MOTOR CITY SOUL
THE DETROIT OF 1959 AND THE EARLY ’60s INTO WHICH BERRY Gordy launched his record labels Tamla, Motown, Gordy and Miracle was already a hotbed of African-American musical talent, readily heard at the Flame Bar, The 20 Grand and other Motor City nightspots. The city’s existing recording companies such as Fortune, JVB, HOB, Lupine and Flick, would scout prospects there, soon to be joined by Gordy. The genesis of the young songwriter, producer and entrepreneur’s early years are described in Adam White’s feature, starting on page 44, and our Motor City Soul CD offers the chance to sample the musical environment of the formative years before and while his labels were founded. Robert West’s Lupine (also known as Lu-Pine) was particularly responsive to the scene, while Joe Von Battle’s JVB (also…