Motown’s greatest masterpiece, according to Don Letts
How in the name of Aretha Franklin do you pick a favourite Motown release?
Think of a legend of American soul music, and chances are they came to prominence at Berry Gordy Jr’s legendary record label. Do you like Diana Ross and The Supremes? Motown artists. How about Martha and the Vandellas? Motown. The Temptations? The Four Tops? Gladys Knight and the Pips? Yup, you guessed it. The Jackson 5? Rick James? Boyz II Men? Erykah Badu? Lionel Ritchie? That’s right, Motown’s mastery of all things soul and R&B goes far beyond their 1960s and 1970s heyday.
That’s not even getting into the two jewels in their crown. The two artists that, if you know the first thing about Motown, you know are missing from that list. Two absolute legends of the game that created some of the best music of the 1960s and beyond. The first of which actually had as much a claim to Motown’s success as Gordy, not for nothing, is the label sometimes referred to as “the house that Stevie built.”
It’s true, Stevie Wonder signed to the label when was an 11 year old prodigy working under the name Little Stevie Wonder, and has remained there for the following six decades, which is just unbelievable longevity. His early hit singles provided the foundation for the label, then named Tamla, to expand into the Motown we know and love today. Part of this expansion included taking a chance on one of their session drummers, a talented singer named Marvin Gaye, and giving him a record deal. One that worked out pretty well for everyone involved, I’m sure you’ll agree.
What is the greatest Motown release?
So, of all their masterworks, which of them is the greatest? Thanks to an interview with Classic Album Sundays, we have the two cents of Big Audio Dynamite genius Don Letts to guide us. In a list that also includes heavyweights like Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Catch A Fire, The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and Sign O’ The Times by Prince, the record that he places at number one must be a certified masterpiece. Fortunately, it is.
At the summit of his list is Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. A record he says was “The first I ever bought at the tender age of 15 – a unified concept album of nine songs, each one segueing to the next, that are full of social commentary as told from the point of view of a Vietnam war veteran returning home to find nothing but despair, injustice and suffering. It sounds heavy and it is, but it’s also one of the most beautifully inspired pieces of work I’ve ever heard – we’re talking touched by the hand of God type stuff.”
The man is bang on the money. What’s Going On would be the pinnacle of any label’s output, even one as titanic as Motown, because it’s the best of both worlds. As Letts puts it, it’s an album as thoughtful and deeply political as it is a beautiful album to listen to. A combination that Letts has put into all his work in music, from managing The Slits to his work in Big Audio Dynamite and everything in between.
He’s far from alone in this too. This is an album whose power and beauty has been cited by everyone from Janelle Monae to Nelson Mandela. As if any other person’s word is needed to certify What’s Going On as the defining masterpiece of Motown.
