** This is just a short biographical summary – for the full story, check out this artist’s reviews! **

Young Detroit singer Wade Jones is sometimes cited as the real first artist to record for Motown, turning up at a local studio in 1958 as a client of Berry Gordy and Raynoma Liles Gordy’s new recording and production service.

Per comments made on his thread here on Motown Junkies, Jones was apparently a promising young singer-songwriter who brought one of his songs to the Gordys for polishing up, the record eventually being pressed in small quantities (with a B-side penned by Gordy and a very young Smokey Robinson) as a single in early 1959 on the otherwise-unknown “Rayber Records” label (probably as a glorified demo in the hope of getting it picked up by a bigger company).

Whatever the plan, it seems to have failed, as no more was ever heard of Wade Jones either at Motown or anywhere else. Was he the first Motown artist? I don’t personally think so, but you pays your money and you takes your choice.

Review Archive: Wade JONES (2 items)

We have 2 reviews for Wade Jones currently available here on Motown Junkies – click the link above to see our archive for more details.

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