Forget the chitlin circuit, he wanted to be everywhere. To play everywhere. No ropes, no lines, every radio station, every venue, and all audiences.”
“Sounds like Minefield and Motown were a match made in heaven.”
“Motown Records was just getting started. They were maybe two years into the process. Berry had a dream and a little studio on the main floor of his house. He didn’t have a big name or industry backing. He had a system, though. And he had a big enough personality to think he could conquer the music world.”
“In ten years, he’s come a long way. The Motown story is another triumph of the decade,” Barry Gray says.
“No doubt about it. But in December of 1960, when I introduced Esther and her brothers to Berry Gordy, Motown only had a few artists—the Miracles, Mary Wells, Singin’ Sammy Ward. Maybe the Supremes too, though I don’t think they’d even had a hit yet. We met Marvin Gaye that Christmas. He played drums in the studio band.”
“Marvin Gaye. Imagine that.”
“The talent that Motown attracted and produced was off the charts.”
“So you show up, convince Berry Gordy to let you record at Hitsville U.S.A., and in two weeks, you had an album.”
“We did. Berry Gordy made it happen.”
“Yet Motown wasn’t even on the label.”
“No. In the end, we were a little too controversial for a company just getting its start. But just like Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler at Atlantic, Berry did what he could. I think that’s one of the amazing things about our story. So many people really wanted us to succeed. They wanted us to be heard. Against all the odds.”
18
MOTOWN SOUND
We left Cranberry Township with clean clothes and improved spirits; even Money seemed moderately optimistic, though it didn’t last. We spent the first few hours on the road hashing out song order and rehearsing what little we could in our cramped quarters. Everyone wanted to know all about Berry Gordy and Motown Records and whether or not he would sign us to the label. I didn’t mention that I hadn’t talked to Berry, and he didn’t know we were coming.
About a half hour out, Esther needed to stop, and I pulled off at an exit and found a service station with the restrooms outside, the doors visible so she wouldn’t need an escort. I put a few dollars of gas in the car, and then climbed back in, keeping an eye on the restrooms. Everything made me jittery.
“Is everyone at Motown colored?” Lee Otis asked me when I slid back behind the wheel. “Are they gonna let you in, Benny?”
“Motown ain’t like the mob, Lee Otis,” Money said, meeting my gaze in the rearview mirror.
“What do you mean?” Lee Otis asked.
“The mob only lets Italians in, isn’t that right, Lament?” Money pressed. “I heard you can’t be a member if you’re not one of them. Nobody but Italians. Can’t trust anyone but blood. So we’re out.”
“I didn’t know you wanted to be in,” I said.
“You want to join the mob, Money?” Lee Otis asked.
“No. I’m just pointin’ out that it’s a little ridiculous for Benny to think marrying Esther will make all her troubles go away.”
I didn’t think Esther marrying me would make her troubles go away. I just hoped some of her troubles would think twice. The fact that Money had homed in on my strategy made me twitch. I was glad Esther wasn’t in the car.
“You’re always talking, Money,” I said, wishing for the umpteenth time that he would just be quiet for once.
“I’m always thinking,” he corrected, tapping his forehead before folding his arms, like the matter was done. “And you know I’m right.”
“Trouble never goes away, Money,” Alvin said, lifting his eyes from the newspaper I’d snagged for him from the little stand outside the station. “It didn’t go away in Nashville when those students started doing sit-ins at the lunch counters last spring.” He tapped a headline at the top of the page. “Says here six businesses in downtown Nashville are now serving Negros at their lunch counters. The sit-ins are happening all through the South. Disciplined nonviolence, they’re calling it.”
“What does that have to do with Benny marrying Esther?” Money said.
“I’m just saying you can’t hide from trouble. You can’t fight against it, not with fists and weapons. That just makes more trouble. You can’t even run. You just have to stand still. You have to hold your ground and let it come.” Alvin was warming to his topic like a