The Life of Berry Gordy Jr.
Berry Gordy Jr. joined the music and entertainment industry at age 30.
By this time, he had tried and abandoned many careers, from boxing to joining the army to working as an assembly line worker and owning a record store.
After establishing the Motown Record Corporation, he found his footing in music and entertainment.
Berry Gordy Jr. approached life with tenacity, passion, and drive. His persistence and dogged attitude were evident in his earlier careers, particularly in boxing, but became profound when managing and leading the Motown Record Corporation.
Under Gordy’s leadership, Motown became the most successful and best-selling Black-owned record label in the United States.
Early Life and Career
Born November 28, 1929, Berry Gordy Jr. was not the first businessman in his family.
His father, Berry Gordy Sr., worked for himself as a plastering contractor, while his mother, Bertha Fuller Gordy, was an insurance agent. Gordy Jr. was the second-last born in a family of eight children.
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Gordy Jr. developed an interest in music at a young age.
However, he did not get much formal music training, only receiving basic lessons on the piano and clarinet. He drafted a song, Berry’s Boogie, that won a talent contest.
Gordy attended Northeastern High School, where he kept pursuing music. Unlike his siblings, he was not interested in class.
“I have this ability to find this hidden talent in people that sometimes even they didn’t know they had.”- Berry Gordy, Jr
He dropped out of high school in his junior year after being kicked out of his music class. After that, Gordy Jr. ventured into professional boxing.
He became a professional boxer from 1948 to 1951. He became fairly successful, winning 12 of the 15 matches he fought. His boxing career ended when he got drafted to join the United States Army during the Korean War.
After completing his military service in 1953, Gordy returned to Detroit and used his savings to establish a record store named Three-D Record Mart.
Berry was fond of the jazz music of Stan Kenton, Charlie Parker, and Thelonius Monk, which led him to enjoy these records more than catering to his customers’ demands. Consequently, his business ended up failing.
Gordy spent some time working for his father before joining the Ford Motor Company as an assembly line worker. However, he found the work dull and tedious.
While working, he would compose songs in his head, which local singers eventually recorded. Decca Records purchased some of his songs, including Reet Petite and Lonely Teardrops.
“If I settle a case out of court, it’s because I love the person.”- Berry Gordy, Jr
Upon seeing the profit margins of Decca compared to his earnings as a songwriter, Gordy realized that simply writing the songs wasn’t sufficient. He needed to own them.
Gordy reinvested his profits from songwriting into producing music. He discovered The Miracles (initially called the Matadors) in 1957 and started to create a portfolio of thriving artists.
The following year, encouraged by the leader of the Miracles, Smokey Robinson, Gordy borrowed $800 from his family to establish a record company that specialized in R&B music. He called it Tamla Records.
Motown Records
Gordy Jr. later embodied the name Motown and incorporated his record company as the Motown Record Corporation in 1960. By this time, the business had expanded to occupy nine buildings on the same street.
These buildings housed different divisions of the company, including Jobete (music publishing), Hitsville (a recording studio), International Talent Management, Inc., and the Motown artist development department.
Gordy showed interest in his performers by establishing a unit where they learned to conduct themselves as professionals. All of these divisions combined to form the Motown Record Corporation.
Songwriting and Production
The release of Shop Around by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles in 1960 proved to be a turning point for Motown.
The song sold over a million copies, marking the beginning of the most impactful period in the evolution of popular music.
This time became known as the Motown Sound, a fusion of traditional African American gospel singing with the contemporary rock-and-roll style shaped by iconic figures such as Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
Motown Records achieved tremendous success by producing over 100 number-one hit songs and numerous top-ten records. Some of the most famous songs include:
- For Once in My Life: Released in 1968 by Stevie Wonder
- My Girl: Produced by Smokey Robinson and recorded by The Temptations in 1964
- Stop! In the Name of Love: Released in 1965 by the Supremes
- I Want You Back: Released in 1965 by The Jackson 5
Some of the famous artists discovered and developed by Motown include:
- Diana Ross
- The Supremes
- The Jackson Five
- Stevie Wonder
- Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
Gordy sold his record company to MCA Inc. in 1988 for $61 million. He retained control of Jobete, the music publishing operation, and Motown’s film division.
