Berry gordy iv

HIT-MAKING SONGWRITER

A gifted songwriter, Berry penned or co-wrote hits for Jackie Wilson, including “Reet Petite”, “Lonely Teardrops” and “To Be Loved”.

Despite this success, Berry was not content to write songs: He burned with the entrepreneurial spirit, as was only natural for one of Berry, Sr. and Bertha’s children. With an $800 loan in hand from the Gordy Family’s Ber-Berry Co-op, Berry set out in 1959 to apply some of the principles he learned in the auto plant to the production of records and the creation of music groups and solo artists.

He envisioned a process by which a “kid could walk in one door an unknown off the street and come out the other a polished performer”.

MOTOWN RECORDS FOUNDER

With a tenacity that reflected his training as a boxer, a drive to succeed that matched the lessons he learned from his parents, and an attention to detail that is evident in the quality and uniqueness of every element of the Motown experience, Berry b