The Lasting Legacy: Motown 2021-22
ON FILM, ON TOUR, ON DISC, AND EVEN ON CASSETTE
Need a cup of coffee right about now?
If so, better make it Maxwell House. Thanks to that particular brand, one of this summer’s most-anticipated music-and-movie experiences is coming soon to screens large and small near you.
Yes, it’s Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), the new film created and directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson from lost footage of the third annual Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969. Among those who performed on July 20 in New York’s Mount Morris Park that year were Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight & the Pips, David Ruffin, Chuck Jackson and Blinky Williams – all of them, as you know full well, artists who were attached to Motown Records.
Gladys & the Pips at the Harlem Cultural Festival
The ’69 festival comprised six, free, Sunday-afternoon concerts, which in total attracted 300,000 people to the Harlem site, and was financially underwritten by General Foods’ Maxwell House subsidiary. The initial show took place on June 29, and drew some 70,000 souls to see the 5th Dimension, the Chambers Brothers and the Edwin Hawkins Singers, among others. It was subsequently turned into a one-hour TV special aired on the CBS network four weeks later.
Questlove’s documentary draws on vintage celluloid of that first line-up and that of the subsequent Sundays, which included a gospel festival (July 13), the “soul” event (20), and a blues and jazz shindig (August 17). Summer of Soul is due to open in U.S. cinemas and on Disney’s Hulu streaming service next Friday (July 2), and in U.K. cinemas and the Disney+ channel on July 16. In addition to some of those mentioned above, the film features performances by Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, the Staple Singers and B.B. King. (Questlove’s background account of the so-called “black Woodstock” can be found in this Variety interview, and the trailer is here.)
For excavated, 51-year-old concert footage of soul stars to be among this summer’s entertainment highlights is remarkable enough. But Summer of Soul is not the only must-see for Motown disciples in the second half of 2021. Another is Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James, a 111-minute movie portrait of the punk-funkster’s life and times, directed by Sacha Jenkins, a former music editor of Vibe magazine. The film bowed in the U.S. at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month, and its arrival on the Showtime network is expected in early September.
In addition to James himself, the cast of characters in Bitchin’ includes his onetime manager, Kerry Gordy, son of Berry; fellow funkster Bootsy Collins, who talks about James’ feud with Prince; his daughter, Ty James, who is one of the film’s executive producers, and his ex-wife, Tanya Hijazi; Universal Music’s Motown maven, Harry Weinger, who breaks down stems of the late musician’s best-known tracks; David Ritz, author of James’ autobiography, Glow; and former Motown vice president Nancy Leiviska, who oversaw the making of now-celebrated videoclips for James’ mightiest album, Street Songs.
HEARING DIANA’S HEART
For those more interested in today than yesterday, there’s Thank You, the brand new album by Diana Ross, scheduled for release by Decca Records on September 10. Mind you, how it’s arriving has connections to the past: aside from digital streaming, you’ll also be able to access the 13-track collection on vinyl (in conventional black or “marbled” editions), compact disc – and cassette.
“I’m Rick James, bitch”
More importantly, the music represents Ross’ first album of original material since 1999’s Every Day Is A New Day (her last was 2006’s I Love You, largely comprised of covers). Decca issued the sunny title track of Thank You on June 17. Ross co-wrote the album’s songs with various songsmiths, and it was produced by a number of contemporary names, including Jack Antonoff, known for his work with Taylor Swift, Lana Del Ray and Lorde. Because of Covid, it’s said that Ross did the recording at home, wherever that might be. “We set up a home studio that became a special place of comfort,” explained Decca A&R manager Sam Mumford, “a space where she could sing at any time she felt inspired.”
“As you hear my voice, you hear my heart,” declared the superstar herself in the press release about Thank You. In the meantime, she’ll be thinking about which of the new songs to feature on the road next year. Her “Top of the World” tour of the U.K. has been rescheduled from this year, with dates during June ’22 in six major cities, London included. After that, she’ll take part in the five-day Lytham Festival near Blackpool, another rescheduled 2021 U.K. date.
