Visiting Detroit...Part 2 and 3 by Rob Moss

Part 2 and Part 3 of this lengthy look at "... visiting Detroit" by Rob Moss

Detroit’s musical and cultural legacy to the world has few equals. Forgetting the Motown and associated soul people of the 1960s and beyond for a second, the line up of native sons and daughters is awesome. Jackie Wilson, Aretha Franklin, Little Willie John, Hank Ballard, John Lee Hooker and Della Reese amongst scores of others, pioneered all shades of R&B and Blues throughout the 1950s, the city was a hotbed of jazz, counting luminaries like Kenny Burrell, Marcus Belgrave, Hank Jones within its considerable ranks, at the same period, and many famous white rock and pop figures grew up on its streets — ‘Sonny’ Bono, Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Madonna, Bill Haley, Mitch Ryder, Bob Seger to name a few. And lest we forget, Eminem and a whole posse of Detroit rappers currently fly the city’s ‘musical’ flag. Added to this is the quite amazing list of Detroiters who found fame and fortune in other areas of endeavour. Ex President Gerald Ford, ‘missing’union leader Jimmy Hoffa, General Custer, Rosa Parks, Charles Lindbergh, Francis Ford Coppola and actors Steven Seagal, Charlton Heston, Tom Selleck, Jeff Daniels and Robert Wagner, all hail from Detroit and its environs. Little wonder then that, with a modicum of organization and structure, it was possible to exploit the rich and diverse musical heritage that abounded, and create the surge of commercial success that enveloped the city in the 1960s.must have cost them a fortune in time and money.

note from the soul source team - sorry but all Robs non-current articles are now clipped due to a future book release - watch out for news of that!