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William Stevenson | |
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 Stevenson at a ceremony in March 2013 for the Funk Brothers to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Avery Vandenburg |
| Born | January 4, 1937 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, producer |
| Labels | Motown |
William "Mickey" Stevenson (born January 4, 1937) is an American former songwriter and record producer for the Motown group of labels from the early days of Berry Gordy's company [1] until 1967.
He was born William Stevenson and, after spending his formative years recording doowop and gospel music, [2] joined Tamla/Motown in 1959, [3] the year it was founded. He was head of the A&R department there during the company's "glory" years of the mid-1960s when artists such as the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Four Tops, Stevie Wonder and Martha and the Vandellas came to the fore. Stevenson was also responsible for organizing and establishing the company's in-house studio band, which came to be known as the Funk Brothers. [4]
He wrote and produced many hit records for Motown, some with co-writer and producer Ivy Jo Hunter. They included his biggest successes, "Dancing in the Street", which he co-wrote with Hunter and Marvin Gaye; "It Takes Two" (Gaye and Weston), "Ask the Lonely" for the Four Tops, Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" (produced), "My Baby Loves Me" (Martha and the Vandellas), "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" (produced) for Stevie Wonder and Gaye's first hit, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow". He also wrote "Devil with a Blue Dress" in 1964 with Shorty Long, which became a hit for Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels in 1966…and The Contours 1964 hit, “Can You Jerk Like Me” He also wrote under the pseudonym Avery Vandenburg for Jobete's Stein & Van Stock publishing subsidiary. [4]
In 1969, he founded a label called People Records, which recorded Kim Weston and other acts such as Hodges, James & Smith, but the label dissolved around the time James Brown's unrelated label of the same name was founded in 1971. He was appointed head of Venture Records in 1969, a subsidiary of MGM, with a brief to develop their share of the soul and rhythm and blues market, continuing in this role until the mid-1970s. Subsequently, he owned another California label, Raintree, releasing a single by Willard King in 1975. [5]
In recent years,[ when? ] Stevenson discovered and produced the R&B female artist Jaisun [6] for an album that reached No. 1 in major breakout markets,[ which? ] but he has largely been involved in producing stage musicals. The latter include Swann, Showgirls, Wings and Things, The Gospel Truth, TKO, and Chocolate City. [4] He married Michelle Stevenson on November 11, 2021.
| Year | Song | Original artist | U.S. Pop | U.S. R&B | UK Singles Chart | Other charting versions, and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | "Twistin’ Postman" | The Marvelettes | 34 | 13 | - | Written by Stevenson (as Stevens), Bateman, and Holland |
| "Jamie" | Eddie Holland | 30 | 6 | - | Written by Stevenson, and Barrett Strong | |
| 1962 | "Playboy" | The Marvelettes | 7 | 4 | - | Written by Stevenson, Bateman, Holland, and Horton |
| "Beechwood 4-5789" | The Marvelettes | 17 | 7 | - | Written by Stevenson, Gaye, and Gordy | |
| "Hitch Hike" | Marvin Gaye | 30 | 12 | - | Written by Stevenson, Paul, and Gaye | |
| 1963 | "Love Me All the Way" | Kim Weston | 88 | 24 | - | Written by Stevenson |
| "Pride and Joy" | Marvin Gaye | 10 | 2 | - | Written by Stevenson, Marvin Gaye, and Norman Whitfield | |
| "Dancing in the Street" | Martha and the Vandellas | 2 | 8 | 4 | Written by Stevenson, and Marvin Gaye | |
| 1964 | "Devil with the Blue Dress" | Shorty Long | - | - | - | Written by Stevenson, and Frederick “Shorty” Long |
| "What Good Am I Without You" | Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston | 61 | 28 | - | Written by Stevenson, and Higdon | |
| "Needle in a Haystack" | The Velvelettes | 45 | 31 (C) | - | Written by Stevenson, and Norman Whitfield | |
| "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'" | The Velvelettes | 64 | 21 | - | Written by Stevenson, Holland, and Norman Whitfield | |
| "What's the Matter with You Baby" | Mary Wells and Marvin Gaye | 17 | 2 (C) | - | Written by Stevenson, and Paul | |
| 1965 | "My Smile is Just a Frown (Turned Upside Down)" | Carolyn Crawford | - | 39 | - | Written by Stevenson, Smokey Robinson, and Bradford |
| "Can You Jerk Like Me" | The Contours | 47 | 15 | - | Written by Stevenson, and Hunter | |
| 1966 | "Nothing’s Too Good For My Baby" | Stevie Wonder | 20 | 4 | - | Written by Stevenson, Hank Cosby, and Sylvia Moy |
| "My Baby Loves Me" | Martha and the Vandellas | 22 | 3 | - | Written by Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter, and Sylvia Moy | |
| "What am I Going to Do Without Your Love?" | Martha and the Vandellas | 71 | - | - | Written by Stevenson, and Sylvia Moy | |
| "It Takes Two" | Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston | 14 | 4 | 16 | Written by Stevenson, and Sylvia Moy | |
| 1967 | "I Got What You Need" | Kim Weston | 99 | - | - | Written by Stevenson, and Doug Brown |
| "Stranded in the Middle of Noplace" | The Righteous Brothers | 72 | - | - | Written by Stevenson | |
| 1970 | "She Said Yes" | Wilson Pickett | 68 | 20 | - | Written by Stevenson, Pickett, Covay, and Nash |
| 1974 | "Loving You" | Johnny Nash | 91 | 40 | - | Written by Stevenson |
| 1977 | "Try and Understand" | Jaisun | - | ? | - | Written by Stevenson |
Martha and the Vandellas were an American vocal girl group formed in Detroit in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown.
