Motown, Redux

A couple of weeks ago I noted my admiration, to this day, of the music that came out of Motown.  I was reminded of that several times this week.

Listening to, esp the Smokey, I again realized how great the Motown Sound was.  (Of course, there were several labels, Motown, Gordy, Tamla--whose name somewhat oddly came from Debbie Reynolds singing "Tammy's in Love" from that movie--and others, such as Chess.)  The Motown Sound included great voices--Smokey, Levi, Diana, Marvin, several of the Temptations, Martha of the Umbrellas, and more.  But the music can stand on its own.  It's not just the singer or singers who make the music so great, but the band(s), too.  In the '60s, Choker Campbell and Earl Van Dyke, whose bands played the music for Motown in the studio and at concerts, released instrumental versions of Motowns hits.  They, without the words, were well worth listening to, as I did for hours and hours.

I think most, likely most of most, of the singers of "rock and roll" can't carry a tune and that it's the bands (well, some of them) that make the sound.  I can't imagine where Springsteen would have been without the E Street Band or Madonna without whoever was playing for her.  But my guess is not at the top of the charts.

One of my college classmates noted taking a date to a Wilson Pickett concert in Hartford, CT.  He noted something about being "the only whites in the crowd," but never felt threatened.  Of course not.  It reminded me of the Motortown (the original name, not Motown at first) Revues.  Taking dates there, we, too, were "the only whites" at the Fox Theater, next to Louis the Hatter (on 1440 WCHB, "Soul Radio," were the Hatter's commercials, "Does Louis the Hatter have hats??????") an we never felt threated.  There were shows in the late AM, mid-afternoon, and evening--and we often attended multiple shows in a day.

It never fails.  No matter when or where I listen to my Motown music, I start to feel a whole lot better and happier.