Motown and Soul
  1. Motown
    1. Berry Gordy
      1. Gordy was born 11/28/29, seventh of the eight children of Berry, Sr. and Bertha. He came from a middle class family; they owned a grocery store and a print shop, his father had a plastering contracting business, and his mother sold insurance and real estate.
      2. Gordy dropped out of high school to become a prizefighter; his association with Jackie Wilson, Golden Gloves champion and r & b star, contributed to his interest in the music business. (Gordy also wrote several hits for Wilson in the late 50s including "Lonely Teardrops".)
      3. He was drafted into the Army in 1951 where he earned his high school equivalency. After his release in 1953 he opened the 3-D Record Mart; the record store failed by 1955 and Gordy worked on the Ford assembly line.
      4. After some success as a songwriter, Berry Gordy began producing acts, including the Miracles; he also began a publishing company called Jobete Music. In January 1959 he borrowed $900 (or $700, as some accounts have it) to start the Tamla record label.
      5. Gordy's sisters Anna and Gwen, along with Billy Davis, owned Anna Records; in early 1960 Berry leased the Tamla recording "Money" (recorded by Barrett Strong) to Anna Records, who had a distribution agreement with Chess. "Money" reached the #23 spot on the charts.
    2. Early Motown
      1. Berry Gordy formed a second record label called Motown (after Detroit, or "Motortown"). He released the Miracles' third recording ("Bad Girl") on Motown; in 1961, Anna Records was "absorbed" into the Motown label. Also, Barrett Strong became a staff writer.
      2. Despite its size, Detroit had not had an independent label of any consequence, so Gordy's operations provided opportunities for local talent. Among the top artists included Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Mary Wells, the Supremes (formerly the Primettes), Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, The Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Stevie Wonder (Steveland Morris).
      3. The early Motown roster also included the Nick and the Jaguars, a white trio from Pontiac, MI and a white vocal group called the Valadiers.
      4. The Motown "complex" promoted about 535 singles between 1960 and 1970; 357 made the pop charts. This extraordinary success rate is due to a great extent to Gordy's marketing skills. The Motown formula consisted of simple pop lyrics, simple melodies and harmonies, and quality studio musicians recorded with a high degree of technical perfection. On live appearances, most of his acts wore formal attire such as tuxedos or formal gowns.
    3. The "Snakepit" and the Funk Brothers
      1. Most of the Motown recordings were made in the basement of "Hitsville, USA." The History of Rock website describes it as "a cramped, smoke stained, dimly lit room" which a virtually unknown group of musicians termed the "Funk Brothers" turned into a hit factory.
      2. Although personnel changed somewhat through the 60s, the key personnel were:
        • Benny Benjamin, drums.
        • James Jamerson, bass.
        • Robert White, Eddie Willis, and Joe Messina, guitars.
        • Earl Van Dyke, piano.
        • (a fairly complete list of musicians is available at The Funk Brothers).
      3. The musicians typically recorded in two to three 3-hour sessions per day, averaging about a song per hour. This hectic pace necessitated a somewhat formulaic approach to developing parts; one guitarist would play "backbeats," one would create a rythmic accompaniment, and one would play fills or a written line.
      4. Some interesting anecdotes from the studio musicians are available at "Motown and Soul (l959-70)" from the Shasta College web site.
  2. Stax Records
    1. Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton were siblings; Jim was 12 years younger. He played fiddle in Memphis area Western swing bands, and he began recording in his wife's uncle's garage.
    2. Estelle invested $2500 to help start a new record company called "Satellite" in 1958; they recorded some minor hits and obtained a leasing agreement with Atlantic Records. Estelle also ran a record store in the front of the building, which provided much of their early income.
    3. Estelles's son Packy (tenor sax), Steve Cropper (guitar), Charlie Freeman (guitar), Terry Johnson (drums), Don Nix (baritone sax), and Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass) recorded as the Mar-keys. Their instrumental "Last Night" became a hit. Local piano player Booker T. Jones was added to the roster; he, Cropper, Dunn, and Al Jackson provided the essence of the Stax sound. (Jim had changed the name to avoid possible litigation from a California record company also called Satellite. The new name "Stax" was derived from the two names STewart and AXton.) Booker T. and the MGs had a hit with "Green Onions."
    4. The Stax roster also included Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd, Isaac Hayes (as a producer and song writer at this point).
    5. As the Stax distribution deal came up for renegotiation, Stewart and Axton discovered that their original deal had given Atlantic ownership of their entire catalog. They sold the company to Gulf and Western in May 1968. In July 1970, Stewart and Bell bought the company back, and after successes by the Soul Children, the Staple Singers, Frederick Knight, Jean Knight, Rance Allen, Mel and Tim and the Emotions, they challenged Motown for leadership in sales. Also added to a subsidiary label was Richard Pryor.
    6. In 1972, Bell made a distribution deal with Columbia. He bought out Stewart with proceeds from an expansion loan. Later changes in the Columbia deal cut Stax profits and eventually led to its closing on January 12, 1976.
  3. The civil rights movement gradually enabled African American artists to focus more specifically on racial and social issues. This was also accompanied by a "harder-edged" rhythmic style such as James Brown's recording of the late 60s and 70s. The need for labels such as Motown diminished somewhat; black artists were gaining more opportunities on other labels, although a strongly African American based music does not really enter mainstream pop until disco in the 1970s. Other important artists include:
  4. Some interesting websites include:

Return to the American Popular Music Class Notes Page