The formation of
Jobete was forced on Gordy as he was having
difficulty getting paid from people in New York
City. He was also sick of seeing his hard work
lining the pockets of others.
The first 45 which
would contain the Jobete moniker was on Carmen
Murphy’s Hob Label. The song, called “I Need
You”, was recorded by Mary Wells partner Herman
Griffin. It was arranged by Maurice King and
produced by Berry, as was virtually every Jobete
song during the next three years.
Business was really
taking off now and the couple decided to move
into a semi detached home at 1719 Gladstone
where they could locate a small demo studio at
the rear of the building.
In January 1959,
Berry bumped into Marv Johnson at Prince Adam’s
Record Store on 12th Street. Marv was
excited about a new song he was writing called
“Come To Me”. The following day they rehearsed
it on Gladstone and later Berry and Raynoma
discussed the possibility of releasing it on
their own label.
That would cost
serious money however, but Berry’s parents and
siblings delivered when they put $800 into the
project, from a fund which the family
contributed to for investment purposes. An
account was also opened with the Commonwealth
Bank.
Berry wanted to
call the new label “Tammy” as he was a big fan
of Debbie Reynolds. “Tammy” was already taken
however, so he settled for Tamla and registered
it in the Fisher Building on Grand
Boulevard. With appropriate funds in place “Come
To Me” was recorded at United Sound Systems on
the 21st January 1959.
Mickey Stevenson
had brought together a formidable band of
musicians in the form James Jamerson (bass),
Benny Benjamin (drums), Eddie Willis and Joe
Messina (guitars) and Thomas “Beans” Bowles (sax
and flute). Marv Johnson played the piano and
provided the vocals. The Rayber Voices provided
backgrounds and Berry produced the song.
Berry then took the
master to the American Pressing Plant in Owosso,
50 mile north of Detroit and paid the “pressing
fee” of 10 cents per disc.
Tamla 101 was born
and in just a few days the song was being pushed
on black radio stations WJLB and WCHB. The
discs were selling at 99 cents each. The shop
netted 39 cents, the distributor 60 cents, of
which 30 cents would filter it’s way back to
Tamla eventually!
Having to employ a
distributor quickly became a serious problem.
Cash flow was a nightmare especially if the song
became a hit and more funds were needed to press
more discs. It was a catch 22 for a small
independent label and this is probably why many
went out of business so quickly.
Frantic Ernie
Durham tipped United Artists off that the song
was going down well in Detroit and this led UA
to buy the masters and provide Berry with a
significant down payment and much needed funds.
The song was now being distributed nationally on
the United Artists label and Berry could call
himself a hit producer for the first time with
“Come To Me” peaking at #6 R&B and #30 Pop.
In February, Rayber
appeared on a record label. The artist was Wade
Jones and the songs “I Can Concentrate” b/w
“Insane”, the latter being a Berry/Smokey
collaboration. The song did nothing and the
label was abandoned.
The follow-up to
Tamla 101 was “Merry Go Round” by Eddie Holland,
which Gordy also managed to get released with
United Artists. Although the track didn’t
feature in the charts, Eddie still signed a
contract with UA, but poor sales on the follow
up discs left the deal short lived.
It was time for the
Rayber Family to hit the road and in February
1959 they played a number of gigs in various
parts of Michigan. Marv headlined the show due
to his recent hit. The Miracles, Mable John,
Eddie Holland and the Rayber Voices also sang on
the show which performed twice per evening.
Meanwhile Tarnopol
continued to release Gordy/Davis songs on the
Brunswick label, with some success. “That’s Why
I Love You So” peaking at #2 R&B and #13 Pop in
April and “I’ll Be Satisfied” peaking at #6 R&B
and #20 Pop in June.
From then on in,
the Tarnopol-Gordy/Davis relationship
disintegrated amid claims that he was
music : "Come To Me" - Marv Johnson (Tamla101a)
Continued
