"Into the '60s, I was still not of a frame of mind that we were not only making music, we were making history"-Smokey Robinson
I can't remember my first Motown moment, my first dose. I kind of recall one of my parents having the Temptation's record Gettin' Ready when I was younger, but who could forget the visual of that cover? (It took me until just about 3-5 years ago to realize that while the record cover was great, the songs were slightly better..."Lonely, Lonely Man Am I"? top 10 Motown songs ever recorded.) The point is, Motown Records, founded by Berry Gordy (as Tamla for it's first year) in 1959, had about a 17 year run that no record label has ever had. There's both overwhelming good, and damning bad about this.
First off, Berry Gordy Jr. is a genius. Not in the same sense that Brian Wilson, Phil Spector, and other producers were genius. Here's a man who dropped out of high school, had a record store fold, and worked at a car plant, when one random night at a talent club, he met Jackie Wilson. Now, if you listen to them, the 5 songs that Gordy penned for Wilson are really nothing spectacular (with the exception of maybe "Lonely Teardrops"), but I think the genius of Gordy lies in this: He is nothing if not a man that has always known his limits. Why can't Sean "Diddy" Combs be the next great black record man? he doesn't have that simple trait. When Gordy couldn't make it as a consistent hitmaker from a songwriting standpoint, did he try to force it? hardly. He grabbed an $800.00 loan from his family, and started a label (by the way, how about the return on that? I mean, I don't know how much MCA/UMG paid Gordy for Motown at the end of it's golden era, but I would think....just THINK...that it was just a notch more than 8 bills....) Another indication of Gordy's genius: his mentality of "It works in car factories, why cant it work in music?" There's never been mass produced music, all in house (VERY key), that sounded like this. It was General Motors, it was McDonalds, it was Disney. Look, I'll take 1961-1968 over any other era of black music. Period....even for someone of my undying loyalty to hip-hop will have to chalk up 1982-1992 as a distant second. You get Lamont Dozier and the Holland brothers in house? how does that happen? Studios would KILL for an in house production and songwriting team that was that mechanical. Forget well oiled, they were possibly getting the best oil of any machine, ever. Eddie Holland, probably the most brilliant of the three, naturally got the lyrical and vocal arrangement duties, while the other two handled production. "Production" is a term I use loosely, because, oh....yeah...there was also a flawless in house band. The Funk Brothers, at one time or another (it could be argued, but let's not, OK?) had one of the greatest bassists (James Jamerson), Pianists (Earl Van Dyke), and Drummers ("Pistol" Allen) of all time. My favorite Motown stuff is the stuff like Jr. Walkers "Shotgun", where it's very limited on vocals, and you get the feel that Gordy and Walker were just in the studio, looked at the Funk Bros. and said, "Alright....play something", it's brilliance (if you've never heard the aforementioned "Shotgun", it goes without saying that it's a must-listen. Do yourself a favor. Avoid the horrific Joss Stone cover. Speaking of Stone, what on Earth happened to her?? she was good like 3 years ago. When did she become a disaster?), there's never been a tighter sounding band in soul music (though, Al Green, picking up on Gordy's style, employed the Memphis Rhythm band, led by Teenie Hodges, which wasn't too shabby either...)
It was a perfect storm. Motown didn't have the lyrical wizardry that I think a lot of people would like to think, but what Eddie Holland DID do, that I always find impressive was completely eliminate gender roles through music. Look at pop today, what would we think if a MAN came out with a song admitting to being a gold-digger? admittedly tongue in cheek, but The Contours were singing "First I Look At The Purse" in 1961 (With the classic, classic line of, "Your kisses might be sweet as honey/But I just want me some money") I remember reading an interview after HDH got inducted into the songwriting hall of fame, where Eddie Holland talked about how he didn't write for male artist, or female artists....he just wrote for emotion. What does that breed? Those who think Beyonce is a symbol of "strong" female "Independence" should get some Martha Reeves in their lives. And let's be clear, if you thought people went nuts when Kanye got emotionally ummmm....honest.....with 808's & Heartbreak, imagine what folk would do to Smokey Robinson these days. Smoke's got like 8 songs with the word "Tears" in the title in some capacity. More important that what Motown did for race, was what they did for breaking down gender roles in music. Before you strongly disagree, listen. Yeah, a Motown artist can go to a segregated gym, and for those two hours, the ropes come down, and we can all dance and have a good time. But once that show is over, the ropes go back up, the artists themselves have to eat separately from their white counterparts, and really, that HAD to lead to some of the emotional and mental instability of some of the bigger artists (i.e. Gaye, Wonder, Ruffin). On the flipside, they made it alright, through writing and music, to nix the whole macho front that (some of) Sun records, and males of the 50's put on through music. And they put strong women out front, not just some meek background singers chirping lightly in the background.
That's a sample of the good. I try to be objective, and up until recently was on the "Motown can do no wrong" bandwagon. The biggest issue with Motown really boils down to egos, and royalties. At around 1968, there came a point where there was just too much talent on one label, and healthy competition turned much more bitter than it should have. From a recording standpoint, by 1970, they had at the very least 3 certified musical geniuses recording for them (Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gate, Smokey Robinson)...Rolling Stone's Immortals, of course tracking the 100 greatest artists of all time, lists EIGHT acts that were on Motown, at one point or another. (Wonder at 15, Gaye at 18, Smoke at 32, Michael Jackson at 35 (though mostly recognized for his post-Motown exploits, to be fair....which should honestly have him topping Mr. Robinson, at LEAST.), Temptations at 67, The Four Tops at 78, Reeves and the Vandellas at 96, and The Supremes at 97.) Sure, that talent works for a while, but for how long? You can't give artists of that caliber all of the attention they need, and once they got big, boy, did they need attention.
