Not long ago I looked up the biographies of all kinds of people who worked with Motown in the ’60s — stars (Diana Ross, Mary Wells, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye), members of vocal groups (the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Marvelettes), songwriters (Lamont Dozier, Brian and Eddie Holland), and sidemen (James Jamerson). I wanted to know where all these people lived when Motown found them, and thought that I could guess the answer.
And my hunch was right. Almost everybody lived in Detroit, where Motown was located. Most were born there, or nearby; the rest moved there, many when they were children. Which means that Motown found people who became some of the greatest names in pop music — people who created new styles of singing and songwriting, people who jumped to the top of the pop charts, people who invented new ways to use recording studios, people (thinking now of James Jamerson) who invented new kinds of instrumental playing — right in its backyard.
So maybe Detroit was exceptional. But I don’t think it was. I think the same thing could have happened in just about any other large American city, if those cities had had record companies even half as sharp as Motown. After all, Stax Records recruited world-class talent right at home in Memphis, and in the 1950s, doowop groups sprung up everywhere.
This makes me happy. Isn’t it wonderful to realize just how much musical talent there is in our world?
So, your saying most people sleep-walk through life? Nothing new here. As Ronald Reagan prooved, and the current leadership of this land prooves, the unexamined life is not only livable, but probably preferable.
I just realized that this comment belongs in the next entry. The one dealing with attention spans. sorry!
Detroit may have been exceptional to some extent. Can’t provide hard analysis, but lots of prominent jazz musicians came out of Detroit in (roughly) the 1950s: the Jones brothers (Hank, Thad, Elvin), Kenny Burrell, Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris, Donald Byrd, Yusef Lateef, Charles McPherson, Pepper Adams, Doug Watkins, among many others. I’ve read that there were some good school music programs (eg Cass Tech HS), but don’t know how important they were.
I half-agree and half-disagree with your above discussion. I agree that there is a great deal of musical talent all over the world, but I disagree with your statement that “the same thing could have happened in just about any other large American city”. The culture of Detroit encouraged the musicians to grow. You are right when you say that there were strong music programs in the schools. The programs were much stronger than most cities, both during school time and in afterschool sessions, and summer sessions as well. The music was the solution many people used to encourage the children to stay out of drugs and off the streets.
Many of the radio stations were considered ‘free’ as well, allowing for a diversity in music that was also not found in many cities. This combination resulted in their being a strong level of music appreciation.
I realise that some cities like Memphis also had a strong musical influence, but I don’t believe that every city followed the same path, which makes me think that not every city could have produced the vast number of musicians that Detroit has managed to produce. Motown, Rock, Jazz, Techno, and House, all impressive.
It’s unfortunate that things have recently changed. The ‘free’ radio stations are now being overtaken by larger corporations intent on playing standardised formats. Bush’s new initiatives in schools have also forced the schools to change the way they functioned all these years. Now that Detroit is abiding by all of Bush’s fabulous new school policies, the children are losing their appreciation of the music, and the crime is rising again. Its a shame. Luckily the current mayor of Detroit has a strong vision and will hopefully be able to guide the city and overcome the current set-backs.