips: I Heard It Through the Grapevine Released in 1967 n Written by Whitfield & Strong n Listen to the ‘feel’ of the song n What do the Pips do? How do they add to the song? n – Does the song sound emotionally intense?

Motown – 1965 -early 70 s Marvin Gaye n n Motown session musician and solo artist Also recorded a number of “duo” songs, including several hits with Tammi Terrell (“Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing, ” “Ain’t no Mountain High Enough, ” etc. ) 1970 LP “What’s Going On, ” political, civil rights topics Died 1984 (shot by his own father after a dispute)

Marvin Gaye: I Heard It Through the Grapevine Released in 1968 n How does Marvin’s version different from Gladys Knights’? n Have we heard the type of singing Marvin excels at? Where? n What takes the place of the Pips in this version? n

Marvin Gaye: How Sweet It Is Released in 1964 n Written by Holland – Dozier – Holland n Does this sound like gospel? n Is this a 12 bar blues? n Listen to the emotional quality of the lyrics & Marvin’s interpretation of the melody during each verse n

Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On Released in 1971 n Written by Gaye & Al Cleveland n Listen to the lyrics – what does Marvin mean? n Is this a gospel song? n How does this compare to something like Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come”? n

Motown: 1965 - early 70 s Stevie Wonder n n n Signed to Motown at age 11 as “Little Stevie Wonder” Many hit records throughout 60 s Left Motown 1971, but came back in ’ 72 with full artistic control n Multitalented instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter par excellence

Stevie Wonder Summersoft n Wonder’s success continued; his 1976 “Songs in the Key of Life” is considered by many to be his masterpiece. He continues to have a successful career. n Wonder is also known for his social consciousness. He was also an important figure in the move to have MLK’s birthday declared a national holiday.

The Jackson 5 I Want You Back (1969, From the Album “The Corporation” Various Michaels

The Jackson 5 ABC n A huge hit from the 1969 album, “The Corporation” n How is this like Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers? N’Sync? James Brown?

Motown continued to be very successful into the 70 s and 80 s Diana Ross, Jackson 5, Commodores, Stevie Wonder, and more. Eventually, the company moved to Los Angeles.

Motown was bought in 1988 by MCA records, which ended its run as the largest African. American owned-and-operated company in US. There is a great illustrated timeline of the Motown years at: www. classic. motown. com