A Motown Timeline: 1969
BACK TO LIFE, BACK TO BUSINESS REALITY
Could it be called the comeback year?
There’s certainly plenty of evidence to support that. In February, Motown scored its first Number One album in 14 months on the Billboard charts with the soundtrack to TCB, its networked TV special featuring Diana Ross & the Supremes with the Temptations. That LP and the earlier Diana Ross & the Supremes Join The Temptations spent four weeks together in the Top 5 during January and February.
Takin’ care of Number One for four weeks
The Temptations achieved two Top 5 albums on their own during 1969: Cloud Nine and Puzzle People. The former spent nine weeks in the Top 10, the latter accrued five. On the Billboard Hot 100, the Temps tallied four Top 10 hits, including one with Ross & the Supremes (“I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”) and another which delivered the second Number One of their career (“I Can’t Get Next To You”).
To be fair, some of this progress had been kick-started towards the end of 1968. There was that remarkable sequence from mid-December when Motown held the Top 3 of the Billboard Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks with hits by Marvin Gaye, Ross & the Supremes, the Supremes and the Temptations, and Stevie Wonder – and then, during the first week of January ’69, had another two records in the Top 10.
The hard work put in by Berry Gordy’s team in the preceding months paid off, big time. And it had been a tough 1968, epitomised by the bitter departure of Holland/Dozier/Holland and the accompanying lawsuits. Even the mainstream media noticed. “Once, everybody was listening to the Motown sound,” declared a widely-read piece from the Associated Press news agency. “Then there was trouble in Motor City. Motown began to be thought of as too smoothly packaged, and the rougher Memphis sound came up.”
But 1969 rebutted such arguments, at least commercially. There was gossip that Diana Ross was to quit the Supremes, but the trio on tour seemed to attract more fans than ever, as did the Temptations. Promoters and venues alike were touting audience numbers and record revenues. For example, Southwest Concerts, Inc. advertised “the largest gross” for the Supremes’ Texas shows (generating $85,000, worth more than $700,000 today), while the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis noted that the Temps were the first entertainers in its 35 years to draw a sellout crowd of more than 10,000.
NO MO’ MOTOWN?
Creatively, it became clear how much that Norman Whitfield was driving Motown into fresh territory with his songwriting/producing skillset, and his imagination. Sure, Hitsville U.S.A. was sorry to lose Eddie, Brian and Lamont, but Norman stepped up to powerful effect. He was responsible for four of the half-dozen Motown singles which topped the Billboard R&B charts for 24 weeks in 1969.
In 1968, premature obituaries were not limited to the United States. Questions were raised in the record company’s most important market outside North America. “No Mo’ Motown?” was the headline in leading U.K. music weekly Melody Maker. “Now the Motown Sound, which has been such a power for good music for four years, seems to be dying the death,” opined the paper’s Chris Welch. Even early evangelist Dave Godin was carping. “Personally, I don’t think Motown is what it used to be,” he told Welch.
Triple ‘Grapevine’ gold to Marvin from Barney
On the charts, 1969 proved them both wrong. Motown scored 20 Top 20 singles in Britain – admittedly, five were reissues, and two were late ’68 releases – with ten making the Top 10 and Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” ascending to Number One. This compares to the previous year’s four Top 20 singles, of which none went to the summit. On the album listings, Diana Ross & The Supremes Join The Temptations stayed at the peak for four weeks in ‘69.
By now relocated to Los Angeles, Berry Gordy was pursuing his ambition to make Motown a force in television and movies, helped by his partnership with producer George Schlatter, who was involved with TCB and On Broadway. Another network TV special was The Temptations Show.
The company diversified in music, too, launching a rock imprint, Rare Earth, in the summer of ’69. Much of its initial output was bought in from Britain – bands such as the Pretty Things and Love Sculpture – but the most successful proved to be the rockers from Detroit after whom the label was named. In December, their album, Get Ready, began its climb into the national Top 20.
Another of Motown’s stars had begun exploring new terrain. Marvin Gaye, with wife Anna, wrote “Baby I’m For Real” and recorded it with the Originals late in ’68 and into 1969, foreshadowing What’s Going On in style and texture. “When we started harmonising together,” the group’s Freddie Gorman told me some years ago, “we were just swept by the sound, right off. Marvin said it sounded like we were from the same family.” Soon enough, “Baby, I’m For Real” topped the R&B charts and cracked the Top 20 of the pop best-sellers.
