Motown-Backround-Vocal-Question

[Roger Polhill]

The Originals, Spinners, Temptations and Four Tops were all used as backing singers.

[robb_k]

The Originals, Spinners, Temptations and Four Tops were all used as backing singers.

Motown also used The Love-Tones as their main male background singing group from 1961-early 1964. They backed up Mary Wells on several of her songs, and Marv Johnson, and Linda Griner, and some others. The Temptations and Four Tops did most, if not all their background singing before they hit it big. Some members of The Originals sang backgrounds before The Originals had been formed. They were members of The Voice Masters. They had left Gwen Gordy's Anna Records, in early 1961, along with Billy Davis. In late 1961, when he started running Check-Mate Records, Chess Records' Detroit subsidiary, he signed them to the new label. When Davis left for Chicago in mid 1962, he took The Voice Masters' lead singer, Ty Hunter, with him, along with Tony Clarke, Willie Kendrick, and Al Hamilton [[AKA Kent). David Ruffin, Alan Story, Lamont Dozier, The Del-Phi's [[Vandellas), and the rest of The Voice Masters [[future Originals), signed with Motown. In 1961, Mickey Stevenson was hired by Berry Gordy, to become Motown's chief producer and A&R man. He brought his own background group, from his own Stepp Records, to Motown, with him.