Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered.
Golden World Records was a record label owned by Ed Wingate and Joanne Bratton. The recording studio was located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, first on 11801 12th Street, and then on 3246 West Davison, within the area of the present-day Davison Freeway. A business office on some of the labels reads 4039 Buena Vista, Joanne's home address. Besides the following discography, the studio's national hits included "Oh How Happy" by Shades of Blue, from Livonia, Michigan, and "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet" by The Reflections. The early, pre-Motown songs by Edwin Starr ("War"), such as "Agent Double-O-Soul", were recorded in the Golden World studio.
Memphis soul, also known as the Memphis sound, is the most prominent strain of Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring melodic unison horn lines, organ, guitar, bass, and a driving beat on the drums.
US Highway 16 (US 16), also called Grand River Avenue for much of its length in the state, was one of the principal roads prior to the post-World War II construction of freeways in the state of Michigan. Before the creation of the United States Numbered Highway System in 1926, the highway had been designated as a state highway numbered M-16. The modern route of Grand River Avenue cuts across the Lower Peninsula in a northwest–southeast fashion from near Grand Rapids to Detroit. Before the late 1950s and early 1960s, US 16 followed other roads between Muskegon and Grand Rapids, and then Grand River Avenue through Lansing to Detroit. In the years immediately preceding the creation of the Interstate Highway System, US 16 was shifted from older roads to newer freeways. Later, it was co-designated as an Interstate. When the gap in the freeway was filled in around Lansing, the US 16 designation was decommissioned in the state. The freeway was solely designated Interstate 96 (I-96) east of Grand Rapids and I-196 west of that city.
The Highland Park Ford Plant is a former Ford Motor Company factory located at 91 Manchester Avenue in Highland Park, Michigan. It was the second American production facility for the Model T automobile and the first factory in history to assemble cars on a moving assembly line. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1978.
James Lee Jamerson was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s, and is now regarded as one of the most influential bass players in modern music history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. As a session musician he played on twenty-three Billboard Hot 100 number one hits, as well as fifty-six R&B number one hits.
"Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, near the New Center area. The house was purchased by Motown founder Berry Gordy in 1959.
Kim Weston is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and "Take Me in Your Arms ", and with her duet with Marvin Gaye, "It Takes Two".
William "Mickey" Stevenson is a former songwriter and record producer for the Motown group of labels from the early days of Berry Gordy's company until 1967, when he and his then-wife, singer Kim Weston, left for MGM.
Earl Van Dyke was an American soul musician, most notable as the main keyboardist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
DTE Energy Music Theatre is an outdoor amphitheater located in Independence Township, Michigan, approximately 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Detroit. Built by the Nederlander Organization in the early 1970s, it was originally known as "Pine Knob Music Theatre" due to its proximity to the nearby Pine Knob ski area and golf course. The name was changed before the 2001 concert season when DTE Energy purchased the naming rights to the amphitheater in a ten-year, $10 million deal. Despite this change, many people still continue to call the venue "Pine Knob", "The Knob", or "The Hill".
Dennis James Coffey is an American guitarist. He was a studio musician for many soul and R&B recordings, and is well known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single "Scorpio".
WCHB is an Urban Gospel station at 1340 AM licensed to Royal Oak, Michigan and broadcasting in the Detroit area. It is known as AM 1340 WCHB and owned by Crawford Broadcasting with WMUZ-FM 103.5 FM and WRDT 560 AM. WCHB broadcasts in the HD format. The station is a reporter to Billboard's Nielsen/BDS Gospel airplay panel.
The GM Technical Center is a General Motors facility in Warren, Michigan. The campus has been the center of the company's engineering effort since its inauguration in 1956. In 2000 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places; fourteen years later it was designated a National Historic Landmark, primarily for its architecture.
The Detroit Public Library is the second largest library system in the U.S. state of Michigan by volumes held and is the 21st largest library system in the United States. It is composed of the Main Library on Woodward Avenue, which houses the library's administration offices, and 23 branch locations across the city. The Main Library is part of Detroit's Cultural Center Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places adjacent to Wayne State University campus and across from the Detroit Institute of Arts.
The Boston–Edison Historic District is a historic neighborhood located in the geographic center of Detroit, Michigan. It consists of over 900 homes built on four east/west streets: West Boston Boulevard, Chicago Boulevard, Longfellow Avenue, and Edison Avenue, stretching from Woodward Avenue on the east to Linwood Avenue on the west. It is one of the largest residential historic districts in the nation. It is surrounded by Sacred Heart Major Seminary to the west, the Arden Park-East Boston Historic District and the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament to the east, and the Atkinson Avenue Historic District to the south. The district was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1973 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Baker's Keyboard Lounge located on 20510 Livernois Street in Detroit, Michigan, claims to be the world's oldest operating jazz club, operating since May 1934, although the Green Mill in Chicago has been open since 1907.
Donald Davis was an American record producer, songwriter and guitarist who combined a career in music with one in banking.
The Valadiers are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who became notable as the first white vocal group signed to Motown in the early 1960s.
The Wolfbox is the name for the original passive DI unit, direct box, or DI as invented in the late 1950s by Dr. Edward Wolfrum, PhD, alumnus engineer of Motown, Golden World Records, Terra-Shirma Studios, Metro-Audio Capstan Roller Remote recording, and United Sound Systems in Detroit, Michigan. Used by James Jamerson, Dennis Coffey, Bob Babbit and other The Funk Brothers, the Wolfbox was a key component in the 1960s and 1970s sound of recorded music in the Motown/Detroit scene.
