MERSEY MOTOWN

On the 50th anniversary of Motown Records, Bill Harry recalls the label’s huge influence on the Mersey Sound.

Soon after launching Mersey Beat in 1961 I received communication from John Schroeder of Oriole Records. One of their labels, Oriole American, represented the American label Tamla Motown, created in Detroit by Berry Gordy Junior in 1959.

Berry had originally derived the name Tamla from the Debbie Reynolds film Tammy and Motown was a variation of the nickname of Detroit: Motor City. Berry actually used the name Tamla as a label in the US in 1959 and Motown in 1961. The name Tamla Motown was used on European releases. Schroeder told me that Merseyside was the biggest source of Tamla Motown sales in the country and, in addition to taking half-page ads in Mersey Beat for the label, he began to send me all their releases. When I received the latest Motown singles, I’d take them down to The Cavern and ask Bob Wooler to play them. When I took Fingertips by Little Stevie Wonder, Ringo was there and asked me if he could have the record. I gave it to him. When, shortly after, he told me that it was his favourite record, I told John Schroeder, who arranged for a complete Tamla Motown collection to be sent to Ringo.

The Tamla Motown numbers were included in the repertoire of the Liverpool bands. They adapted the songs to fit in with the developing Liverpool sound, the basic three …

by Bill Harry
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