Occasionally, there were embarrassments. The Isley Brothers left Motown in 1968, having never duplicated the success of their first 45 for the company, “This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You).” Writing their own material, the siblings came up with “It’s Your Thing” on their own label, T-Neck, and it proved to be a mighty crossover hit in the spring of ’69. And there were tragedies: the death at 43 of the creator of the Motown drumbeat, Benny Benjamin, and that of the idiosyncratic Shorty Long, also too young to leave, at age 29.
Diana presents the Jackson 5 at The Daisy
Still, as the final year of the 1960s evolved into the first of the ’70s, there was evidence and confidence that Berry Gordy’s business, its music makers and its backroom believers, were going to be able to handle the new decade with all the imagination and chutzpah which had fuelled its impact and influence during the last one. Nothing personified that better than the Jackson 5, launched in the latter half of 1969 with memorable impact – “I Want You Back” remains one of Motown’s true milestones – and cultural influence.
Now, to the detail. Below is an attempt, selective rather than exhaustive, to convey 1969’s endeavours and progress at Motown. It’s divided into three sections: the first, a chronological run-down of significant dates during those 12 months, followed by examples of notable single and album releases. If a 45 or album topped the Billboard R&B or pop charts, that entry is shown in bold-face italics.
MOTOWN 1969
January 1: Motown’s first album release of the year is Home Cookin’ by Jr. Walker & the All Stars. Two weeks later, the group kicks off a U.K. tour.
January 20: David Ruffin’s first 45 after leaving the Temptations, “My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me),” is released on the day of Richard Nixon’s inauguration as President.
February 8: Jose Feliciano’s version of “My World Is Empty Without You” spends one week on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequently, he records for Motown during the early 1980s.
February 17: Diana Ross & the Supremes appear on NBC-TV’s The Bob Hope Special. Ross sings with the group and solo, and duets with Hope.
February 22: Motown act Barbara Randolph is reported to be the host of a new R&B programme for Armed Forces Radio’s 300 stations at home and abroad.
Motown’s first album of ‘69
February 24: Gunshots are heard inside Motown’s Woodward Avenue headquarters. “No police report was made,” notes the Detroit Free Press, “and boss Berry Gordy has ordered everyone to issue denials.”
February 28: The Four Tops kick off a week-long headlining show at New York’s Apollo Theater.
February 28: In the U.K., EMI Records wraps up its two-month “Motown Mini” competition, in which contestants are asked to compile their own British Motown Chartbusters album. The winner, announced in March, is Bert Smart, who is presented with the prize car by Stevie Wonder.
March 7: Gladys Knight & the Pips perform at the annual Grand Gala du Disque show in Amsterdam. Other acts taking part include Ike & Tina Turner, the Moody Blues and Miriam Makeba.
March 11: The Jackson 5 sign to Motown Record Corp. of California, Inc.
March 12: At venues in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Nashville, the Grammy awards are held, where the Temptations become Motown’s first act to win. “Cloud Nine” is named Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group.
March 16: The Temptations play the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis before a sellout crowd of 10,500 – the first entertainers to accomplish the feat in the venue’s 35-year history.
March 23: The Detroit Free Press publishes a rare, at-length interview with Berry Gordy. Among various topics, he talks about his ambitions and his move to Los Angeles. “I’m in town now and intend to come back each year because Detroit has what we consider natural resources. We have never been able to get the sound anywhere in the world that we get here in Detroit.”
April 4: On the first anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination, Motown designates this as a paid holiday for its acts appearing across the U.S. and for its staff. The company’s offices in three cities are also closed.
April 10: The Temptations begin a run at New York’s Copacabana, but cancel halfway through, reportedly because of two members’ illness. The Foundations are drafted to complete the booking.
April 12: Blood, Sweat & Tears’ “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” spends the first of three weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by the Holloway sisters, Brenda and Patrice, with Berry Gordy and Frank Wilson, and first recorded at Motown by Brenda.
April 13: Diana Ross guests on Dinah Shore’s NBC-TV special, Like Hep! It’s her first television appearance singing without the Supremes. She also appears in a “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” skit on the show, as Snow White.
April 15: At Detroit’s Pontchartrain Hotel, performing rights society BMI holds its R&B songwriter awards. Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Sylvia Moy and Norman Whitfield take three prizes apiece, while Jobete Music is recognised as the leading music publisher, with 13 awards.
April 20: Motown session drummer Benny (“Papa Zita”) Benjamin dies at age 43. Funeral services are held at the People’s Community Church in Detroit on April 26.
May 1: Velma Jean Terrell signs to Motown Records, later to become a member of the Supremes.
