Pete McKenna - Motown: Celebrating 60 Years of Amazing Music

Celebrating 60Years of Amazing Music

Pete McKenna

Published2020

NEW HAVENPUBLISHING LTD

www.newhavenpublishingltd.com

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Cover images Al Abrams B/W Collection

Cover design Pete Cunliffe

Copyright 2020 Pete McKenna

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* Foreword byGlenn Walker Foster*

Firstly I would like to say a few wordsabout the author Pete Chess McKenna , who Ive knownsince late 1974. On more than one occasion he has put pen to paperdescribing life growing up as a teenager in the 70s when skinheadsand suedeheads were prominent, followed by the s oul boys who developed an obsession with and love of rare soulmusic which was eventually tagged northern soul - an obsession and love Pete and myself shared vehemently,creating a bond which keeps us friends over forty years later, asstrong as it ever was. I m sure that,without question, Tamla Motown both initiated and hugely influencedour soulful odyssey.

And now to Tamla Motown itself, possiblyTHE most successful record label in our lifetime, generated fromHitsville USA Detroit in 1959. Their first label was called simplyTamla, with their first record being Tamla 101 - Come to Me byMarv Johnson. The label was split into four different names- Tamla , Gordy , Soul and Tamla UK which was specifically aimedat the growing UK market, but there were other labels to come thatfell under the Motown umbrella.

Luckily at the time Id been one of theDJs at our schooldiscos and various youth clubs inBlackpool and Lytham St Annes and Motown music became critical toour playlists. Many coffee bars up and down the Fylde Coast hadjukeboxes which were full of Motown singles, which were played morethan any other music genre. If I had just a pound for all the timesI listened to What Becomes of the Brokenhearted? by Jimmy Ruffinon a jukebox I would be a very rich man. Solely for this reason itstill remains a stand out sound for me. For a teenager living in70s UK having been drip fed on the chart music of the day, TamlaMotown was such a refreshing joy to the ears. That simple buteffective solid four four beat, with songs full of heartfelt lyricsabout falling in and out of love being the dominant theme, wassomething most people could easily relate to.

I was and still am a massive RollingStones fan; their R and B based music instantly struck a chordinside me and in the early 70s I listened to little else but myfavourite song Can I Get A Witness. Of course eventually theinevitable happened as a boy a couple of years older than measked: H ey , Glenn mate.Have you heard the Marvin Gaye version? offering to lend me the single to take home and listen to,which of course I did. It was fabulous and from that importantmoment in time in my life I began collecting Tamla Motown records.I remember all too well that school dinner tickets were selling forsixty pence a time so in my final year I made my mind up to sell asmany as I could to all the fat boys knowing that eventually, comethe end of the week, I d walk fromschool to the coin shop on Bond Street laterrenamed Melody Records and buy myselffive Tamla Motown singles.

Eunice , the lady who owned the shop, was so thoroughly intriguedby my dinner ticket story that she kindly used to give me sixsingles for the price of five. My collection of Motown singlesquickly began to swell with some like Stevie Wonders classic Superstition and Living for the City amongst my favourites, along with Keepon Trucking by Eddie Kendricks rarely off my turntables at home.One record in particular that was different from the rest was ahaunting unusual Motown offering called Child of Love by Castonand Majors, along with a rare reggae offering Young Gifted andBlack by Bob and Marcia I still play today. Another one hugelypopular to me was and still is the driving beat of R DeanTaylor s Ghost In My House. He was one of the rare whiteartists to record for Motown and it was a single that was a massivehit on the northern soul scene.

Back to the jukebox and once again standout popular singles by many of the girls on the scene who wererapidly falling under the magical Motown spell were of course BabyLove, Where Did OurLove Go and Stop In The Name Of Love courtesy of The Supremes,along with hits from The Four Tops like Reach Out Ill Be There.I mean who wasnt mesmerised by the incredible vocal range of theirlead singer Levi Stubbs? And then there was The Temptations withsingles like Take A Look Around and the one and only MarthaReeves with classic hits like Dancing In TheStreet .

I found it interesting that singles fromMotown s g olden years of 65 and 66 together with their prolific outputwere adored by British youth as our passion for rare soul musicgrew. The one and only Edwin Starr established himself as one ofMotowns truly great artists with singles like Backstreet, 25 Miles , Agent OO Soul and I HaveFaith In You along with other popular dancefloor fillers like ItTakes Two by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston and the storming onehundred miles an hour Tell Me It sJust A Rumour by the Isley Brothers.

I could talk about so many countless othersuccessful singles on various labels that Motown recorded but thatwould indeed be a book in itself. Suffice to say that the uniqueinfectious sound of young America totally captivated a generationwho still to this day continue to listen to those records with asmuch affection as they did when they were newly released; whichleads me nicely on to the 60th celebration of Tamla Motown, sowithout further ado, I will now hand you over to the author of thisstory. As my final word on the subject, I will leave you with mypersonal all-time favourite Tamla Motown track I m Just A Mortal Man by the one and only Jimmy Ruffin anda massive thank you to our own gorgeous queen of soul DustySpringfield for all her talent and endless hard work inpopularising the sound of Tamla Motown.

Glenn Walker Foster

* Introduction*

This year, 2020 ,celebrates the 60th anniversary of arguably the most successfulAmerican recording label, which changed the sound and face of black American soulmusic forever - leaving me begging the question: Where have all the years gone? In1960, during troubled times when racial tensions were simmering tomurdering point, making normal daily life for black Americansdifficult and often dangerous to say the least, imbued with an unshakeable vision, adetermined self-belief and a remarkable instinct for spottinglatent talent in the making, the young Berry Gordy pulled off theseemingly impossible by acquiring a modest building in Detroitwhich was destined to become the headquarters of Tamla Motownrecords. H echristened it H itsville USA , and, asthey say, the rest is history.

In a cramped recording studio, aided andabetted by the legendary Tamla Motown in-house band the FunkBrothers, who played on almost every Motown track recorded, thesuperstars of the future were born; and the list is impressive tosay the least. Diana Ross and the Supremes Martha Reeves and the Vandellas Stevie Wonder MarvinGaye Smokey Robinson and theMiracles the Four Tops the Temptations theElgins the Isley Brothers Jackie Wilson R Dean Taylor Brenda Holloway Chuck Jackson JimmyRuffin Edwin Starr Tammi Terrell Earl VanDyke Kim Weston Frankie Valli Mary Wells theJacksons - the list goes on and on; and what a list.