Motown Records
Motown Records –
Historical Perspective
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Founded by Barry Gordy, Jr., in 1959
Based in Detroit, MI
First record label to be exclusively
African-American owned and operated
Achieved this success during the civil
rights strife of the early 1960’s
Motown Records –
Historical Perspective, continued
1964 Civil Rights Act
 Established 6th grade education as minimum
voting requirement
 Forbids discrimination in public places
(restaurants, hotels, rest rooms)
 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
created
 Authorizes aid for school desegregation
 Also 1964: Poll tax outlawed
Motown Records –
Historical Perspective, continued
Other Civil Rights Issues, 1965:
 Voting Rights Act
 LBJ’s “War on Poverty”
 Job Corps, VISTA, Head Start, Upward
Bound
 Criminal Justice Act
 Food Stamp Act
 Housing Act (urban renewal projects)
Motown Records Founder Barry Gordy, Jr
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Born in Detroit, 1929
Producer / songwriter
Publishing company
1959: Founded
Motown Records in
Detroit, MI
Motown Records – early success
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1959: Motown reaches the top 100
with Smokey Robinson and the
Miracles, “Bad Girl”
1960: Gordy co-writes, records and
distributes Motown’s first huge hit: the
Miracles’ “Shop Around.”
Motown is thus established as an
important independent label
The Miracles:
Shop Around
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Released in 1960
Written by Berry Gordy & Smokey
Robinson
Prior to this, Robinson & the Miracles
had a Top 100 hit with “Bad Girls”
(written by Robinson)
Mary Wells: My Guy
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Released in 1964
This song was also written by Smokey
Robinson
Mary Wells was 16 when she signed
on with Motown
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
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Released in 1964
Written by the songwriting team of
Stevenson/Gaye/Hunter
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)
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Originally a local
group, the “Primettes”
Written by Holland –
Dozier - Holland
Diana Ross, Mary
Wilson, Florence
Ballard, Betty McGlown
(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
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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)
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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
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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 teamHolland-Dozier-Holland
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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”
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Strong rhythm section
Use of horns (meaning saxophone and
brass instruments)
Strong lead vocals with backup singers
Gospel-style “Call and response”
Production influenced by Phil Spector’s
“Wall of Sound”
Motown and Civil Rights
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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 AfricanAmericans
However…
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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.)
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The Temptations: My Girl
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Released in 1965
Written by Smokey Robinson & Ronald
White
The Temps sported a Gordy-created
image
– Professional, respectable, attractive
The Temptations:
Get Ready
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Released in 1966
Written by Smokey Robinson
Listen to the way the voices interact
with one another & the instruments
– Is there a call & response element to the
Temptations songs?
The Temptations:
I Can’t Get Next To You
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Released in 1969
Written by Whitfield & Strong
Can you hear a move toward ‘funk’?
What other influences can you hear?
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
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Released in 1965
Written by Robinson, Tarplin, & Moore
Listen to Smokey’s high, emotional
voice – where have we heard vocal
styles like that before?
Listen to the production – how would
you describe it?
The Miracles:
Ooh Baby Baby
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Released in 1965
Written by Robinson & Moore
Another great example of the
emotional, intense, power of
Robinson’s voice & songwriting
The Miracles:
I Second That Emotion
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Released in 1967
Written by Robison & Cleveland
Listen to how Robinson has used the
horns & other instruments to create a
‘mood’ or ‘feel’
Listen to the production of these
songs – is it different from the Temps?
The Miracles:
The Tears of a Clown
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Released in 1970
Written by Robinson, Cosby, &
Wonder
Cosby was Hank Cosby, Stevie
Wonder’s producer
Listen to the lyrics here – who does
Robinson compare himself to?
The Four Tops
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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
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Released in 1965
Written by Holland – Dozier – Holland
What marks the Four Tops as different
from the Miracles or the Temps?
– Vocal style?
– Production?
– Instrumentation?
The Four Tops:
It’s the Same Old Song
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Released in 1965
Written by Holland – Dozier – Holland
Is there a gospel influence here?
What about blues or dance influences?
The Four Tops:
Reach Out I’ll Be There
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Released in 1966
Written by Holland – Dozier – Holland
Listen to the way the singers layered
the vocals
– 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-60s, the Motown label was a huge success
story:
 8 record labels
 A management service and publishing company
 14 #1 singles on the pop charts, 64-67
 20 #1 singles on the R&B charts, 64-67
 1966: 75% of ALL Motown’s releases made the
charts
 1967: Motown grosses 21 million dollars
 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 70s)
Gladys Knight & the Pips:
I Heard It Through the
Grapevine
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Released in 1967
Written by Whitfield & Strong
Listen to the ‘feel’ of the song
What do the Pips do? How do they
add to the song?
– Does the song sound emotionally
intense?
Motown – 1965-early 70s
Marvin Gaye
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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
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Released in 1968
How does Marvin’s version different
from Gladys Knights’?
Have we heard the type of singing
Marvin excels at? Where?
What takes the place of the Pips in
this version?
Marvin Gaye:
How Sweet It Is
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Released in 1964
Written by Holland – Dozier – Holland
Does this sound like gospel?
Is this a 12 bar blues?
Listen to the emotional quality of the
lyrics & Marvin’s interpretation of the
melody during each verse
Marvin Gaye:
What’s Going On
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Released in 1971
Written by Gaye & Al Cleveland
Listen to the lyrics – what does Marvin
mean?
Is this a gospel song?
How does this compare to something
like Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna
Come”?
Motown:
1965 - early 70s
Stevie Wonder
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Signed to Motown
at age 11 as “Little
Stevie Wonder”
Many hit records
throughout 60s
Left Motown 1971,
but came back in
’72 with full artistic
control
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Multitalented
instrumentalist,
singer, and
songwriter par
excellence
Stevie
Wonder
Summersoft
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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.
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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
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A huge hit from the 1969 album, “The
Corporation”
How is this like Frankie Lymon & the
Teenagers? N’Sync? James Brown?
Motown continued to be very
successful into the 70s and 80s 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 AfricanAmerican owned-and-operated company in
US.
There is a great illustrated timeline
of the Motown years at:
www.classic.motown.com