Rest in peace, Benny
May 1: Motown declares this to be “Marvin Gaye Month,” promoting his Marvin Gaye and His Girls and M.P.G. albums as well as two volumes of Greatest Hits and his first two LPs with Tammi Terrell.
May 5: At the Washington Hilton, Stevie Wonder is presented with a distinguished service award from the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped. Earlier in the day, he meets President Nixon in the Rose Garden of the White House.
May 6: The Temptations Show is broadcast by CBS-TV as a one-hour network special showcasing the group and their many hits. Guest stars are comedian/singer George Kirby and actress/singer Kaye Stevens.
May 14: In New York, Diana Ross & the Supremes open a two-week run at the Waldorf-Astoria’s Empire Room. “Impeccably, glamorously done,” declares one reviewer. Berry Gordy is present for the opening night.
May 31: Billboard reports that Motown “studio singer” Syreeta Wright is due to replace Diana Ross when she leaves the Supremes in August.
June 7: Diana Ross & the Supremes quit midway through a two-week booking at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, NJ, when Ross’ two dogs die as a result of accidental poisoning at the venue.
June 17: The Miracles’ “The Tracks Of My Tears” becomes the fifth Tamla Motown reissue to reach the U.K. Top 20 this year.
June 22: Among various rock, pop and R&B acts, Marvin Gaye appears at the Newport ’69 Pop Festival in Northridge, California. The following Sunday, he plays the Summer Soul Festival in Baltimore.
June 29: Shorty Long drowns in a boating accident in the Detroit River off Sandwich Island, Ontario. He was 29 years of age.
June 29: Beginning on this date, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight & the Pips, David Ruffin, Chuck Jackson and Blinky appear during the six weekends of the Harlem Cultural Festival in New York’s Mount Morris Park. Excerpts from the event, which also featured Sly & the Family Stone, the 5th Dimension and Nina Simone, are broadcast by CBS-TV on July 28.
July 2: Jimmy Ruffin arrives in Britain for a three-week schedule of club dates. His 1967 hit, “I’ve Passed This Way Before,” is reissued on July 4.
Gladys & the Pips in Harlem
July 8: Stevie Wonder opens for Diana Ross & the Supremes during their five-night booking at the Carousel Theatre in Framingham, Massachusetts.
July 13: Berry Gordy has been elected to the board of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, according to the Detroit Free Press. Its musicians have played on hundreds of Motown sessions. Gordy is said to be considering recording the orchestra in its own right.
July 27: Motown announces the promotion of Barney Ales as the company’s executive vice president and general manager. “He is,” says Berry Gordy, “the best sales executive in our industry.”
August: Marv Johnson’s album, I’ll Pick A Rose For My Rose, is released in the United Kingdom. The title track was a Top 10 hit there in March.
August: John Marshall, Tamla Motown label manager at EMI Records, is leaving the British firm to work directly for the Detroit company as its European representative, based in London.
August 2: Associated Press reports that ex-Supreme Florence Ballard is living in seclusion at her Detroit home, and has been told by her attorney that she is “flat broke.”
August 8: The Jackson 5 are introduced to media at The Daisy nightclub in Beverly Hills, at a Motown party hosted by Diana Ross.
August 16: The Jackson 5 open for Diana Ross & the Supremes at the Forum in Inglewood, Los Angeles. Also on the bill: Edwin Starr.
August 16: Berry Gordy becomes the first recipient of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers’ Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership award. It is presented at a NATRA dinner in Washington, D.C. before a 2,000-strong audience from the radio and record industries.
August 18: Motown launches its so-called “underground” label, Rare Earth, with a party at Detroit’s Roostertail nightclub. Rare Earth (the band) and the Rustix play for the guests.
August 19-24: Diana Ross & the Supremes appear at New York’s Westbury Music Fair.
September 24: Chisa Records’ first 45 under a new distribution deal with Motown is released, featuring organist Stu Gardner. The label is owned and operated by trumpeter Hugh Masekela and business partner Stewart Levine.
September 27: Motown sponsors a concert at the Gilroy Stadium in Gary, Indiana, with acts including Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, the Originals, Blinky and the Jackson 5.
October 1: Earlier this year, Motown and EMI Records agree on a renewal of their international licensing deal, including the United Kingdom. The new pact takes effect on this date.
October 4: The Loucye Gordy Wakefield Scholarship (Sterling) Ball is held at Berry Gordy’s Detroit mansion to raise funds for select graduates of the city’s high schools to advance to higher education.
October 18: The Jackson 5 make their national TV debut on The Hollywood Palace. The show is hosted by Diana Ross & the Supremes.
