Motown Encyclopedia by Graham Betts

Just had word of this new mainstream motown book...

Motown Encyclopedia by Graham Betts

Three years in the planning and writing and already an international best seller*, the Motown Encyclopedia by Graham Betts is one of the most detailed books ever written about the iconic label, its artists, writers, producers and key personnel. Rather than follow the Motown story in chronological order, the book gives every artist who had a record released (and in some cases merely scheduled for release) their own biography, including those whose only Motown connection was a track on a soundtrack or compilation.

To these are added the key executives who ran the label from its formation in 1959 through to its sale in 1988, the musicians who made the famed Motown sound and the writers and producers who came up with the goods on a regular basis.

Every single and album that made the Top Ten (and, for British fans, those EPS that similarly made the Top Ten when there was a separate chart) in either the UK or US is given an entry, as well as the soundtracks that were issued on Motown. There are entries for every film instigated by Motown Productions and details of the various label imprints, both those within Motown as well as those outside the organisation that licensed repertoire from or to Motown. The 1,178 entries, therefore, feature:

684 Artists

13 Executives

16 Musicians

23 Producers

19 Writers

222 Singles

84 Albums

5 EPs

17 Soundtracks

9 Films

50 Labels

36 Other

The book, which contains nearly half a million words, details virtually every aspect of Motown, the Sound of Young America that resonated around the world. Yesterday, Today, Forever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR — GRAHAM BETTS

As a Press Officer for Pye Records and later CBS Records in London, Graham handled the publicity for several former Motown artists, including Gladys Knight & The Pips and Edwin Starr whilst with Pye (through their licences with Buddah and 20th Century Records respectively) and would work with Gladys Knight & The Pips (again!), Billy Griffin and Marvin Gaye whilst at CBS Records.

As a journalist for Melody Maker, Blues & Soul, Record Buyer and several other outlets, he has interviewed many Motown greats, including Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, The Temptations, The Commodores, Hal Davis, High Inergy and Harvey Fuqua, among others.

During the course of writing the Motown Encyclopedia, he has re-acquainted himself with many former Motown artists, checking facts and feats and getting the background stories to some of the greatest music ever produced. In short, nearly forty years of music industry experience has resulted in the definitive book about Motown.

RELEASE INFORMATION:

Publication Date: 2 June 2014

ISBN: 9781311441546

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/446043

Apple URL: http://smarturl.it/MotownEncyclopedia

ASIN: B00KQGSHNU

Amazon URL: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motown-Encyclopedia-Graham-Betts

Publisher: AC Publishing

*#1 in its genre on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca and Amazon.fr