". . . a great blow-by-blow account of an exciting and still-legendary scene." ---Marshall Crenshaw From the early days of John Lee Hooker to the heyday of Motown and beyond, Detroit has enjoyed a long reputation as one of the crucibles of American pop music. In Grit, Noise, and Revolution, David Carson turns the spotlight on those hard-rocking, long-haired musicians-influenced by Detroit's R&B heritage-who ultimately helped change the face of rock 'n' roll. Carson tells the story of some of the great garage-inspired, blue-collar Motor City rock 'n' roll bands that exemplified the Detroit rock sound: The MC5, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, SRC, the Bob Seger System, Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes, and Grand Funk Railroad. An indispensable guide for rock aficionados, Grit, Noise, and Revolution features stories of these groundbreaking groups and is the first book to survey Detroit music of the 1960s and 70s-a pivotal era in rock music history.
Chapter 4 focuses on Motown, titled "Motown and Other Sounds."

This book explores the ways in which Western-derived music connects with globalization, hybridity, consumerism and the flow of cultures. Both as local terrain and as global crossroads, cities remain fascinating spaces of cultural contestation and meaning-making via the composing, playing, recording and consumption of popular music.
Chapter 6 focuses on Motown: "Tamla Motown in the UK: Transatlantic Reception of American Rhythm and Blues"

Chapter 23 "Dancing in the Streets" gives a succinct description of the beginnings of Motown records, and some of its first pop stars.

Under Berry Gordy, Motown was a place where studio musicians usually stood in the shadows, unlike the solo stars whose names appeared on the albums. Gordy held a tight rein on his musicians, forbidding them from playing for other record companies and denying them credit on his records. In Guitars, Bars, and Motown Superstars, author and guitarist Dennis Coffey tells how he slipped Gordy's draconian rules and went on to success as both a Motown musician and a million-selling solo artist. He offers a fascinating backstage look at the Detroit, L.A., and New York music scenes in the '60s and '70s, with side trips to the smoky clubs and funky studios where the Motown Sound was born. Coffey is credited with creating a lot of that sound, including the famous guitar intro to the Temptations' classic "Cloud Nine." He played on hundreds of Motown albums, and introduced such innovations as the wah-wah pedal into the Motown recording studio. Guitars, Bars, and Motown Superstars is an entertaining and amusing memoir of one of the most dynamic and influential periods in contemporary pop culture, and a unique insight into the ups and downs of the studio guitar-for-hire. It's also a look at the dizzying rags-to-riches-and-back-again career of a rock musician who went from million-seller with a house in the Hollywood Hills, and ultimately back to his roots in the Detroit area. A must for fans of Motown, rock, and you-are-there popculture history. Book jacket.

In 1959, twenty-nine-year-old Berry Gordy, who had already given up on his dream to be a champion boxer, borrowed eight hundred dollars from his family and started a record company. A run-down bungalow sandwiched between a funeral home and a beauty shop in a poor Detroit neighborhood served as his headquarters. The building’s entrance was adorned with a large sign that improbably boasted “Hitsville U.S.A.” The kitchen served as the control room, the garage became the two-track studio, the living room was reserved for bookkeeping, and sales were handled in the dining room. Soon word spread that any youngster with a streak of talent should visit the only record label that Detroit had seen in years. The company’s name was Motown. Motown cuts through decades of unsubstantiated rumors and speculation to tell the true behind-the-scenes narrative of America’s most exciting musical dynasty. It follows the company and its amazing roster of stars from the tumultuous growth years in Detroit, to the drama and intrigue of Hollywood in the 1970s, to resurgence in 2002. Set against the civil rights movement, the decay of America’s northern industrial cities, and the social upheaval of the 1960s, Motown is a tale of the incredible entrepreneurship of Berry Gordy. But it also features the moving stories of kids from Detroit’s inner-city projects who achieved remarkable success and then, in many cases, found themselves fighting the demons that so often come with stardom—drugs, jealousy, sexual indulgence, greed, and uncontrollable ambition. Motown features an extraordinary cast of characters, including Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder. They are presented as they lived and worked: a clan of friends, lovers, competitors, and sometimes vicious foes. Motown reveals how the hopes and dreams of each affected the lives of the others and illustrates why this singular story is a made-in-America Greek tragedy, the rise and fall of a supremely talented yet completely dysfunctional extended family. Based on numerous original interviews and extensive documentation, Motown benefits particularly from the thousands of pages of files crammed into the basement of downtown Detroit’s Wayne County Courthouse. Those court records provide the unofficial—and hitherto largely untold—history of Motown and its stars, since almost every relationship between departing singers, songwriters, producers, and the label ended up in litigation. From its peaks in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Motown controlled the pop charts and its stars were sought after even by the Beatles, through the inexorable slide caused by their failure to handle their stardom, Motown is a riveting and troubling look inside a music label that provided the unofficial soundtrack to an entire generation. From the Hardcover edition.

