[Dixielandjazz] Re: Berry Gordy autobiography

[David W. Littlefield]

At 12:23 PM 1/3/2003 -0600, you wrote: 
>
> Bold of you to post this, but glad you did. Thanks.
> Every Christmas, I bring out my little cassette of the Temptations performing
> Christmas music, just so I can hear them sing their funky R&B version of
> "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Very, very "Motown"!


Hi Nancy. I can't recall whether I've heard Rudolph, but I love the Drifters'
"White Christmas"!

Speaking of the Drifters, Dixielanders looking for "Oldies" to update their
repertoires somewhat without getting into modern pop beats, should check out
"Fools fall in love", which is a shuffle beat tune that can be rocked ala Louis
Prima or Louis Jordan...

>
> What?!? Not enough nitty-gritty details? Are you referring to music, or
> things like: what kind of lingerie did Dianna Ross wear? ;)


Well, there was a lot of good/bad gossip about personnel clashes, questionable
business practices, etc., he might have included...

Incidently, as I recall, Gordy was one of the first to use large mixing boards;
whatever, he put all sorts of stuff into the mix, even used a banjo on at least
a couple of records. Much of it just passes quickly, but one can hear it by
listening attentively with headphones...

--Sheik


>
>>
>> From: "David W. Littlefield" <dwlit@cpcug.org> 
>> Date: Fri, 03 Jan 2003 10:38:52 -0500 
>> To: dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com 
>> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Berry Gordy autobiography [was: Miles Davis
>>
>> At 06:46 PM 12/30/2002 +0100, James Kashishian wrote: 
>> >And, I repeat, his autobiography is worth reading.
>>
>> Speaking of autobiographies, one that all entry-level / would-be 
>> entertainers should read is Berry Gordy's. He was the father of Motown pop 
>> music in the early 60s, and this topic is rather fascinating itself. 
>> However, he doesn't provide nearly as many of the nitty gritty details one 
>> might hope.
>>
>> I'm recommending it here, because an appropriate subtitle might have been: 
>> "Achieving success in the music business."
>>
>> Berry didn't just make a lot of money, he created a new style of popular 
>> music, infused it with very high aesthetic standards, took raw amateurs and 
>> turned them into polished performers, ofttimes stars. In the process he 
>> created new standards of performance. He details the process and gives 
>> lesson after lesson in entertaining and working/rising/surviving in the biz.
>>
>> --Sheik 
>> --Sheik 
>> David W. Littlefield, Piano, Guitar, Banjo, Washboard 
>> Compiler: "Dixieland FB" (Bb, C); "30S-40S FB (Bb, C)"; "Gig Book" 
>> http://cpcug.org/user/dwlit (Dixie playalong list, other tools)  
>> http://americanmusiccaravan.com (Fake Books, Chord Books, Bands) 
>> eMail: dwlit@cpcug.org
>>
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>>
>
>

--Sheik
David W. Littlefield, Piano, Guitar, Banjo, Washboard
Compiler: "Dixieland FB" (Bb, C); "30S-40S FB (Bb, C)"; "Gig Book"
http://cpcug.org/user/dwlit (Dixie playalong list, other tools)  
http://americanmusiccaravan.com (Fake Books, Chord Books, Bands)
eMail: dwlit@cpcug.org