The "Motown Sound" is what made the music appealing. This was a unique combination of tambourines to accent the back beat, prominent and melodic electric bass lines, distinctive chord structures and a call and response singing style that had its origins in gospel music. Add to this the use of orchestral string sections, bluesy horns, and carefully arranged background vocals and the recipe was complete.
Gordy also surrounded himself with some of the best songwriters and producers in music at the time, including the songwriting trio of Holland-Dozier-Holland (brothers Brian and Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier), Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Frank Wilson and many others.
The Motown Sound also had a profound influence on other musicians of the time including Dusty Springfield and the Foundations, among others. In the UK, the Motown Sound was the basis of the "Northern Soul" phenomenon.
Adding to Motown's worldwide appeal was Gordy's practice of using a group of select studio musicians, collectively known as the "Funk Brothers," who would record the instrumental tracks for the songs. Included in this ensemble were keyboard players, Earl Van Dyke, Johnny Griffith, and Joe Hunter, guitarists Joe Messina, Robert White, and Eddie Willis, percussionists Eddie "Bongo" Brown and Jack Ashford, drummers Benny Benjamin, Uriel Jones, and Richard "Pistol" Allen and the bass playing of James Jamerson and Bob Babbitt. Much of the Motown Sound was made by the use of over dubbing instrumentation and the use of two drummers to go along with three or four guitar lines.
Gordy was also a master marketer, his acts were well-groomed, well-dressed and their appearances were expertly choreographed. Gordy's reasoning was that Motown artists were ambassadors for other African-American artists who sought broad market appeal and thought that they should act accordingly.
By 1969, Motown began its gradual move from Detroit to Los Angles, with its main objective to branch out into the television and motion picture industries. Gordy formed Motown Productions which provided some very memorable TV specials including TCB with Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations, Diana! (with Diana Ross) as well as "Goin' Back to Indiana," with the Jackson 5. Additionally, after the loss of the songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland (who left because of royalty payment disputes); the company loosened its productions rules allowing some of the longtime acts the opportunity to write and produce their own material. The result was the release of some classic albums such as Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (1971), and Let's Get It On (1973) and three fantastic LP's from Stevie Wonder, Music Of My Mind in 1971, Talking Book in 1972 and Innervisions in 1973.
Article comments
1 - Christine
I love Motown, the best music ever!!
2 - Nick
That amazing Motown sound will live on forever. Is it possible to gauge the influence Gordy had?
3 - tink
Barry Gordy is an amazing man who rarely missed his mark. The fact that Motown's music throughout the years has remained exciting and captivating proves that point.
Great article!
4 - Phillip L Fletcher
the Sound of Young America - words can't describe the impact Motown has had not only on the American cultural and social scene - but equally its impact globally has been nothing short of phenomenal.
Phillip L Fletcher