ABSTRACT
Diana Ross and the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles—Motown’s famed roster virtually defined the height of pop and rock sophistication in the 1960s. 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. Landau identifies many of Motown’s most characteristic elements, from song forms to details of instrumentation. Perhaps the part of a Motown record that is easiest to recognize is the overall instrumental background. In addition to the distinctive beat, already discussed, Motown has always presented the public with highly regimented, stiff, impersonal back-up bands. But most of the successful Motown artists have retained a strong degree of individual identity.
