Berry Gordy: Father of the Motown Sound
Uploaded by Waltohar on May 03, 2000
Berry Gordy Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan on November 28, 1929. He was the seventh born out of eight siblings. His parents migrated to Detroit from Georgia during 1922. They were part of a mass exodus of African Americans who left the South in the 20's and traveled to northern cities in search of better economic futures. During that time jobs were plentiful in the factories, mainly the big four automotive plants that like, Chrysler, Ford, Chevrolet, and General Motors.
Berry and Bertha Gordy would instill in Berry Jr. and his brothers and sisters a strong work ethic and a belief that anything could be achieved through persistence. His family also had deep roots in business. Berry Sr. owned a plastering and carpentry service, a general store, and a printing business. Gordy's family believed in the philosophy of Booker T. Washington, which stressed economic independence for blacks. Gordy Sr. named his store after him. Berry Gordy Jr. was heavily influenced by the ambition of his father.
Like his father, he was also very determined and he tried many new ventures. Berry was an average student who earned decent grades. Despite this he decided to drop out of Northeastern High School to peruse a featherweight boxing career. He once even fought on the same card as the great Joe Louis. He had a brief but successful series of fights but decided to give up boxing in 1951. That same year he would then decide to try out the Army. He served for two years during the Korean War; there he earned his high school equivalency diploma.
After his short stint in the army, he decided to open a record store, which only sold jazz records. Berry always enjoyed listening to records in his basement and he had a great love of music. Berry always hung around Detroit's popular nightspots to hear the bebop jazz sounds. He was able to see the performances of famous artists like pianist Thelonious Monk and saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker. Unfortunately, Berry's store eventually closed due to financial difficulties.
Gordy soon found himself working at Ford's Mercury plant, earning $85 a week. Bored with his assembly line job, he spent all of his free time writing songs. Berry would hum melodies and make up song lyrics in his head to break the monotony of everyday work. Berry soon began to get serious about song writing and he got...