daddyacey
11-06-2010, 12:24 AM
I discovered this book on Amazon U.K. I had never seen it before and wondered if anyone has any feedback on it. It looks like it would be VERY INTERESTING!!! Here is the review of the book from Amazon U.K. ::::
This review is from: I Remember Motown: When We Were Just Family [[Paperback)
In this age of independent book stores closing down and major publishers cutting back on new releases, an author appealing to a niche market will often have to turn to a small independent press to have their voice heard. Thankfully, Frances [[Fran Hard) Maclin's memoir, I Remember Motown has found its way to print. Initially hired as a Tape Librarian, over a twenty-five year association with Motown Records she became Library Director, having oversight to thousands of recording tapes at the Detroit based studios, and later for the one located in Los Angeles. Her duties entailed cataloguing and storing the session reels, dispensing them back and forth to the engineer and producer for final mixing, and if being released, to ensure the right tapes were sent for mastering before being delivered to the pressing plant.
Problems and mixups invariably happened and Maclin relates a particular incident that occurred during her tenure. The wrong master of a song had been pressed and by sheer good luck, the error was discovered at the last possible moment. Berry Gordy called all the employees in the chain of command on the carpet and asked Maclin who was responsible for the tape mixup. She declined to name the culprit and Gordy fired her. As she was packing her belongings, Gordy's first wife, Raynoma, referred throughout this book as simply "Miss Ray," approached her and told her to get back to work. Later that day, Gordy came upon Maclin in the Tape Library and stated, "I thought I fired you!", to which Maclin retorted, "You did, but I went back to work instead." "Oh!" replied Gordy as he went along his business. Later, it filtered back to Maclin that Gordy was secretly impressed that she wasn't a stool pigeon.
Though I Remember Motown is a slim volume, several amusing anecdotes are revealed, and this reviewer found himself laughing out loud many times at the delightful insider stories Maclin shares here. While Diana Ross may have seen herself as "The Boss," in the pecking order of the roster, Berry Gordy is clearly depicted here as being in the driver's seat of this operation with both hands firmly on the steering wheel. Those expecting dirt to be dished on ego inflated divas will be disappointed.
According to Maclin, Berry Gordy treated his early employees well. They in turn respected him for the opportunities he gave them, and their loyalty to the fledging label helped launch what was to became the soundtrack of the sixties and beyond. One gets the sense that in the early days, Motown really had a close knit family vibe. Maclin describes how the first annual Motown staff picnic was planned with a $1,000 budget from Berry Gordy. As Raynoma and Frances were shopping for food for the picnic, they were stopped by the Detroit police as Gordy's license plate had expired. The ensuing arrest and finger printing with overtones of racial profiling threatened to ruin the planned event. This revelation, among several others, make for very interesting and eye opening reading of the political climate in Detroit in the early sixties.
This memoir certainly would have benefited from being more expansive. Hopefully Maclin returns with a second volume of her treasure trove of stories pertaining to the early years of the label before it became known as "The Sound of Young America," introducing the Motown Sound to a world eager for a brand new beat. The original Gordy record label boasted, "It's What's In the Grooves That Counts" and its what's to be found within the pages of this small gem of a book that will delight devotees of the Motown Sound. A fun read and highly recommended!
Any additional comments on this from the SDF family????
This review is from: I Remember Motown: When We Were Just Family [[Paperback)
In this age of independent book stores closing down and major publishers cutting back on new releases, an author appealing to a niche market will often have to turn to a small independent press to have their voice heard. Thankfully, Frances [[Fran Hard) Maclin's memoir, I Remember Motown has found its way to print. Initially hired as a Tape Librarian, over a twenty-five year association with Motown Records she became Library Director, having oversight to thousands of recording tapes at the Detroit based studios, and later for the one located in Los Angeles. Her duties entailed cataloguing and storing the session reels, dispensing them back and forth to the engineer and producer for final mixing, and if being released, to ensure the right tapes were sent for mastering before being delivered to the pressing plant.
Problems and mixups invariably happened and Maclin relates a particular incident that occurred during her tenure. The wrong master of a song had been pressed and by sheer good luck, the error was discovered at the last possible moment. Berry Gordy called all the employees in the chain of command on the carpet and asked Maclin who was responsible for the tape mixup. She declined to name the culprit and Gordy fired her. As she was packing her belongings, Gordy's first wife, Raynoma, referred throughout this book as simply "Miss Ray," approached her and told her to get back to work. Later that day, Gordy came upon Maclin in the Tape Library and stated, "I thought I fired you!", to which Maclin retorted, "You did, but I went back to work instead." "Oh!" replied Gordy as he went along his business. Later, it filtered back to Maclin that Gordy was secretly impressed that she wasn't a stool pigeon.
Though I Remember Motown is a slim volume, several amusing anecdotes are revealed, and this reviewer found himself laughing out loud many times at the delightful insider stories Maclin shares here. While Diana Ross may have seen herself as "The Boss," in the pecking order of the roster, Berry Gordy is clearly depicted here as being in the driver's seat of this operation with both hands firmly on the steering wheel. Those expecting dirt to be dished on ego inflated divas will be disappointed.
According to Maclin, Berry Gordy treated his early employees well. They in turn respected him for the opportunities he gave them, and their loyalty to the fledging label helped launch what was to became the soundtrack of the sixties and beyond. One gets the sense that in the early days, Motown really had a close knit family vibe. Maclin describes how the first annual Motown staff picnic was planned with a $1,000 budget from Berry Gordy. As Raynoma and Frances were shopping for food for the picnic, they were stopped by the Detroit police as Gordy's license plate had expired. The ensuing arrest and finger printing with overtones of racial profiling threatened to ruin the planned event. This revelation, among several others, make for very interesting and eye opening reading of the political climate in Detroit in the early sixties.
This memoir certainly would have benefited from being more expansive. Hopefully Maclin returns with a second volume of her treasure trove of stories pertaining to the early years of the label before it became known as "The Sound of Young America," introducing the Motown Sound to a world eager for a brand new beat. The original Gordy record label boasted, "It's What's In the Grooves That Counts" and its what's to be found within the pages of this small gem of a book that will delight devotees of the Motown Sound. A fun read and highly recommended!
Any additional comments on this from the SDF family????