Motown Mystery on "Money"

[stingbeelee]

Barrett Strong relates a mystery on who played on the song "Money" in todays Detroit News, article by Neal Rubin:


Barrett Strong remembers where he saw the Primes — who would eventually grow into the Temptations — at a club called the Phelps Lounge on Oakland Avenue.

But who were those two white kids?

In 1959, Strong recorded a song called "Money [[That's What I Want)" that became the first hit for Motown Records. Now he's 71 and he's had a … well, he won't call it a stroke the way his friends do, but the left side of his body just won't obey orders.

Even so, his memory keeps the beat. That place on Second Avenue where he used to do a Ray Charles act with a little band was the Dairy Workers Hall, and when the friends are trying to remember who sang "Cry Baby" back in 1963, he's the one who comes up with Garnet Mimms.

Those white kids, though, are a vexation. He remembers the recording session, and half a century later, we all know what came out of it:

The best things in life are free

But you can give them to the birds and bees

I need money [[That's what I want)

But he never knew the white boys' names, and he can't picture their faces. All he knows is that two kids from Cass Tech stepped off a bus, tapped on the door of what became Hitsville U.S.A., and asked if they could sit in.

Backbone of a dynasty
One carried a guitar, the other an electric bass. They plugged in, and they played. They helped make history, and then they made tracks.

Who were they? Where are they? Have they spent five decades telling disbelieving friends that they're the backbone of a song that's the backbone of a dynasty?

Maybe it's only curiosity, or maybe it comes with age and the sound of too many contemporaries' final notes. But Strong has been wondering.

He was only 18 himself when he recorded "Money," which made it to No. 23 on the pop chart and No. 2 in R&B.

Really, his greatest impact came as a songwriter. Along with the legendary Motown producer Norman Whitfield, he co-wrote "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" for Marvin Gaye, "War" for Edwin Starr, and a stack of classics for the Temps that included "Psychedelic Shack," "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" and his favorite, "Just My Imagination [[Running Away With Me)."

Whitfield died four years ago, at 68. "His last words to me," Strong says, "were 'keep the legacy alive.'"

'Just like ghosts'
Strong is in the lobby of the Westin Hotel in Southfield in a comfortable chair he'll need help getting out of.

Thelma Stubbs-Mitchell, younger sister of the Four Tops' Levi Stubbs and part of the Stubbs Girls quintet, has picked him up at the high-rise senior center where he lives in a manner not befitting the man who wrote the words to "Cloud Nine."

That's an even older story than "Money." Some get rich, some get transportation and love from a team of devoted friends.

"Back in the day, I had a big 'fro," he's saying, and then he laughs as he lifts his black-and-plaid Tigers cap to display a shaven scalp.

"Long gone now."

He's still doing some producing, working mostly with bluesy rocker Eliza Neals. No sense retiring when the ideas and the melodies keep coming, the way they did in that early session in Studio A.

Strong played a Wurlitzer electric piano. There wasn't any money for a drummer, so songwriter Brian Holland thumped the skin of a tambourine. The Cass Tech kids did the rest, through dozens of takes in the era before dubbing.

"I knew the groove was there," he says, and his right foot starts to tap. The Beatles felt it; they covered the song in 1963. The Doors, Cheap Trick, Pearl Jam and dozens of others came later — and the white kids never came back.

"Just like ghosts," Strong says. Friendly ones, though, the kind he'd like to see again while the beat is still strong.

nrubin@detnews.com

[[313) 222-1874



From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz20Q3gNqug

[robb_k]

Eugene E. Grew says HE was the one who played guitar on "Money, That's What I Want". He made that statement on The "Motown Junkies" website a few months ago.

[robb_k]

Here is Eugene Grew's comment from "Motown Junkies":

