1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:18,639 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 1: the rise of Motown Records are insane. The record label's founder, 3 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: Barry Gordy, was once a pimp, Star singer Martha Reeves 4 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: was once held at gunpoint. Star singing group the Four 5 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: Tops patrolled the stage of their concerts, and the Jim 6 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: Crow South with loaded pistols for protection, and the record 7 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: label's success was believed by many to be a direct 8 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: result of an illicit partnership with the Motor City Mafia. 9 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: Motown Records is, by any measure, one of the most 10 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: successful music industry endeavors of all time, and was undoubtedly one, 11 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: if not the most successful black owned music business of 12 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: its day. The music and the megastars. Motown produced Smokey Robinson, 13 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: Diana Ross, Stevie Want during the Jackson Five defined a generation. 14 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: Their impact remains tattooed unto the skin of both black 15 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: and white America, where it lives on, beloved by men 16 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: and women of all ages from all backgrounds. To this day. 17 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: You cannot think of the nineteen sixties without hearing an 18 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: indelible Motown song swinging in the background. But that success 19 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: story is marred by rumors, rumors at the record label 20 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: and its innovative owner were controlled by the quote unquote 21 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,480 Speaker 1: black hand of the white American mob, rumors that to 22 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: this day still circulate despite claims to the contrary by 23 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: Motown alone, Mafia or no Mafia. There is one thing 24 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: that is one hundred percent certain, and that is that 25 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: Motown Records made great music, undeniably some of the greatest 26 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: music ever made. That music you heard at the top 27 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: of the show, that wasn't great music. That was a 28 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: preset loop for my melotron called Mellow Red Sauce MK one. 29 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: I played you that loop because I can't afford the 30 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: rights to Mule Train by Frankie Lange. And why would 31 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: I play you that specific slice of Jackass Cheese? Could 32 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: I afford it? Because that was the number one song 33 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:14,639 Speaker 1: in America on January eleventh, nineteen fifty and that was 34 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: the day Barry Gordy fought his last fight as an 35 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: amateur boxer and began seriously considering a career in the 36 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,799 Speaker 1: music industry, thus setting the course to forever change the 37 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: sound of teenage America. On this episode, Pistol Packing, four Tops, 38 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: Mule Trained Cheese, Detroit Mafia and Motown Records. I'm Jake Brennan, 39 00:02:37,200 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: and this is Disgraceland. Jackie Wilson, aka mister Excitement, he 40 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: of the operatic five octave voice and singer of the 41 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: smash hit tune Lonely Teardrops, was doing his best to 42 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:17,799 Speaker 1: man's playing his way into the pants of the young 43 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: woman he was ushering back to his Manhattan apartment. It 44 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: was cold winter in the city, a city that at 45 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: the moment in nineteen sixty one seemed to be ever changing. 46 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:33,639 Speaker 1: In a reflection of Jackie Wilson himself, exciting, Jackie went on, 47 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: you see all these black entertainers talking about how Elvis 48 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: ripped off their music. Nay wrong. But what they don't 49 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: say is that all these black entertainers ripped off Elvis's 50 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: dance moves. That's a fact. Know how I know because 51 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: I saw that boy dance on stage for the first 52 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: time and knew I had to get some of that 53 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: swivel in my step. That's why they call me Black Elvis. Baby. 54 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: Jackie's date was smitten. He could have told her he 55 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: was the black JFK. As she would have bought it. 56 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: Jackie was the showstopper and as such a panty dropper, 57 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 1: and he knew it. He liked the ladies at his 58 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: current date, like the singers previous to Mister Excitement Jackie Wilson. 59 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: She was with mister wonderful Sam Cook, and Jackie didn't mind. 60 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 1: She was gorgeous and young. Jackie interlocked his arm with hers, 61 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: pulling her tighter to his side. As they made their 62 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,799 Speaker 1: way down the Upper Manhattan street. He raised his shoulders, 63 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: bringing the collar of his topcoat closer to his neck, 64 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: sheltering it from the falling snow. As he increased his 65 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: stride down the sidewalk and up the streets to his 66 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: apartment's front door, he quickly worked the key to the 67 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: hole and pushed it open. The warmth from the entryway 68 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: hit him first, and then the bullet hit him right 69 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: in the abdomen. He spun around on his feet. His 70 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,359 Speaker 1: date screamed. A second bullet then pierced the skin of 71 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: his ass. Jackie Wilson fell to the ground and into 72 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: semi consciousness. He could feel himself spiraling. Fear and adrenaline 73 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: pulse through him, as did the melody to his hit song, 74 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: Lonely Teardrops. Jackie didn't know why and didn't care. He 75 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: didn't know what was happening, but he knew enough to 76 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: hold on to whatever thought he could to not drift 77 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: away into oblivion. So he thought about Lonely Tear Drops, 78 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 1: if for no other reason than to not have Elvis's 79 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: swinging hips be his last mortal thought. The song was 80 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 1: a smash, and when it was Jackie was as surprised 81 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 1: as any. The songwriter, a local boxer from back in Detroit, 82 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: a hustler, really was as pugnacious as Jackie was smooth. 