Berry Gordy Research Paper
Berry Gordy: The founder of Motown Berry Gordy, Jr., was born in Detroit Michigan on November 28, 1929. He was the seventh of eight children of Berry, Sr. and Bertha Gordy. Berry Gordy, Jr. dropped out of the 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. In 1953, he married Thelma Coleman and in 1954 his first child was born, a daughter Hazel Joy. By 1959 they had two other children, named Berry IV and Terry. They divorced in 1959 (Edwards and Callahan). In 1953, he opened a jazz orientated record store called 3-D Record Mart. In 1954, the stored failed and Gordy began working for Ford Motor Company on the assembly line. This is
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where it all began. His first success as a song writer came in 1957 when Jackie Wilson recorded “Reet Petite”. Over the next 2 years he co-wrote four more hits for Wilson. Being successful as a song writer, Gordy decided to produce his songs himself. In 1958, Berry produced a record by Eddie Holland titled “You”, which was released on Mercury records. Kudos records issued four more Gordy production, two of which are significant to the Motown story: the first Mary Johnson release, titled “My Baby O,” and a Brian Holland (Eddie’s brother) vocal, titled “Shock”. With Smokey Robinson and the Holland brothers, Berry had discovered three incredible songwriters and producers Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson later became life long friends (Edwards and Callahan). On January 12th, 1959 Berry decided to take control of his songs, he borrowed $800 from his family’s loan fund to start his own record label, called Tamla. He wanted to call his label
Stephenson 2
“Tammy,” after a Debbie Reynolds film but it was already taken. Tamla Records was located at 1719 Gladstone Street in Detroit. Berry had produced 2 hits for the group the Miracles which were titled “Get a Job” and “I Cry “. The Miracles third release was issued on a second label Berry formed, called Motown. It was called “Bad Girl” (Edwards and Callahan). The apartment was getting to be too small, so Ray, Berry’s second wife found a two story house on 2648 West Grand Boulevard. Looking at the big unique picture window, Berry came with the name Hitsville USA. He wanted to be a hip name for a factory where hits are going to be built (Gordy 118). In early 1960, “Money” was released by Barrett Strong.
By the late 1950s, Detroit was the largest cities in the USA that did not have a strong independent record company. With the establishment of Motown, the local talent had an outlet, and they started showing up at the Motown offices. Mickey, my A&R director started looking for the most talented musicians. They called themselves the Funk Brothers (124). One night Berry was at the hottest night club in Detroit called the 20 Grand. He met Mary Wells. She had told Berry that she had written a song for another artist, but he like her voice so much that he told her to come to Motown the next day (139). There was also the group called the Primettes who later became the Supremes. Berry Gordy signed other groups to Motown such as; Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Contours, Four Tops, Marvin Gaye etc. just to name the many people that became a part of the Motown family (145-148). Then there was the Quality Control meetings in which he placed Billie Jean Brown in charge of. Berry discovered that she knew her music; she was strong, opinionated, honest, witty and had a good ear (Posner 115). Berry also had a slogan to Create, Sell and Collect. He placed Barney Wright who was in charge of sales, became in charge of collecting the money that was owed from the distributors
(154).
Stephenson 3 By the fall of 1963 Motown had increased their visibility in Europe with signing of an international foreign distribution deal EMI (180). Tamla was already popular in Europe, so when Motown was introduced, they used Tamla-Motown as their international label name. There was an argument that started between Marvin Gaye and the record sales department managers Phil Jones and Harvey Fuqua. Marvin felt like his record wasn’t being pushed like other artist so he became very upset. Gordy had arranged for a meeting to explain and provide some reports from record sales etc so that Marvin could reach some understanding (182). Friday, November 22, 1963, president Kennedy had been shot and killed. This was a shock and was very devastating to the Motown family, especially Berry Gordy (183). One week before the Freedom March, Berry had purchased the Graystone Ballroom on Woodward Avenue for $123,000. The purchase rectified the reputation of an entertainment venue that had a troublesome history of racial segregation (Smith 17). Detroit’s Great March, held June 23, 1963, raised funds for Birmingham, Alabama, campaign offered King the opportunity to present an early version of his “I Have a Dream” oration. The Motown Record Company’s efforts to record King’s Detroit address preserved this historic moment (21). The beginning of Berry Gordy’s troubles with Motown was, Mary Wells who was very hot could not be reached. Berry got Mary on the phone; he noticed a difference in her voice. He met with Mary and she stated that she was trying to do some things and that her lawyer, Lewis Harris would be meeting with him tomorrow (186-188). Mary decided to leave Motown and sign with a different record company. The next thing was, Berry received a call advising him that the divorce that he had gotten in Mexico, from his ex-wife Ray was not was not valid. He was also informed that she had been arrested for bootlegging unauthorized duplication and sales of records (189).
