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Tamla T 54027 (A), August 1959
b/w Oh I Apologize
(Written by Janie Bradford and Berry Gordy)
London American HLU 9088 (A), March 1960
b/w Oh I Apologize
(Released in the UK under license through London Records)
NOW we’re talking.
Motown had put out seven singles prior to this one, some of them featuring some pretty good songs, but this is the first bona fide classic to come out of the Hitsville factory. Even now, fifty years – can you believe it, fifty years – later, it still sounds fantastic. It was also Motown’s first national hit, and deservedly so.
Built around Berry Gordy’s hypnotic piano riff – played on the record by Strong himself – and featuring an unexpectedly essential tambourine part from Brian Holland alongside the first truly great Benny Benjamin drums performance, deafening warlike tom-toms beaten with genuine malice, the whole thing is just an unstoppable, nasty, mean, sexy groove. Everything on the record just demands attention – the raw-throated, almost-shouted vocals, the thundering bass, the spiky, twanging guitars, everything. And somehow it all works.
Motown’s only previous chart contender, Marv Johnson’s Come To Me, had been a surprise hit; this one couldn’t fail to be a hit. The difference in confidence between this and the previous sides, especially Strong’s own Let’s Rock, is palpable. Whether that confidence was borne of knowing they were onto something good, or whether everybody just fed off each other’s energy and moved everything up a gear, it blazes right through the speakers – everyone here is on top form, and this is the best Motown single to date, by the longest of long chalks.
Some of the previous Motown sides featured on this blog you might want to play again straight away – Eddie Holland’s It Moves Me, and Marv Johnson’s lovely Whisper, the Funk Brothers (or “Swinging Tigers”) pounding away on Snake Walk – but this is the first one to actually make you say yes, that’s fantastic, play that one again, and again, and again. It’s the first one that’s actually essential.
Strong is no great shakes as a vocalist, for sure, but he gets the job done here with a clear, tough delivery. You’d expect the song to suffer from overfamiliarity, but it doesn’t; further, this is an example of the original being the definitive version of a song, regardless of how many covers have had a go at replicating it. It’s jagged, even sloppy in places, but that’s really the point. It’s raw. It’s young. It’s mean. It’s alive. It kicks arse, quite frankly. And for the very first time, Motown release a record that matters.
More than the much-needed financial fillip provided by the healthy sales of this record (which hit #2 R&B once it had been licensed to Berry’s big sister Gwen Gordy Fuqua’s label Anna Records, who had better national distribution), Money also proved to everyone involved that it was worth persevering, that maybe, just maybe, this tiny black indie label was worth watching, worth sticking with, worth getting involved with, worth being part of. For that reason, Money is probably the most important record in the whole Motown canon. Regardless of the good stuff that had come before, in many ways the Motown story really begins right here, with one of the better pop records of the 1950s.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
COVERWATCH
Motown Junkies has reviewed other Motown versions of this song:
- Richard (Popcorn) Wylie & His Band (April 1961)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
(Or maybe you’re only interested in Barrett Strong? Click for more.)
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| The Satintones “Motor City” |
Barrett Strong “Oh I Apologize” |
One of the greatest songs of all time. and no comments??
You need to remember in the public eye (or ear) there was no Motown or Berry Gordy. This was just a super great RnB song by some guy named Barrett Strong (who?) on some strange Anna label…no need to investigate, it’ll vanish like most labels do.
Barrett’s vocals match the song, you would swear he wrote it. No, the lead writer was the front office girl, Janie Bradford. I’ve always thought if she could write this, she belonged in the writers stable.
The piano is the other great thing to me, such a driving force. One of the Motown autobiographies, I think it was Berrys, it was stated a few white high schools drifted by the house, as neighborhood kids always did. After learning one could play the piano, they put him to task on this session. Amazing.
It was the guitar – the kid who played the main solos, a white teenager, was supposedly never tracked down. Strong himself (a decent pianist, something that came in handy during his late-Sixties songwriting reinvention as Norman Whitfield’s lyricist and palette-mixer) claims to have played the piano, while Gordy says he wrote the central riff that underpins the song.
Janie Bradford was a great writer – see her full credits below in the Great Motown Songwriters list at the bottom of the page – though she doesn’t get the respect she deserves.