83 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,559 Speaker 1: Barry Gordy. Some guys get by on talent, other guys 84 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: get by on drive. Jackie was driven, but more than anything, 85 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: he was a natural talent. Barry Gordy, on the other hand, 86 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: Jackie knew it when he met him. Nothing was going 87 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,719 Speaker 1: to stop that little dude from making it. Which isn't 88 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: to say that Barry Gordy wasn't immensely talented. He was, 89 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 1: and Jackie was amazed at the mini Black owned empire 90 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: Barry was building in the way of the success of 91 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,840 Speaker 1: Lonely Tear Drops. Jackie Wilson knew how to do one 92 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 1: thing with money, spend it. Barry Gordy, on the other hand, 93 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,720 Speaker 1: invested the bready made from lonely teardrops in to himself 94 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: and made the pivot from songwriter to record label owner, 95 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: first with Raber Records and then with Tamla Records and 96 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,280 Speaker 1: of course more hits Barrett Strong's Money That's what I Want, 97 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 1: a song Barry co wrote, and then shop Around by 98 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: the Miracles, a group led by Gordy's new best friend 99 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: and creative partner, the immensely talented Smokey Robinson. Jackie liked 100 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:38,599 Speaker 1: smoke he had both talent and drive for days. Shop 101 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: Around went to number one on the R and B 102 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: charts and number two on the Pop charts, and Barry 103 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:46,600 Speaker 1: Gordy by now had rolled as record companies under one label, 104 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: Motown Records. Motown a phrase he coined to represent his hometown. 105 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: The Motor City Detroit Motown sound that was being developed 106 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: by Barry Gordy and Smokey Robinson was a projection of 107 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: Gordy's idea vision of what America could be. To Barry Gordy, 108 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: That's what Jackie Wilson and all the others could never understand. 109 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: It wasn't about black versus white, or white stealing from 110 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: black or vice versa. It was about black and white. 111 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: Why did there need to be two sets of record 112 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: charts R and B for black music and pop charts 113 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: for white music? Why did there need to be two 114 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: types of radio stations, black stations that played R and 115 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: B for black kids and white stations that played pop 116 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: for white kids. And why did there need to be 117 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: two types of stars, black and white? Jackie Wilson improved 118 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:35,559 Speaker 1: that a star could easily cross over it to another 119 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: market despite the color of his skin. Motown, as Berry 120 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: Gordy saw, it wasn't black music, and it wasn't white music. 121 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: It was just music made by blacks, sure, but made 122 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: for all of America. As idealistic as that sounds, it 123 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: also has the benefit of being an incredibly smart business 124 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: strategy because it meant the size of Motown's audience was 125 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: potentially twice that of liables that serviced only the black market. 126 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: It was an audacious strategy, and it only worked because 127 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: of the vision, drive, discipline, and talent of Barry Gordy. 128 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: He knew that in order to reach this wider market 129 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: and to cross over that motown music needed to have 130 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: certain qualities. A song, whether it was a dance tune 131 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: or a ballad needed to be exciting. Lyrics needed to 132 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 1: be in the present, tense money, that's what I want, 133 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: I can't concentrate. Shop around melodies needed to be simple, 134 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: easy to remember. Encounter melodies were encouraged distinguish motown singles 135 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,679 Speaker 1: by having the lead singer work against the ensemble. Backing 136 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: vocalists as opposed to in unison and choruses needed to 137 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: stand out. Hand claps, exaggerated drumming, and overall, the song 138 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:49,200 Speaker 1: needed to have hooks for days. Not just a hooky 139 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: vocal melody, but a hooky bassline, a hooky guitar riff. 140 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: Even the tambourine needed to sound purposeful. Above all, the 141 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 1: song needed to feel good. It needed to swing, to 142 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: get kills its black kids and white kids out of 143 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: their seats and dancing. Barry Gordy took it a step 144 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: further and mixed everything he recorded specifically to sound good 145 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: coming out of tiny Ford Motor Company car speakers, which 146 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: were being made right down the road in Dearborn, Michigan, 147 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:17,560 Speaker 1: because he knew that that was where the majority of 148 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: his product would be consumed in back seats by horny teenagers. 149 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: The recipe was a success, and the sound of Young 150 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: America was born. The sound would result in more number 151 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 1: one hits for Barry Gordy than Jackie Wilson or Elvis 152 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: Presley would ever have combined. The Black Elvis would eventually 153 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: recover from his shooting. It was learned later that he 154 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: was shot by a gilted lover, but he never fully 155 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 1: regained his chart shooting stride again, and Elvis Presley would 156 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: capture America's love and affection once more after his stint 157 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: in the army. But by the end of the decade, 158 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: Elvis's star would be in steep decline, while Motown's empire 159 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: would be ever expanding with a stable of chart topping artists, 160 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 1: including The Temptations, The Supreme, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson Five, 161 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 1: and Marvin Gay, among others. Such success was a ways 162 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: off for Barry Gordy back in nineteen sixty one, but 163 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: it certainly wasn't unimaginable. In fact, quite the opposite, It 164 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: was part of the plan. Success was a personal manifestation. 