A Motown Timeline: 1960
DESTINED TO TAKE ITS PLACE, WITH A ‘YOUNG, DRIVING’ GENIUS
Many a start-up finds the second year in business tougher than the first – but for Berry Gordy, 1960 delivered fresh momentum for his modest but talented roster of singers, musicians and songwriters.
In particular, his decision in ’59 to sign Marv Johnson to United Artists Records after the release of Tamla 101 (Johnson’s “Come To Me”) proved to be prudent. By April the following year, UA had turned two Johnson titles, “You Got What It Takes” and “I Love The Way You Love,” into Top 10 pop hits, while another Gordy co-write – Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want),” on Chess-distributed Anna Records – almost ruled the R&B roost.
There was income arriving from elsewhere, too: yet another song co-authored by Gordy, “All I Could Do Was Cry,” was granting Etta James her first pop chart presence for Chess.
For ‘Lonely Teardrops,’ Berry Gordy is honoured
Still, this was a challenging time in the music business. The payola scandal was unfolding, and early in 1960, America’s Federal Trade Commission was cracking down on labels and distributors, seeking to outlaw record promotion done with undercover payments to disc jockeys in radio and TV. Among the targeted companies at that point were Atlantic, Roulette, Laurie and Fury.
Racism and segregation were further obstacles for the likes of Motown, as they sought to cross R&B-rooted repertoire and black artists into the mainstream. For instance, when Barrett Strong was on a 1960 package tour with Sam Cooke, the Drifters and Dee Clark, the show was booked to play in Birmingham, Alabama – with separate performances for white and black audiences.
In Detroit, Gordy’s earlier success as a songwriter for Jackie Wilson meant that his start-up swiftly became a talent magnet. Youngsters such as Mary Wells and the Primettes sought attention and opportunities there, while experienced showbiz types such as Harvey Fuqua did the same. The Motown magnet worked behind the scenes, too, drawing in youngsters like the Andantes and Billie Jean Brown, as well as industry-savvy musicians like Joe Hunter and Maurice King.
Brown, to cite just one example, came to the company when Gordy needed press releases written, and asked Cass Tech – at an unrecorded date in 1960 – to send over some prospects. At the time, Brown was editing the school paper, as she later recalled (for Don Waller’s The Motown Story) in a rare interview, and was chosen to help. Soon enough, after graduating, she joined the firm full-time, and worked her opinionated way into so-called “quality control,” eventually overseeing the weekly process by which Motown’s new music was internally evaluated and picked for release.
Another of 1960’s tough-to-locate dates? Exactly when Berry Gordy and Raynoma Liles, his second wife, got married in Toledo, Ohio. It’s not specified in either of the pair’s autobiographies. However, according to Ohio state records, the occasion (complete with drama and dissonance) appears to have taken place on July 26 (see below in Comments). Fortunately, both of them agree that it was Robert Bateman who drove them there and back – both times.
The year also offers other mysteries. The much-told tale of Marvin Gaye’s arrival at Motown focuses on his appearance at its 1960 Christmas party, where – at Gwen Gordy’s insistence – Berry heard the singer for the first time, and was impressed by his style (“pure, mellow, soulful and honest”). However, legal paperwork reveals that Gaye signed a partially-executed contract that year on September 19. Go figure.
From Tamla to Anna to the Hot 100
For their part, the Temptations didn’t officially join the Motown roster until May 1961, but Gordy first saw the Distants the previous autumn, at least according to the latter’s founder, Otis Williams. When the Distants subsequently merged with the Primes, the Temptations took shape.
In broader terms, 13 singles (including four second attempts) were released on the Tamla and Motown labels during 1960. The firm’s founder co-wrote nine of those topsides, six with Smokey Robinson. Gordy also produced seven of them. By mid-year, his confidence was growing, so much so that he bought a half-page, trade-press ad to promote the Miracles’ “Way Over There.”
Gordy designed the advertisement himself, as he admitted in To Be Loved, and wrote the copy. “From out of the Midwest comes a new label destined to take its place among the leaders of the industry,” it boldly declared, adding that Tamla was “prexied by one of the young, driving geniuses of the music business today.” Sister Esther thought it sounded arrogant; her brother was not deterred.
