|
Playboy (The Marvelettes Album)
''Playboy'' is the third album by the Motown girl group The Marvelettes, released in 1962. It capitalized on their hit singles "Playboy" and "Beechwood 4-5789". It also includes the single "Someday, Someway" and "Forever", a heartfelt standard that would be released the following year as the B-side of the single " Locking Up My Heart" and join the A-side on the charts. Other compositions include "Goddess of Love", "Cry Over You", and "Mix It Up". George Gordy, William "Mickey" Stevenson and Marvin Gaye, who had produced "Beechwood 4-5789" all did some work on the ''Playboy'' LP as well. The album would be the last to feature the backing vocals of original Marvelette, Juanita Cowart on every track, as she would opt out of the group in early 1963. Track listing ''Superscript denotes lead singer: (a) Gladys Horton, (b) Wanda Young'' ;Side 1 #"Playboy" (Gladys Horton, Brian Holland, William Stevenson, Robert Bateman) a #"Mix It Up" (William Stevenson) a #"Beechwood 4-5789" (Marv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Marvelettes
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young prior to the group signing their first deal. They were the first successful act of Motown, Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful female group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, "Please Mr. Postman", one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act. Founded in 1960 while the group's founding members performed together at their glee club at Inkster High School in Inkster, Michigan, they signed to Motown's Tamla label in 1961. Some of the group's early hits were written by band members and some of Motown's rising singer-songwriters such as Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, who played drums on a majority of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl long-playing (LP) records played at rpm. The album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption from the mid-1960s to the early 21st century, a period known as the album era. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The 8-track tape was the first tape format widely used alongside vinyl from 1965 until being phased out by 1983 and was gradually supplanted by the cassette tape during the 1970s and early 1980s; the popularity of the cassette reached its peak during the late 1980s, sharply declined during the 1990s and had largely disappeared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hammond Organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated sound by creating an electric current from rotating a metal tonewheel near an electromagnetic pickup, and then strengthening the signal with an amplifier to drive a speaker cabinet. The organ is commonly used with the Leslie speaker. Around two million Hammond organs have been manufactured. The organ was originally marketed by the Hammond Organ Company to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, or instead of a piano. It quickly became popular with professional jazz musicians in organ trios—small groups centered on the Hammond organ. Jazz club owners found that organ trios were cheaper than hiring a big band. Jimmy Smith's use of the Hammond B-3, with its additional harmonic percussion feature, inspired a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raynoma Liles Gordy
Raynoma Mayberry Liles Gordy Singleton (March 8, 1937 – November 11, 2016) was an American R&B producer, songwriter, and vocalist perhaps best known for her association with ex-husband, Berry Gordy during the early days of Motown when she was often known as Miss Ray. Early life Raynoma Mayberry was born on March 8, 1937, in Detroit, Michigan. She was her mother Lucille's eighth child, but her first by her marriage to Ashby Mayberry. Although her father worked as a janitor for Cadillac, he did well enough to purchase a house on Detroit's Blaine Street in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. In the mid 1950s, Raynoma met and married Charles Liles, an aspiring musician. They had one son, Cliff Liles, born in December 1955. Burdened by financial pressures, the marriage soon folded. Career Early association with Berry Gordy In 1958, Raynoma and her younger sister, Alice, auditioned as a duo for a young songwriter named Berry Gordy. Sensing that Gordy was not excited about thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katherine Anderson
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young prior to the group signing their first deal. They were the first successful act of Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful female group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, "Please Mr. Postman", one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act. Founded in 1960 while the group's founding members performed together at their glee club at Inkster High School in Inkster, Michigan, they signed to Motown's Tamla label in 1961. Some of the group's early hits were written by band members and some of Motown's rising singer-songwriters such as Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, who played drums on a majority of their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georgeanna Tillman
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young prior to the group signing their first deal. They were the first successful act of Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful female group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, "Please Mr. Postman", one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act. Founded in 1960 while the group's founding members performed together at their glee club at Inkster High School in Inkster, Michigan, they signed to Motown's Tamla label in 1961. Some of the group's early hits were written by band members and some of Motown's rising singer-songwriters such as Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, who played drums on a majority of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Janie Bradford