Gordy maintained these divisions to ensure the preservation of Motown’s history.
Influence on the Music Industry and Popular Culture
Gordy’s legacy in music and pop culture is particularly notable for how he broke down barriers for Black artists, Black-owned labels, and executives in the music industry.
At a time when segregation and discrimination were still rampant, he created a record label based on the principle of talent and hard work rather than race.
Gordy gave Black artists a platform to showcase their talent by making music enjoyable for people of all backgrounds.
Berry also helped to establish a new model of artist development that emphasized professionalism, discipline, and creativity.
He encouraged his artists to use their platforms to create a voice for minority groups by targeting socio-political issues.
Honors and Recognitions
Some of the most notable awards received by Berry and his label were:
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Both Berry Gordy Jr. and Motown Records got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988
- Grammy Awards: Motown artists have won dozens of Grammy Awards over the years. Berry Gordy Jr. was honored with the Trustees Award in 1991.
- National Medal of Arts: Gordy was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2016 by President Barack Obama.
- Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame: Gordy was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame in the historic Downtown Atlanta area in 2022.
- Doctorate: Berry Gordy received an honorary doctorate from the University of Michigan in 2022.
Impact of Motown’s Music on Social and Civil Rights Movements
Motown’s music and artists notably impacted society and civil rights movements during the 1960s and beyond.
The music communicated a message of hope and unity that helped to break down racial barriers and promote social change during a time of great upheaval in American society.
“Whenever I came up against presidents of other companies, I was always smarter, because I was from the streets.”- Berry Gordy, Jr
Many Motown artists were involved in civil rights movements, including the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
Motown artists also performed at rallies and protests, using their platform to raise awareness of social and political issues.
Marriages and Relationships
Berry Gordy, Jr. has been married three times and has eight children.
He first married Thelma Coleman in 1953, with whom he had three children. They divorced in 1960.
Gordy’s second marriage, in 1960, was to Raynoma Singleton, a business partner and co-founder of Motown Records. They divorced in 1964.
Gordy’s third and final marriage was to Jeana Jackson, a former Motown executive. The marriage lasted from 1975 to 1993 and ended in divorce.
Gordy has also been romantically involved with several prominent women.
These include Diana Ross, whom he dated in the early years of her career at Motown, and Grace Eaton, a former Miss World USA who served as his assistant.
Controversies Surrounding Motown and Gordy’s Leadership
Throughout his mission to ensure African-American artists transcend racial boundaries, some fans and critics argued that Motown sold out to mainstream tastes and watered down its sound to appeal to a predominantly white audience.
This controversy further led to accusations of mistreatment of artists and general exploitation of Black culture and music for commercial gain.
Although this has been a common criticism of the music industry – particularly in the early days of rock and roll and R&B – many artists who worked under Motown’s label have spoken out about feeling exploited in terms of compensation and loss of creative control.
“The whole purpose of writing a book is to be understood – if other people write about you, they try to guess why you did things, or they hear things from other people.” – Berry Gordy, Jr
Contract terms didn’t always favor them, performers got charged for studio time, and since most songwriters worked as employees, they could not retain ownership of their work.
In the late 1990s, Gordy founded the Motown Historical Museum in Detroit, housed in the original Motown Records building, and features exhibits and artifacts that chronicle the label’s history and legacy.
He also produced the Broadway musical Motown: The Musical, which premiered in 2013 and told the story of his life and brand.
Gordy also got more involved in various philanthropic and community-focused initiatives, particularly in his hometown of Detroit.
In 2017, he donated $4 million to the Motown Museum, with plans to expand the facility and create new educational and community programs.
