Last week while New York visiting with Marty and his wife , we spent some time together comparing movies and TV shows which we have seen and would recommend to one another.
Marty told us that an absolute "must see"is Hitsville, the story of Berry Gordy and the creation of Motown.
My wife and I watched it last night and we loved it. The story fills in a lot of pieces about Berry Gordy, his beliefs and his work ethic.
Many of the original videos shot in the 60's played an important part in the documentary. The story was told through the eyes and memories of both Berry Gordy and his best friend Smokey Robinson. Many parts were left out such as Gordy's love affair with Diana Ross who we saw only briefly in the documentary
What was fascinating was that Gordy who was already a song writer and a producer worked on the production line of Ford Motor Company and Gordy's blueprint for the success of Motown records was based on that of the Ford Motor company
Gordy lived in a house in the hood which came to be known as "Hitsville" and remains to this very day. The house had its own recording studio and was in use almost all hours of every day. It shows how he took people with no experience and made them song writers for his stars. That little house grew into a huge brick and mortar building and Motown became more than just a recording company
It was good to hear the tete a tete between Smokey and Gordy as they reminisced over the years each claiming that their part of the story was the true story.
Many of the trials and tribulations of many of his stars were mentioned only briefly such as the Temptations, The Supremes and Marvin Gaye as well as Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, Martha and the Vandellas, Gladys Knight, Holland Dozier Holland etc etc
This is one documentary that will take you down memory lane and all of the music played is simply fantastic
Highly recommended and thanks to marty for bringing it to my attention
Marty told us that an absolute "must see"is Hitsville, the story of Berry Gordy and the creation of Motown.
My wife and I watched it last night and we loved it. The story fills in a lot of pieces about Berry Gordy, his beliefs and his work ethic.
Many of the original videos shot in the 60's played an important part in the documentary. The story was told through the eyes and memories of both Berry Gordy and his best friend Smokey Robinson. Many parts were left out such as Gordy's love affair with Diana Ross who we saw only briefly in the documentary
What was fascinating was that Gordy who was already a song writer and a producer worked on the production line of Ford Motor Company and Gordy's blueprint for the success of Motown records was based on that of the Ford Motor company
Gordy lived in a house in the hood which came to be known as "Hitsville" and remains to this very day. The house had its own recording studio and was in use almost all hours of every day. It shows how he took people with no experience and made them song writers for his stars. That little house grew into a huge brick and mortar building and Motown became more than just a recording company
It was good to hear the tete a tete between Smokey and Gordy as they reminisced over the years each claiming that their part of the story was the true story.
Many of the trials and tribulations of many of his stars were mentioned only briefly such as the Temptations, The Supremes and Marvin Gaye as well as Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, Martha and the Vandellas, Gladys Knight, Holland Dozier Holland etc etc
This is one documentary that will take you down memory lane and all of the music played is simply fantastic
Highly recommended and thanks to marty for bringing it to my attention