The Motown story is essentially the story of Berry Gordy Jr, who was born in Detroit Michigan on November 28, 1929. He was the seventh of eight children of Berry Sr and Bertha Gordy. His parents had migrated to Detroit from Milledgeville, Georgia in 1922. His father ran a plastering contracting business and his mother sold insurance and real estate; they also ran a grocery store and print shop. Berry Gordy Jr dropped out of school after his junior year to become a professional boxer; he decided to get out of the fight game at about the time the Army drafted him in 1951. During his stint in the Army, he obtained his high school equivalency degree. In 1953, he married Thelma Coleman and in 1954 his first child was born, a daughter, Hazel Joy. They had two other children, named Berry IV and Terry, but were divorced in 1959.
When Berry got out of the Army in 1953, he opened a jazz-oriented record store called the 3-D Record Mart. By 1955, the store had failed and Berry was working on the Ford automobile assembly line. While working on the line, Berry constantly wrote songs, submitting them to magazines, contests and singers. His first success as a songwriter came in 1957 when Jackie Wilson recorded 'Reet Petite', a song he, his sister Gwen and Billy Davis (under the pseudonym of Tyran Carlo) had written. 'Reet Petite' became a modest hit and netted Berry $1000 for the song. Over the next two years he co-wrote four more hits for Wilson, 'To Be Loved', 'Lonely Teardrops', 'That's Why' and 'I'll Be Satisfied'. Berry later chose the title 'To Be Loved' for his autobiography.
Gordy decided to take total control of his songs, so on January 12, 1959, he borrowed $800 from his family's loan fund to start his own record label, called Tamla. He had originally wanted to call his label Tammy, after a Debbie Reynolds film, but that title was already taken. Tamla Records was located at 1719 Gladstone Street in Detroit, and the first release was Marv Johnson's 'Come to Me'. The song was picked up by United Artists and it became a moderate hit. United Artists signed Marv Johnson to a recording contract and Berry Gordy continued to produce him for that label. In 1959, Marv Johnson's 'You Got What it Takes' became his first production to break into the pop Top Ten.
The third Miracles release was issued on a second label Berry formed, called Motown. The record was called 'Bad Girl' and was pressed in minuscule numbers before being leased to Chess records of Chicago, where it was a moderate hit. In early 1960, Tamla released 'Money' by Barrett Strong. Gordy knew he had a hit, so he leased it to Anna Records who had a distribution agreement with Chess. (Anna Records operated from 1958 to 1961, when it was absorbed into Motown.) 'Money' was a hit, reaching the 23 position, but more importantly, Barrett Strong joined Motown as a staff songwriter. He stayed with Motown until 1973.
By the late 1950s, Detroit was perhaps the largest city in the United States that did not have a strong independent record company. With the establishment of Motown, the local talent had an outlet, and they starting showing up at the Motown offices. In 1960, a local girl singing group named the Primettes auditioned for Gordy. He was impressed with the group, but asked them to finish school and then come back. The Primettes came back to Motown after graduating and were signed in January 1961. The group's name was changed to the Supremes, and they had their first release on Tamla in April of 1961.
In 1960, a producer for Motown, Robert Bateman, arranged an audition for singer Mary Wells. Berry signed her immediately and released a song she had written called 'Bye Bye Baby' in December of that year. Mary Wells proved to be the first real 'star' for the label, with a long string of pop hits. Berry discovered another singing group called the Distants, changed their name to the Temptations and released their first record on a new subsidiary label called Miracle in 1961. Their success was not to be as immediate as Mary Wells', but it would eventually eclipse hers and be far longer lasting.
Also in 1960, Gordy acquired the contract of a young Washington, DC-based singer named Marvin Gaye from his brother-in-law, Harvey Fuqua. Harvey was the leader of the Moonglows, who had had several hits for Chess before making some personnel changes in the late 1950s, and Gaye was a current member of that group. Gaye's first record was 'Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide' in 1961. He had his first hit in 1962 with 'Stubborn Kind of Fellow'. Gaye was another performer whose road to fame was marked by only moderate success for many years before finally becoming a huge 1970s star. Marvin Gaye had done session work for Berry Gordy from the early '60s and married Berry's sister, Anna in 1961. He had consecutive number ones in 1965 and formed a partnership with Tammi Terrell.
