I’m afraid that this episode is another case where I have to point you to the disclaimer I did in the early weeks of the show. When he first got into the music industry, it was as a songwriter, and today we’re going to look at his early songwriting career.īut we’re also going to look at a performer who was massively important in his own right, and who was one of the most exciting performers ever to take to the stage - someone who inspired Elvis, Michael Jackson, and James Brown, and who provides one of the key links between fifties R&B and sixties soul: Gordy didn’t start out, though, as a record executive. There are very few people in the world who can be said to have created an entire genre of music, and even fewer who were primarily record company owners rather than musicians, but Berry Gordy Jr was one of them. Today, we’re going to have a look at one of the most important people in the history of popular music, and someone we’ll be seeing a lot more of as the series goes on. This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. There are dozens of compilations of Wilson’s fifties material, as it’s in the public domain, but for around the same price as those you can get this three-CD set which also has his later hits on, so that’s probably the place to start when investigating Wilson’s music. And Jackie Wilson: Lonely Teardrops by Tony Douglas is the closest thing out there to a definitive biography. To Be Loved by Berry Gordy is Gordy’s own, understandably one-sided, but relatively well-written, autobiography. Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound by Nelson George is an excellent history of the various companies that became Motown. I used three main books to put together the narrative for this one. Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on “Get a Job” by the Silhouettes.Īs always, I’ve created a Mixcloud streaming playlist with full versions of all the songs in the episode. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Download file | Play in new window | Recorded on January 6, 2020Įpisode sixty-four of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Reet Petite” by Jackie Wilson, and features talent contests with too much talent, the prehistory of Motown, a song banned by the BBC, and a possible Mafia hit.
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