Janie Bradford (born June 2, 1939 in Charleston, Missouri, United States) is an American songwriter, most known for her tenure with Motown. With Berry Gordy, she co-wrote "Money (That's What I Want)", originally recorded by Barrett Strong, and then by The Beatles on their second album ''With The Beatles''. "Money" is also on The Rolling Stones' first UK EP (January 17, 1964). Other hits by Bradford include "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" by Marvin Gaye (although originally by The Temptations), and also recorded by Phil Collins, "Contract On Love" by Little Stevie Wonder and " Your Old Standby" for Mary Wells Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F .... She worked at Motown for more than 25 years. Currently, Bradford is the executive director of the Janie Bradford HAL S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freddie Gorman
Freddie Gorman (born Frederick Cortez Gorman, April 11, 1939 – June 13, 2006) was an American musician and record producer, most famous as a singer, songwriter for the Motown label in the late 1960s and mid 1970s. He was a native of Detroit, Michigan. A member of the Motown quartet The Originals, Freddie Gorman was also a vital unsung component of the Motown label's formative development. He co-wrote the label's first #1 pop hit "Please Mr. Postman", by the Marvelettes. In 1964 the biggest selling group of all time, the Beatles released their version, and in 1975 the Carpenters took it back to #1 again. This was the second time in pop history (after " The Twist" by Chubby Checker) that a song reached #1 in the US twice. In 2006, "Please Mr. Postman" was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Biography Before Motown Born in Detroit on April 11, 1939, Gorman developed his bass harmonizing on local street corners, and was still in high school when he made his recorde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief songwriter and producer. He led the group from its 1955 origins as "the Five Chimes" until 1972, when he announced his retirement from the group to focus on his role as Motown's vice president. However, Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the following year. Robinson left Motown Records in 1990, following the sale of the company two years earlier. Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and was awarded the 2016 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for his lifetime contributions to popular music. In 2022, he was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame. Early life and early career William Robinson Jr. was born to an African-American father and a mother of African-American and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berry Gordy, Jr
Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and its subsidiaries, which was the highest-earning African-American business for decades. As a songwriter, he composed or co-composed a number of hits including "Lonely Teardrops" and "That's Why" (Jackie Wilson), "Shop Around" (the Miracles), and "Do You Love Me" (the Contours), all of which topped the US R&B charts, as well as the international hit "Reet Petite" (Jackie Wilson). As part of the Corporation, he wrote many hit songs for the Jackson 5, including "I Want You Back" and " ABC". As a record producer, he launched the Miracles and signed acts like the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Stevie Wonder. He was known for carefully directing the public image, dress, manners, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wanda Young
Wanda LaFaye Young (August 9, 1943 – December 15, 2021), also known as Wanda Rogers, was an American singer, known for being a member of the Motown all-female singing group the Marvelettes, and after 1965, the lead singer. Early life Young was born and raised in Inkster, Michigan and was one of ten children. Her father, James Young, worked at the Ford plant, while her mother Beatrice was a housewife. Originally aspiring to be a nurse, Young's professional music career started after fellow Inkster High School classmate Gladys Horton asked her to audition for a spot left by Georgia Dobbins. Dobbins' father had forbidden her to sing secular music. At this point the band had no name, having formerly been called the Casinyets (a contraction of "can't sing yet"). The Marvelettes After a successful audition, Young joined the group and the quintet, which had auditioned for a deal with Motown earlier, returned with a song co-written by Dobbins titled "Please Mr. Postman". Impressed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gladys Horton
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young prior to the group signing their first deal. They were the first successful act of Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful female group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, " Please Mr. Postman", one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act. Founded in 1960 while the group's founding members performed together at their glee club at Inkster High School in Inkster, Michigan, they signed to Motown's Tamla label in 1961. Some of the group's early hits were written by band members and some of Motown's rising singer-songwriters such as Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, who played drums on a majority of thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Hammond Organ")
.jpg "Click for more on -> Smokey Robinson")
