My favorite Motown tunes and artists:
:dontknow::dontknow::dontknow:
That's what I get for being a punk, metal, grunge, classic rock kinda guy. The closest I can get to this genre is to listen to Ted Nugent play "Motor City Madman".
Classic Rock? Consider that on the Beatles' second album, three of the eleven songs were Motown songs:
"You Really Got A Hold On Me," "Money," and "Please Mr. Postman."
The Rolling Stones' first records had ""Can I Get a Witness," a song that was later adapted by the Chili Peppers, and "Money," also covered by the Searchers.
Countless of the original Garage bands of the mid 60s, whose recordings are the base of the whole Garage movement, covered Motown songs, including perhaps the archetypical band of the Garage genre, The Kingsmen.
Elvis Costello covered "Tracks of My Tears." Vanilla Fudge had hits with several Motown songs, including "Set Me Free Why Don'tcha Babe." New Wave? How about The English Beat, who covered Smokey Robinson tunes and toured with The Clash?
I could give hundreds more examples, but you get the point.
All music isn't for everyone, of course, but the Motown sound and the label's music were very, very influential and an inspiration to generations of rock musicians, and Motown is definitely a significant part of the foundations of the genre. If you allow yourself to really listen to what's there in the original songs, you might come away with a deeper understanding of modern popular music, and you might actually enjoy yourself if you open yourself up to it.
Even my son, who is deeply into rock and punk genres, listens to Motown material and says he's very influenced by the records. I think you're really missing out on some great stuff!
As a musician and writer, I do think it's important to understand where ideas come from, and how the influences on music grew music and interacted with one another. Motown took pop songs and Blues and married them in a way that Motown songs absolutely hammered the junk that artists like Pat Boone, Bobby Rydell, Dion, and others of that ilk were putting out in the early 60s. Songs like "Dancing In The Streets" (1964) were a revelation at the time (and also covered by Mick Jagger and David Bowie!).
To miss out on Motown is akin to missing out on Blues; you can play rock n' roll without really getting down and understanding either, but you will come up short at some point because you will lack a real understanding of the basics. I hear Motown even in The Allmans' early stuff. Just my two cents!
By the way, weren't you working on a lead guitar solo that was recorded by Michael Jackson??