165 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: Just as the Motown sound projected a certain kind of 166 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:27,120 Speaker 1: post racial idealism, Barry Gordy in his record label projected 167 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: a certain kind of predetermined success, which is why Barry 168 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 1: Gordy was standing on his front lawn at two six 169 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 1: 'in foury eight West Grand Boulevard, shouting furiously at the 170 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: workers standing high above him on rickety ladders. They couldn't 171 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 1: get the sheet off at the sign of the front 172 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: of the house. It was supposed to be the grand 173 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:52,160 Speaker 1: unveiling of Motown's new studio and company headquarters, but was 174 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: instead turning into an anti climactic kitch. The white sheet 175 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:58,720 Speaker 1: was flapping off of the right side of the front 176 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: of the modest two floors family, revealing only part of 177 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: the sign the letters L L, e U, S and A. And. 178 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 1: There was a small group of Forgiving staff and family 179 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:13,559 Speaker 1: assembled on the front lawn watching Barry pace about the yard. Incensed, 180 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: barking out orders, the sheet mercifully began to slip off 181 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: more letters. The sign now read v I L, L, 182 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 1: e U, S and A. Across the street, two men 183 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 1: sat in an inconspicuous white Ford Fairlane watching the scene 184 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 1: on Gordie's front lawn unfold, sucking on Paul Mall's their 185 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:38,280 Speaker 1: bellies full of sludgy black coffee and kicky old fashioned donuts. 186 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: They had no idea what the letters and the sign 187 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: were going to eventually spell, but it was potentially the 188 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,439 Speaker 1: most exciting thing they'd seen in days. And the sheet 189 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: slipped again, finally revealing the sign in its entirety. H 190 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: I T T S v I L L e U 191 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:03,960 Speaker 1: s A HITSA. Of course that made sense. Both men 192 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: agree that the boldness was Pureberry Gordy Hitsville, USA. Audacious projecting, 193 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: they called it. That would be it for the day. 194 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 1: They fired up the fair Lane and headed back to 195 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,839 Speaker 1: their own headquarters. There was no sign on their front 196 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: door though no letters, but if there was, it would 197 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 1: have read fb I. Fat Tony nearly swallowed the butt 198 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 1: of his Cuban when the Mexican went down in three. 199 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:50,400 Speaker 1: The black Featherweight was a lock to lose, but he didn't, 200 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 1: and now black Jack was about to make the fat 201 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:56,439 Speaker 1: man two hundred lighter. He thought about smacking the kid around, 202 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: but it wasn't his fault. He didn't know he was 203 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:01,960 Speaker 1: supposed to go down in three. He fought hard, nearly 204 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 1: punching above his weight, winning but taking a beating in 205 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: the process, before connecting with an inspired write that put 206 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 1: the Mexican down for the count. After the fight, the 207 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,120 Speaker 1: featherweight stood outside the Wreck Center, staring at the poster 208 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:17,439 Speaker 1: stapled to the telephone pole. On one side there was 209 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 1: a picture of Duke Ellington advertising an upcoming concert of 210 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,360 Speaker 1: his in Detroit. On the other side, the same promoter 211 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 1: was advertising an upcoming fight on another night, and so 212 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:29,560 Speaker 1: next to the Duke there was a picture of the 213 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:34,320 Speaker 1: heavyweight Sunny Liston. The difference between the two men couldn't 214 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: have been more stark. Ellington was sophisticated, refined, regal, looking 215 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: like he was going somewhere. Liston looked beat up, bruised, brutish, and, 216 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 1: despite his ferociousness, like he wasn't long for this world. 217 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: The young featherweight Barry Gordy, like everyone else, had heard 218 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:54,559 Speaker 1: the rumors about Liston, that he was owned by the mob, 219 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: controlled by guys on Fat Tony and Black Jacket, the 220 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:01,320 Speaker 1: two imposing, impeccably dressed to time event. Sitting ringside for 221 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 1: his fight earlier that evening, Barry didn't know if they 222 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: were true or not. It seemed like the only way 223 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,199 Speaker 1: for a boxer to get his shot was in partnership 224 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 1: with the mob, working for wise guys who told you 225 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:14,599 Speaker 1: when to stick and when to land. If this was 226 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: what getting your shot looked like like Sonny Listed, beaten 227 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: up and battered a thousand yards stare, then Barry wanted 228 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: no part of it. He made up his mind on 229 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: the spot. He would work for no man. He would 230 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: be his own boss, more like sir Duke here, distinguished, 231 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: going places, master of his own domain. Music seemed like 232 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: the right racket to mix himself up in, so Barry 233 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 1: Gordy quit boxing and opened a record store. It took 234 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,360 Speaker 1: almost no time before it failed, and so Barry needed 235 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: to do what he had to do to get by. 236 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: In Detroit in the nineteen fifties, there were plenty of honest, 237 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: blue collar jobs to be had, but they were square 238 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: jobs with bosses. Never again, Barry had stopped lying to 239 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:00,800 Speaker 1: himself that he would live that life, and he wasn't 240 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 1: going back, and so he stumbled into