Motown 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.
Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and pop singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas, which scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Come and Get These Memories", "Nowhere to Run", "Heat Wave", "Jimmy Mack", and their signature "Dancing in the Street". From 2005 until 2009, Reeves served as an elected councilwoman in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Reeves at number 151 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972.
The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, Jimmy Ruffin, Edwin Starr, the Supremes, the Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers, among others. It is estimated they appeared on 20,000 recordings.
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is a 1983 television special, produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown, to commemorate its 25th anniversary. The program was taped before a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on March 25, 1983, and broadcast on NBC on May 16. Among its highlights were Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean", Smokey Robinson's reunion with the Miracles, a Temptations / Four Tops "battle of the bands", Marvin Gaye's inspired speech about black music history and his memorable performance of "What's Going On", a Jackson 5 reunion, and an abbreviated reunion of Diana Ross & the Supremes, who performed their final #1 hit, "Someday We'll Be Together" from 1969. The show was written by Buz Kohan, Ruth Robinson, and de Passe.
"Pride and Joy" is a 1963 single by Marvin Gaye, released on the Tamla label. The single, co-written by William "Mickey" Stevenson, Gaye and Norman Whitfield, and produced by Stevenson, was considered to be a tribute to Gaye's then-girlfriend, Anna Gordy. The album version of the single featured on Gaye's second album, That Stubborn Kinda Fellow is different in parts to the single version presenting a more jazz effect than the gospel-emulated version that became a single. The song was also Gaye's first top ten pop single peaking at number ten on the chart and just missed the top spot of the R&B singles chart peaking at number two. The song also helped continue Gaye's successful hit streak as the singer would score another Top 40 pop hit at the end of that year with "Can I Get a Witness".
"Stubborn Kind of Fellow" is a 1962 song recorded by Marvin Gaye for the Tamla label. Co-written by Gaye and produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" became Gaye's first hit single, reaching the top 10 of the R&B chart and the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1962.
That Stubborn Kinda Fellow is the second studio album by Marvin Gaye, released on the Tamla label in 1963. The second LP Gaye released on the label, it also produced his first batch of successful singles for the label and established Gaye as one of the label's first hit-making acts in its early years.
Frederick Earl "Shorty" Long was an American soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer for Motown's Soul Records imprint. He was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1980.
George Ivy Hunter, known as Ivy Jo Hunter, was an American R&B songwriter, record producer and singer, most associated with his work for Motown in the 1960s.
In Loving Memory is a gospel compilation released by Motown Records in September 1968. It is dedicated to the memory of Motown founder Berry Gordy's sister, Mrs. Loucye S. Gordy Wakefield, and features several popular Motown acts, including Diana Ross & the Supremes, The Temptations, The Miracles and Marvin Gaye, performing versions of popular gospel songs and spirituals.
Henry R. Cosby was an American songwriter, arranger, record producer and musician who worked for Motown Records from its formative years. Along with Sylvia Moy, Cosby was a key collaborator with Stevie Wonder from 1963 to 1970. Cosby co-wrote and/or co-produced three No. 1 US hits: Stevie Wonder's "Fingertips" (1963), The Supremes' "Love Child" (1968), and The Miracles' "The Tears of a Clown" (1968).
Sylvia Rose Moy was an American songwriter and record producer, formerly associated with the Motown Records group. The first woman at the Detroit-based music label to write and produce for Motown acts, she is probably best known for her songs written with and for Stevie Wonder.
Sherlie Mae Matthews is an American singer, songwriter and former Motown Records producer, best known as a backing vocalist for pop, R&B and rock groups from the mid-1960s to the present.
Tamla Motown Gold: The Sound of Young America is a three-disc compilation album released by the Tamla Motown label in 2001. It features all the hits from the label in the 1960s, by various artists.
Motown Chartbusters is a series of compilation albums first released by EMI under licence on the Tamla Motown label in Britain. In total, 12 editions were released in the UK between 1967 and 1982. Volumes 1 and 2 were originally called British Motown Chartbusters; after this the title Motown Chartbusters was used.
Paul Riser is an American trombonist and Motown musical arranger who was responsible for co-writing and arranging dozens of top ten hit records. His legacy as one of the "Funk Brothers" is similar to that of most of the other "Brothers", as his career has been overlooked and overshadowed by the stars of Motown that became household names. Some of the Funk Brothers he worked with include: Earl Van Dyke, Johnny Griffith, Robert White, Eddie Willis, Joe Messina, Dennis Coffey, Wah Wah Watson, James Jamerson, Bob Babbitt, Eddie Watkins, Richard "Pistol" Allen, Uriel Jones, Andrew Smith, Jack Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Eddie "Bongo" Brown, Benny Benjamin, Cornelius Grant, Joe Hunter, Richard "Popcorn" Wylie, Marcus Belgrave, Teddy Buckner and Stevie Wonder.
Freddie Gorman was an American musician and record producer, most famous as a singer, songwriter for the Motown label in the late 1960s and mid 1970s.
Motown Memories With Sweet Pea is a weekly three-hour radio program that plays songs from the Motown record label. Hosted by Patricia “Sweet Pea” King, Motown Mermories With Sweet Pea is heard on WMEL, and is produced in the Bronx, New York.
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