As Lionel Richie, too, will be touring Britain next year, is there an outside chance the couple might share a stage to sing “Endless Love”? Perhaps on the evening that Richie appears at historic Blenheim Palace on June 19, when Ross is between dates in Liverpool and Birmingham? Elsewhere on his tour, the former Commodore will be saluted by fans in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, followed by shows in Germany, Spain, Holland, Denmark and Austria.
Yet another Motown legacy act will be hitting the road during the second half of this year and into next: the Temptations, celebrating their (Covid-delayed) 60th anniversary. Shows are scheduled in Mississippi, Florida and California during August and September, followed by an eight-date concert reunion with the Four Tops in the U.K. in October. An “anniversary” album is also due, while the group’s profile will be raised by the welcome return of Ain’t Too Proud to Broadway on October 16. Fourteen days later, the only surviving original Temptation, Otis Williams, will turn 80.
PLANNING TO BE THERE, ON BROADWAY
“To be the last one standing from the classic line-ups can be hard sometimes,” Williams said earlier this year, “but I know God left me here for a reason.” That, he added, was to share with new generations of fans the music created inside 2648 West Grand all those decades ago. (Duke Fakir of the Four Tops is sure to add an “amen” to Williams’ remarks. To ensure that their legacy lasts as long, he and producer Paul Lambert are currently prepping a stage musical to open – with luck – on Broadway in 2022. Its working title is I’ll Be There.)
More girls, more music, more soul
Sustaining a legacy also requires the admiration and attention of others in music, so both Williams and Fakir will be pleased about new recordings of their respective group’s biggest hits by, er, Il Divo. Yes, the multinational “classical crossover” combo has included interpretations of “My Girl” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There” in their forthcoming album, For Once In My Life: A Celebration Of Motown. Moreover, Smokey Robinson has been persuaded to join them on “The Tracks Of My Tears,” as have Boyz II Men on “I’ll Make Love To You.” And, it seems, the voice of Marvin Gaye has been added to Il Divo’s rendering of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”
For Once In My Life: A Celebration Of Motown is due from Decca – a popular label, evidently – on July 16. Among its other tracks are “I’ll Be There,” “Say You, Say Me” and “My Cherie Amour.” To support the release, Il Divo is touring the U.S. in August and September. Detroit is among their destinations; perhaps they’ll visit the Motown Museum or Marvin Gaye Drive.
For West Grand readers with more devotion to recordings actually made in the Snakepit, let’s close with news of the latest More Motown Girls compilation from England’s estimable Ace Records. Good Good Feeling! is its title, and although some of the 25 tracks have been previously available as MP3s in Universal Music’s Motown Unreleased series, six have never been out before. These include songs cut by Martha & the Vandellas, Brenda Holloway (the album’s title track) and Hattie Littles.
Good Good Feeling! is currently set for release in August, as another contribution to this year’s summer of soul. Better get the coffee in, if not something stronger.
Street notes: another event to anticipate is the ceremony bestowing a star on Martha Reeves on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She’s one of the latest round of celebrities to be so honoured, as is fellow Detroit legend (and onetime Jobete songwriter) George Clinton. Both evidently have fans: the current cost of joining that particular club is $50,000, a fee paid to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce by whoever nominates the individual concerned. Honourees can request a specific location for their sidewalk star, and they have two years to schedule the moment. Doubtless there’ll be lots of media references to “Dancing In The Street” when Reeves takes her place.
Screen notes: among the more interesting newsbites of the past month was word that another Marvin Gaye biopic is in the works, this one funded by Warner Bros. and with everyone on board who needs to be (Gaye’s estate, Motown Records, Jobete Music owners Sony Music Publishing, etc.). It will be called What’s Going On, and if it’s more successful in getting made than previous such projects, we might expect to see it in 2023. There’s some additional detail here from Deadline, which broke the story.