Stephenson 4 From 1963-1967 the trio H-D-H had wrote twenty-five top ten pop records, twelve of which hit the number one spot, as well as twelve other songs that made the top-ten on the rhythm and blues chart. By late 1967, however Holland-Dozier-Holland had stop writing new songs in protest. The song writing team felt that they deserved more compensation for their role in creating the Motown sound and making it the “Sound of Young America” (224). By the mid-1960s, many artist and musicians had begun to question the company’s contracts, specifically its royalty policy. In January 1967, Mickey Stevenson, who was instrumental in developing Motown’s large pool of talented artists, left the company along with his wife singer Kim Weston. Even the Temptations and other groups and artist later learned through a wider circle of acquaintances in all areas of the business that their contracts with Motown were substantially below industry standards. February 1968 the song writing team was offering no new material. H-D-H had sued charging Motown for “conspiracy, fraud, deceit, overreaching, and breach of fiduciary relationships” (226). In 1968, the Jackson 5 had signed with Motown and had several hits. On January 14, 1970, Diana Ross and the Supremes performed its final show. Diana Ross was going solo. This marked the end of an era (228). In early1971, Berry Gordy set up a movie deal to produce a film depicting Billie Holiday’s life story. August of 1971, Diana Ross gave birth to a baby girl named Rhonda. As she grew, it didn’t take Berry to long to realize that he was her father. His film project, Lady Sings the Blues was released in 1972, only a few months after Motown’s relocation announcement to relocate to Los Angeles (240). In 1975, the movie Mahogany was released. The reviews were so bad that they made the negative ones on Lady Sings the Blues sound like love letters. The movie ended up being a hit next to the movie the Godfather (349). By the late 1970’s, the Motown family had crumbled. Berry continued to sign and launch new artists; some of the top acts from the sixties were leaving: Gladys Knight and the
Stephenson 5
Pips, the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas. Other groups left and later returned, like the Four Tops and the Temptations. The move to California hadn’t helped. In Los Angeles we were one of many record companies, while in Detroit they were the record company. Berry was frantic about- not just teaching- but making them really learn (355). There were problems all over the place- bickering by middle management people, confusion brought on by the new corporate “experts,” and a president without a lot of authority, a situation made tougher by financial worries and the loss of the Jackson 5 (356). In 1983, Berry Gordy had put together Motown 25 which reunited all of the Motown family that was still living to perform together again (375). May of 1983, Berry Gordy and Jerry Moss made the big decision to go with MCA for national distribution. There were other artist such as Lionel Richie and Rockwell that went straight to the top of the charts Motown was in trouble and Berry Gordy with the staff of Motown knew that they needed a miracle to save Motown, not just one hit record but many-immediately. Hard decisions had to be made. Friday, June 25, 1988 it was time to explain to the public the reasons behind Berry’s decision to sell (395). MCA had partnered with Boston Ventures, a financial investment group who seemed to have a better understanding of the true value of Motown. The press release read as follows: I have decided to sell Motown Records to MCA, Inc. Two years ago I considered selling Motown to MCA but did not, I was not ready then. I had not completely realized what Motown had become- an American institution…It is the nature of institutions to take on their own life and to outgrow the individuals who create them. I am proud that this African-American heritage has been embraced by the world and has become permanently woven into the fabric of popular culture (398).
