LIFE Motown
LIFE: Motown: The Music That Changed America
Changing the Nation One Song at a Time • BY AIMING TO SELL MUSIC TO THE WIDEST AUDIENCE POSSIBLE, MOTOWN ACHIEVED WHAT CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS WERE MARCHING FOR IN THE STREETS: THE RECORD COMPANY BROKE DOWN BARRIERS AND BROUGHT BLACKS AND WHITES TOGETHER.
Candid Motown: Inside the Family • WHEN THE LABEL’S YOUNG ACTS WEREN’T ONSTAGE OR BACKSTAGE, THEY WERE ENOYING THEIR RISING FAME AND CREATING LASTING BONDS.
The Early Days of Hitsville U.S.A • AS A START-UP, MOTOWN WASLASER-FOCUSED ON SUCCESS, THANKS TO FOUNDER BERRY GORDY JR. TAKING HIS CUES FROM THE AUTO-INDUSTRY ASSEMBLY LINE, THE DETROIT NATIVE CREATED A SOUND FACTORY THAT CRANKED OUT HITS LIKE FORD PRODUCED SEDANS.
The Funk Brothers’ House Music • THIS ROTATING CAST OF STUDIO MUSICIANS WERE LITTLE KNOWN OUTSIDE MOTOWN, BUT THEIR TALENT SHAPED THE LABEL’S DISTINCTIVE SOUND.
They Wrote the Songs: Holland-Dozier-Holland • LAMONT DOZIER AND BROTHERS EDDIE AND BRIAN HOLLAND TEAMED UP TO INCREASE THEIR SONGWRITING OUTPUT BUT ENDED UP CREATING THE SOUND THAT DEFINED MOTOWN.
The Sound of Young America • WITH A TALENT ROSTER THAT INCLUDED SMOKEY ROBINSON, THE TEMPTATIONS, DIANA ROSS, AND MARVIN GAYE, MOTOWN TURNED DRIVING BASS LINES AND GOSPEL-INSPIRED HARMONIES INTO CASH-REGISTER GOLD. THEN CAME THE EGO TRIPS.
Maxine Powell: Motown’s Miss Manners • THE OWNER OF A DETROIT MODELING STUDIO TAUGHT THE LABEL’S PERFORMERS HOW TO TALK, WALK, AND CURTSY FOR THE QUEEN.
The Top 10 Motown Albums • FROM AN EXTRAORDINARY CANON, SOME LP’S STAND OUT FOR BOTH ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT AND MUSICAL INFLUENCE.
Motown’s New Tune • EVEN AS BERRY GORDY FOUGHT TO STAY TRUE TO MOTOWN’S ROOTS, THE LABEL MOVED PHYSICALLY, TO LOS ANGELES, AND PHILOSOPHICALLY, BY EMBRACING EDGIER, MORE POLITICAL MATERIAL THAT ECHOED THE RHETORIC OF THE NATION’S PROTEST MOVEMENTS.
Smokey Robinson: That ’70s Era • THE COUNTRY WAS CHANGING AND SO WAS MOTOWN. THE MIRACLES FRONT MAN DISCUSSES ALL WITH LIFE.
LIFE: Motown Photo Credits
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