City of Detroit Has Got Music, Part 1

The city of Detroit is renowned for its musical heritage. With a long and rich history that includes Motown Records, Detroit has produced such homegrown stars as Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, the Temptations and the Four Tops.

The Detroit Theatre District is the nation's second largest, after New York City, with eighteen professional theaters. It is also home to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Opera House. Major theaters include the Fox Theatre, Masonic Temple Theatre, Fisher Theatre, The Fillmore Detroit, Music Hall Center for Performing Arts, Saint Andrews Hall and the Detroit Repertory Theatre.

Historically, Detroit's former Black Bottom neighborhood was a major jazz and blues center through the 1950s. Its influence would still be felt decades later. Major jazz stars of the era often came to Black Bottom to perform in its many venues. The area also features the annual Detroit Music Awards.

Henry Ford began the transformation of Detroit from modest port to the "Motor City". Ford was the first businessman to specifically target African American workers, sending recruiters to comb the South for industrious, cheap labor. Lured by promises of wealth, opportunity, and non-segregation, large groups of African Americans made the trek north, bringing with them their music and culture.

As the Jazz Age began, Detroit quickly emerged as an important musical center, standing alongside New Orleans, Chicago, and St. Louis. Among the musicians who relocated to Detroit were drummer William McKinney, who formed the seminal Big Band McKinney's Cotton Pickers, with Jazz great Don Redman.

The Great Depression hit Detroit hard and the White controlled trade unions locked Detroit's Black population out of the lucrative auto industry. "Black Bottom", district on Detroit's East Side, found itself home to a polyglot population of Mexicans, Poles, Italians, and Blacks, each culture adding its musical traditions to the Detroit melting pot.

Oliver Green formed The Detroiters, who became one of the most popular Gospel groups of the late 1940s. Young Della Reese began her long and distinguished career, joining the ranks of the Gospel elite.

In 1948 John Lee Hooker, a dominant force in the "House Party" Blues scene, stunned the R&B world with the release of "Boogie Chillen." The song's raw, poetic, hypnotic power vaulted Hooker to the top of the charts. With the example of Hooker, an entire generation of young, impoverished Detroiters saw the hope of a new way out - through music.

Through the 1950's Detroit became one of America's most important jazz centers. Notable musicians from Detroit who achieved international recognition include: Elvin Jones, Hank Jones, Thad Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Lucky Thompson, Louis Hayes, Barry Harris, Paul Chambers, Marcus Belgrave, Milt Jackson, Kenny Burrell and Pepper Adams.

The Reverend CL Franklin found success with his recorded sermons on Chess Record's gospel label, and an album of spirituals recorded at his Bethel Baptist Church included the debut of his young daughter Aretha.

Hank Ballard and his Midnighters crossed over from the R&B to the Pop charts with "Work With Me, Annie." The song nearly broke into the elite Top 20, despite being barred from airplay on many stations, due to its suggestive lyrics. Another Detroit native, Bill Haley, ushered in the Rock 'n Roll era with the release of "Rock Around The Clock" in 1955. In the same year, seminal soul influence Little Willie John made his debut. Jackie Wilson had his first hit in 1956 with "Reet Petite", co-written by young Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.