Stephenson 6 In conclusion, on Tuesday, June 29, 1988, the waiting was over. The headlines blasted the news: I had sold Motown Records to MCA for $61 million. From eight hundred dollars to sixty-one million. Berry had done it. He had won the poker hand (398) .
where it all began. His first success as a song writer came in 1957 when Jackie Wilson recorded “Reet Petite”. Over the next 2 years he co-wrote four more hits for Wilson. Being successful as a song writer, Gordy decided to produce his songs himself. In 1958, Berry produced a record by Eddie Holland titled “You”, which was released on Mercury records. Kudos records issued four more Gordy production, two of which are significant to the Motown story: the first Mary Johnson release, titled “My Baby O,” and a Brian Holland (Eddie’s brother) vocal, titled “Shock”. With Smokey Robinson and the Holland brothers, Berry had discovered three incredible songwriters and producers Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson later became life long friends (Edwards and Callahan). On January 12th, 1959 Berry decided to take control of his songs, he borrowed $800 from his family’s loan fund to start his own record label, called Tamla. He wanted to call his label
Stephenson 2
“Tammy,” after a Debbie Reynolds film but it was already taken. Tamla Records was located at 1719 Gladstone Street in Detroit. Berry had produced 2 hits for the group the Miracles which were titled “Get a Job” and “I Cry “. The Miracles third release was issued on a second label Berry formed, called Motown. It was called “Bad Girl” (Edwards and Callahan). The apartment was getting to be too small, so Ray, Berry’s second wife found a two story house on 2648 West Grand Boulevard. Looking at the big unique picture window, Berry came with the name Hitsville USA. He wanted to be a hip name for a factory where hits are going to be built (Gordy 118). In early 1960, “Money” was released by Barrett Strong.
By the late 1950s, Detroit was the largest cities in the USA that did not have a strong independent record company. With the establishment of Motown, the local talent had an outlet, and they started showing up at the Motown offices. Mickey, my A&R director started looking for the most talented musicians. They called themselves the Funk Brothers (124). One night Berry was at the hottest night club in Detroit called the 20 Grand. He met Mary Wells. She had told Berry that she had written a song for another artist, but he like her voice so much that he told her to come to Motown the next day (139). There was also the group called the Primettes who later became the Supremes. Berry Gordy signed other groups to Motown such as; Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Contours, Four Tops, Marvin Gaye etc. just to name the many people that became a part of the Motown family (145-148). Then there was the Quality Control meetings in which he placed Billie Jean Brown in charge of. Berry discovered that she knew her music; she was strong, opinionated, honest, witty and had a good ear (Posner 115). Berry also had a slogan to Create, Sell and Collect. He placed Barney Wright who was in charge of sales, became in charge of collecting the money that was owed from the distributors
(154).
Stephenson 3 By the fall of 1963 Motown had increased their visibility in Europe with signing of an international foreign distribution deal EMI (180). Tamla was already popular in Europe, so when Motown was introduced, they used Tamla-Motown as their international label name. There was an argument that started between Marvin Gaye and the record sales department managers Phil Jones and Harvey Fuqua. Marvin felt like his record wasn’t being pushed like other artist so he became very upset. Gordy had arranged for a meeting to explain and provide some reports from record sales etc so that Marvin could reach some understanding (182). Friday, November 22, 1963, president Kennedy had been shot and killed. This was a shock and was very devastating to the Motown family, especially Berry Gordy (183). One week before the Freedom March, Berry had purchased the Graystone Ballroom on Woodward Avenue for $123,000. The purchase rectified the reputation of an entertainment venue that had a troublesome history of racial segregation (Smith 17). Detroit’s Great March, held June 23, 1963, raised funds for Birmingham, Alabama, campaign offered King the opportunity to present an early version of his “I Have a Dream” oration. The Motown Record Company’s efforts to record King’s Detroit address preserved this historic moment (21). The beginning of Berry Gordy’s troubles with Motown was, Mary Wells who was very hot could not be reached. Berry got Mary on the phone; he noticed a difference in her voice. He met with Mary and she stated that she was trying to do some things and that her lawyer, Lewis Harris would be meeting with him tomorrow (186-188). Mary decided to leave Motown and sign with a different record company. The next thing was, Berry received a call advising him that the divorce that he had gotten in Mexico, from his ex-wife Ray was not was not valid. He was also informed that she had been arrested for bootlegging unauthorized duplication and sales of records (189).
