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The Motown Album: The Sound of Young America
An authorized tribute to the Motown Sound portrays the accomplishments of its performers, including Diana Ross and the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson 5
252 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1990
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About the author
Ben Fong-Torres
33 books47 followersBenjamin Fong-Torres (Fāng Zhènháo) is an American rock journalist, author, and broadcaster best known for his association with Rolling Stone magazine (through 1981) and the San Francisco Chronicle (from around 1982).
Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, Fong-Torres' father, Ricardo Fong-Torres (born Fong Kwok Seung), changed his surname to Torres and posed as a Filipino citizen in order to emigrate to the United States. His family later adopted the hyphenated surname, Fong-Torres. He is the brother of Shirley Fong-Torres.
He was portrayed in the 2000 film Almost Famous by actor Terry Chen. The fictional version of Fong-Torres was character William Miller's editor at Rolling Stone.
In real life, Fong-Torres was a writer and senior editor of Rolling Stone from almost the magazine's inception. He conducted interviews for Rolling Stone of entertainment figures including Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, comedian Steve Martin and Linda Ronstadt's first cover story in 1975. A Fong-Torres interview with Ray Charles was awarded the Deems Taylor Award for Magazine Writing in 1974.
Fong-Torres was also a rock DJ for San Francisco radio station KSAN-FM in the 1970s. On television, he is the Emmy Award-winning co-anchor of the Chinese New Year Parade broadcast on KTVU (Fox) in San Francisco. In recent years, he has published Hickory Wind, a biography of Gram Parsons; The Rice Room, a memoir; The Hits Just Keep on Coming, a history of Top 40 radio, and two compilations of past articles, Not Fade Away and Becoming Almost Famous (published in May 2006). His book with The Doors (The Doors By The Doors) was published by Hyperion in November 2006. Since July 2005, he has written the bi-weekly column "Radio Waves" in the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday Datebook. He is also a contributing editor to Parade magazine, and the music editor for TONEAudio, a web-based audio publication. He is now the host of "Backstage" which is aired from 7-9 am and 7-9 pm on San Francisco's KFRC-FM.
Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, Fong-Torres' father, Ricardo Fong-Torres (born Fong Kwok Seung), changed his surname to Torres and posed as a Filipino citizen in order to emigrate to the United States. His family later adopted the hyphenated surname, Fong-Torres. He is the brother of Shirley Fong-Torres.
He was portrayed in the 2000 film Almost Famous by actor Terry Chen. The fictional version of Fong-Torres was character William Miller's editor at Rolling Stone.
In real life, Fong-Torres was a writer and senior editor of Rolling Stone from almost the magazine's inception. He conducted interviews for Rolling Stone of entertainment figures including Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, comedian Steve Martin and Linda Ronstadt's first cover story in 1975. A Fong-Torres interview with Ray Charles was awarded the Deems Taylor Award for Magazine Writing in 1974.
Fong-Torres was also a rock DJ for San Francisco radio station KSAN-FM in the 1970s. On television, he is the Emmy Award-winning co-anchor of the Chinese New Year Parade broadcast on KTVU (Fox) in San Francisco. In recent years, he has published Hickory Wind, a biography of Gram Parsons; The Rice Room, a memoir; The Hits Just Keep on Coming, a history of Top 40 radio, and two compilations of past articles, Not Fade Away and Becoming Almost Famous (published in May 2006). His book with The Doors (The Doors By The Doors) was published by Hyperion in November 2006. Since July 2005, he has written the bi-weekly column "Radio Waves" in the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday Datebook. He is also a contributing editor to Parade magazine, and the music editor for TONEAudio, a web-based audio publication. He is now the host of "Backstage" which is aired from 7-9 am and 7-9 pm on San Francisco's KFRC-FM.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 31, 2025
3.5 stars
"The unregenerate ambition, the driving force behind Motown, was to put its songs, and its records, over to the biggest number of buyers possible. They succeeded by selling the exoticism of big-city soul to the suburbs everywhere." -- film critic / lecturer Elvis Mitchell, on page 18
Although writer Ben Fong-Torres (long a mainstay at Rolling Stone magazine during its eventful first decade) contributes most of the perfunctory text interspersed throughout The Motown Album: The Sound of Young America, the main selling point of this book is the copious amount of candid archival photographs from the early 1960's to the late 1980's. Heralded as one of the most successful U.S. record labels of all time - at its arguable height in 1966-1967, three out of four songs they released as singles charted without fail, unmatched by its contemporaries - it introduced 'Young America' to many now-legendary acts like the Supremes, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Jackson 5, and the Commodores. Since this volume was officially authorized by the organization it lacks a certain grittiness in the narrative (as well as giving much more page time to the known quantities, rather than the countless songwriters or reliable studio musicians), but again those timeless images of the aforementioned vocalists in their artistic prime are wonderful companion pieces to the all of their great songs.
"The unregenerate ambition, the driving force behind Motown, was to put its songs, and its records, over to the biggest number of buyers possible. They succeeded by selling the exoticism of big-city soul to the suburbs everywhere." -- film critic / lecturer Elvis Mitchell, on page 18
Although writer Ben Fong-Torres (long a mainstay at Rolling Stone magazine during its eventful first decade) contributes most of the perfunctory text interspersed throughout The Motown Album: The Sound of Young America, the main selling point of this book is the copious amount of candid archival photographs from the early 1960's to the late 1980's. Heralded as one of the most successful U.S. record labels of all time - at its arguable height in 1966-1967, three out of four songs they released as singles charted without fail, unmatched by its contemporaries - it introduced 'Young America' to many now-legendary acts like the Supremes, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Jackson 5, and the Commodores. Since this volume was officially authorized by the organization it lacks a certain grittiness in the narrative (as well as giving much more page time to the known quantities, rather than the countless songwriters or reliable studio musicians), but again those timeless images of the aforementioned vocalists in their artistic prime are wonderful companion pieces to the all of their great songs.
February 22, 2015
Amazing Photos. Great coffee table book, if you are a fan.
September 4, 2020
Missing Norman Whitfield, it is a shame, except for stamp size picture, missing the Undisputed Truth. Missing Willie Hutch. Missing Paul Riser. Very Disappointing Album.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews