Everything might have turned out quite differently if Johnnie Mae had been able to agree an equitable deal with record promoter par excellence, Barney Ales; the man who Berry Gordy acknowledges as being a major contributor to the success of Motown.

 Johnnie Mae told me how it unfolded, “Barney - he was supposed to be my partner. When I went down to Record Row on Woodward Avenue to the distributors - he and I would go out and have lunch. He tried to come into partnership with me, before Motown. But I couldn’t see it because I built up my company. I couldn’t see a person just coming in who didn’t have anything to put into the company – just freeload. We couldn’t see eye to eye.”

"My Little Angel" - Johnnie Mae Matthews

 In the late 50s she used to drive Berry around town before he had a car, introducing him to all the jocks. She also helped him to get a deal with Chess Records, which released “Bad Girl” by The Miracles in ’59, telling me - “I’m the one took Berry Gordy’s record to Chicago, I knew them (the Chess brothers) from coming in and out of Chicago.”

 Apparently Berry didn’t forget the favors because when Johnnie Mae needed help, she didn’t have to ask. “When I had an accident on the road in Delaware in ’62 - he sent flowers to my bed everyday. And when I got back into Detroit he also gave me X amount of cash.”

 Over the years Johnnie Mae was repeatedly invited to sign with Motown, but she declined, preferring to maintain her independence.

 But many future Motown stars such as David and Jimmy Ruffin would hang out at her Carter residence, and Johnnie Mae recalled that “Diana Ross would come over to my house – she was liking Richard Street.”

 She also mentioned her brush with Motown’s very first major female star. “Mary Wells was 14 years old when she came to me. She came with about four lines of “Bye, Bye Baby” and asked me if I would finish it up for her, and I finished it up for her - I wrote that record… I never got any credit for that!”

 Detroit’s famed Funk Brothers played on many of her sessions, starting from when Joe Hunter’s band backed her on her Brax recording back in ‘58. Johnnie Mae claimed that she bought legendary bassist James Jamerson his very first Fender bass and said that he’d always acknowledge her whenever she entered a Detroit nightclub. “He’d stop the whole show when I walked in. He’d say… Here’s the lady - just walked in - that the first time I walked into a studio – that’s who took me in.”

Interview discussing James Jamerson

Image notes: Johnnie Mae’s 1962 hit floated above some strong competition, including a disc by some members of her ex-group The Distants, now re-named The Temptations. Fast talking DJ “Frantic Ernie” Durham spun “My Little Angel” relentlessly on WJLB.  

 Johnnie Mae’s strong, blues-toned voice is the one distinctive and common denominator on recordings that span four decades.

 Her “My Little Angel” took off in January of 1962 after local DJ Ernie Durham flipped over the disc and plugged the official B side. Sue Records in New York then picked it up, and even though it failed to register on Billboard’s chart, it was Johnnie Mae’s biggest hit.

 Recorded at Special, it has - for 1962 – an unusual second vocal overdub and its success always baffled Johnnie Mae, but the catchy organ-led melody coupled with her workhouse style delivery is haunting.

 The follow-up was “Come Home” and it’s baffling why this soul driven must-dance disc wasn’t also picked up to enjoy the same, or even more, success. 

 In a similar mould is her delightfully rasping R ’n’ B disc “My Destination” which features McKinley Jackson’s trombone surfing on the crest of an atmospheric session. It’s one of those songs offering a snap-shot of the magical spontaneity of early Soul recordings. Listening to it 40 years after it was made, it’s remarkably easy to conjure up an image of a dimly-lit, smoke filled club, bursting with people grooving the night away as Johnnie Mae vehemently bids so-long to her cheating lover. Her destination is true love, and you instinctively know she’s going to make it.

"My Destination" by Johnnie Mae Matthews

 Image notes: This wonderful Spokane recording was released around February 1964. Johnnie Mae had the first 45 on Blue Rock.  

 Johnnie Mae’s majestic vocal delivery on “Worried About You” is one of her finest - although she had to down a stiff drink before venturing into the studio to record it.  She was understandably put off by Riley Hampton’s sweeping string arrangement and a crooning chorus that sound like the score of a John Ford cowboy flick.

 While the track is light years away from her usual Detroit sessions, the end product is a gorgeous song that displays her utter soulfulness. Her impassioned intonation gilds Don Davis’s simple lyrics, “You wonder why…I sit and cry…every time you say goodbye,” leaving you in no doubt that it’s her own emotional welfare that she’s rightly worried about. It has an Etta James’ “Sunday Kind Of Love” ring to it, obviously from being cut in Chicago, but Ollie McLaughlin’s excellent production gives it an edge over this great vocalist’s work.

"Worried About You" by Johnnie Mae Matthews

 Another Ollie McLaughlin and Riley Hampton collaboration kicked off Mercury’s newly formed subsidiary label, Blue Rock, later in ’64. “Baby What’s Wrong” was also cut in Chicago; this and her follow-up 45, “My Man,” are both polished blues songs which illustrate Johnnie Mae’s natural adeptness with the genre.

Image notes: The Art label was named after Johnnie Mae’s husband, Artwell. These two discs should be filed under: Unadulterated Detroit Soul

Now we’re in a post-Spice Girl-power era it’s easy to forget just how difficult it was for women to make serious progress in the machismo world of the recording industry. Johnnie Mae was one of the first black women to actively own a recording company and if you listen to her sing “Don’t Talk About My Man” you’ll get a taste of her spunky personality. I’m sure it’s a song that Posh Spice’s soccer playing husband David Beckham would have died for.

Don't Talk About My Man" by Johnnie Mae Matthews

Continued

© David Meikle : All Rights Reserved