Old Motown Records and 45's

**filup** · June-30-09, 02:24 PM

Hi,

First time poster, long-time viewer. You guys are a cool bunch of folks!

Having a pretty strong penchant for old Motown and Soul stuff, I am kind of embarking on a new project to discover some Detroit-based artists from the Motown era that have kind of slipped through the cracks over the years-- the ones that maybe weren't the biggest Berry Gordy-signed hit, but certainly had a lot of kick in their sound. The artists that had a lot going on, but not necessarily everyone knew about.

So I am just wondering if anyone has some artists or groups they know of that I could go start digging for at the record store. Thanks for all the help.

**Bobl** · June-30-09, 02:39 PM

Welcome, filup:

Your first assignment is to check out Bettye LaVette perform this Saturday at the CityFest [[formerly Tastefest).
One of Michigan's best kept secrets for years, she is finally getting her much deserved praise.

You might also be interested in the history and music of Fortune Records, another Detroit record company that predated Motown.

**d'oh** · June-30-09, 03:01 PM

Lee Rogers- anything..
Nolan Strong- anything, especially "Mind Over Matter"
Silky Hargreaves- "Hurt by Love"
Timmy Shaw- "Gonna Send You Back to Georgia" [[greatest Detroit R&B record ever??)

**Gary** · June-30-09, 03:34 PM

filup...Are you familiar with Frances Nero? She did some fantastic work at Motown. Check her out.

**jiminnm** · June-30-09, 03:43 PM

Check out this site: http://soulfuldetroit.com/

You'll get a lot of info from some very knowledgeable folks.

**buildingsofdetroit** · June-30-09, 05:03 PM

J.J. Barnes. Best single in my opinion: "Chains of Love" on Groovesville.
People's Records on Woodward is the place to go.

**filup** · June-30-09, 05:08 PM

this is all great info. much appreciated. keep it coming!

that soulfuldetroit site i had never heard of!

**Dustin89** · June-30-09, 09:16 PM

In addition to People's Records, check out Street Corner Music. They used to be at 13 & Southfield in Beverly Hills, but they are moving this week to 10.5 and Greenfield. The website is streetcornermusic.com. If I think of any other area record stores that have a good selection of Motown/soul vinyl, I'll post again. ~Dustin

**douglasm** · July-01-09, 06:02 AM

Go over to Soulful Detrot [[link on left) and check out the tours. They should answer a lot of questions for you. Click on the Motown 50 icon on the top left of the page to get to the tour menu.

**FlyingJ** · July-01-09, 12:18 PM

filup, are you from England? finding obscure/misfired Motown[[& elsewhere) acts & making them your own hits was the cornerstone of the British Mod scene's "Northern Soul" sound from the 1960's, whereas they would get extensive airplay in the beach clubs & often the original artists back in the D still @ their workaday jobs would be flummoxed, then delighted, by the reception;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_soul

**filup** · July-01-09, 03:05 PM

hah, no not from england-- ferndale to be exact. just looking for some leads on new stuff to listen to. thanks for any insight.

**MickeyMac** · July-02-09, 02:57 PM

The lesser known Motown is so worth checking out

The Funk Brothers
Chris Clark
Barrett Strong
The Elgins
The Contours
The Marvelettes [[they never get their due)

Other stuff:
as mentioned Fortune Records is amazing. Get any 45 you can from that label especially if its Nolan Strong
The Golden World/Ric Tic made some great stuff too
Anything from J.J. Barnes
For some kickass blue eyed soul not done by Mitch Ryder, dig the Sunliners

If you can find them singles from the Big Mack label are worth hearing too.

**Fury13** · July-02-09, 03:16 PM

Fortune Records fanatic here... as said, check out Nolan Strong & the Diablos, Nathaniel Mayer, Andre Williams, the Five Dollars, Joe Weaver, etc. There was also some great Fortune rockabilly, hillbilly, gospel, etc. They recorded all kinds of music. The bulk of Fortune's creative output was pre-1965. Don't expect slick production values... the Fortune sound is raw and gritty.

Also give a listen to anything on the Johnnie Mae Matthews labels like Northern and Audrey, and on the Mike Hanks labels like MAH's and D-Town.

