Mind Over Matter: The Myths and Mysteries of Detroit's Fortune Records

by Billy Miller, Michael Hurt

An engrossing story of Detroit's most diverse and fascinating record label, which ran the gamut from Doo-Wop to Gypsy music.

Genres: Music

576 pages, Hardcover

First published August 9, 2021

About the author

William Henry Miller Jr. was an American musician, archivist, record collector, writer and businessman. He co-founded a magazine called 'Kicks' in 1979, and a record label, Norton Records Inc. (1986), in partnership with his wife, Miriam Linna.

Reviews

[Craig Maki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A major contribution to Detroit's 20th century music history, with hundreds of full color and rare images of artists, locations, and advertising; first-hand interviews; and exhaustive research, including discographies, and scans of record labels. Not only did Billy Miller and Michael Hurtt cover the Fortune label and all of its subsidiaries, but they completed the picture by presenting Fortune artists and their lives in Detroit's music scene through the 1950s and 1960s, with explanations of competing record companies, and the history of the city itself. This is a desert island book for fans of Detroit's gritty music scene and its unsung music makers of the early days of rock'n'roll, bluegrass, rockabilly, and doo wop.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stupendous history of R&B and soul music, country music, the record industry and Detroit told via a massively deep dive into an obscure record label. That’s a playbook the late Billy Miller established in the 1980s with his Kicks magazine, alongside his wife Miriam Linna. If you’ve got the time and interest, you’ll find it seriously rewarding.