I WAS THAT WHITE GUY PLAYING THE ONLY GUITAR ON “MONEY.” I PROBABLY WAS 21 YEARS OLD OR SO. I LIVED A COUPLE MILES FROM HITSVILLE. THE TRIO I WAS WITH WENT TO TRYOUT FOR GORDY. HE TOOK ME ASIDE AND ASKED IF I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN DOING SESSIONS. MY FIRST OF MANY WAS “MONEY”. I WAS GIVEN A “DITTO” COPY OF THE CHORDS, BARRY GAVE A VOCAL OF WHAT HE WANTED ME TO DO, AND IT DID IT. I THOUGHT I WAS SO CLEVER SLIDING THE 6th STRING FROM C BACK TO F. BENNY BENJAMIN WAS THE DRUMMER, I RECALL, AS WE BECAME FRIENDS LATER. I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION WHO ELSE WAS ON IT. JAMES JAMERSEN HAD AN UPRIGHT BASE, IT COULD HAVE BEEN HIM. I REMEMBER THAT FINE MUSICIAN AS I HAD TO PUT THE TOP DOWN ON MY CONVERTIBLE TO TAKE HIM AND HIS UPRIGHT HOME ONE TIME. POPCORN WILLIE USED TO DO PIANO. EARLY ON, SOMEONE USUALLY PLAYED THE TAMBOURINE. ESTER GORDY USED TO PAY US THE $15.00 PER SIDE. (MAY ALL OF THEIR SOULS REST IN PEACE.) I GOT ONE, AND ONE ONLY, BONUS AS PROMISED FROM MR. GORDY. $60.00 WHEN “MONEY” HIT BIG TIME. I GUESS YOU COULD SAY THAT I WAS “PRE-FUNK BROTHERS.” PERHAPS IT COULD HAVE BEEN CALLED “PRE-HITSVILLE USA”. I CUT WITH THE SUPREMES, SMOKEY ROBINSON AND THE MIRACLES, MARY WELLS, MARV JOHNSON (HE WANTED ME TO GO ON TOUR AS FRONT MAN TO PERTH AUSTRALIA. I WENT TO HIS HOME RUN DOWN A COUPLE SONGS. SOMEONE EXPRESSED CONCERN OF ME IN THE SOUTHERN STATES EVENTUALLY. ANYWAY, IT NEVER CAME OFF. I CUT WITH ANDRE WILLIAMS & GINO PARKS, AND ?? OH, YES . . . I PLAYED ON THE MARVELETTES’ “PLEASE MR. POSTMAN”. IF IT WAS RE-RECORDED AT UNITED SOUND STUDIOS LATER, I DON’T KNOW. IN 1986 I VISITED HITSVILLE. I LEFT A LETTER OF MY ASSOCIATION WITH THEM AND ASKED FOR A REPLY. NOTHING. EARLY MOTOWN WAS SO VERY LONG AGO. I HAVE SO MANY YEARS BEHIND ME NOW. I’D JUST LIKE TO HAVE “SOMETHING” OF PROOF TO SHOW WHOMEVER THAT IT WAS ME THERE. I HAVEN’T TALKED ABOUT IT FOR YEARS. I WAS IN A KRESGE’S 5 & DIME IN THE 70′S OR SO WITH A GIRL. “MONEY” WAS PLAYING ON THE P.A. I BLURTED OUT THAT I PLAYED GUITAR ON THAT. SHE SAID “B.S.!”
Eugene E. Grew
How interesting! I feel proud for being a witness to the growth of Motown. To actually be a player on the stage is phenomenal. Thank you for your input.
It pays to walk a different route occasionally.
So Brian Holland was on tambourine on this record. He must have learnt the lesson here of how a great and instantaneously recognisable introduduction will hook the listener.
It’s tempting to think so – it must have left quite an impression. Both Strong and Bradford place him there on tambourine in their recollections (he’d have been, what, 18?)
I would like to do some detailed research on this song. Are there sales figures for the single? Is it known what Strong’s financial participation was? Just a performance fee as the recording artist? Is it a fact that the revenue from this single enabled Motown to go forward? Are there any details at all on this aspect of the record? Many thanks.
This is the first record in my opinion that defined the Motown sound it has Detroit written all over it. Its such a good record I think if David Ruffin had done it or Levi Stubss it could have been a hit. Go Janie Bradford you dont get the credit you deserve for this pop masterpiece.
It WAS a hit!!
Love this song. Part of its appeal for me is the driving rythym and the frank and clever lyric.
I read that the backing vocals included Raynoma Singleton and Berry Gordy.
There are many great remakes of this song. Kingsmen, Beatles, Jr Walker, even the Supremes. I thought the Miracles version was pretty bad.
There is talk on You Tube of the existence of a 78 rpm Money. No label scans, just talk. I would think there’s a zero chance of a Tamla 78, just for Detroit. An Anna 78 would be possible, but IMO not likely. No other Anna 78s exist that I know of. They had national distribution, which creates the possibility, but this is a Berry Gordy creation…..I just don’t see it. Anybody?