Yet “Way Over There” did not deliver the breakthrough of Gordy’s hopes. That came towards the end of 1960 with the Miracles’ second version (see Comments below) of “Shop Around.” Shipped to stores in October, the single swept to the top of the R&B charts – and No. 2 pop – early the following year. During the annual Rod-O-Rama car show at the Michigan state fairgrounds in February ‘61, where the Miracles were performing, Berry Gordy proudly presented the group with a gold disc for sales of one million. But that’s for another timeline…
Now, to the detail. Below is the tale of 1960, subjective rather than exhaustive, to convey its flavour at the hands of Motown’s music makers and backroom believers. It’s divided into two sections: the first, a chronological rundown of significant dates during those 12 months, followed by examples of the year’s notable single releases (the company issued no albums until ’61). The company’s first Billboard chart-topper is shown in bold-face italics.
MOTOWN 1960
January 13: Marv Johnson records “I Love The Way You Love,” co-written and produced by Berry Gordy. It’s issued by United Artists five days later. His first album comes out in the same month.
January 13: Harvey Fuqua’s Moonglows (including Marvin Gaye) play the first of five nights at the Twenty Grand in Detroit.
February 1: Barrett Strong turns 19. Four days later, his “Money (That’s What I Want)” starts to climb the charts.
February 8: Released six months earlier, Marv Johnson’s “You Got What It Takes” reaches its No. 10 peak on the Billboard Hot 100. In Britain, it tops out at No. 7 in March.
February 9: At New York’s Pierre Hotel, performing rights society BMI honours its songwriters’ hits of 1959. Among them: Jackie Wilson’s “Lonely Teardrops,” and the singer himself is on hand.
February 26: “You Got What It Takes” peaks at No. 9 in Australia, becoming Marv Johnson’s first and biggest hit Down Under. He tours the country later in the year.
April: Stepp Records of Detroit releases “Hurry Up And Marry Me” by Herman Griffin and the Mello-Dees, written and produced by soon-to-be Motown A&R head, Mickey Stevenson. Griffin goes on to record for Hitsville.
April 1: Decca Records’ U.K. subsidiary label, London-American, issues Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want).” The song is later recorded by the Beatles.
April 4: “Money (That’s What I Want)” ascends to No. 2 on the Billboard R&B Top 30, then peaks at No. 23 on the pop charts two weeks later. On the Cash Box Top 100, Barrett Strong’s hit reaches No. 14.
April 11: Marv Johnson’s “I Love The Way You Love” hits its No. 9 peak on the Billboard Hot 100, as United Artists prepares to ship his first EP for the label.
April 14: Berry Gordy officially incorporates his various business as Motown Record Corp.
April 17: Barrett Strong performs at the Birmingham Auditorium, Alabama, on a bill headlined by Sam Cooke. The shows are advertised as 3pm for white audiences, 8:30pm for “colored.”
May 2: Wyatt “Big Boy” Shepherd’s “Need Your Lovin’,” written by Berry Gordy and released by United Artists, is reviewed in Billboard. It’s a “gospel-flavored ditty,” but does not chart.
Marv Johnson has what it takes
May 7: Marv Johnson is featured on the cover of Cash Box, atop the “proverbial success ladder,” with Berry Gordy and UA label executives at his feet.
May 9: Marv Johnson plays the Capitol Theatre in Perth, the opening date of his Australian tour. He’s on a package with the Everly Brothers, Bobby Rydell and the Crickets, promoted by Lee Gordon.
May 15: The Miracles’ “Way Over There” is a Top 10 hit at WOOK-AM in Washington, D.C. and neighbouring stations, but the record fails to make the national charts.
June 4: “A tender romancer” is the Cash Box verdict of MJC Records’ release of “You’ll Find Love,” sung by future Motown producer Hal Davis.
July 4: The Primettes – Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, Betty McGlown – win an amateur talent show during the International Freedom Festival held in Windsor, Ontario during Emancipation Day celebrations.
July 8: Mary Wells signs a recording contract with Motown; she is 17, so her mother co-signs.
July 10: Etta James’ “All I Could Do Was Cry,” written by Billy Davis and Berry and Gwen Gordy, peaks at No. 2 on the Billboard R&B charts.
July 18: Berry Gordy promotes the Miracles’ “Way Over There” with a trade press advert in Cash Box and, a week later, Music Vendor. “A record soon to be numbered among [Gordy’s] greatest successes,” it adds.
July 23: The Miracles sell out shows at Cincinnati’s Regal Theater and reportedly break attendance records.
July 26: Berry Gordy and Raynoma Liles are married in Toledo, Ohio. Both have been married before.
July 29: The Miracles begin a seven-night stint at the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. “This Detroit-originated quintet created more talk among teenage theatregoers than any heard in recent years,” notes the St. Louis Argus.