Conclusion
As the founder of Motown Records, Berry Gordy played a significant role in shaping the style and culture of pop music in the 1960s and 70s.
His impact is visible in the countless artists and producers who worked with him and his label.
Gordy’s story inspired people from all walks of life to discover their passions and use them to make the world a better place.
Berry Gordy, Jr Timeline
Berry Gordy, Jr Timeline1929:
Berry Gordy Jr. is born in Detroit, Michigan.
1945:
Gordy drops out of high school.
1948:
Gordy pursues a professional featherweight boxing career.
1951-1953:
Gordy joins the United States Army and serves in the Korean War.
1953:
Gordy returns from the war and marries Thelma Louise Coleman.
1953-1955:
Gordy opens 3-D Record Mart, a record store that primarily sells jazz music and 3-D glasses, but is unsuccessful and shuts down.
1955:
Gordy begins working at Ford Motor’s Lincoln-Mercury assembly plant and continues writing songs for various artists in Detroit.
1957:
Gordy resigns from the assembly plant to pursue a professional career in songwriting and co-writes the hit song Reet Petite with Jackie Wilson.
1959:
Gordy founds Tamla Records, through which he co-writes and co-produces several hit records.
1960:
The Tamla and Motown labels merge and become Motown Records Corporation, releasing the Grammy Hall of Fame R&B hit single, Shop Around by The Miracles. Gordy marries Raynoma Mayberry Liles.
1961:
Motown Records releases the pop hit single, Please Mr. Postman, by The Marvelettes.
1975:
Gordy marries Jeana Jackson.
1988:
Gordy sells the music production arm of Motown Records to MCA and gets inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1994:
Gordy publishes To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown, his autobiography.
2009:
Gordy gets recognized in the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.
2013:
Gordy receives the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Pioneer Award.
2019:
Gordy announces his official retirement from Motown at 89 years.
2022:
Gordy receives an honorary doctorate from the University of Michigan.
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The Man Behind Motown: A Berry Gordy Jr. Quiz
1. What is Berry Gordy, Jr. best known for?
Berry Gordy Jr. is best known as the founder of Motown Records, one of America’s most successful and influential record labels.
2. How much is the Gordy family worth?
The Gordy family is vast. The individual net worth of family members may vary according to their ventures, which makes it challenging to measure their collective net worth.
However, as of 2022, Berry Gordy’s reported net worth is around $400 million.
3. What songs did Berry Gordy Jr. write?
Alongside production, Berry Gordy Jr. wrote or co-wrote 240 of the approximately 15,000 songs in his label’s catalog.
The most significant are Jackie Wilson’s Reet Petit, Barrett Strong’s Money (That’s What I Want), and To Be Loved.
4. Who was the most political singer in Motown?
Motown Records had several politically active artists over the years, many of whom used their music to address social and political issues of the time.
The most notable were Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and The Temptations.
5. Who was the best Motown group?
Motown Records had many successful and influential groups, each with a unique style and sound.
Some of the most popular groups were The Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and The Jackson 5. However, the label’s most commercially successful group was The Supremes.
6. Why did Berry Gordy create Motown?
Berry Gordy Jr. created Motown as a label that would appeal to a wide range of audiences and help to break down racial barriers in the music industry. His vision was to convert unknown talent into stars.
7. Who did Berry Gordy discover?
Berry Gordy Jr. discovered and developed many successful artists during his career. Some of the most notable are Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard, who he transformed into The Supremes.
Berry also discovered Smokey Robinson, Lionel Richie, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, and The Jackson 5, which consisted of Michael Jackson and his brothers.
8. When did Berry Gordy retire?
Berry Gordy Jr. sold the record label in 1988 but officially retired as CEO of Motown Records in 2019.
9. Is Berry Gordy a billionaire?
No, he is not. According to Forbes, Berry Gordy’s net worth was estimated at $400 million in 2022.
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