I think I remember seeing a reference to (and label scan) of an Anna 78 of the record. I’m almost sure that Anna DID issue some 78s (perhaps “Hope and Pray” and “Needed” by The Voice Masters (Anna 101 and 102) from early 1958).
I’ve seen a 78 scan — it may have been on one of the old Tefteller lists. I know CHess was pressing 78s up til 1960 —
ONLY FOR PURPOSES OF IDENTIFICATION ON THE “MONEY” BLOG ABOVE DATED OCTOBER 19 2011: I WAS THAT “WHITE GUY” THAT PLAYED GUITAR ON BARRETT STRONG’S MONEY.
53 OR SO YEARS SINCE I WOULD NOW LIKE SOME PROOF THAT IT WAS ME. SOMETHING PERHAPS FROM MR. GORDY HIMSELF. SOMETHING THAT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE I MADE IT UP ON MY COMPUTER OR HAD A TROPHY SHOP DO IT. I HOPE THAT BARRY WOULD REMEMBER ME.
CAN YOU OR ANYONE DIRECT ME AS TO HOW TO CONTACT HIM WITH MY REQUEST. THERE “AIN’T” MANY OF US ORIGINALS LEFT.
I AM THANKING YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ASSISTANCE.
PS NOT TO SCHMOOZE YOU, BUT I SURE ENJOY THE MOTOWN JUNKIES ONGOING EFFORTS AND THE WAY THEY ARE PRESENTED. IT’S QUITE AN UNDERTAKING.
Eugene E. Grew eegrew@comcast.net 1.248.909.9517
Hi Eugene,
Thanks for getting in touch, and for your kind comments. This is an unofficial site and has absolutely no links whatsoever to Motown, UMG, the Motown Museum or the Gordy family, so there’s not a lot I can do I’m afraid. However, this site does get a lot of visitors, so hopefully someone will see your message and get in touch. You could also try posting on the Soulful Detroit forum?
OH, OK, I UNDERSTAND. THANKS FOR THE PROMPT HEADS-UP. I KNOW THAT YOU FOLKS WILL KEEP UP THE FINE WORK ON WHAT IS OBVIOUSLY YOUR LABOR OF LOVE. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO US ALL!
Eugene
Eugene, if you’re still out there, your time has come:
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120712/OPINION03/207120378#ixzz20Q3gNqug
Barrett Strong wants to meet you again – the reporter’s e-mail is nrubin@detroitnews.com and their phone number is (313) 222-1874 – make it happen!
My “The Nixon Administration” friends: Yep, I’m still hanging around. Thanks to you folks, I emailed Neil Rubin of the Detroit News. He replied back to say that he’ll contact me in a week or so. I sent him all of the questions and answers that I dealt with last April when a joerodgers@gmail.com, from Ireland it seems, wanted info for his publication dinosauralbumguides.com. That’s the last I heard from him. Yep . . . I’m ready to meet up with Barrett. I wonder if he still wears that handsome ring with the big BS in diamonds?
Eugene
On “Sounds of the Sixties” this morning, they played “Money” by Bern Elliot and the Fenmen. There are a few good covers of Motown records by UK beat groups, but sadly that isn’t one of them.
Absolutely agree with this verdict! Up to this point this is truly the first Motown song that I have said sounds good and have enjoyed listening to it again and again not to offer my own critique of the song, but just to enjoy how good it is. Until now I did not recognize the significance of this song. I look at this record as being the starlet of Motown because the company was starting to make a name for itself by putting out cute and decent records. Which is why I look at “Where Did Our Love Go” as the blonde bombshell of the company because mostly everything the company released after it was smoking hot = )
I heard this song when I was little but never knew it was a Motown joint. Barrett Strong gave Motown its first national hit and couldn’t agree more its hot catchy and will have you toe tapping to it if your not careful lol. Verdict is on the money. Too bad he was a one hit wonder good thing his writing made up for it.
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I just discovered you while while trying to settle and argument about whether or not the Funk Brothers played on “ALL” the Motown hits. Have an opinion? Oh yes, British covers. I still enjoy Tony Jackson’s singing on the Searchers version and Freddy and the Dreamers vastly up-tempo rendition is almost scary.
Thanks Einar!
In answer to your question, it depends on your definition of “all the hits” – the answer is probably no, a lesser but significant number of pre-1972 Motown chart hits were recorded in California, New York and Chicago using local session players, but the Brothers still recorded literally thousands of great songs, and racked up more hits (and number ones) than any other band in history.