**sherryrazor** · July-04-09, 11:07 AM

Detroit vocal group, The Dynamics - "Misery" - 1963 on Big Top Records

The record is one of those great mixtures of R&B/rock/soul that was so prevalent in the early 60’s. The song starts out with a slightly menacing bass/drums/guitar backing, the lead vocal drops in as normal as can be - before suddenly changing to a falsetto and being joined by the other singers – at which point the drummer kicks things up a notch. After the second verse there’s a cool sax solo, and then the group comes back for more. "Misery" was covered [[plagiarized) by the Who [[known back in the day as the High Numbers) and re-titled as Zoot Suit.

Also, are you familiar with Deon Jackson, out of Ann Arbor? After a couple of regional hits, he hit big on the charts with 1965's "Love Makes the World Go Round" on Carla Records.

**filup** · July-08-09, 09:38 PM

all great stuff, thanks to everyone. realy appreciate it. i need to get busy at the record store now.

all this talk about fortune records is really getting me going. i have got to get my hands on some of that old rockabilly stuff.

again, thanks.

**Bobl** · July-08-09, 09:54 PM

filup:
An anecdote from another thread:
"...Fortune Records was located in the 3900 block of Third. They are worth investigating at the Soulful Detroit website, or other online sources.

When I first moved to the Cass Corridor after graduating from high school, I stumbled upon this great place while walking past. Some extra special music was being played inside, and their was a seedy bar nearby. I got quite an education that day when I ducked inside the bar.....my introduction to true blues music!.."

A local musician, Johnnie Bassett, could tell you stories about Fortune Records. He plays around here quite a bit. Catch his act!

**Fury13** · July-09-09, 12:09 PM

Originally Posted by Bobl

filup:
An anecdote from another thread:
"...Fortune Records was located in the 3900 block of Third. They are worth investigating at the Soulful Detroit website, or other online sources.

It was at 3942 Third, which is a vacant [[20 X150) lot now. Fortune moved there in fall 1956 and vacated the building in 1995 or so. It was torn down in October 2001.

**filup** · August-01-09, 11:01 PM

been using the advice a ton... thanks.

some favorites so far:

dee edwards - why cant this be love
the elgins - heaven must have sent you
chris clark - love's gone bad
masterpiece - love affair

any others that come to mind other than is suggested above?

anybody know who the song and artist is on the first song playing in this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcIrEMZSoPw

many thanks

**Kelton** · August-02-09, 04:31 PM

That first song is Anyway You Wanna by Harvey Fuqua.

There's no better source for getting your questions answered than the Soulful Detroit site.

**Kelton** · August-02-09, 04:36 PM

Oops, forgot to add this link for you -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu-LzmHrrHU

If I can find my link for the site that has great full discography information on tons of artists, I'll come back and post it. You can then go sample on YouTube.

**Kelton** · August-04-09, 08:05 AM

Here are a few sites for you. The first one includes many Detroit labels besides the Motown group of labels.

Searbear Studios -
http://www.seabear.se/detroit1.htm

Don't Forget The Motor City -
http://www.dftmc.info/

Both are fantastic sites. I hope you enjoy them and find some useful information to help you with your search.

Fortune Records info. -
http://www.lexjansen.com/fortune/fortune_article.pdf

and source of song titles of records you might want to track down -
http://www.lexjansen.com/fortune/covers.htm

The Soulful Detoit Forum had an extensive archives where you can search through all the old threads -.
http://www.soulfuldetroit.com/archives/

and on that page you will also see all the "Webisodes" of stories such as Fortune Records, Golden World Records.

Links listed on Soulful Detroit - great information -
http://soulfuldetroit.com/links.htm

Kelton

**mallory** · August-05-09, 07:53 AM

Can't remember the exact title of them, but Motown has been issuing the complete 45's series of cd's for the past several years. Every single, both a- and b-side, that was released on Motown and its subsidiary labels. The first one, 1959 - 1961, is a goldmine for what you are looking for. Most of the recordings on that collection are from people you've probably never heard of. I have them all and it has replaced lots of the other Motown stuff that I used to listen to.

**Gary** · August-05-09, 08:23 AM

mallory...you're thinking of The Complete Motown Singles.

**Bobl** · August-08-09, 11:08 PM

I did not know that there is a Fortune Records My Space page:

www.myspace.com/fortunerecordsdetroit

**SamanthaZ** · August-18-09, 09:52 AM

I'm a huge Smokey Robinson fan, and I wanted to talk about his new album that's coming out later this month. Its called Time Flies When Youâ€™re Having Fun, and I just found out about it at http://www.billboard.com/#/features/...04003693.story. Thereâ€™s also a video of Smokey performing Norah Jonesâ€™ â€œDonâ€™t Know Why.â€ Heâ€™s still as soulful and amazing as ever!