A Lonesome Hunter
AN IMPRESSIVE SONG CATALOGUE, A DOOMED ALBUM
The co-author of one of Motown’s most uplifting hits was an introverted soul, and his work was coloured by contradictions.
Ivy Jo Hunter, who died on October 6 at age 82, once remembered trying to compose a sad song called “I Just Got To Cry” in the attic of A&R chief Mickey Stevenson’s home in Detroit. “The track that I cut, if you look at the original title, it didn’t have anything to do with any kind of party whatsoever,” he told Andy Skurow in early 2021. “But when Marvin [Gaye] heard the track to write those melancholy lyrics, he said, ‘That’s not right for that track.’
“Because they had never heard the track ’til I brought it upstairs. They said, ‘That sounds more like dancing in the street.’ And I said OK, and I wrote lyrics for ‘Dancing In The Street.’”
Ivy Jo Hunter: an ambition to sing
The eventual outcome was an anthem of exuberance, a signature work in Motown’s history, and a substantial payday for Hunter, Stevenson and Gaye. Since Martha & the Vandellas’ 1964 original, the song has been recorded by scores of others, from the Mamas & the Papas to the Grateful Dead, from Donald Byrd to Neil Diamond.
The man who signed Hunter to Motown chuckles today at the mention of his attic. “Yes, that’s where we started,” Mickey Stevenson told me a few days ago. “I was [living] the closest to Motown, and the attic was like a studio up there. It wasn’t going home to get some rest, uh-uh. We would work all hours at night, Ivy Jo, Marvin and myself.” (Stevenson elaborates on the recording session for “Dancing In The Street” at Hitsville in his memoir, The A&R Man.)
As recent obituaries have noted, Ivy Jo Hunter arrived at Motown by way of musician Hank Cosby, who spotted him at Detroit’s Phelps Lounge, rehearsing for a vocal spot and teaching the band songs he had written. “When he came to the studio, auditioning, he came in to be a singer,” says Stevenson. “He wanted to be an artist on the label. He did one song and then another, and I was really caught up more in his songs than his singing.
“I said to him, ‘Man, I’ll tell you what I’ll do: I won’t sign you as a singer, but I’ll take you on as a writer.’ He said, ‘A writer? But I want to sing.’ I said, ‘We’ll get to that later, but I’ll take you on as a writer.’ And I said, ‘If you take this deal, I will also sign you as a producer, and I’ll show you how to produce, and write some songs with you.’”
A 1993 interview confirmed as much. “I showed [Stevenson] the stuff that I had,” Hunter told Bill Randle, “which we never used. But from that, he decided that he would like for me to be his partner, and we did 50/50 on whatever he did and whatever I did. And it worked out pretty good.”
A GRUDGE HELD
Hunter’s labours as a writer/producer earned him a total of 13 Motown hits on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1964-68. “Dancing In The Street” and the Four Tops’ “Ask The Lonely” (which was originally conceived as a dance tune) were two of his three highest charters; the third was “My Baby Loves Me.” In addition, he was involved in the creation of Top 20 R&B hits for the Marvelettes (“I’ll Keep Holding On,” “Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead”), the Spinners (“I’ll Always Love You,” “Truly Yours”), Marvin Gaye (“You) and the Contours (“Can You Jerk Like Me”), plus a U.K. Top 10 entry for the Isley Brothers (“Behind A Painted Smile”).
For someone whom Stevenson describes as an introvert, Hunter could be collaborative. “I don’t think there were any artists that I didn’t like working with,” Hunter reminisced to Andy Skurow. “Mostly, the girl groups, from the beginning, the early era. Most of them were not the greatest singers. So that’s where the Andantes came in. To give them a smoother blend. But at the same time, they were energetic.”
Ivy Jo Hunter with the Andantes’ Jackie Hicks, at the Motown 60 celebrations in Detroit in 2019 (photo: Harry Weinger)
Among his songwriting partners was Jack Goga, co-author of “Behind A Painted Smile” and the Four Tops’ “Yesterday’s Dreams,” to name but two. “Jack Goga was Jewish and his music was Jewish,” Hunter said. “It was great to work with him, because he took you into an area of music where you wouldn’t have gone.” (Goga himself travelled into unusual territory: in 1994, he was charged with double-homicide, although he died in prison before trial.)
