Tag Archives: Motown Records

25 Days Of Christmas Music: Day 17

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Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the countdown.

A sweet vintage Christmas card image from Pinterest. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

As a huge Motown fan, I cannot believe it has taken me over two weeks to feature one of their artists. But the one I am starting with is one of the greatest performers in any genre. Stevie Wonder turned 75 in May and his career began at age 11 when he was signed to Tamla Records. Two years later he had his first #1 record, “Fingertips”.

He would hit the top spot nine more times as both a solo artist & in collaboration with other artists, place 28 songs in the Top Ten, have three #1 albums with eight others reaching the Top Ten. He accomplished all that before he turned 40 years old. And thanks to a Christmas album he released in 1967, he is also a permanent part of the holiday season.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Stevie Wonder: “What Christmas Means To Me” (1967, written by Anna Gaye, George Gordy and Allen Story).

Stevie Wonder: “Silver Bells” (1967, written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston).

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

Music Monday: September 4, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Bruce quote 2023

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

In the spirit of the Labor Day holiday, I pay homage to one of the hardest working genres of music which started over six decades ago and remains one of my favorites of all time.

In 1958 Berry Gordy Jr. borrowed $800 from his family (equivalent to about $8,500 today) to start Tamla Records in Detroit, Michigan which became Motown Records. The website does not list an actual date for this event only the year. But many music sites list the founding date as June 7, 1958. Regardless of the actual day it was started, 2023 marks the 65th anniversary of one of the greatest & most soulful styles of music the world ever saw.

Gordy’s affinity for music began when he owned a record store and started composing songs. After co-writing “Reet Petite” for Jackie Wilson and discovering The Miracles in 1957, Gordy was inspired to start his own label (which is owned today by the Universal Music Group) after he received a royalty check for only $3.19 in 1958 after leasing the first two Miracles singles to End Records in New York. Gordy used the knowledge he learned from his time as a Ford automotive worker by using the company’s assembly line philosophy to prepare his artists for musical careers. There were lessons in singing, choreography, stage performance and all night rehearsals of every kind.

Berry 1961

Berry Gordy Jr. circa 1961 (top) and circa 2011 (bottom). (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

From those hallowed halls of Hitsville, USA we were introduced to Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Marvelettes (who had the first #1 hit for the label, the first of today’s three songs), The Supremes, Martha & The Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, Mary Wells, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Junior Walker & The All Stars and more. The label also gave us one of the greatest house bands of all time, The Funk Brothers.

This year two seminal Motown albums celebrate their golden anniversary. Wonder’s sixteenth studio album, Innervisions, was released on August 3, 1973. Gaye’s thirteenth record, Let’s Get It On, was released on August 28, 1973. The title track hit the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 on September 8, 1973 for the first of two inconsecutive weeks.

Thank you, Berry Gordy, for the priceless and phenomenal gift of Motown. And to nearly every artist on the label in its first unbelievably great decade, I remain in complete awe of the beauty of your songs.

Top: A Marvelettes compilation album. Middle: Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions album. Bottom: Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On album. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

The Marvelettes: “Please Mr. Postman” (1961, written by Robert Bateman, Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman and Brian Holland).

Stevie Wonder: “Living For The City” (1973, written by Stevie Wonder).

Marvin Gaye: “Let’s Get It On” (1973, written by Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend).

Stay safe and well.

Music Monday: April 3, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Bruce quote 2023

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Yesterday marked what would have been Marvin Gaye’s 84th birthday. Motown’s “Prince Of Soul” was born April 2, 1939 in Washington, D.C. His voice was one of the strongest, one of the most recognizeable, one of the most powerful & one of the most beautiful to come out of the Motor City. He was also a musician, a songwriter and a producer.

He started with the Motown label in 1960 and by 1962 he had his first hit, “Stubborn Kind Of Fellow”. He spent the next 20 years of his career at the label, and despite incredible highs with hit songs like “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, duets with Tammi Terrell and seminal albums like “What’s Going On”, Gaye also experienced incredible lows including the end of his first marriage, the death of Terrell and struggles with depression and addiction. He left Motown for CBS Records in 1982.

That same year Gaye enjoyed a career resurgence with the release of Midnight Love. The lead single, “Sexual Healing”, hit #3 by January 1983. It won him the first Grammy Award of his career, Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male (the instrumental version earned him Grammy #2 the same year). But it was what he did next that gave him another career defining moment that is still revered and celebrated 40 years later.

On February 13th, 1983, the NBA’s best gathered at the Los Angeles arena for the 33rd All-Star Game between Eastern and Western Conferences. Gaye was chosen to sing the National Anthem and went on to make history with his suave, soulful and utterly sensational interpretation of the song. The Star Spangled Banner would never sound the same from that point on. It was like watching what Ray Charles did for “America The Beautiful” all over again.

Marvin NBA 1983

Marvin Gaye at the 1983 NBA All Star Game. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I miss this man every single day. I fell in love with his voice before I knew what soul music was but I knew Gaye’s voice was the definition of it, even when I was a young child. He was just that good, just that talented and just that powerful. And every time I hear one of his songs, I remember the first time I heard his voice all over again. But his legacy is best summed up on his website: “His greatness rests in his genius for transforming spiritual energy into songs that both inspire and delight.” Amen.

marvin g

Gaye circa 1982. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Marvin Gaye: “National Anthem” (1983, Live at the NBA All Star Game, lyrics by Francis Scott Key and music by John Stafford Smith).

