Motown Records

Tom King and his brother-in-law Chet Kelley came up with a gem called “Time Won’t Let Me”, a near-perfect amalgam of Motown and Merseybeat that even 45 years later is one of those songs that I never get tired of hearing. 

(February 2010)

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In an introductory remark in the liner notes for Nuggets, Lenny Kaye expressed something that I felt as well while I was reading it:  that there was this wonderful music floating around among the British Invasion bands and the girl groups and the Motown sound, and it was gone before we even knew what we were hearing, and wouldn’t it be great to hear all of these songs again in one place.  Kaye called the music “punk rock” – the first high-profile use of that term – but these days, it is called garage rock and psychedelic rock.  It is no exaggeration to say that this album told my soul what kind of music I really love. 

(January 2011)

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Many other artists in the 1960’s also took a whack at psychedelia.  Kenny Rogers’ first band the First Edition had an early hit song with “Just Dropped in (to See What Condition My Condition was In)”; though the lyrics kind of miss the boat, they are still charmingly corny.  “Hurdy Gurdy Man” is one of many great psychedelic songs Donovan came up with.  The Beatles had Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the Rolling Stones had Their Satanic Majesties’ Request.  Even Motown got into the act:  The Supremes hit with “Reflections”, while the Temptations had several psychedelic songs – “Psychedelic Shack”, “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today)”, “Runaway Child, Runnin’ Wild”, and others.  Many were on their 1970 album Psychedelic Shack; one of the biggest hits by the B-52’s, “Love Shack” was in part an homage to this record. 

(March 2011)

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Linda Ronstadt’s music is normally described as country rock, though she performs in a multitude of styles; as examples, Ronstadt covered numerous Motown songs in this period and recorded a New Wave album in 1980, Mad Love.  This has required her to hire a variety of back-up musicians for her albums; several of the backing musicians for some of her recordings evolved into the Eagles. 

(October 2013)

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Like The Archie Show before them, the band from Josie and the Pussycats released an album in December 1970; unlike the Archies though (who are shown only as cartoons), the actual performers are shown on the cover of the Josie and the Pussycats album, Josie and the Pussycats:  Cathy Douglas, Patrice Holloway and Cherie Moor.  Patrice Holloway had previously co-written a song called “You Made Me So Very Happy” with her sister Brenda Holloway along with Motown record producer Frank Wilson and their founder Berry Gordy.  Brenda Holloway released this song on Tamla Records in 1967, and “You Made Me So Very Happy” became a major hit for Blood, Sweat and Tears in 1969. 

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Backing up a couple of decades, the Fleetwoods is one of the early rock and roll bands that I remember most fondly.  Their studied low-key, doo-wop style allowed them to effortlessly fly sideways against the ever-changing musical landscape of the very late 1950’s and early 1960’s.  Singing groups have been a fixture in rock and roll almost from the beginning, but from doo-wop to Motown most have been African-American.  The Fleetwoods is one of the exceptions and is also unusual in having men and women in the group. 

(November 2013)

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Mikki was born Mikki Farrow in Detroit.  She met and married a legendary saxophone player named Andrew “Mike” Terry in the mid-1960’s.  In his Allmusic entry, Jason Ankeny writes:  “The baritone saxophone of Andrew ‘Mike’ Terry remains an indelible component of the famed Motown sound. . . . Terry’s résumé reads like a roll call of soul’s greatest hits – his Motown track record alone spans chart smashes including the Four Tops’ ‘I Can’t Help Myself’, the Isley Brothers’ ‘This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)’, Kim Weston’s ‘Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)’, and Marvin Gaye’s ‘Baby Don’t You Do It’; and as a freelancer, he played on monsters like Jackie Wilson’s ‘Higher and Higher’, the Fascinations’ ‘Girls Are out to Get You’, and the Capitols’ ‘Cool Jerk’.” 

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In 1966, Andrew “Mike” Terry arranged both sides of a single on Karate Records, “Could it Be” b/w “Set My Heart at Ease” for Mikki Farrow. 

Both songs are now recognized as classic “Northern Soul”.  Northern Soul is a term for music and dance styles that actually grew out of the Mod movement in England, so the reference in this case is more to the recordings that originally led to this movement:  obscure American soul music having the Motown influence that were typically not hit songs.  On dustygroove.com is this comment about the Mikki Farrow song:  “‘Set My Heart at Ease’ is an upbeat groove from Mikki Farrow – produced perfectly by the Pied Piper team, who build things wonderfully in a very short space – and really out-Motown Motown with the groove!”  

(July 2014)

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The producer for both of the albums by the Silencers is Mick Collins, one of the few African-American garage rock musicians.  Collins grew up in Detroit and learned music from his family’s record collection as well as from Detroit-based Motown Records.  As a teenager, he was in two bands called the U-Boats (in 1981) and the Floor Tasters (in 1984-1985). 

(December 2014)

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