One Nation Under A Groove: Motown and American Culture

by Gerald Early

In its heyday Motown Records was a household word, one of the most famous and successful black-owned businesses in American history, and, arguably, the most significant of all American independent record labels.

How it got to be that way and how it changed the face of American popular culture are the subjects of this concise study of Berry Gordy's phenomenal creation. Author Gerald Early tells the story of the cultural and historical conditions that made Motown Records possible, including the dramatic shifts in American popular music of the time, changes in race relations and racial attitudes, and the rise of a black urban population. Early concentrates in particular on the 1960s and 70s, when Motown had its biggest impact on American musical tastes and styles.

With this revised and expanded edition, the author provides an up-to-date bibliography of the major books that have been written about Motown Records specifically, and black American music generally. Plus, new appendices feature interviews with four of the major creators of the Motown Sound: Berry Gordy, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, and Marvin Gaye.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, African American

248 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1995

Reviews

[Jack Wolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that is just not made for a Goodreads review.

Here's how it typically goes down with good books like "One Nation Under a Groove":

1. "I like Motown so I read this book!"
2. "I found out it doesn't say too much about Motown! Like, where were the Four Tops?"
3. ONE STAR

Because if a book does conform to your precise expecation on Goodreads, it obviously sucks. And if a book tries to approach a topic from an oblique angle, fuck it.

Early's book is definitely oblique. But I highly recommend it to folks interested in... well... Lots of things. The guy goes EVERYWHERE in these one-hundred-some-odd pages. He talks about music, of course, but more about Italian pop singers than he does about funk. (Sinatra is probably the single most mentioned artist in the book!) He talks about business, and history, and the Midwest, and boxing, and family, and Ralph Ellison, too, cuz, why not?

Read the title again, folks. "Motown AND AMERICAN CULTURE." Early is situating these songs in a context. If you enjoy reading about CONTEXTS, about the intersections of race and class that produce great art, you'll love his book. But if you just want to be told how great "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" is, well, LISTEN TO THE DAMN SONG. Cuz isn't that the most obvious thing?

[M.G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such a fascinating read. It was so cool to read about Motown music and how it relates to so many other aspects of American culture. I recommend to everyone who is interested in the history and humanity of music.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful example of putting a phenomenon within it's proper context. Early gives a close reading of Motown from a critical distance to see how Motown was the right company at the right time to move " . . . black music, largely on its own terms, within the populat music mainstream, negotiating, with particular aplomb, the enterprise of authenticating itself as youth music, while acknowledging, even celebrating, the R and B sources of African-American music, reaffirming, in an astonishing cultural wave, the innovative power of R and B as a pop music" (85). Particularly interesting for this boy who grew up in Cleveland is the significance of the Midwest to Motown's and African-American's succes. "So, we have an interesting conjunction of place during itself at the same historical moment as a people are beginning to redefine themselves" (71). Never overly celebratory in a fanboy-esque way, it's I wonderful quick read that leaves an impact.

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sub-title of this book doesn't do it justice, as it's about FAR more than simply the intersection of Motown music and American culture. In its brief, 135 pages, Gerald Early takes readers on a wide-ranging review of places where black and white culture "converge and collide" - and Motown is but one example. James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Vee-Jay Records in Chicago, the Delta Blues, Stax in Memphis and Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack all make appearances. A fine (albeit brief) meditation well worth reading.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and interesting extended essay that places Motown with the context of the times, explores the ways it interacted with musical traditions before, how it influenced music after, and (most importantly and in most depth) discussing the ways it created a native black culture that was synthesized with the white culture and how it worked at assimilating both sides.

Not a book to read if you just want to know more about Motown, as that isn't the point. I wish to give it five stars, but it gets knocked a star for being too short. There were some very in-depth thinks he could have discussed in a more extended format. That said, it covers a lot of wide ground and explores an interesting part of music and American history.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Car audio sonics + great migration + Midwest + black self-reliance + leadership theory + black assimilation + public school music class + Afro-Am. & Italo-Am. relations + cheeseball Rock'n'Roll movies + post WW2 consumption patterns + radio DJ styles + Fordian production processes + songwriter-producer-performer relationships + boxing = conversational, interesting, analytical and topical? (And even after a decade?) Then yes, you deserve five stars.

[RA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, concise writing about American culture as it relates to the creation of Motown Records/business model. Early stress the existence of an extremely strong public education music system is Detroit as a major influence in music, and adds his analysis of related matters, from "What's Goin' On" to Motown-themed movies.

[Anthony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have a dictionary handy when you read this.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far be it from me to criticize interdisciplinary approaches to studying music and culture, but sometimes this was just all over the place. If you are looking for a discussion of the music of motown itself, this may not be the book for you. However, if you like reading about the socio-economic forces that influence racial 'progress' or 'empowerment' in America, a la Nelson George's compelling "The Death of Rhythm and Blues", then this is a good quick read. I wish it had been a little bit more scholarly, as neither a bibliography much less citations are given. Often the author paints broad strokes about entire races, economic groups or age groups based on assumptions with little factual background. Not that I disagree with a lot of what he says, it's more that certain assumptions - like why whites were either attracted to Motown music or accepting of the ascendancy of boxer Joe Louis - could be the central questions of major writings in and of themselves.

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anemic.