Here at last: all the words to all the great love songs from the golden era of Motown, when the Motown sound dominated the charts and kids fell in love, broke up, and fell in love again to its irresistibly danceable hits. Born in inner-city Detroit but loved by people all around the world, the songs of Motown remain unmistakable and unforgettable: “I’ll Be There,” “My Girl,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “Please Mr. Postman,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” From the tender beginnings of romance to the heartbreak of good-bye, Motown’s legendary songwriters and performers captured all the nuances of love in what became some of the most beloved songs of our time. Motown Records left behind an unequaled legacy of popular music that was both sophisticated and streetwise, achingly emotional and the epitome of cool. This vibrant collection of lyrics enables us to sing along–not just hum along–to our favorite Motown tunes and acknowledges the contributions of the lyricists who made these celebrated records possible, from singer-songwriters Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, and Marvin Gaye to collaborators Holland-Dozier-Holland, Ashford and Simpson, and Strong and Whitfield. With an insightful introduction by editor Herb Jordan and rare photographs of the best-known Motown musicians and writers,Motown in Loveis a treasure for those who lived by the songs in the sixties and seventies, and for those just discovering them now. Featuring all the words to: ain’t no mountain high enough ain’t nothing like the real thing ain’t that peculiar all in love is fair as ask the lonely baby i need your loving baby i’m for real baby love back in my arms again beauty is only skin deep bernadette choosey beggar come and get these memories come see about me dancing in the street devil with a blue dress on distant lover do you love me does your mama know about me don’t look back don’t mess with bill every little bit hurts fading away for once in my life get ready he was really sayin’ somthin’ heat wave hitch hike how sweet it is to be loved by you the hunter gets captured by the game i can’t get next to you i can’t help myself i hear a symphony i heard it through the grapevine (i know) i’m losing you i second that emotion i want you back i was made to love her i wish it would rain if i could build my whole world around you if i were your woman if it’s magic if this world were mine i’ll be doggone i’ll be in trouble i’ll be there i’ll try something new i’m gonna make you love me it takes two it’s growing it’s the same old song just my imagination (running away with me) lately let’s get it on the love i saw in you was just a mirage love is here and now you’re gone love is like an itching in my heart the love you save love’s in need of love today loving you is sweeter than ever more love my cherie amour my girl my girl has gone my guy my world is empty without you never can say goodbye never dreamed you’d leave in summer nowhere to run the one who really loves you ooo baby baby please mr. postman pride and joy reach out i’ll be there reflections rocket love 7 rooms of gloom shake me, wake me (when it’s over) shop around signed, sealed, delivered, i’m yours since i lost my baby standing in the shadows of love stop!

Now updated with two new chapters and an extraordinary collection of photographs, this second edition of Paul Friedlander's Rock and Roll: A Social History is a smash hit. The social force of rock and roll music leaps off the page as Paul Friedlander provides impressive insights based on hits from Johnny B. Goode to Smells Like Teen Spirit and beyond. In this musical journey, Friedlander offers the melodious strains and hard-edged riffs of Elvis, the Beatles, The Who, Dylan, Clapton, Hendrix, Motown, the San Francisco Beat, Punk, New Wave, rap, metal, 90's grunge, plus file sharing, and much more. The book is written in a refreshing, captivating style that pulls the reader in, offering no less than a complete social and cultural history of rock and roll for students and general audiences alike. Friedlander writes, This book chronicles the first forty years of rock/pop music history. Picture the various musical styles as locations on a giant unfolding road map. As you open the map, you travel from place to place, stopping at each chapter to sample the artistry. Don't forget to dress your imagination appropriately for this trip, because each genre is affected by the societal topography and climate that surround it. Enjoy your trip. We promise it will be a good one!