October 19: Harvey Fuqua has “secured a release” from his four-year Motown contract, reports the Herald-Leader of Lexington, Kentucky, and is forming his own music company in Louisville.
November 2: Diana Ross will officially leave the Supremes in January, according to the Detroit Free Press, and the group will continue with Jean Terrell confirmed as the new lead singer.
They say the neon lights are bright…
November 12: Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations are showcased in an NBC-TV special, On Broadway, sponsored by Timex watches. The orchestra is directed by H.B. Barnum.
November 13: In a newspaper interview, Sammy Davis Jr. talks about getting involved with Motown. “It would be advantageous to [Berry Gordy] and to me. Not recording, though. Records are not where it’s at for me.”
November 28: Diana Ross hosts a surprise birthday party for Berry Gordy at his Hollywood home, with Andy Williams, Smokey Robinson, the Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman and Gary, Indiana mayor Gordon Hatcher among the guests. Gordy turns 40.
December 2: Cindy Birdsong is abducted from her Hollywood apartment at knifepoint by Charles Collier, but escapes from his car along the Long Beach Freeway. He later calls the police to confess.
December 17: Stevie Wonder’s My Cherie Amour peaks at No. 17 in the U.K., a higher chart rating than the album achieved at home.
December 21: Diana Ross & the Supremes make a farewell appearance on a special edition of CBS-TV’s The Ed Sullivan Show, entitled “The Swinging, Soulful Sixties.”
December 23: At the Frontier Hotel’s Music Hall in Las Vegas, Diana Ross & the Supremes begin their final concert engagement, running to January 14. Ventriloquist Willie Tyler (& Lester) opens the show.
December 28: The Temptations play Detroit’s Cobo Hall on what is designated “Temptations Day” by the city.
SELECTED SINGLES (by release date)
January 2: Edwin Starr, “Twenty-Five Miles,” Gordy 7083
January 6: Diana Ross & the Supremes, “I’m Livin’ In Shame,” Motown 1139
January 14: Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, “Good Lovin’ Ain’t Easy To Come By,” Tamla 54179
January 20: David Ruffin, “My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me),” Motown 1140
January 21: Soupy Sales, “Muck-Arty-Park,” Motown 1141
January 28: Stevie Wonder, “I Don’t Know Why,” Tamla 54180
January 30: The Temptations, “Run Away Child, Running Wild,” Gordy 7084 (#1 R&B, #6 pop)
February 11: Shorty Long, “I Had A Dream,” Soul 35054
February 13: Gladys Knight & the Pips, “Didn’t You Know (You’d Have To Cry Sometime),” Soul 35057
February 20: Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations, “I’ll Try Something New,” Motown 1142
March 20: Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, “(We’ve Got) Honey Love,” Gordy 7085
March 25: Earl Van Dyke, “Runaway Child, Running Wild,” Soul 35059
March 27: Diana Ross & the Supremes, “The Composer,” Motown 1146
April 2: Marvin Gaye, “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby,” Tamla 541812 (#1 R&B, #4 pop)
April 10: The Four Tops, “What Is A Man,” Motown 1147
April 25: Jr. Walker & the All Stars, “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love),” Soul 35062 (#1 R&B, #4 pop)
May 1: The Isley Brothers, “Just Ain’t Enough Love,” Tamla 54182
May 1: The Temptations, “Don’t Let The Joneses Get You Down,” Gordy 7086
May 6: The Originals, “Green Grow The Lilacs,” Soul 35061
May 9: Diana Ross & the Supremes, “No Matter What Sign You Are,” Motown 1148
May 26: Gladys Knight & the Pips, “The Nitty Gritty,” Soul 35063
May 28: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, “Doggone Right,” Tamla 54183
June 11: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, “Abraham, Martin, And John,” Tamla 54184
July 14: The Pretty Things, “Private Sorrow,” Rare Earth 5005
July 20: Edwin Starr & Blinky, “Oh How Happy,” Gordy 7090
July 30: The Temptations, “I Can’t Get Next To You,” Gordy 7093 (#1 R&B, #1 pop)
August 4: Marvin Gaye, “That’s The Way Love Is,” Tamla 54185
August 8: Chuck Jackson, “Honey Come Back,” Motown 1152
August 12: The Originals, “Baby, I’m For Real,” Soul 35066 (#1 R&B, #14 pop)
September 11: The Easybeats, “St. Louis,” Rare Earth 5009
September 23: The Marvelettes, “That’s How Heartaches Are Made,” Tamla 54186
September 24: Stu Gardner, “Home On The Range,” Chisa 8001
