Does anyone know if Berry either publicly or privately expressed any regret moving Motown from Detroit or said what he may have done differently?
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Does anyone know if Berry either publicly or privately expressed any regret moving Motown from Detroit or said what he may have done differently?
I think Motown simply outgrew Berry. It was no longer fun for him. With the addition of videos on the scene, production costs on a given song became prohibitive. He loved mixing with my brother until an aide would come and whisper in his ear that he had a meeting to attend. He would tell my brother that he had to go meet with "The college boys". I've said it before: Berry was, besides being a shrewd business man, was a song writer and record producer. Once deprived of being just that, the fun was history.
At his core, Jim Stewart was just a good-natured country fiddler who loved music. He didn't have any business acumen and was no match for the slick lawyers at Atlantic. It wasn't until after they lost their masters [[Otis Redding, half of The Bar-Kays, and the rights to record and release Sam & Dave) and started over did he hire and promote more business-savvy people like Al Bell. But, Bell had issues with the socio-politics of the time. They were cleared of any wrongdoing in the end, but by then it was too late.
Philadelphia International imploded by internal squabbles and conflicting musical visions.
According to Mick Jones, leader of the band Foreigner, Mr. DeWalt as wasting time playing disco in small clubs when he recruited him to solo on their hit "Urgent" in 1981. Jones had to guide him to play the R&B he was famous for. Not only that, Jones comped that solo you hear on the record. You can clearly hear the punch-in points when you hear that solo. I'm not quite sure what DeWalt did to capitalize on his famous solo, but it wasn't much. Maybe he was just burned out. Who knows? I don't.
RE >> Regarding Invictus/Hot Wax, what do you think brought the company down after such a short time? HDH had such potential.
... As I understand things; HDH got very big signing deal advance payments from Capitol & Buddah but blew the lot on cars, goodies & their new studio. So when the hit 45's started coming, they were due no royalties [[till the advances had been covered). So the likes of C of B, Freda Payne, etc were enjoying huge sales figures but HDH didn't have the money to pay them what they were due. So the artists / musicians involved weren't too happy and enough money didn't come into the HDH coffers as time passed to make matters right. Sales figures on their releases then started to fall off & everyone went sour on the guys & their labels.
BUT this is probably just a part of the overall story.
Thanks. In other words, they didn't know how to run a record company.
I just wish someone would write a book or do a doc on it all before more survivors pass on.
While i'm at it, i'd like to know Clarence Avant's history with his Sussex and Tabu labels. In short, there were a lot of Black-owned and/or run record labels that no one really talks about beyond the usual Motown, Philadelphia International, or post-1967 Stax. How about the Carl Davis-era of Brunswick?
I'll be recommending this book til the end of time: "Chicago Soul" by Robert Pruter. This book covers a lot of ground. It gives fairly good glimpses of the R&B Chicago radio scene from roughly the Doo Wop era through the Soul music era. It discusses Black dance movements of the 60's and 70s. Most excellently, it gives a fairly comprehensive rundown on Chicago record companies- from the smallest to the largest. Brunswick is discussed. While the book covers a lot of ground, it does an amazing job of giving you the basic overview/stories of these labels, why they succeeded and why they failed. True, it's not an entire book on Brunswick but you'll find a nice bit to chew on.
There's Howard Priestley's book, Love Factory: The History of Holland-Dozier-Holland from 2021 which goes into detail about Invictus/Hot Wax Records.
Amazon.com: Love Factory: The History of Holland Dozier Holland eBook : Priestley, Howard: Kindle Store
Howard Priestley's book contains a lot of avoidable errors and it's not easy to read as it breaks off at so many tangents to delve into people's other history - not that it's not occasionally of interest but seems too often and un-necessary at times. It doesn't say much that you most likely wouldn't already be aware of. It's not over-priced so you can form your own opinions but I prefer the Lamont Dozier and Eddie and Brian Holland books personally.
I definitely know what you mean. This book has become a top-line favorite. I only wish this guy could have written entire books on every record company he profiles, especially the very obscure, small-time Chicago labels that lasted only a handful of releases. He goes into depth without coming across too dry or too scholarly. I think you'll enjoy it. I was kinda sad when I came to the end. I wanted the book to go on, but he does a good job of giving you more than you've ever read anywhere else.
I think Motown could have been saved if they had kept the musical talent of the songwriters and looked for new talented artists. I think the sound and the song topics
would have evolved with the times. I think the Invictus/Hot Wax labels are in a sense
of what a saved Motown would sound like.
Invictus/Hot Wax had a unique sound that was Motown-like and they dealt with more adult topics in a more blunt, less implied manner than the songs in the 1960s.
Whenever I'm reminded of what Atlantic did to Stax it makes me mad. Totally screwed them over, and Wexler later claiming he had no idea what was done
If there was a "Could Stax have been saved" thread Number 1 for me is what if they never lost their catalog?
Followed by what if the plane crash that took Otis & the Bar Kays never happened and what if they never made that distribution deal with Clive Davis
When I say "saved" I mean could that have stayed a relevant as they were in the 60s? Was there any way that the company could have released dozens more hit Top 10- Top 20 songs that became generational anthems well into the 80s and 90s
And successful to the point that maybe Berry decides that he doesn't have to sell