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Richard Morris (songwriter)
Richard T. Morris is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Motown Records in the 1960s. Career In early 1960 Morris, Janie Bradford and Robert Bateman heard The Primettes audition for Motown Records. Label owner Berry Gordy Jr. declined to sign the group at that time, and Morris approached them with an offer to record them on another label. He wrote and produced their first single "Tears of Sorrow" on Lu-Pine Records. The Primettes signed to Motown in 1961 and became The Supremes, Motown's most commercially successful act. Morris produced and wrote for acts including Edwin Starr, and Martha & the Vandellas, sometimes collaborating with songwriter Sylvia Moy. His songs were also recorded by The Originals, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, The Marvelettes, Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soul Music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening, where U.S. record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa. It also had a resurgence with artists like Erykah Badu under the genre neo-soul. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response between the lead vocalist and the chorus and an especially tense vocal sound. The style also occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls, and auxiliary sounds. Soul music reflects the African-American identity, and it stresses the importance of an African-Ameri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diana Ross
Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. They remain the best-charting female group in history, with a total of twelve number-one hit singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, including "Where Did Our Love Go", "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", and " Love Child". Following departure from the Supremes in 1970, Ross embarked on a successful solo career in music, film, television and on stage. Her eponymous debut solo album featured the U.S. number-one hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and music anthem "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)". It was followed with her second solo album, '' Everything Is Everything'' (1970), which spawned her first UK number-one single " I'm Still Waiting". She continued her successful solo career by mounting elaborate record-setting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Date Of Birth Unknown
Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner **Group dating *Play date, an appointment for children to get together for a few hours * Meeting, when two or more people come together Chronology * Calendar date, a day on a calendar ** Old Style and New Style dates, from before and after the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar ** ISO 8601, an international standard covering date formats *Date (metadata), a representation term to specify a calendar date **DATE command, a system time command for displaying the current date *Chronological dating, attributing to an object or event a date in the past **Radiometric dating, dating materials such as rocks in which trace radioactive impurities were incorporated when they were formed Arts, entertainment and media Music *Date (band), a Swedish dans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ridin' High (Martha And The Vandellas Album)
"Ridin' High" is a 1968 soul album released by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas on the Gordy (Motown) label. This album featured the last Top 40 pop hits scored by the group during their recording tenure, "Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone" and "Honey Chile". It was a series of firsts for the group: it was the first album without the help of since departed producers William "Mickey" Stevenson and Holland–Dozier–Holland, however, Motown included one HDH track on the album, "Leave It In The Hands Of Love." Also on ''Ridin' High'' is a cover version of Dionne Warwick's then recent hit "I Say a Little Prayer." Bringing in Richard Morris and songwriter Sylvia Moy, the group managed to release two hit singles though this was the beginning of the end for the group as hitmakers on the pop charts. Like their label mates The Supremes and the Four Tops, they stalled without the team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, although they continued to chart well on the R&B charts and in England ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forget Me Not (Martha And The Vandellas Song)
"Forget Me Not" is a 1968 single by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas (credited as Martha Reeves & the Vandellas). Though the song failed to ignite charts in America, barely hitting the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 93, (it was the b-side to their hit, " I Promise to Wait My Love") and failing to chart on the US R&B charts (a rarity for the group), it became a hit on the UK Singles Chart singles chart peaking at No. 11 (in March 1971) netting them their biggest UK hit in several years. Credits *Lead vocals by Martha Reeves *Background vocals by The Andantes: Marlene Barrow, Jackie Hicks and Louvain Demps *Written by Richard Morris and Sylvia Moy *Produced by Richard Morris *Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers 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. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Gordy Gaye