Eugene E. Grew said:
October 19, 2011 at 9:18 pm

I WAS THAT WHITE GUY PLAYING THE ONLY GUITAR ON “MONEY.” I PROBABLY WAS 21 YEARS OLD OR SO. I LIVED A COUPLE MILES FROM HITSVILLE. THE TRIO I WAS WITH WENT TO TRYOUT FOR GORDY. HE TOOK ME ASIDE AND ASKED IF I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN DOING SESSIONS. MY FIRST OF MANY WAS “MONEY”. I WAS GIVEN A “DITTO” COPY OF THE CHORDS, BARRY[[sic: Berry) GAVE A VOCAL OF WHAT HE WANTED ME TO DO, AND I DID IT. I THOUGHT I WAS SO CLEVER SLIDING THE 6th STRING FROM C BACK TO F. BENNY BENJAMIN WAS THE DRUMMER, I RECALL, AS WE BECAME FRIENDS LATER. I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION WHO ELSE WAS ON IT. JAMES JAMERSEN HAD AN UPRIGHT BASE, IT COULD HAVE BEEN HIM. I REMEMBER THAT FINE MUSICIAN AS I HAD TO PUT THE TOP DOWN ON MY CONVERTIBLE TO TAKE HIM AND HIS UPRIGHT HOME ONE TIME. POPCORN WILLIE [[sic: Wiley) USED TO DO PIANO. EARLY ON, SOMEONE USUALLY PLAYED THE TAMBOURINE. ESTER [[Esther) GORDY USED TO PAY US THE $15.00 PER SIDE. [[MAY ALL OF THEIR SOULS REST IN PEACE.) I GOT ONE, AND ONE ONLY, BONUS AS PROMISED FROM MR. GORDY. $60.00 WHEN “MONEY” HIT BIG TIME. I GUESS YOU COULD SAY THAT I WAS “PRE-FUNK BROTHERS.” PERHAPS IT COULD HAVE BEEN CALLED “PRE-HITSVILLE USA”. I CUT WITH THE SUPREMES, SMOKEY ROBINSON AND THE MIRACLES, MARY WELLS, MARV JOHNSON [[HE WANTED ME TO GO ON TOUR AS FRONT MAN TO PERTH AUSTRALIA. I WENT TO HIS HOME RUN DOWN A COUPLE SONGS. SOMEONE EXPRESSED CONCERN OF ME IN THE SOUTHERN STATES EVENTUALLY. ANYWAY, IT NEVER CAME OFF. I CUT WITH ANDRE WILLIAMS & GINO PARKS, AND ?? OH, YES . . . I PLAYED ON THE MARVELETTES’ “PLEASE MR. POSTMAN”. IF IT WAS RE-RECORDED AT UNITED SOUND STUDIOS LATER, I DON’T KNOW. IN 1986 I VISITED HITSVILLE. I LEFT A LETTER OF MY ASSOCIATION WITH THEM AND ASKED FOR A REPLY. NOTHING. EARLY MOTOWN WAS SO VERY LONG AGO. I HAVE SO MANY YEARS BEHIND ME NOW. I’D JUST LIKE TO HAVE “SOMETHING” OF PROOF TO SHOW WHOMEVER THAT IT WAS ME THERE. I HAVEN’T TALKED ABOUT IT FOR YEARS. I WAS IN A KRESGE’S 5 & DIME IN THE 70′S OR SO WITH A GIRL. “MONEY” WAS PLAYING ON THE P.A. I BLURTED OUT THAT I PLAYED GUITAR ON THAT. SHE SAID “B.S.!”
Eugene E. Grew

[jsmith]

Interesting stuff for sure.

[soulwally]

Thanks for posting stingbeelee and Robb. Absolutely fascinating. I never knew about Eugene Grew, or much about the Money session. Berry Gordy talks about it [[in his book, I think). He mentions Barrett playing the piano, but nothing more. It's quite a mature voice for an 18-year-old. And, yes, it does sound like a slapped tambourine rather than any other form of percussion.

[stingbeelee]

Thanks, Robb, for the research and finding that statement! JSmith and soulwally, interesting stuff for sure. I thought that by the time Money was done, that at least a few of the Funk Brothers were around to make a "band" so to speak. The statement that Robb posted by Mr. Grew is VERY interesting, due to the fact that the article in the very recent Detroit News stated "who were those two white kids" and "one carried a guitar"; the posting in Motown Junkies from 9 months back states "I was that white guy playing the only guitar on Money". Very strong connection in those two independent statements. Even after all these years there is still information to be mined out of the Motown story!

[robb_k]

I didn't "research" that. i knew of it because I am a member/contributor of "Motown Junkies" and I was around when Grew initiated that post. We've also had several original Motown artists post comments clarifying the researched Motown "history" that we post there. A couple that come to mind off the top of my head are: Cornell Blakely and Bert "Jack" Haney [[AKA Ray Oddis).

[robb_k]

Thanks, Robb, for the research and finding that statement! JSmith and soulwally, interesting stuff for sure. I thought that by the time Money was done, that at least a few of the Funk Brothers were around to make a "band" so to speak. The statement that Robb posted by Mr. Grew is VERY interesting, due to the fact that the article in the very recent Detroit News stated "who were those two white kids" and "one carried a guitar"; the posting in Motown Junkies from 9 months back states "I was that white guy playing the only guitar on Money". Very strong connection in those two independent statements. Even after all these years there is still information to be mined out of the Motown story!

Through "Motown Junkies" website, Mr. Grew has gotten in contact with The Detroit News, and will also get in touch again with Barrett Strong, himself.

[mysterysinger]

So here's Eugene Grew...

https://www.brianfwright.com/interviews/eugene-grew

[thommg]

What a great story. There is always more to learn about the early days of Motown.