Berry Gordy at the piano playing a song he's working on, Janie Bradford chiming in, "Your love gives me such a thrill but it don't pay my bills gimmie' some money, baby," Barrett Strong rushing in and starts singing. And a classic song is born.
"Money (That's What I Want)." The story behind that classic is only one of the many exciting moments captured by Berry Gordy in his memoir TO BE LOVED.
What Berry loved most was music. It's what he believed in. And he believed in himself. Which is how he could, and did, walk away from writing for Jackie Wilson when Wilson's manager was ripping them off
That's how he was able to build MOTOWN from scratch, the label that defined so many of our musical memories. We learn how he and Smokey Robinson bonded sitting on the floor in his living room after Smokey and the Miracles ended a performance due to violence in a bar.
And, of course, we learn about how a girl group's singing one day and one member stands out:
She was on the skinny side with great big eyes and a lot of self-confidence.
Just as they were finishing the song I stopped.
"Would you sing that again?" I asked, motioning to the lead singer, with my hand.
"Okay," she smiled in a bashful way.
Yep, she's Diana Ross. You can't talk MOTOWN and not talk the queen of the label Diana Ross. She broke one racial barrier after another starting with the Supremes and continuing on through her solo career: night club bookings, Vegas booking, radio airplay, Academy Award nomination for Best Actress . . .
And as fascinating as that it, I should point out that the early section of the book, where he's discussing his father and growing up, the house his father thought was a great deal that was falling apart and that they would end up losing, the small home they'd move into, his parents, his sisters and him, his father's acting on the fact that people always need food, all of it was vividly captured and as interesting as stories about the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Ashford & Simpson, the Marvelettes, the Temptations, Mary Wells, Kim Weston and Smokey.
Diana meant more to me than she could ever imagine. It is absolutely true that at one time I was obsessed with her. In the heyday of the Supremes. I saw the butterfly emerge from the cocoon and I was dazzled. She was magic and she was mine. Diana was willing to let me make her a star and I knew she had the talent, drive and stamina to go the distance. It was, in retrospect, a perfect arrangement and as long as we were a team we were invincible. We treated setbacks the same way we treated success. They were both opportunities.
I loved her because she gave everything to our mission. She had a willingness to discipline herself, to work like a maniac to get it right. All of a sudden I wasn't the only perfectionist. I had a wonderful counterpart and she wanted what I wanted and so we set off to get it . . . and we did.
And along with all of that getting we got each other. The good, the bad and finally, the big good-bye.
We did fall for each other in a way that is more complicated than most relationships. How did it happen? People are always asking me that.
Because they did build the label together. Diana closed out the sixties with her 12th lead vocal on a number one, "Someday We'll Be Together." Those twelve were part of twenty-five top forty pop hits. The success was huge for any label but it's what she made of the opportunities. Many MOTOWN acts went on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW. Diana made her group a staple of the show -- she had a spark and a life that came across onscreen and captured viewers which is why she'd go on to guest as a musical act on other shows, then to guest star on TARZAN and then to co-host a special with Lucille Ball and Dinah Shore (LIKE HEP!) and so much more.
Berry realized he was falling for her. He wondered what would happen to them? She was becoming popular and well known. Should he help her become famous and a legend and would he lose his chance with her if he did? It all led to "Try It Baby" which ended up a top 15 pop hit and a number six R&B hit. They would begin their non-business relationship in Paris in April of 1965.
In terms of business, the relationship would lead them both to highs. Berry Gordy, the boxer, would become the head of one of the biggest music labels in the country. It would be one giant step for them both, one after another. "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You." A standard Berry knew was important, a song that left the audience bored. Diana didn't like it and wanted to drop it. Berry knew it was a key and told her she had to. She gave it her all and it's the song that broke MOTOWN onto primetime TV beyond the hits shows like AMERICAN BANDSTAND and HULLABALU onto variety shows -- with the prime time programs lining up for Diana to sing a standard on their show, any standard.
She was now at the threshold of becoming the superstar we had always dreamed she could be. And, as she began her solo career, Berry observes:
For the past five years, she and I had been intensely involved both professionally and romantically. They were interchangeable. One fed off the other. We had success after success together. I don't think there was a question in either of our minds that we would always be together. I felt certain that our dream was within reach. And I wanted to go for it all the way. So did she. But as in any long-term relationship the question of marriage had come up. Could our romantic relationship continue without it or would marriage destroy our dream, everything we'd worked for? We both knew that the conflict between our personal relationship as lovers and the roles we played professionally was taking its toll.
I was her mentor, her manager, her boss. She was my protege, my artist, my star. We both recognized that my role had become too defined, too demanding and too unyielding to exist in a loving marriage. And in order to take the dream all the way my role would have to become even more intense. Emotionally, we were on a collision course. We ended our personal relationship sadly and by mutual agreement so we could focus completely on the professional role.
He built a mountain of a music label, tore down barriers and became a film director. It's a ride and it's one that provides a lot of joy. It's currently $11.99 as a KINDLE book and that's a bargain. Bad news? When I bought it Saturday, it was on sale for $2.99. Remember to check KINDLE books daily on AMAZON because something's always on sale.
