ABSTRACT

Diana Ross and The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles-Motown’s famed roster virtually defined the height of pop sophistication in the 1960s. Modeling his label’s sound on the successful assembly-line production of Detroit’s Ford Motor Company, Berry Gordy (born 1929) fashioned a durable hit single formula. The songwriting team of Eddie Holland (born 1939), Lamont Dozier (born 1941), and Brian Holland (born 1941) provided a host of memorable melodies, the Funk Brothers contributed their propulsive rhythm section arrangements, and soulful singers like Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops added their voice and image. The author of “A Whiter Shade of Black,” music journalist Jon Landau, would later go on to greater fame in the 1970s as Bruce Springsteen’s manager and producer. In this 1967 article, originally published in Crawdaddy! magazine, Landau examines the Motown style as a form of musical crossover designed to appeal equally to white and black audiences. Like many other observers, he also contrasts Motown with the more “hard core” sounds of the Stax-Volt label. Landau identifies many of Motown’s most characteristic elements, from song forms to details of instrumentation. What he outlines is nothing less than a formula for success, and one whose features have been replicated throughout rock’s history, from the 1970s Philadelphia soul explosion to the various hip-hop, dance, and pop production teams that have dominated popular music in the 2000s.