Goga, Gaye and Stevenson apart, Hunter wrote songs with Hank Cosby, Sylvia Moy, Hal Davis, Jeffrey Bowen, Vernon Bullock, Freddie Gorman, Shorty Long, Pam Sawyer, Shena DeMell – and Stevie Wonder (“Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever”).
He could also be candid, at least according to Raynoma Singleton, a principal figure in Motown’s early days and an occasional returnee. In her autobiography, she recalled a company meeting at which Hunter spelled out grievances held by various employees towards attorney Ralph Seltzer, who was then in charge of the creative division. “Berry, it seemed, took Ivy’s presentation with a grain of salt,” wrote Singleton, “since the others didn’t seem so troubled. He thanked him for his candour but did nothing to address his grievances, much less protect him from Seltzer’s retaliation.”
That retaliation, claimed Singleton, sent Hunter’s projects into limbo. Which may account for Motown’s failure to release Ivy Jo Hunter Is In This Bag, his first album as an artist. This was supposedly set to come out in 1971 with his versions of “Ask The Lonely” and “Dancing In The Street,” as well as tracks which were previously issued as singles, “I Remember When (Dedicated To Beverly)” and “I’d Still Love You.”
A HOPED-FOR ANTHOLOGY
“They didn’t issue the [first] single until I asked for my contract back,” Hunter told Skurow. “My contract was up. Then they put out the single.” To no commercial effect, it transpired, and he left Motown.
A similar, if unconnected fate appears to have befallen efforts to unchain Ivy Jo Is In This Bag in recent years. A 2011 release by Reel Music never made it to market, nor did a U.K. attempt circa 2017. The latter was driven by Hitsville aficionado Paul Nixon, known for producing various anthologies and the multi-volume A Cellarful Of Motown CD series. Universal Music’s Caroline subsidiary was to have been the outlet, with Hunter’s original album generously augmented by other recordings of his, including in-concert material from Detroit’s 20 Grand nightclub.
Ivy Jo parties with Levi, Stevie and Marvin
After Caroline’s non-starter, Ivy Jo Is In This Bag – The Anthology was picked up by independent Cherry Red Records for 2021 release, and it was in February of last year that Andy Skurow interviewed Hunter for the liner notes. However, there’s still no sign of the 2CD set – a disappointment for all involved, not least Hunter before his death.
After quitting Motown in 1971, the singer/songwriter/producer set up Probe 1 Productions in Detroit, recording local acts and, occasionally, himself. He also worked with Funkadelic and the Dells, and co-wrote Top 10 R&B hits for the Four Tops (“Sweet Understanding Love”) and Aretha Franklin (“Without Love”). In 1980, Hunter and ex-Motown colleague Vernon Bullock authored “Hold On (To Your Dreams),” a well-regarded but minor R&B hit for Wee Gee.
The ’90s saw Hunter connect with British writer/producer Ian Levine, who recorded dozens of former Motown artists for his Motorcity label. The pair created a substantial number of new songs, including a U.K. Top 20 hit by Frances Nero, “Footsteps Following Me.”
Later still, Hunter applied his skills to a stage musical set in 1950s Detroit, about a black family facing challenges as the father follows his dream – to be a songwriter. Scripted by Hollywood actor Ned Beatty Jr., Hold On To Your Dream played in Los Angeles and Detroit in 2004, briefly.
And of Hunter’s world of melancholy? “He stayed within himself,” says Mickey Stevenson, “and I would have to pull him out of a mood. It wasn’t a bad thing, it was just the way he was. The only time you saw the joy and laughter on his face was when we were writing or producing. Then he was a whole ’nother person, and I think the gift was what kept him going.”
“You write about what you understand,” Hunter told Universal Music’s Harry Weinger, a few years ago. “That’s the house I live in. If I got a chance to work with an artist, I was not looking for ‘the Motown sound.’ I took that artist somewhere else.” Hunter concluded, “I never did the same song twice. I just did what came naturally.”
Music notes: even as Ivy Jo Hunter’s own album has evaded release in recent years, a number of tracks from that, and from other Motown sessions of his, have become available in digital and physical form. A good place to start is this Spotify playlist by aychdub, which includes 15 tracks sung by Hunter himself, together with 10 of his songs/productions for others. Among the former is a striking performance of “Dancing In The Street,” part of Motown Unreleased 1969. That song, and many of his others, will call out around the world for years to come.