September 30: Stevie Wonder, “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday,” Tamla 54188
October 2: Jr. Walker & the All Stars, “These Eyes,” Soul 35067
October 6: Gladys Knight & the Pips, “Friendship Train,” Soul 35068
October 7: The Jackson 5, “I Want You Back,” Motown 1157 (#1 R&B, #1 pop)
October 14: Diana Ross & the Supremes, “Someday We’ll Be Together,” Motown 1156 (#1 R&B, #1 pop)
October 21: The Spinners, “In My Diary,” V.I.P. 25050
November 10: Rare Earth, “Generation (Light Up The Sky),” Rare Earth 5010
November 18: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, “Point It Out,” Tamla 54189
December 29: The Temptations, “Psychedelic Shack,” Gordy 7096
SELECTED ALBUMS (by release date)
January 1: Jr. Walker & the All Stars, Home Cookin’, Soul 710
January 6: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Live! Tamla 289
January 6: Tammi Terrell, Irresistible, Motown 652
January 6: Various, Winners Circle Vol. 1, Gordy 935
February 17: The Temptations, Cloud Nine, Gordy 939 (#1 R&B, #4 pop)
February 17: The Fantastic Four, The Best Of The Fantastic Four, Soul 717
April 3: Soupy Sales, A Bag Of Soup, Motown 686
April 3: Edwin Starr, 25 Miles, Gordy 940
April 3: The Isley Brothers, Doin’ Their Thing, Tamla 287
April 30: Marvin Gaye, M.P.G., Tamla 292 (#1 R&B, #33 pop)
April 30: Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye & His Girls, Tamla 293
May 26: Diana Ross & the Supremes, Let The Sunshine In, Motown 689
May 26: David Ruffin, My Whole World Ended, Motown 685 (#1 R&B, #31 pop)
May 28: The Four Tops, Four Tops Now! Motown 675
May 28: Chuck Jackson, Goin’ Back To Chuck Jackson, Motown 687
June 29: Red Jones, Red Jones Steeerikes Back, Motown 691
July 10: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Time Out For Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Tamla 295
July 10: Bobby Taylor, Taylor Made Soul, Gordy 942
July 10: The Temptations, The Temptations Show, Gordy 933
July 10: The Originals, Green Grow The Lilacs, Soul 716
July 10: Various, Motortown Revue Live, Motown 688
August: Love Sculpture, Blues Helping, Rare Earth 505
August: Rare Earth, Get Ready, Rare Earth 507
August 29: Stevie Wonder, My Cherie Amour, Tamla 296
September 16: Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, Sugar n’ Spice, Gordy 944
September 16: The Marvelettes, In Full Bloom, Tamla 288
September 16: Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Easy, Tamla 294
September 16: Edwin Starr & Blinky, Just We Two, Gordy 945
September 16: Jonah Jones, A Little Dis, A Little Dat, Motown 690
September 23: Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations, Together, Motown 692
September 23: The Temptations, Puzzle People, Gordy 949 (#1 R&B, #5 pop)
September 25: Gladys Knight & the Pips, Nitty Gritty, Soul 713
November 3: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Four In Blue, Tamla 297
November 3: Diana Ross & the Supremes, Cream Of The Crop, Motown 694
November 3: Shorty Long: The Prime Of Shorty Long, Soul 719
November 3: Chris Clark, CC Rides Again, Weed 801
November 7: Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations, On Broadway, Motown 699
November 14: The Four Tops, Soul Spin, Motown 695
November 14: David Ruffin, Feelin’ Good, Motown 696
November 21: Jr. Walker & the All Stars, What Does It Take To Win Your Love, Soul 721
December 18: The Jackson 5, Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, Motown 700 (#1 R&B, #5 pop)
December 18: Diana Ross & the Supremes, Greatest Hits Volume 3, Motown 702
Police notes: a few weeks after Detroit news reports of gunfire inside Motown’s downtown HQ on February 24, 1969, the company put out a statement. “A sharp crack was heard in a room where ten female employees were doing clerical work,” it explained. “The women scattered, afraid that it might have been a shot.” The statement added that police were called, and “they made an investigation and found a hole in one window – a hole big enough to be made by a ball-bearing, by a BB gun, or a small pebble. The hole was not big enough to be made by a bullet.”
Source notes: given the volume of information offered above, it’s tough to credit all its origins, but there should be special mention of Joel Whitburn’s Billboard chart volumes, Laurent Bendele’s Go For Your Dreams website, and Terry Wilson’s 2009 book, Tamla Motown. Not to mention the Detroit Free Press and other newspapers. Thank you, all.