A common trivia question about Motown is, "What is the name of the first white group to record for Motown?" The not-often-heard correct answer is Nick and the Jaguars, a trio from Pontiac, Michigan featuring drummer Nick Ferro and lead guitarist Marvin Weyer. Nick's dad, Gus Ferro, brought the group to Berry Gordy in 1959. They recorded instrumentals 'Ich-I-Bon #1' / 'Cool and Crazy' at the Motown studio, and the tunes were released as a single on Tamla 5501 that year, before the normal 55500 Tamla series even got started. Another white vocal group, the Valadiers were recommended to Berry Gordy by his pal Jackie Wilson. The Valadiers had one very minor hit with 'Greetings (This is Uncle Sam)' on the Miracle label in 1961 and two other releases on the new Gordy subsidiary that was formed in 1962. The song 'Greetings (This is Uncle Sam)' became a bigger hit for the Monitors in 1966 on Motown's subsidiary label, Soul, during the Vietnam war.
Robert Bateman discovered the Marvelettes at a talent show at Inkster High School. In August 1961, Bateman and Brian Holland co-produced the Marvelettes' first record, 'Please Mr Postman', and it became the first of Berry Gordy's records to reach the pop charts' number one position.
During that same year, 'Shop Around' by the Miracles became the first Tamla record to sell a million copies, as it reached the number two position.
Back in 1959, a young blues singer named Martha Lavaille met Mickey Stevenson, the Head of the Motown A&R department, and he hired her as a secretary. When Mary Wells missed a recording session, Martha (now with married name Reeves) called a vocal group she was in, the Del-Phis to fill in. They recorded 'There He Is (at My Door)', which was released on the Melody subsidiary. The record was a flop, but the group continued to be used for background vocal work. In 1962, with a new name, the Vandellas, they backed Marvin Gaye on his hit 'Stubborn Kind of Fellow'. In 1963, production of the group was given over to Brian and Eddie Holland with their new partner Lamont Dozier. The Holland-Dozier-Holland production of 'Come and Get These Memories' released in early 1963 (as Martha and the Vandellas on the Gordy subsidiary) is often credited as being the beginning of the Motown Sound.
Ronnie White, a member of the Miracles, arranged for an audition for an eleven year old, blind singer named Stevland Morris. Gordy was impressed with his talent, and said the boy was a 'wonder'. Signed to a Motown contract, Morris, renamed Little Stevie Wonder, released a live recording from the Regal Theater in Chicago titled 'Fingertips, Part 2' which reached the number one spot on the pop charts in 1963. (An interesting thing happens on the record near the end, when a band member yells out, "What key, what key?" The band backing Stevie thought he was finished and left the stage, and a second band was taking their place, when Stevie, responding to the audience applause, came back out for a short reprise. As he started playing his harmonica, the new band members didn't know what key the song was in, so in desperation yelled out for it.) The album containing 'Fingertips, Part 2' (Tamla 240) titled The 12 Year Old Genius became the first Motown album to reach the number one spot on the pop album charts.
Berry Gordy formed a jazz subsidiary called Workshop Jazz in 1962. The formation of the label was not because Berry thought he could sell many jazz records; the failure of his 3-D Record Mart had shown him that. He established the label in order to convince the most talented jazz musicians in Detroit to play on his pop music sessions, and he enticed them with promises of album releases on the Workshop Jazz label. Gordy knew that even the most successful jazz album sales would be minuscule compared to the numbers he could generate in the popular music field. But he kept his promise to the musicians, and the eleven albums released on the label are some of the rarest albums on any Motown label.
In the 1960s, Motown and its soul-based subsidiaries were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music with distinctive characteristics, including the use of tambourine along with drums, bass instrumentation, a distinctive melodical and chord structure, and a call and response singing style originating in gospel music. Motown had 110 Top Ten hits and artists such as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross & the Supremes, the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Jackson 5 and Gladys Knight and the Pips were all signed to Motown Records. By the late 1960s the label was billing itself as the Sound of Young America, with its acts enjoying widespread popularity among black and white audiences alike.
