The Motown Book
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There is no publication date printed on the sleeve of this book, but given that it has an SBN number (which pre-ceded the ISBN's) and that its price is stated in shillings (28s) it is safe to say that it is probably out of print. The style of writing is also dated, having been produced as a kind of analytical treatise which would be hard to imagine in a popular music book of today. The text is as hard to read as any academic tombs and anyone planning to do so should be prepared for some concentrated cerebral activity. It has three distinct features which make it difficult to comprehend. Firstly (against all my expectations), it is not about the growth of the Motown Corporation or its political intrigues, but about the music itself and as such is riddled with musical jargon. Unless the reader has some understanding of this terminology then many of its finer points will be lost upon him. Secondly, the Author explains the development of Motown with reference to obscure Gospel tracks which will probably be unknown to most readers. Anyone ever heard of 'Who shall be able to stand?' by 'The Famous Ward Singers' or 'God's World Will Never Pass Away' by 'The Sensational Nightingales'. The final difficulty is that David Morse clearly has some background in the social sciences and that he cannot resist littering the book with still more verbiage, this time of a sociological nature. He is particularly guilty of this in the chapter entitled 'Motown and the Critics'. Despite the fact most readers will find large chunks of this writing completely incomprehensible those who are prepared to plough through it will undoubtedly make some fascinating insights. There can be no questioning the authors knowledge, nor indeed his love of the music. The book is divided into eight chapters which are:- 'Introduction', 'Motown Music', 'Motown & the Critics', 'Martha Reeves and Smokey Robinson', The Supremes and the Temptations', 'The Four Tops', 'Motown in Review' and 'Music, Black and White'. The Author's style is to make sudden observations which appear so unexpectedly that they leave the reader startled. He then goes on to defend his arguments, always eloquently and usually supported by a good supply of evidence. I never for once considered that Motown's success was related to its suitability for transmission on transistor radio or that the Motown formula stopped many artists developing to their full potential. Nor did I ever fully appreciated the significance of tuxedos as an icon in Motown's attempts to woo white, middle class audiences. I never even considered how dramatically the Temptations changed their image to respond to social trends. These revelations and their justifications are a delight to read but for me the most significant aspect of this book is the way Morse explodes the Myth that Motown is nothing more than Black bubblegum music. He forces the reader to see its subtleties, its complexities and its broad variation. He even casts doubt upon the existence of a 'Motown Sound' by demonstrating that this myth was perpetrated by an unfair fixation on groups like 'The Supremes' which ignored the diversity of many of its other acts. For anyone who loves Motown this volume leaves you feeling proud to do so and leaves you secure in the knowledge that its artistic merit is at least the equal of any other musical genre. If you're prepared to work a bit then get hold of a copy of this book and read it. The effort will be well worthwhile! |
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Why Not visit the Authors other Website, 'The Alternative Blackpool Website' at http://www.localdial.com/users/jsyedu133/bpool This Site Last Updated 18/05/05
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