Anna Ruby Gaye (née Gordy; January 28, 1922 – January 31, 2014) was an American businesswoman, composer and songwriter. An elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy, she became a record executive in the mid-to-late 1950s distributing records released on Checker and Gone Records before forming the Anna label with Billy Davis and her sister Gwen Gordy Fuqua. Gordy later became known as a songwriter for several hits including the Originals' " Baby, I'm for Real", and at least two songs on Marvin Gaye's '' What's Going On'' album. The first wife of Gaye, their turbulent marriage later served as inspiration for Gaye's 15th studio album, ''Here, My Dear''. Biography Life and career Born Anna Ruby Gordy on January 28, 1922, in Oconee, Georgia, she was the third-eldest child of Berry Gordy Sr. (Berry Gordy II) and Bertha Ida (née Fuller) Gordy's eight children. Into her first year, Gordy's family relocated to Detroit. Following graduation from high school in 1940, Gordy reloca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of successes, earning him the nicknames "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul". Gaye's Motown songs include "Ain't That Peculiar", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". Gaye also recorded duets with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross. During the 1970s, Gaye recorded the albums '' What's Going On'' and ''Let's Get It On'' and became one of the first artists in Motown to break away from the reins of a production company. His later recordings influenced several contemporary R&B subgenres, such as quiet storm and neo soul. "Sexual Healing", released in 1982 on the album ''Midnight Love'', won him his first two Grammy Awards. Gaye's last televised appearances we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baby, I'm For Real
"Baby, I'm for Real" is a soul ballad written by Marvin Gaye and Anna Gordy Gaye, produced by Marvin and recorded and released by American Motown vocal group The Originals for the Soul label issued in 1969. History The Originals version By the late sixties, male vocal quintet the Originals had been recording mostly background vocals for Motown artists most notably backing up brothers Jimmy Ruffin ("What Becomes of the Brokenhearted") and David Ruffin ("My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)") respectively. They also were as known for providing background vocals to some of Marvin Gaye's late sixties recordings such as " Chained". But their own singles up until then had failed to generate interest. Having befriended Gaye during recording sessions, the singer promised the group that he'll find them the hit they were searching for. With music written with his wife Anna, Marvin wrote the lyrics to a song called "The Bells I Hear" by Bobby Taylor with The Originals taking the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
(We've Got) Honey Love
"(We've Got) Honey Love" is a 1967 song by Motown girl group The Velvelettes that later became a 1969 single released by another Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas (credited here as Martha Reeves & the Vandellas) from their album '' Ridin' High'' released in 1968. The song returned the Vandellas to the top forty of Billboard's R&B singles chart where it peaked at number twenty-seven while it hit the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number fifty-seven. Honey Love at Allmusic/ref> It was the group's sixth record where they were listed as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas following the successful "Honey Chile" single two years earlier. The song talked of how one woman's lover's charm was like "sugar and spice" adding names of candy and soda adding "a little bit of me, a little bit of you and we've got honey love." The Velvelettes, meanwhile, had recorded two versions of the song (one led by the group's lead singer, Carolyn 'Cal' Gill, the other is a rare lead for then group member - ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Cosby
Henry R. "Hank" Cosby (May 12, 1928 – January 22, 2002) was an American songwriter, arranger, 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 1963–1970. 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). Life and career Cosby was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1928. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, where he played alongside jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley in the military band. Upon his return to Detroit, he joined pianist Joe Hunter's jazz band. He played tenor saxophone in jazz clubs, as well as on records for different labels around the city. When Berry Gordy launched Motown Records in 1959 he recruited the Joe Hunter Band with Cosby, Benny Benjamin, James Jamerson, Larry Veeder, and Mike Terry, forming the basis of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Promise To Wait My Love
"I Promise to Wait My Love" is a 1968 single recorded by girl group Martha and the Vandellas (credited as Martha Reeves & the Vandellas), released on the Gordy label. Background The third release from the group's '' Ridin' High'', it was another single given to them by producer Richard Morris. Produced under a Memphis soul sound similar to soul singer Aretha Franklin, the song has the narrator (lead singer Martha Reeves) promising to wait for her love as he fights in Vietnam, although the song does not overtly reference the war, disguising it as the war being another woman saying that she will love him "even though (he does her) wrong". Personnel *Lead vocals by Martha Reeves *Background vocals by Rosalind Ashford and Lois Reeves *Produced by Richard Morris *Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers Chart performance "I Promise to Wait My Love" peaked at #62 on the Hot 100. The song also went to #36 on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honey Chile
"Honey Chile" is a 1967 single by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas on the Gordy label. Produced by Richard Morris and written by Morris and Sylvia Moy, This was the first single to bill Martha Reeves by her full name, as opposed to simply "Martha" and the Vandellas. "Honey Chile" rose to number eleven on the ''Billboard'' pop singles chart and number five on the ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart. Background The song describes how the narrator (Martha Reeves) wanting to get rid of her boyfriend who's been courting and dating other girls behind her back though she is too weak to let him go stating "I'll walk a country mile to stay with you". This song, rare for a pop song, actually shows character development: at the end of the first verse she states that she is worthless without him, while in the second to last line she says she will find the strength to leave him. Filled with Southern connotations (inspired by Reeves' birth in rural Alabama), It is notable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