what a lot 241 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: of enterprising and charming black men from the city did 242 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 1: back then. He used his charm to put together a 243 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:13,880 Speaker 1: stable of women and trick them out. It wasn't quite 244 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: Duke Ellington, but it was a job, and he was 245 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:20,160 Speaker 1: his own boss. Running girls started to bring in some cash, 246 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:23,200 Speaker 1: and Barry tried sacking it away when he could, using 247 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: what little was left over from surviving to finance his 248 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 1: dream of making it somehow in the music business. Owning 249 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: a record shop was out, so his next endeavor was 250 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: to write songs. Writing songs was easy, Pimping was not. 251 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:42,360 Speaker 1: Barry lacked the killer instinct necessary to succeed. He was 252 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: an easy going pimp and let his girls come and 253 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 1: go as they pleased, refused to beat on them to 254 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: keep them in line. As a result, the money was 255 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 1: strictly small time until it was non existent, but his 256 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: hustle out on the street had brought him the time 257 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 1: he needed, time to meet Smokey Robinson and his new 258 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: songwriting part or in Lover the gorgeous and classically trained 259 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: Renama Lilly's Ray. For short, Barry and Ray scored local 260 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: hits with Smokey, Jackie Wilson, and Merv Johnson, only for 261 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 1: Barry to hungrily tear open royalty checks and find them 262 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: worth three dollars and nineteen cents for producing Smokey Robinson 263 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: in the Miracles. Was this a joke? Smokey said Barry 264 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: should start his own label, and lucky for Barry, the 265 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:29,160 Speaker 1: Gordy family set aside savings every month for real estate 266 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: and business investments less lucky. Without the unanimous consent of 267 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:38,200 Speaker 1: the family, nobody could withdraw a cent. So Barry went home, 268 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: but he didn't ask them to invest. He asked them 269 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: for a small loan, just enough for one pressing of 270 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: one record to prove his pen, his ear, and his 271 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 1: theories about the music industry, and they said yes, so 272 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 1: long as he paid interest. Barry, with eight hundred dollars 273 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 1: now in his pocket, was relieved, but nowhere near is 274 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: relieved as Ray, who unbeknownst to Barry, had tricked herself 275 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:03,880 Speaker 1: out a short time ago for a measly seventeen dollars 276 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,800 Speaker 1: to put food on their table. But with this meager investment, 277 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:10,480 Speaker 1: the tricking, the pimping, and the fighting all seemed to 278 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:12,800 Speaker 1: settle in as part of their past, and the future 279 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:17,320 Speaker 1: finally looked wide open. Ray soon married Barry in part 280 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,320 Speaker 1: because she had what he had in any means necessary 281 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,600 Speaker 1: approach to entrepreneurship, in the sense that whatever Ray and 282 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: Barry had to offer the world was meant to have. 283 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:28,760 Speaker 1: If it wasn't destiny, it was at least spotting their 284 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:32,040 Speaker 1: lane and shooting their shot. They could see their future 285 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:35,520 Speaker 1: like it was already real. Massive success based on tearing 286 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,160 Speaker 1: down the walls between R and B and pop, between 287 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 1: black and white, a world where they didn't work for anyone, 288 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 1: a world where they were their own boss, or more accurately, 289 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: where Barry was boss. They wanted to pluck that vision 290 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 1: from their heads and put it into the world. And 291 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:52,680 Speaker 1: at the same time it felt like a magnet in 292 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:56,639 Speaker 1: their future, pulling them forward, a north star. And with 293 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 1: eight hundred dollars and no record even pressed yet, it 294 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: was also for the moment a mirage. Barry bought the 295 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: house on West Grand Boulevard, Hitsville, USA in nineteen fifty nine. 296 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: It was the mirage brought to life their projection, made 297 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: real Barry Gordy's manifest destiny. Outside it was the picture 298 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,879 Speaker 1: of success, but inside, where the sausage was made, it 299 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: was a stone cold hit making machine. Barry knew the 300 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 1: opportunity would only be here once, and he wasn't going 301 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 1: to mess it up. Unlike the girls he ran. When 302 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:31,239 Speaker 1: it came to running a studio, Barry Gordy ran a 303 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,920 Speaker 1: tight ship. In that first year alone, the label released 304 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,919 Speaker 1: fifteen singles. Two years later, in nineteen sixty one, they 305 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 1: released fifty one. In nineteen sixty three they released seventy seven. 306 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:45,920 Speaker 1: And this was not volume for the sake of volume. 307 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: These were radio dominating hits, eventual classics, the standards of today. 308 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: Can I Get a Witness by Marvin Gay, Heat Wave 309 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:56,960 Speaker 1: by Martha and the Vandelas Two Lovers by Mary Wells, 310 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: You've really got a hold on Me by the Miracles 311 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,880 Speaker 1: when the love lights start shining through his eyes by 312 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: the Supremes, Fingertips by Stevie Wonder, etc. The FBI agents 313 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 1: outside clocking the surprisingly successful young black man's every move 314 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: smelled a rat. This guy was dirty, had to be. 315 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,400 Speaker 1: How else could you explain his success. Plus they knew 316 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:21,200 Speaker 1: about his mafia connections through his days as a boxer. 