Stephenson 4 From 1963-1967 the trio H-D-H had wrote twenty-five top ten pop records, twelve of which hit the number one spot, as well as twelve other songs that made the top-ten on the rhythm and blues chart. By late 1967, however Holland-Dozier-Holland had stop writing new songs in protest. The song writing team felt that they deserved more compensation for their role in creating the Motown sound and making it the “Sound of Young America” (224). By the mid-1960s, many artist and musicians had begun to question the company’s contracts, specifically its royalty policy. In January 1967, Mickey Stevenson, who was instrumental in developing Motown’s large pool of talented artists, left the company along with his wife singer Kim Weston. Even the Temptations and other groups and artist later learned through a wider circle of acquaintances in all areas of the business that their contracts with Motown were substantially below industry standards. February 1968 the song writing team was offering no new material. H-D-H had sued charging Motown for “conspiracy, fraud, deceit, overreaching, and breach of fiduciary relationships” (226). In 1968, the Jackson 5 had signed with Motown and had several hits. On January 14, 1970, Diana Ross and the Supremes performed its final show. Diana Ross was going solo. This marked the end of an era (228). In early1971, Berry Gordy set up a movie deal to produce a film depicting Billie Holiday’s life story. August of 1971, Diana Ross gave birth to a baby girl named Rhonda. As she grew, it didn’t take Berry to long to realize that he was her father. His film project, Lady Sings the Blues was released in 1972, only a few months after Motown’s relocation announcement to relocate to Los Angeles (240). In 1975, the movie Mahogany was released. The reviews were so bad that they made the negative ones on Lady Sings the Blues sound like love letters. The movie ended up being a hit next to the movie the Godfather (349). By the late 1970’s, the Motown family had crumbled. Berry continued to sign and launch new artists; some of the top acts from the sixties were leaving: Gladys Knight and the
Stephenson 5
Pips, the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas. Other groups left and later returned, like the Four Tops and the Temptations. The move to California hadn’t helped. In Los Angeles we were one of many record companies, while in Detroit they were the record company. Berry was frantic about- not just teaching- but making them really learn (355). There were problems all over the place- bickering by middle management people, confusion brought on by the new corporate “experts,” and a president without a lot of authority, a situation made tougher by financial worries and the loss of the Jackson 5 (356). In 1983, Berry Gordy had put together Motown 25 which reunited all of the Motown family that was still living to perform together again (375). May of 1983, Berry Gordy and Jerry Moss made the big decision to go with MCA for national distribution. There were other artist such as Lionel Richie and Rockwell that went straight to the top of the charts Motown was in trouble and Berry Gordy with the staff of Motown knew that they needed a miracle to save Motown, not just one hit record but many-immediately. Hard decisions had to be made. Friday, June 25, 1988 it was time to explain to the public the reasons behind Berry’s decision to sell (395). MCA had partnered with Boston Ventures, a financial investment group who seemed to have a better understanding of the true value of Motown. The press release read as follows: I have decided to sell Motown Records to MCA, Inc. Two years ago I considered selling Motown to MCA but did not, I was not ready then. I had not completely realized what Motown had become- an American institution…It is the nature of institutions to take on their own life and to outgrow the individuals who create them. I am proud that this African-American heritage has been embraced by the world and has become permanently woven into the fabric of popular culture (398).
Stephenson 6 In conclusion, on Tuesday, June 29, 1988, the waiting was over. The headlines blasted the news: I had sold Motown Records to MCA for $61 million. From eight hundred dollars to sixty-one million. Berry had done it. He had won the poker hand (398) .