There is nothing unusual about how Berry Gordy’s story begins:
Like many black families the Gordy family left the Deep South to find a better life and job in Detroit, home of the US car industry. Gordy grew up there with four sisters and three brothers, leaving school early to become a boxer, before being conscripted to serve in the Korean War. On his return he opened a jazz record store for a short time, only to wind up in one of Detroit’s innumerable auto factories after all. But music was his first love so he continued to look for ways to enter the music business. Gordy got to know rhythm and blues singer Jackie Wilson and together with his older sister Gwen wrote songs for him. These included "Reet petite" and "Lonely teardrops" – both splash hits at the time.
The idea of his own record company arose when two of his sisters set up Anna Records and wanted Berry on board as label boss. Instead, he borrowed 800 dollars from his family and created his own baby, Tamla Records. A sister label followed the same year, and it was to provide the name for the record company he was still busy establishing: Thus was born "Motown Records". The name is a proud reference to his home town Detroit and its nickname "motor town" – or Motown for short. At Tamla the motto was "The sound that makes the world go ‘round’", while by comparison at Motown things were somewhat more modest with the slogan "The sound of young America". All that was soon to change. So how did that distinct Motown Sound arise, that unique blend of Gospel singing and soft rhythm and blues melodies with a sweet shot of Pop factor – in other words, the music that today quite simply goes by the name of Soul.