317 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: They wondered what was really going on inside that house 318 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: on West Grand They couldn't see beyond the front door, 319 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: but if they could, they would have first seen the 320 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: desk of Jamie Bradford, the receptionist working on her own 321 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:37,879 Speaker 1: songwriting past her set. The suave Martha Reeves, secretary to 322 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 1: head of Motown an R. Mickey Stevenson, as well as 323 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,200 Speaker 1: gatekeeper to the office of Ray known as Mother Motown. 324 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 1: Ray and Mickey would flit in and out of the 325 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,200 Speaker 1: hall in their offices, checking in on Maxine Powell, who 326 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:54,080 Speaker 1: handled Motown's finishing school for new artists. That's right, a 327 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:57,840 Speaker 1: finishing school. After Barry's family had made good on their 328 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,920 Speaker 1: seed loan, they insisted he hire Maxie. After they'd heard 329 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:03,640 Speaker 1: that Smoky and the Miracles got booed off the Apollo 330 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:07,040 Speaker 1: stage for bumping into each other during their act. It 331 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 1: was money well spent. Various Gordies would be heard pacing 332 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 1: around the floor above where they now ran accounting and manufacturing. 333 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:16,119 Speaker 1: The sturdy industrial gears of the business, and the smell 334 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:18,359 Speaker 1: of the soul food that Miss Lily cooked for lunch 335 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: every day at one o'clock would waft up the stairs 336 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: from the kitchen. But the now legendary Motown magic happened 337 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 1: in the studio in the garage. If the sad sack 338 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,760 Speaker 1: g men staking out the joint from outside had been 339 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:35,399 Speaker 1: so lucky, they'd have seen drummer Benny Papasita Benjamin and 340 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:41,120 Speaker 1: bassist James Jamerson laying it down thick. Jamerson supposedly developed 341 00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:43,639 Speaker 1: his heavy sound replicate the look of a well endowed 342 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: woman's buttocks as it bounce down the street. The other 343 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 1: Funk Brothers, as the Motown musicians had come to call themselves, 344 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,560 Speaker 1: included Eddie Chank Willis, Joe Messina and Robert White on guitar, 345 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,919 Speaker 1: Johnny Griffith, Joe Hunter and Earl Van Dyke on keys, 346 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:01,879 Speaker 1: Mike Terry and Hank Cosby on sacks, Jack Ashford and 347 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,879 Speaker 1: Bongo Brown on percussion. It was a never ending murderer's 348 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:08,440 Speaker 1: row of the best jazz and blues session musicians in 349 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:11,760 Speaker 1: the Midwest, and it turned out in America and thus 350 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,360 Speaker 1: in the world, and listening in on the sessions huddled 351 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:17,440 Speaker 1: over the board in the basement control room would be 352 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,280 Speaker 1: the in house hit writing and production power trio known 353 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:24,080 Speaker 1: as HDH the brothers Eddie and Brian Holland and Mont 354 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:28,359 Speaker 1: Dogher And if the Feds made have passed all that 355 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: in periscope, their view up out of the studio into 356 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: the upper floors of Motown h Q. In a tiny 357 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: office near Barry Gordy's, they'd find the office of a 358 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:42,919 Speaker 1: heavy set, impeccably dressed Sicilian man with calloused hands and 359 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: thick knuckles that hinted at his hard scrabble past in 360 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 1: the cement business. He was Berney Ail's, the only white 361 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 1: employee at Motown, and he was so very out of place, 362 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,960 Speaker 1: so out of place that he's seen that he could 363 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 1: be connected. Right back after this word word, Martha Reeves 364 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:14,400 Speaker 1: was feeling herself. She was on a roll since moving 365 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 1: up the Motown ranks from secretary to lead singer and 366 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:21,119 Speaker 1: star attraction of Martha Reeves and the Vandelas. She'd scored 367 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:24,960 Speaker 1: three consecutive hits Come and Get These Memories, Heat Wave 368 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 1: and their latest quicksand in her sets on the nineteen 369 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,439 Speaker 1: sixty three Motortown Review Tour were one of the nightly 370 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,280 Speaker 1: highlights on a bill packed with chart topping talent, including 371 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: Smokey Robinson and His Miracles, The Temptations, The Four Tops, 372 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 1: and Barry Gordy's knewest attraction Little Stevie Wonder top it 373 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 1: all off. Today was one of those days, you know, 374 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,440 Speaker 1: the kind or no matter what you do or war 375 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: or get into, you just kind of look good. Your 376 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,159 Speaker 1: hairs sits right, your clothes fit perfectly, and you have 377 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 1: that natural constantly in your eye. Martha was waiting patiently 378 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,919 Speaker 1: for the bathroom, admiring herself in the massive Florida ceiling 379 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: mirror in the Louisville, Kentucky Holiday Inn. She dug on 380 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: her outfit, a high neck stripe pullover that did little 381 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,800 Speaker 1: to conceal her natural curves and high waisted slacks tapered 382 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:22,720 Speaker 1: to expose her ankles. They were off day closed, no 383 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:26,400 Speaker 1: show today, just travel. They weren't staying at this hotel, 384 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:30,360 Speaker 1: just stopping off. Martha kept her eyes on the mirror, 385 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,680 Speaker 1: thought about her hair. The humidity was doing its damnedest 386 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,239 Speaker 1: to mess up her vibe. She needed to reset her 387 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,920 Speaker 1: hair under her handkerchief when she got into the bathroom. 388 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: Then she heard it, that snap, the sound of immediate fear. 389 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:48,360 Speaker 1: It came from her right. As she bent her neck 390 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: to see what was going on. Her eyes still pinned 391 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,440 Speaker 1: on herself in the mirror, she managed to only turn 392 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 1: her head a fraction before seeing the long barrel of 393 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,119 Speaker 1: a twelve gage shotgun intrude into the right hand side 394 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: of the mirrored image in front of her. Then she 395 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:06,239 Speaker 1: felt it, the cold steel pressed to her skull just 396 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 1: above her right ear. Hell are you doing in here? Fugger? 