Crafted with an ear towards pop appeal, the Motown sound typically featured tambourines to accent the back beat, prominent and often melodic electric bass guitar lines, distinctive melodic and chord structures, and a call-and-response singing style that originated in gospel music.

Jan 9, 2019 · Sixty years ago, Berry Gordy set up the hit factory of Motown. Arwa Haider looks at how an independent record label created one of the most influential sounds of the 20th Century. On 12 January...

Aug 2, 2024 · The "Motown Sound" is a blend of sacred and secular music, merging the call-and-response patterns of black gospel with the syncopation and improvisation of jazz.

Mar 18, 2025 · Motown records were specifically mixed to sound good on car radios and were characterized by a thumping backbeat that made dancing easy for everyone. Motown sought to be and became the “Sound of Young America.”

Jun 9, 2021 · Motown music is a pop music style associated with Motown Records. In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr founded Motown, originally named Tamla Records. The record label helped define the sound of soul music and popularized the genre in the 1960s.

Apr 4, 2024 · It gained its name after the legendary Motown Sound label, and it helped the record company rise into being the largest Black American enterprise in the U.S. Musicians composed their Motown songs with bright tunes and uptempo, …

Oct 3, 2019 · Very few record labels can be said to have as iconic a signature sound as Motown. During its heyday in the 1960s, the Detroit company—founded by Berry Gordy in 1959 as Tamla Records —cranked out hit after hit, all with the cohesive, instantly identifiable Motown Sound.

Mar 2, 2019 · For many music fans, the Motown Sound is the defining sound of the 1960s pop, R&B, and soul music. The distinctive musical style—all tambourines, driving bass lines, and gospel-influenced vocal harmonies—became synonymous with the Detroit studio where the songs were recorded and the stars who sang them.

May 13, 1971 · Inside Motown Records: How Berry Gordy Jr., writers, producers, performers – including Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye – crafted their songs.

Apr 12, 2018 · The signature label sound that Berry Gordy created at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan was a pop-soul hybrid he correctly dubbed "The Sound Of Young …