August 1: Of the Four Tops’ Columbia debut, “Ain’t It Love,” Cash Box reports: “R&B-flavored team bows on the label with a happy-beat blueser.”
August 6: Al Abrams’ appointment as director of advertising and PR at the Tamla and Motown labels is reported in the trades. He was national promotion director for Jobete Music.
September 19: Newly under contract to Motown on this date is Marvin Gaye.
September 30: Arthur Braggs’ 1961 Idlewild Revue (“direct from Detroit”) opens for a week at Montreal’s Black Orchid Casino, with the Four Tops among the acts performing.
October 3: Billboard notes that “well-known cleffer” Berry Gordy Jr. is expanding his label business, adding field promotion staff and appointing his sister, Loucye Wakefield, as acting sales chief.
October 3: Mary Wells’ “Bye Bye Baby” gets early airplay at WQTE Monroe, just outside Detroit – where Berry Gordy and Barney Ales met for the first time earlier in the year while visiting station DJ Tom Clay.
October 7: Jackie Wilson opens a week’s booking at Detroit’s Flame Show Bar. Also on the bill is Dinah Washington protégé Dolores Coleman, who later records (briefly) for Motown.
October 16: The Primettes cut “Who’s Lovin’ You” during their first recording session at Motown, having previously auditioned there. The group signs to the company in January 1961.
November 10: Barrett Strong is on the bill with Bo Diddley and Maurice Williams, among others, at the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C.
November 20: Singin’ Sammy Ward and Sherri Taylor appear at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis as their Motown single, “Oh Lover,” hits the stores.
December: Martha Reeves and future Vandellas Annette Beard and Rosalind Ashford sing backup on J.J. Barnes’ “Won’t You Let Me Know,” issued this month on the Kable label.
December 5: Billboard reports that Barney Ales has left Detroit’s Aurora Distributing. In 1961, he accepts Berry Gordy’s job offer to head Motown’s sales department.
December 12: The Miracles’ “Shop Around” makes its Hot 100 debut.
December 15: The Primettes record “I Want A Guy” at Hitsville U.S.A.
December 22: Berry Gordy receives what may be his company’s first press coverage beyond Detroit in the St. Louis American, with a modest profile of “his twin labels,” Tamla and Motown.
December 27: The Miracles perform “Shop Around” on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.
December 31: “Shop Around” reaches its No. 2 peak on Billboard’s Hot R&B Sides, held from the summit by Jerry Butler’s “He Will Break Your Heart.”
SELECTED SINGLES (by release date)
January 18: Marv Johnson, “I Love The Way You Love,” United Artists 208
February 1: Eddie Holland, “Magic Mirror,” United Artists 207
March 4: The Miracles, “Way Over There,” Tamla 54028
April: The Satintones, “My Beloved,” Motown 1000
April: Eugene Remus, “You Never Miss A Good Thing,” Motown 1001
July 6: Barrett Strong, “Yes, No, Maybe So,” Tamla 54029
July 25: Marv Johnson, “(You’ve Got To) Move Two Mountains,” United Artists 241
August: Popcorn & the Mohawks, “Custer’s Last Man,” Motown 1002
August 26: Mable John, “Who Wouldn’t Love A Man Like That,” Tamla 54031
August 31: Barrett Strong, “Whirlwind,” Tamla 54033
September: Mary Wells, “Bye Bye Baby,” Motown 1003
September 19: Singin’ Sammy Ward, “What Makes You Love Him,” Tamla 54030
September 23: Sherri Taylor & Singin’ Sammy Ward, “Oh Lover,” Motown 1004
October 10: Herman Griffin, “True Love,” Tamla 54032
October 15: The Miracles, “Shop Around,” Tamla 54034 (#1 R&B, #2 pop)
Music notes: 1960 was too intriguing a period not to offer a WGB playlist, so here it is. Most of the titles cited above appeared on Universal Music’s essential The Complete Motown Singles series of CDs, while long-gone EMI Records issued a welcome compilation, The Best of Marv Johnson, in 1992. Various public-domain CDs for the period have been issued, too, if you must.
Notes of gratitude: Motown’s second year was barely tracked or documented publicly at the time, beyond the trade press. Even there, it was modest. So the help for WGB in verifying obscure facts is appreciated (thank you, David Kent, Ken Barnes, Nick Soule). Similarly, if you see important omissions or errors, please get in touch, or comment below.