397 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:16,680 Speaker 1: Martha stood still said nothing. She was frozen in fear, 398 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,680 Speaker 1: sickened by the smell emanating from the redneck cop threatening 399 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 1: to blow her brains out. It was the smell of 400 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: piss chewing tobacco and sheeped cologne over a body order 401 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:31,760 Speaker 1: that refused to quit. I asked you a question, fugger. 402 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:36,639 Speaker 1: Martha whispered that she was just waiting to use the 403 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: bathroom in the hotel lobby, and the cop said nothing 404 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 1: but lowered his gun, arched his head back, and took 405 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: in Martha reeves. It was clear to him even with 406 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 1: this limited IQ, but this one was not from around here. 407 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,879 Speaker 1: Where are you from Detroit? Explained Martha. The cop dropped 408 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 1: a shotgun to his side. What the hell you doing 409 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:02,199 Speaker 1: down here? You know you ain't supposed to be in 410 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 1: this Zier hotel. There's a white hotel, and you will 411 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,880 Speaker 1: use you. Martha quickly made her apology and asked to leave. 412 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:12,040 Speaker 1: The cop told her she could go as long as 413 00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: she got the hell out of Kentucky and never came back. 414 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 1: Martha got back on the bus and, along with the 415 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:19,200 Speaker 1: rest of the Review, headed to Nashville for the next 416 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: day's show. News of the incident was on everyone's minds, 417 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,760 Speaker 1: and the four Tops weren't surprised. They expected this behavior 418 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:30,960 Speaker 1: in the South, which is why they brought guns. Pistols. 419 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:33,920 Speaker 1: Up to this point, they kept them hidden on the bus, 420 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: but that night they packed them for the show. They 421 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,520 Speaker 1: had a deal with the Temptations. They'd watched the Temps 422 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:43,080 Speaker 1: back if the Tempts watched out for the Tops. So 423 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,440 Speaker 1: that night, while the Temptations rocked the Nashville Coliseum to 424 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,199 Speaker 1: ten thousand mostly white teenagers, the four Tops stood at 425 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: the side of the stage, loaded for bear, their pistols 426 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 1: tucked into their backside waistbands, surveying the crowd, ready to 427 00:25:57,359 --> 00:25:59,680 Speaker 1: shoot out any of the cops or rednecks who might 428 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,879 Speaker 1: mess with them. And when the Tops took the stage, 429 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 1: the Temptations did the same for them, but without guns. 430 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:09,639 Speaker 1: With baseball bats held discreetly at their sides, they watched 431 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 1: the crowd from the wing of the stage. Nothing happened 432 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:17,560 Speaker 1: that night, but the Southern leg of the tour was 433 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: a steady stream of racist humiliations, shotguns waved in their 434 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 1: faces by old town down home crackers, near beatdowns over 435 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:28,920 Speaker 1: Jim Crows, seating at restaurants and hotels, stray rounds found 436 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,000 Speaker 1: in the tour bus, a bus that looked extremely similar 437 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:34,720 Speaker 1: to the freedom Rider buses that had become the flashpoint 438 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 1: of civil rights activism that summer. Barry Gordy's vision of 439 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: breaking the color line of music was manifesting in ways 440 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: more complicated than he ever imagined. A few days later, 441 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 1: back in Detroit, Very caught wind of the story. He 442 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:53,880 Speaker 1: was furious, but a few other Detroit locals were too 443 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,720 Speaker 1: for different reasons, and they wanted to talk to Barry 444 00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:58,600 Speaker 1: about the tour and the rumors that a group of 445 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 1: black musicians were traveling through the South causing trouble for 446 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: all those nice white folks. It was time, they thought, 447 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,679 Speaker 1: enough fucking around, Bring Barry Gordian and see just what 448 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:12,960 Speaker 1: the hell he's up to. When Barry got the call, 449 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 1: when he learned that the FBI wanted to talk to him, 450 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,440 Speaker 1: he was nervous and high tailed in downtown to speak 451 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: to Hoover's boys. But as he made his approach walking 452 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:26,480 Speaker 1: down Michigan Avenue, his nervousness turned to anger. His success 453 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,399 Speaker 1: was the result of him any means necessary approach, sure, 454 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,880 Speaker 1: but why was he getting hassled? His success was obvious. 455 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,720 Speaker 1: He could hear it all around him as cars rolled by. 456 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 1: Smoky Marvin the supremes. They all blasted out of car windows, 457 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:44,600 Speaker 1: reminding him of what he'd accomplished. His efforts, his creativity, 458 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:49,560 Speaker 1: his business acumen, and his hustle were literally reshaping American culture, 459 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:52,639 Speaker 1: and he was what being sent for, being hauled in 460 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:56,440 Speaker 1: by the FEDS to explain himself. It was total bullshit, 461 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:58,880 Speaker 1: and he knew it. He'd been his own boss long 462 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:00,919 Speaker 1: enough that he'd forgotten the fe of being under the 463 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,679 Speaker 1: gun under the thumb of the man. But now that 464 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:05,960 Speaker 1: he arrived at the next level, his artists in the 465 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,719 Speaker 1: South were having the gun flashed upon them, and up 466 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:10,880 Speaker 1: north the hand of the man was waving it right 467 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,760 Speaker 1: at him. When he got to FBI HQ and into 468 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:18,400 Speaker 1: the office, he could not believe what he saw up 469 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: on a bulletin board where the faces of every living 470 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:24,879 