A History of Hitsville U.S.A.
August 18, 2015 7:29 AM Subscribe
I'm about to finish Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era, which is a history of the songwriters and musicians who invented the classic "Brill Building Sound." What's the best book to read about Motown Records?
It'd love if it was a history that does a good job explaining what else was going on in the world/popular music/civil rights/politics/etc when a particular hit song was released.
I'd like it to focus on the stories of the songwriters, producers, and musicians more than label heads and "well then we sold the label to these people, then it changed names, then blah blah blah" boring internal machinations.
I'd prefer to avoid memoirs from a single artist about their time working with Motown, unless it truly is the expansive overview/history I'm looking for.
It'd love if it was a history that does a good job explaining what else was going on in the world/popular music/civil rights/politics/etc when a particular hit song was released.
I'd like it to focus on the stories of the songwriters, producers, and musicians more than label heads and "well then we sold the label to these people, then it changed names, then blah blah blah" boring internal machinations.
I'd prefer to avoid memoirs from a single artist about their time working with Motown, unless it truly is the expansive overview/history I'm looking for.
Card Cheat has got it in one. Fun followup: Soulsville, USA, which is the story of Stax Records.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:42 AM on August 18, 2015
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:42 AM on August 18, 2015
Yay! New books to read! Thank you for posting this.
It's a movie, not a book, so it's not quite what you are looking for, but Standing In The Shadows Of Motown is a great documentary on the history of Motown. There's footage of the surviving members of the Funk Brothers performing with a collection of lead singers, and you can clearly hear where the Motown sound came from. I highly recommend it.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 11:07 AM on August 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's a movie, not a book, so it's not quite what you are looking for, but Standing In The Shadows Of Motown is a great documentary on the history of Motown. There's footage of the surviving members of the Funk Brothers performing with a collection of lead singers, and you can clearly hear where the Motown sound came from. I highly recommend it.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 11:07 AM on August 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
There is also a book with that title. It's about James Jamerson, and, although most of it is devoted to transcriptions of his bass lines, there is a long written introduction that would be of interest to the completeist.
posted by thelonius at 11:35 AM on August 18, 2015
posted by thelonius at 11:35 AM on August 18, 2015
Response by poster: I went ahead and ordered Dancing In The Street: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit. Thanks, Card Cheat! tallmiddleagedgeek, I'll keep an eye out for that documentary!
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:51 PM on August 18, 2015
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:51 PM on August 18, 2015
Sound Opinions has done some good shows on things like Motown, Muscle Shoals, Chess, etc. fwiw.
posted by persona au gratin at 2:16 AM on August 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by persona au gratin at 2:16 AM on August 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Nthing the recommendation of 'Standing in the Shadowns of Motown' -- there are a good many excerpts from the DVD on You Tube that you can view for free. Here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pynm-qfhhIA. There's lots more! You'll love it!
posted by gilast at 10:31 PM on August 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by gilast at 10:31 PM on August 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
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Ready For A Brand New Beat: How "Dancing in the Street" Became the Anthem for a Changing America
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:59 AM on August 18, 2015