Alongside his fellow Funk Brothers, he helped weave the very fabric of Tamla Motown’s imposing and infectious sound.
The pair had already written hits for Stevie and others when he oversaw her first album for Motown's MoWest label.
The histories of the most iconic recording studios – Sun, Motown, Abbey Road – have made them almost as famous as the musicians who have recorded there.
A Bob Dylan cover landed the folk heroes on TV and in the UK singles chart.
A history of Detroit music is wider-ranging than almost any other city’s. Everything from blues to soul and techno calls Motor City home…
Motown Records was a huge inspiration for The Beatles in their early days, but the influence ran both ways, as the best Motown Beatles covers reveal.
Being ahead of their time, too offbeat for mass consumption, or through plain old bad luck – some artists became wildly influential without becoming household names.
Motown’s great songwriters were the foundations of the Great American Soulbook, an imaginary, but nonetheless awe-inspiring collection of songs written in the name of soul. But it did not come easy.
Birthing some of the world’s greatest music, the history of New York’s Apollo Theater parallels “the evolution of black American identity”.
With the launch of Disney+ around the world, it’s easier than ever to dig into the Magic Kingdom’s vast archives, from cult classics to forgotten favourites.
Absorbing and life-affirming, Smokey Robinson’s ‘A Quiet Storm’ is one of the landmark soul albums of its era, and its innovations continue to resonate.
The propulsive, tension-filled number came flying off the pens of Holland, Dozier and Holland and into the Motown studio.
In the way its music was presented and the universal themes its artists sang of, Motown broke racial barriers to move everyone, no matter their skin colour.
One of the great careers in soul music was launched on Smokey's 18th birthday with an answer record.
‘Shop Around’ is an absolutely vital part of the early development of Motown, and on 12 February 1961 it became their first million-seller.