Speaker 1: Detroit mafioso and small time hood arranged in hierarchical orders, 471 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,840 Speaker 1: starting with Angelo the chairman Melly at the top and 472 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 1: flowing down to his capos. His brother Frank and nephew, 473 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:35,359 Speaker 1: Little Vince Barry recognized them. Of course. They ran all 474 00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:37,879 Speaker 1: the jukeboxes in the city, had their fingers in a 475 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: lot of club bookings, co owned a few local white 476 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: record labels. One was even named White Music Company. Barry 477 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,880 Speaker 1: even recognized members of their respective crews, Big Mike and 478 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:51,040 Speaker 1: Jimmy Q, Tony the Bowle, and machine Gun Pete, all 479 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: spread out before him on the corkboard. On a second 480 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:58,480 Speaker 1: bulletin board, there were gory crime scene photos made men 481 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 1: and civilians alike, lying dead like rats on Detroit streets, bloodied, mangled, 482 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 1: destroyed different kinds of hits than the ones Berrier was 483 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 1: used to. And then on a third bulletin board, there 484 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: was a timeline flowing left to right. It was a 485 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: biographical map of Barry's life, going as far back to 486 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: his time in the military, serving as a chaplain's assistant 487 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:27,080 Speaker 1: in the third Artillery in Korea, then as a boxer, 488 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:30,160 Speaker 1: then his failed stints as both the record store owner 489 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 1: and a pimp, to his early days of marriage, and 490 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:37,320 Speaker 1: ultimately to his founding of Motown. Tight strings of yarn 491 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 1: ran from his timeline the pictures of guys who were 492 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: also worryingly on the first board, Bigfoot Eddie Wingate, the 493 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: black owner of the twenty Grand Club where the Motown 494 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,640 Speaker 1: family loved to hang out and play, was apparently running 495 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:52,400 Speaker 1: the biggest book in Black Detroit under the protection of 496 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,400 Speaker 1: the Corrado crew. These ominous branches were followed by a 497 00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:00,800 Speaker 1: chronological listing of every hit Motown had ever made, Barrett 498 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 1: Strong's Money, the Marvelettes, Please, Mister Postman, Do you Love 499 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 1: Me by the Contours, and on and on and on, 500 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: and the hit list had branches too, correlated to a 501 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 1: list of radio stations spread out across the midwest, east, 502 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 1: coast west and to the south, and the whole time 503 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:22,080 Speaker 1: line culminated with two photos, one on top of the other. 504 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: Berry's photo was on top. Under it, there was one 505 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:32,120 Speaker 1: word Boss below Berry's image an FBI given title. There 506 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:36,280 Speaker 1: was another photo, this one of the impeccably groomed Barney Ayles, 507 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 1: the man with the opposite Motown h Q right up 508 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,960 Speaker 1: stairs near Berry's, a man who had proven himself to 509 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,680 Speaker 1: be indispensable to Barry Gordy and mysterious to most every 510 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: one else. Motown's promo man, the Sicilian, the first white 511 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,960 Speaker 1: man on the Motown pay roll, and under his photo 512 00:30:55,360 --> 00:31:20,960 Speaker 1: there was also a title, It rests under Boss. The 513 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:24,680 Speaker 1: gun felt heavy in Verry Gordy's hand. Then again, it 514 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:28,920 Speaker 1: was nineteen eighty eight. Everything felt heavy if he was 515 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,240 Speaker 1: going to do it, well, you better go ahead and 516 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 1: do it. Shoot him for they run now, bang bang, 517 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:39,920 Speaker 1: You spawned it. It's yours to kill do it you won't. 518 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:45,800 Speaker 1: Verry Gourdy was no shrink, but he was smart enough 519 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,640 Speaker 1: to know full well what the dream was about. The 520 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: faceless beast haunting him was his baby, his pride and joy, 521 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:56,400 Speaker 1: his business, Motown Records. And the gun wasn't a gun, 522 00:31:56,440 --> 00:32:00,360 Speaker 1: but rather a pen. The penny would use to away 523 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,840 Speaker 1: ownership of his baby and to effectively kill his baby. 524 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:07,240 Speaker 1: And the offer was too good to be true. Sixty 525 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:10,880 Speaker 1: one million dollars for ownership of Motown, sixty one million 526 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 1: in a good night's sleep. The headaches were too many, 527 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,560 Speaker 1: the overhead was too high, the cash flow was always 528 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:20,240 Speaker 1: too low, and the competition was now too tough, and 529 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:25,440 Speaker 1: the stress was almost all consuming. MCA Incorporated, the massive 530 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:29,200 Speaker 1: music industry conglomerate, and owners of MCAA Records wanted to 531 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 1: do bad. Barry could taste it, and Barry wanted out. 532 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,160 Speaker 1: But as rumors of the sales started circulating, so too 533 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:39,560 Speaker 1: did the whispers that Barry Gordy was the sellout, selling 534 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,720 Speaker 1: out a black business to corporate white business interests, and 535 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,280 Speaker 1: Barry couldn't stop thinking about it. It was all he 536 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:51,000 Speaker 1: thought about, actually, the deal and the ramifications positive and negative. 