Artist development was a major part of Motown's operations. The acts on the Motown label were fastidiously groomed, dressed and choreographed for live performances. Motown artists were advised that their breakthrough into the white popular music market made them ambassadors for other African American artists seeking broad market acceptance, and that they should think, act, walk and talk like royalty, so as to alter the less-than-dignified image (commonly held by white Americans in that era) of black musicians. Given that many of the talented young artists had been raised in housing projects and were short on social and dress skills, this Motown department was not only necessary, it created an elegant style of presentation long associated with the label. Many of the young artists participated in an annual package tour called the Motortown Revue, which was popular first on the chitlin circuit, and later around the world. The tours gave the younger singers a chance to hone their performance and social skills and also to learn from more experienced artists.
The many artists and producers of Motown Records collaborated to produce numerous hit songs, although the process has been described as factory-like (such as the Brill Building). The Hitsville studios remained open and active 22 hours a day, and artists would often be on tour for weeks, come back to Detroit to record as many songs as possible, and then promptly set back out on tour again.
In addition to the songwriting prowess of the above individuals, one of the major factors in the widespread appeal of Motown's music was Gordy's practice of using a highly select and tight-knit group of studio musicians, collectively known as the Funk Brothers, to record the instrumental or 'band' tracks of the Motown songs. Among the studio musicians responsible for the Motown Sound were Johnny Griffith and Joe Hunter on piano, Joe Messina, Robert White and Eddie Willis on guitar, Eddie Bongo Brown and Jack Ashford on percussion, Uriel Jones and Richard Pistol Allen on drums, drummer Benny Benjamin, keyboardist Earl Van Dyke and bassist James Jamerson. The band's career and work is chronicled in the 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown.
After Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, a tribute album was issued, TML 11076 The Great March to Freedom which included extracts from his speeches. This album is now very rare indeed.
Motown became the largest black-owned business in America and gave the collector a treasure chest of gems to uncover.
After Holland-Dozier-Holland left the label in 1967 over royalty payment disputes, the quality of the Motown output began to decline, as well as the frequency with which its artists scored number one hits. Even so, Motown still had a number of successful artists during the 1970s and 1980s, including Lionel Richie and the Commodores, Rick James, Teena Marie and DeBarge. Motown relocated from Detroit to Los Angeles in 1972 and attempted to branch out into the motion picture industry, turning out films such as Lady Sings the Blues, Mahogany, The Wiz, Thank God It's Friday and The Last Dragon. By the mid 1980s, Motown was losing money, and Berry Gordy sold his ownership in Motown to Music Corporation of America (MCA) and Boston Ventures in June 1988 for $61 million.
During the 1990s, Motown was home to successful recording artists such as Boyz II Men and ex-New Edition member Johnny Gill, although the company itself remained in a state of turmoil. A revolving door of executives were appointed by MCA to run the company, beginning with Berry Gordy's immediate successor, Jheryl Busby. Busby quarreled with MCA, alleging that the company did not give Motown's product adequate attention or promotion. In 1991, Motown sued MCA to have its distribution deal with the company terminated and began releasing its product through PolyGram. Polygram purchased Motown from Boston Ventures three years later. In 1994, Busby was replaced by Andre Harrell, the entrepreneur behind Uptown Records. Harrell served as Motown's CEO for just under two years, leaving the company after receiving bad publicity for being inefficient. Danny Goldberg, who ran PolyGram's Mercury Records group, assumed control of Motown, and George Jackson served as president.
Universal briefly considered shuttering the floundering label, but instead decided to restructure it. Kedar Massenburg, a producer for Erykah Badu, became the head of the label and oversaw successful recordings from Badu, McKnight, Michael McDonald and new Motown artist India.Arie. In 2005, Massenburg was replaced by Sylvia Rhone, former CEO of Elektra Records.
Motown was merged with Universal Records to create the Universal Motown Records Group, an umbrella division of Universal Music which oversees the releases.