Andrew Alexander Terry was born in Hempstead,
Texas, a small town on the outskirts of Houston,
in July 1940. At aged three the family moved to
Kansas City and at eight they moved again, this
time permanently, to Detroit, Michigan.
The Terry family’s musical connections stretched
back to Texas where his father ran a music
store, ‘Terry’s Records’, before they moved
north, but a more subtle and long lasting
influence came from the maternal side. “ My
mother played piano – nobody else in the family
did. I can remember her listening to Charlie
Parker on the radio and writing down everything
he played in the key of C.” he recalled in 1994.
After Elementary School, Terry attended Cass
Technical High School on Detroit’s downtown west
side where he was first introduced formally to
the study of music. “I took up the baritone
saxophone because no one else wanted it. I
really wanted to play trumpet.”
He persevered with the ‘bari.’ to such an extent
that by his 18th birthday he began to
sit in on recording sessions. “The first session
I can remember doing for Berry Gordy was at
United Sound around ’58 or ‘59 on a female who
was singing some song about animals in the zoo.
(Tenor sax. player) Norris Patterson brought me
in and Mr. Gordy liked my style. He and
Patterson would go on to record hundreds of
songs in the years to come, both at Motown and
in the dozens of independent studios that sprung
up around the city.Terry’s unique baritone
phrasings began to infiltrate Detroit
recordings.
In 1959 he was recruited by local bandleader
Richard ‘Popcorn’ Wylie to join his group
Popcorn and the Mohawks. Other members included
future Motown studio band regulars Eddie Willis
on guitar, legendary bassist James Jamerson, who
only played upright bass at that time, drummers
Lamont Dozier and Robert Finch, and a young
Norman Whitfield on tambourine. They recorded
several songs for Gordy’s fledgling Motown
label, gaining one release in 1960 ‘Custer’s
last stand’ b/w ‘Shimmy gully’ and another in
1961 ‘Really good lovin’’ b/w ‘Have I the
right’. Neither sold in great quantities.
Wylie would subsequently leave the label after a
furious row with Gordy one night in Saginaw,
Michigan, sometime in 1961, and would not
feature again until his independent production
‘Funky rubber band’ (Voc.& Inst.) was released
on the Soul label late in 1971.
As a result of his exposure with The Mohawks,
Terry was retained at Motown and began to record
extensively for their various labels. This did
not restrict him from recording for labels like
Correctone, SonBert, Thelma and many others
however, as the rates of pay in those early days
were low, and he was forced to complete as many
sessions as possible to make a decent living.
“Looking back I was happy to have opportunities
to work and gain experience. People like Mike
Hanks, Popcorn, Mr. And Mrs. Coleman; they all
helped me to get started. We didn’t get
residuals back then, just a flat fee. It was $5
per session during my first two years at Motown.
They didn’t have contracts or anything. When the
union got involved they forced them to keep
accurate records and increase the fee to $7.50.
We were working between three to four days a
week at Hitsville cutting around 10 sides in
that time, but it still wasn’t great money.”
music:
"Custer's Last Man" - Popcorn & The Mohawks
(Motown1002a)
Continued