537 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:53,960 Speaker 1: Sixty one million makes a lot of problems go away. 538 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:58,160 Speaker 1: But could he deal with the sellout rap? Political fundraisers 539 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:02,440 Speaker 1: were never his bag. Socially, Barry, like most musicians, was 540 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:05,680 Speaker 1: more comfortable with dim lighting and smoke filled nightclubs for 541 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:09,840 Speaker 1: social events. Hotel ballrooms with their bright lights and carpeted 542 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:12,480 Speaker 1: floors were a touched you straight even for a Jesse 543 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:16,720 Speaker 1: Jackson fundraiser. But shit, it was Jesse Jackson, the first 544 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:19,520 Speaker 1: black man with an actual, puncherous chance of nabbing the 545 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:24,400 Speaker 1: Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States. When 546 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:26,720 Speaker 1: Barry got the invite, he knew he had to attend, 547 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:29,880 Speaker 1: even if the timing was brutal. The deal was on 548 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:33,120 Speaker 1: his mind every damn minute, keeping going round for round 549 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:35,880 Speaker 1: with MCA for the past several months, and they were 550 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:38,400 Speaker 1: close but for a few details. And with every day 551 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:41,640 Speaker 1: that passed, more rumors and more flat back from the 552 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:44,400 Speaker 1: black community, and all that added up to the dreaded 553 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:49,520 Speaker 1: sellout wrap for Barry. Jesse Jackson was no exception. Barry 554 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:52,719 Speaker 1: saw him coming from across the room. That big head, 555 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: those giant eyes, and catcher's mid hands. Barry sized him up. 556 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:01,160 Speaker 1: Ex Boxers never forget how to fight, and Barry knew 557 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 1: that if it ever came down to it, despite their 558 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: difference in size, he could whoop Jesse, if for no 559 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:09,320 Speaker 1: other reason than the fact that Jesse lacked that killer 560 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:14,000 Speaker 1: instinct talent. Sure, maybe the verdict was still out, but 561 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:19,239 Speaker 1: drive nothing compared to Barry Gordy's. Jesse grabbed Barry's hand 562 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:21,920 Speaker 1: and got right to the point. Selling Motown would be 563 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,759 Speaker 1: a blow to black people all over the world, and 564 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:27,480 Speaker 1: Barry started to make his case, but Jesse wasn't having it. 565 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:31,319 Speaker 1: He just started drifting again through the crowd. Jesse made 566 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:34,080 Speaker 1: his point. Didn't matter what Barry said. Jesse had his 567 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:39,640 Speaker 1: contribution already. Sometime afterward, Barry Gordy found himself sitting at 568 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:43,040 Speaker 1: a Bear conference room table and holding that pen. It 569 00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:45,400 Speaker 1: rested heavy in his hand, just like the gun in 570 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:50,319 Speaker 1: his dream. He signed, and with that signature, many think 571 00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:54,719 Speaker 1: he killed Motown. The backlash was swift, as he expected, 572 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:59,800 Speaker 1: but unexpectedly, rumors began to swirl, Rumors that Barry sold 573 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:03,440 Speaker 1: out under orders from the mob rumors that Motown was 574 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,720 Speaker 1: at best mob affiliated and at worst the mob front. 575 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,520 Speaker 1: The effrontery was hard for Barry Gordy to swallow. His 576 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:14,239 Speaker 1: success was unparalleled in the music industry. More than any 577 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:18,360 Speaker 1: other record label, his record label shaped American culture. In 578 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:21,839 Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties alone, the label had seventy nine top 579 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:25,520 Speaker 1: ten records on the Billboard Hot one hundred Motown songs 580 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:28,640 Speaker 1: were recorded by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and 581 00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:32,880 Speaker 1: were ubiquitous on car stereos and jukeboxes, and even today, 582 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:36,120 Speaker 1: more than a half century removed from the label's heyday, 583 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:39,640 Speaker 1: no style of music is more representative of a decade 584 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:43,080 Speaker 1: in a culture than the Motown sound is with the sixties. 585 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:46,440 Speaker 1: And this was all achieved during a time of intense 586 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:50,400 Speaker 1: racial division in this country, and on a hunch that America, 587 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:53,839 Speaker 1: despite its divisions at the time, was ready for a 588 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:57,720 Speaker 1: different vision of itself, one that didn't sound black or white, 589 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:02,880 Speaker 1: one that sounded, in a word, American. The fact that 590 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:05,200 Speaker 1: this was achieved by a black man fronting a black 591 00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:07,960 Speaker 1: owned business, a business he started with a loan from 592 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:11,400 Speaker 1: his black family, isn't enough. It can't be the truth 593 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:15,160 Speaker 1: for some, Just as Barry Gordy projected his post racial 594 00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:18,960 Speaker 1: vision of America through Motown's music. Much of America to 595 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:22,280 Speaker 1: this day still projects a regressive vision of this country 596 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:25,880 Speaker 1: onto Motown's legacy, a vision that a black man couldn't 597 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:28,160 Speaker 1: possibly make it in America without the help of a 598 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:32,320 Speaker 1: white man. No, for some Berry Gordy must have been dirty. 599 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:34,960 Speaker 1: He must have been working with the mob. How else 600 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:40,640 Speaker 1: can you explain his success. It had to be the mafia, please, Sure, 601 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:42,640 Speaker 1: Barry Gordy, like a lot of men who fought their 602 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:45,000 Speaker 1: way out of their station and into the upper echelon 603 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:48,240 Speaker 1: of the music business, had in any means necessary approach 604 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:52,320 Speaker 1: to entrepreneurship. In the early days, he pimped, And yeah, 605 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:54,759 Speaker 1: he'd liked to gamble and hung out at nightclubs in 606 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:58,680 Speaker 1: the sixties that were owned and operated by gangsters. And yeah, 607 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:02,239 Speaker 1: his records played on gue boxes that were also mob controlled, 608 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:05,800 Speaker 1: just like every other record played on every other jukebox 609 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:09,000 Speaker 1: at the time. And yeah, those records ended up on 610 00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:12,919 Speaker 1: those jukeboxes through the efforts of motown Sicilian promo man. 611 00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:16,799 Speaker 1: But to explain Away's success as being the product of 612 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,280 Speaker 1: anything but his drive and talent is a bigger crime 613 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,560 Speaker 1: than any crime Berry Gordy may have committed in his career, 614 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:29,440 Speaker 1: and that is a disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan in This 615 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:45,040 Speaker 1: is Disgraceland. 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