Barry gordy biography

American music executive and record producer (born )

Musical artist

Berry Gordy III (born November 28, ), also known as Berry Gordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and its subsidiaries, which was the highest-earning African-American business for decades.

As a songwriter, Gordy composed or co-composed a number of hits including "Lonely Teardrops" and "That's Why" (Jackie Wilson), "Shop Around" (the Miracles), and "Do You Love Me" (the Contours), all of which topped the US R&B charts, as well as the international hit "Reet Petite" (Jackie Wilson). As part of the Corporation, he wrote many hit songs for the Jackson 5, including "I Want You Back" and "ABC". As a record producer, he launched the Miracles and signed acts like the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Stevie Wonder. He was known for carefully directing the public image, dress, manners, and choreography of his acts.

Gordy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in , awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama in , and the Kennedy Center Honors in In , he was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.

Early years

Berry Gordy III (also known as Berry Gordy Jr.) was born on November 28, , in Detroit, the seventh of the eight children of Berry Gordy II (also known as Berry Gordy Sr.) and Bertha Fuller Gordy, who had relocated to Detroit from Oconee, Washington County, Georgia, in

His grandfather, named Berry Gordy I, was the son of James Gordy, a white plantation owner in Georgia, and one of his slaves. Berry I's half-brother, James (son of the elder James and his legal wife), was the grandfather of President Jimmy Carter. Berry Gordy II was led to Detroit both by the job opportunities offered by

()

Who Is Berry Gordy Jr.?

Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records in The s and '70s saw popular artists who Gordy developed — including the Supremes, the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye — dominate the music scene. Changing tastes and a loss of focus led to Motown's decline, and Gordy sold the company in He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that same year.

Early Life and Work

Berry Gordy Jr. was born on November 28, , in Detroit, Michigan. He was the seventh of eight children in a close-knit, hardworking family.

Unlike his siblings, Gordy struggled in school. He loved music — he was interested in songwriting at age 7 — but when he was kicked out of his high school music class, he dropped out of school in order to pursue a boxing career.

By the time he was 20, Gordy had triumphed in 13 of 19 professional fights. However, the realization that boxing would age him much faster than music prompted Gordy to return to songwriting. These plans were interrupted when he was drafted into the army in

After two years in the army, during which he earned his GED, Gordy opened a record store with a friend. Unfortunately, the store focused on jazz while customers wanted R&B; Gordy realized this too late to keep the business from folding.

Music and Money

Gordy had gotten married in ; with a family to support, he took a job on a Lincoln-Mercury plant assembly line in The monotony of putting upholstery in cars all day had one benefit: He could compose songs in his head while working.

At the age of 27, Gordy decided to hand in his notice and dedicate himself to music once more. (His wife didn't approve and they ended up separating.) Through family connections, Gordy encountered singer Jackie Wilson's manager; he ended up co-writing the Wilson hit "Reet Petite," which came out in Gordy also wrote Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops” and "To Be Loved."

Gordy soon started his own music publishing company, whic

HIT-MAKING SONGWRITER

A gifted songwriter, Berry penned or co-wrote hits for Jackie Wilson, including “Reet Petite&#;, “Lonely Teardrops” and “To Be Loved&#;. Despite this success, Berry was not content to write songs: He burned with the entrepreneurial spirit, as was only natural for one of Berry, Sr. and Bertha’s children. With an $ loan in hand from the Gordy Family’s Ber-Berry Co-op, Berry set out in to apply some of the principles he learned in the auto plant to the production of records and the creation of music groups and solo artists. He envisioned a process by which a “kid could walk in one door an unknown off the street and come out the other a polished performer&#;.

MOTOWN RECORDS FOUNDER

With a tenacity that reflected his training as a boxer, a drive to succeed that matched the lessons he learned from his parents, and an attention to detail that is evident in the quality and uniqueness of every element of the Motown experience, Berry built the Empire on West Grand Boulevard, known as Motown Records.

Motown Record Corporation was incorporated in April , a year that produced Barrett Strong’s biggest hit, “Money (That’s What I Want),” for which Berry shared writing credits with Janie Bradford. The Miracles’ “Shop Around,” written by lead singer Smokey Robinson, was also released that year and reached #1 and #2, respectively, on the R&B national and Billboard pop charts.

When Berry purchased the two-family flat at West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, he moved his wife and young son into the upper unit and began to build his record company on the first floor. His energy and drive to reach his goal infected the growing Motown Records family as hit after hit emerged from Studio A, housed in a converted photography studio at the back of the house he soon dubbed Hitsville U.S.A.

TALENT DEVELOPER

Berry had a keen eye for talent as well. The list of his earliest discoveries reads like a who’s who of the golden age of rhythm-and-blues, start

Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan on November 28, Dropping out of high school in the 11th grade, he tried professional boxing, then in enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in Korea until he was discharged in

Returning to Detroit, Gordy followed his love of music and opened the 3-D Record Mart-House of Jazz, with help from his father and brother George. When the store went bankrupt in , Gordy was forced to find steady work to support his wife and son. He got a job at Ford Motor Company, first in the foundry, then on the assembly line at the Lincoln-Mercury plant.

Unenamored of factory work, Gordy quit in to become a professional songwriter. In , again borrowing money from his father, he founded a music publishing company, Jobete, then two record labels, Tamla Record Company and later in the year Motown. Also in Gordy purchased the house on Detroit’s Grand Boulevard that would become known as Hitsville USA. He converted a photography studio near the back of the property into a recording studio, set up administrative offices on the first floor, and moved his family to the second floor of the two-family flat.

In , Gordy officially incorporated his company, Motown Records including Tamla Records under the Motown Record Corporation name. The company enjoyed quick success, with its first release “Money (That’s What I Want)” by Barrett Strong in That same year “Shop Around” by The Miracles was Motown’s first record to sell more than one million copies.

From to , Motown Record Corporation enjoyed over one hundred Top Ten hits, from artists that included Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye, and The Four Tops. By the company was taking in $20 million and added four more properties to its Grand Boulevard headquarters. By there were five labels under the Motown umbrella. In , Gordy moved Motown Records to Los Angeles.

Although Gordy continued his songwriting, credited with co-authoring such