Old Motown Records
From the Late Fifties, Soul Music was born, it spawned acts such as the Temptations, Four Tops, Marvin Gaye and many others.
The Music is still alive today and we are here to feed your need for the Legends of Soul
The One, The Only, The Temptations
Background record is The Temptations - The Way You Do the Things You Do
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Aretha Franklin - The Queen of Soul |
The Dells |
The Intruders |
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| Jnr Walker | Martha Reeves and The Vandellas | Marvin Gaye |
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Otis Redding |
4 Tops |
The Supremes |
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Smokey Robinson |
Jackie Wilson |
Stevie Wonder |
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Mary Wells |
Sam And Dave |
Jackson 5 |
Soul Record labels.
Of the many Soul record labels Motown and Stax were the argueablly most successful, they between them spawned hundreds of hits, along with many smaller labels they were at the forefront of the Soul Story.
Motown was a record company founded by Berry Gordy Jnr and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, on April 14, 1960. The name, a potmanteau of the words motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit. Now headquartered inNew York City, Motown is a subsidary of Universal Motown Republic Group, itself a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and now operates as Univeral Motown. Motown Records was also the name of Gordy's second record label; the first, Tamla Records, began on January 12, 1959.
Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music, as it was the first record label owned by an African American to primarily feature African-American artists who achieved crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its soul-based subsidiaries were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as The Motown Sound, a style of Soul Music with a distinct pop influence.
Motown has owned or distributed releases from more than 45 subsidiaries in varying genres, although it is most famous for its releases in the music genres of rhythm and blues, soul, hip hop and pop. Motown Records left Detroit for Los Angeles in 1972, and remained an independent company until June 28, 1988, when Gordy sold the company to MCA and Boston Ventures (which took over full ownership of Motown in 1991), then to Polygram in 1994.
(Information from Motown Records Wikipedia entry)
Stax Records - The classic "Stax-O-Wax" logo used during the Atlantic distribution years Stax Records, originally named Satellite Records, was founded in Memphis in 1957 by Jim Stewart, initially operating in a garage. Satellite's early releases were country music records or straight pop numbers, reflecting the tastes of Stewart (a white country fiddle player) at the time.
In 1958, Stewart's sister Estelle Axton began her financial interest in the company.
For a time in 1959, the company moved to Brunswick, Tennessee. Around this time, Stewart was introduced to rhythm and blues music by staff producer Chips Moman. Satellite's first release by a black rhythm and blues act occurred in September 1959, with the Veltones' "Fool For Love" (which was soon picked up for national distribution by Mercury Records.) However, Satellite remained primarily a country and pop label for the next year or so. - see more by clicking Stax Records link above
Okeh RecordsOkeh began by issuing popular songs, dance numbers, and vaudeville skits similar to the fare of other labels, but Heineman also wished to experiment with music for audiences neglected by the larger record companies. Okeh produced lines of recordings in German, Czech, Polish, Swedish, and Yiddish for the USA's immigrant communities. Some were pressed from masters leased from European labels, others were recorded by Okeh in New York.
In 1920, Ralph Peer's recordings by African-American blues singer Mamie Smith were a surprise smash hit for Okeh. The company perceived the significant little tapped market for blues and jazz by African American artists. In 1922, Okeh hired Clarence Williams to act as director of "Race" (African American) recordings for Okeh's New York studios, in addition to making recordings under his own name. Okeh then opened a recording studio in Chicago, Illinois, the center of jazz in the 1920s, where Richard M. Jones served as "Race" recordings director. Many classic jazz performances by the likes of King Oliver, Lucille Bogan, Sidney Bechet, Hattie McDaniel, and Louis Armstrong were recorded by Okeh. As part of the Carl Lindstrom Company, Okeh recordings were distributed by other Lindstrom labels including Parlophone in the United Kingdom - - see more by clicking Okeh Records link above