The biggest, and I repeat, BIGGEST mistake Berry Gordy ever made was giving in to Diana Ross. Once The Supremes were changed to "Diana Ross and The Supremes", at Ross' begging, it was all downhill. Reeves wanted her name to highlight the Vandellas (and got her wish), David Ruffin demanded the same treatment, was turned down, blew up, and blew out on the Tempts (and let's be honest...do people REALLY like their 70's/Dennis Edwards era stuff?), Gordy put Gaye's seminal "I Want You" on hold so that Gaye could record a stress filled, forced duets album with Ross (which leads to the now famous story of Gaye smoking marijuana in the studio, Smoke Robinson informing him that Ross was allergic to the herb, and Gaye giving the classic response of, "Fuck Diana Ross". Ahhh....studio stories are the best.) Look, I'm not saying that Diana Ross destroyed Motown. I'm admittedly not a Supremes, OR Ross fan. In their Immortals write up, L.A. Reid states, "My entire career, I've been looking for a singer as great as Diana Ross..." Oh, really, L.A.? You missed one. Her name was Florence Ballard. She was better than Ross, but relegated to a backup role. All that said, it was a domino effect. Once Gordy allowed Ross to become a monster, she ate her own group alive, Ruffin ate the Temptations, Reeves ate the Vandellas (my favorite group....oh, and don't let this imagery get to you, for those of you getting visuals of David Ruffin literally devouring Melvin Franklin.), and by 1972, it was a noticeable shift, as the top producers on Motown were two solo acts, Gaye and Wonder.
Holland Dozier Holland left in 1969 over royalty issues, and started a trend. Mary Wells, The Funk Brothers, eventually Reeves, Jr. Walker, and various other artists left due to the same disputes. One would think Gordy believed so much in love for music in it's purest form that he just expected every other artist to share his love, and limit their compensation. No dice there. After Hitsville, in Detroit, shut down in 1973, and relocated to Los Angeles, it was full musical "jump the shark" mode for Gordy and Motown.
Really, what killed Motown more than anything was the great music that Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye made. Gordy fought tooth and nail every time Stevie Wonder went into the studio. Wonder might have started out as a precocious 12 year old with loads of talent, but by 1971, he was tired of writing songs about well, in his words, "nothing". And he wanted to take a more conscious stand, which is to be respected, but on Motown? Motown was popular, to that point for snappy rhythm, catchy tunes, and lyrics about love, lost love, dancing, and other general soft topics for a black artist at the time. You know, it's almost like when Jimi Hendrix came out at Monterey in '67 and stated, before playing his legendary set, "This is the end of surfin' music", and you could almost hear Brian Wilson's mental stability go ALL the way out the window. Wonder and Gaye blazed paths of music that meant something, against the will of Gordy, who upon hearing "What's Goin' On" called it the "Worst record I've ever heard". Easily challenging each other, the run of 70's albums for both (namely, Songs In The Key Of Life, Innervisions, Talking Book, What's Goin' On, Let's Get It On, I Want You) But really, all Motown had to show for it's old true pop roots was little Michael Jackson and his brothers. And by the 80's they had been long gone, taking any hopes of a Motown revival with them. Gordy eventually sold Motown in 1988.
The thing people often forget, is that outside of Motown, most artists that left had very limited success. Sure, Mike Jackson was Mike Jackson, but think about this: Did he ever write, or produce a GREAT record without leaning heavily on someone else? Be fair, now. Thriller was the first record in which his writing was featured, and yes, I know he wrote "Billie Jean"....but did he ever write another aesthetically important song? He got credited for co-writing "We Are The World" because, well....he was in the studio while Lionel Richie wrote it. Michael was hampered by the Motown machine as well, because he never learned how to be anything but a performer, and not a pure musician. Yes, he was the BEST performer, but when he lost first Motown, and then Quincy Jones (and THEN, on a lesser scale, Teddy Riley...), he had no career left.
But, I remember this, as I watched a spry looking Gordy, a healthy looking Smoke, and other Motown acts sprinkled about Jackson's funeral this past week. Gordy might not have done it perfectly, brushing over contract details for the sake of musical joy, and catering to his libido a bit too much every now and then...but what he set the stage for was right. Artists being marketed better than ever. Artists owning their masters. Jay-Z just got the rights to his masters last month, and that wouldn't be possible without the industry standards set to black artists by Berry Gordy. The impact that he has had on music can't be ignored, even if you take in the bad parts of Motown's legacy. Not the worst $800.00 ever spent.
Motown has died out now. Sylvia Rhone, and other label heads (But, umm....mostly Rhone) have sucked the life out of it, as it's just another mess under UMG's umbrella these days. Stevie Wonder remains, for what reason, we'll never know. Can't really call it loyalty, maybe desperation? Soul music, I miss you. I'm not asking for another Motown, but I have a hard time settling for what's there now, knowing what the possibilities once were. Soul, R&B, and Blues singers now, for the most part, have forgotten the roots of the genre. And that's sad.
"....And sometimes when it would get bad- and boy it could get bad- we’d be in them fields just a-singing, you know. ‘Cause them songs, them songs could get you right.’”
-Bebe Moore Campbell, "Your Blues Ain't Like Mine"
No comments:
Post a Comment