Marving Gaye: “That’s The Way Love Is” (1969, written by Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield).

Stay safe & well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 520

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Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Aug 2021 blog

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

Time for another mid-week Motown break. Label founder Berry Gordy borrowed $800 from his family in 1958 to start his record company. Tamla Records began operating on January 12, 1959 and led to a few sister labels including Motown Records. A year later that merged with Tamla to form Motown Record Corporation.

After an incredibly successful nearly 30 year run Gordy sold his company to MCA Records and the investment firm Boston Ventures (BV) in 1988 for $61 million dollars. Not a bad return on an $800 loan. But five years later, on August 3, 1993, BV sold the label to Polygram for a whopping $325 million dollars. What a difference five years made.

“Your love is fading I can feel your love fading
Girl, it’s fading away from me
‘Cause your touch your touch has grown cold
As if someone else controls your very soul“.

The-Temptations_(1964_publicity_photo_by_Kriegsmann)

The Temptations circa 1964 (clockwise from top): David Ruffin, Melvin Franklin, Otis Williams, Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Temptations: “(I Know) I’m Losing You” (1966, written by Cornelius Grant, Edward Holland Jr and Norman Whitfield).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 415

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Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

May blog 2021

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

Time for the first mid-week Motown break for May. Well actually, today’s song was not released on that label but rather on Casablanca Records in 1983. But it is by The Four Tops and as far as I am concerned, they will always be part of the Motor City sound. It was covered by Whitney Houston in 1996 but even she could not live up to the power of one of the greatest singers who ever graced this planet, Levi Stubbs.

It is a love song that if sung by anyone else could have crossed the line into schmaltzy. But in the hands of the esteemed & unbelievably gifted Stubbs, it comes across as a beautiful track. And when he hits the last note and the violins come in again for the last time, it is an absolutely glorious moment. But then again every second spent listening to his spectacular voice feels the same way.

“I will never leave your side
I will never hurt your pride
When all the chips are down
I will always be around“.

levi

four tops A

Top: Levy Stubbs circa 1965. Bottom: The Four Tops circa 1964. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

The Four Tops: “I Believe In You And Me” (1983, written by Sandy Linzer and David Wolfert).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 219

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Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Thoreau quote 2

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are in a serious situation, but I need a break from the gloom, doom and bullying by way of hoarding. Music has always been my refuge and watching those beautiful Italians singing to each other from their balconies reaffirmed my belief that music is the answer. So until the old normal returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day.  And if this helps anyone else, even better.

In 1978 SNL cast members John Belushi & Dan Aykroyd introduced us to their singing counterparts, The Blue Brothers, through the song, “Soul Man”. At one point in the tune, Belushi said “Play it, Steve”. That Steve is the innovative legendary guitarist Steve Cropper who has been gracing the world with his impeccable talent for six decades. Today marks his 79th birthday.

Born today in 1941 in Missouri, his family relocated to Memphis when he was nine. He started playing guitar at age 14 and the first band he was in went on to become a session band, The Mar-Keys. That brought Cropper to the attention of Stax Records owner Jim Stewart who hired Cropper as the label’s A&R man. Around the same time he co-founded his own group, Booker T & The MG’s with keyboard player Booker T. Jones, drummer Al Jackson Jr. and bassist Lewie Steinberg, who was eventually replaced by Donald “Duck” Dunn. That band was unique for two reasons: their trailblazing sounds which formed the foundation of southern soul music with elements of funk sounds and despite the fact that it was Memphis, Tennessee in 1962, the band was an equal balance of race with two white members and two black members.

Booker T & The MG’s became the house band at Stax and set the sound, tone & rhythm for the label, just as The Funk Brothers were doing for the Motown label in Detroit. Cropper not only played guitar for his group but started composing songs with many of the singers on Stax. He co-wrote “Knock On Wood”, “Raise Your Hand” & “634-5789” with Eddie Floyd, “In The Midnight Hour” (Day 131) with Wilson Pickett and “Mr. Pitiful”, “The Happy Song”, “Just One More Day” & “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” (Day 28) with Otis Redding. He & Cropper had become good friends and it was left to him to finish & produce “Dock Of The Bay” after Redding’s tragic death in 1967. It became a #1 hit in March 1968 for four consecutive weeks.

Cropper, who appeared in both Blues Brothers films (released in 1980 & 1998, respectively), is still actively playing & touring. He is considered to be one of the greatest guitar players of all time. He has contributed his signature sound or produced records by Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Levon Helm, Albert King, Roy Orbison, Rod Stewart, Leon Russell, Etta James. Art Garfunkel, Peter Frampton, Dolly Parton and John Mellencamp. He released 11 solo records between 1969-2018 and 13 albums with Booker T & The MG’s between 1962-1994, including today’s song which hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart & #1 on the R&B chart in 1962. It is considered one of the finest instrumentals ever recorded and I concur.

Booker T The MGs

Crop

Top: Booker T & The MG’s circa 1962 (L-R): Donald “Duck” Dunn, Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper & Al Jackson Jr. Bottom: Cropper & his beautiful talented hands circa 2000. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

Booker T & The MG’s: “Green Onions” (1962, written by Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Lewie Steinberg & Al Jackson, Jr.).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.