Tamla Motown/Bibliography

Please sort and annotate in a user-friendly manner. For formatting, consider using automated reference wikification.

One of the best resources here will be “Boogie Chillen” as this article will point you towards relevant sources that deal with the recording company and the music of Motown. Be aware that “Boogie Chillen” attempts to place Motown in its urban-social context so it discusses a lot of sources about Detroit in the 20th century. You will have to use your critical thinking to weed out what you need from what you don’t need.

There are also many biographies of Berry Gordy, and various artists (such as Smoky Robinson, Stevie Wonder, et al.) associated with Motown, which CZ would appreciate knowing about. Many of these celebrities will have biographies; some even have autobiographies.

Primary Sources

Gordy, Berry. To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Motown. New York: Warner Books, DATE NEEDED

Robinson, Smokey, with David Ritz. Smokey: Inside My Life. New York: Jove, 1989.

Wilson, Mary. Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme. New York: Cooper Square Press, 1986.

Ryan, Jack. Recollections: The Detroit Years -- The Motown Sound by the People Who Made It. 30th Anniversary Editioin. Whitmore Lake, MI & Toronto: Glendower Media, LLC, 2012.

Secondary Sources

Historiography

Smith, Suzanne E. "'Boogie Chillen': Detroit's African-American Cultural History." Michigan Historical Review 27, No. 1, 2001: 93-107.

Suzanne Smith is the foremost historian now analyzing Motown. Smith goes into particular sources on the influence of Motown starting around on p. 94 of “Boogie Chillen.” But then, since “Boogie Chillen” is historiography, she does nothing but discuss ALL of the primary and secondary sources available for this topic in 2001.

Histories

Clague, Mark. History of Motown's Politics at 45 RPM. Publication Data for this needed

Dahl, Bill. Motown: The Golden Years lola, IA:Krause, 2001.

Davis, Sharon. Motown: The History. Enfield, UK: Guinness Books, 1988.

Fitzgerald, Jon. "Motown Crossover Hits 1963-1966 and the Creative Process." Popular Music 14, No. 1, 1995: 1-11.

Folsom, Burton W. "Berry Gordy and Motown Records: Lessons for Black History Month." Mackinac Center for Public Policy. 2 Feb. 1998.

It would be most appreciated if someone could review this article for CZ. Thanks.

George, Nelson. Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007.

Macias, Anthony. "'Detroit was Heavy': Modern Jazz, Bebop, and African American Expressive Culture." The Journal of African American History 95, No. 1, 2010: 44-70.

McCarthy, Marie. "The Young Musicians of Motown: A Success Story of Urban Music Education." Music Educators Journal 99, No. 3 (March 2013): 35-42.

Nantais, David E. That Motown Sound. (2009).

Posner, Gerald. Motown: Music, Money, Sex, and Power. New York: Random House, 2009.

Smith, Suzanne E. Dancing in the Street: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit. Cambridge; Mass; Harvard University Press, 1999.

Waksman, Steve. "Dancing in the Street: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit." American Quarterly 53, No. 3, 2001: 518-525.

A book review of Smith’s Dancing in the Streets.

Waller, Don. The Motown Story. C. Scribner, 1985. Excellent popular history.

Individual Artists

Ribowsky, Mark. The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2009.

Shaefer, Silvia Anne. Aretha Franklin: Motown Superstar. Enslow Publishers, 1996.

Haskins, James. The Story of Stevie Wonder. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shephard, 1976.

Motown in broader works

Collins, Lisa, Gail Crawford, and Margo Natalie. New Thoughts on the Black Arts Movement. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2006.

There might be a chapter on Motown in this text.

Galster, George. Driving Detroit: The Quest for Respect in the Motor City. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press. 2012.

There might be a chapter on Motown in this text.