Berry Gordy Founds Motown in Detroit

In January 1959, Detroit songwriter Berry Gordy Jr. borrowed eight hundred dollars from a cooperative family savings fund to finance his own independent record enterprise. Gordy had spent the late 1950s writing successful compositions for Jackie Wilson, including hits such as "Reet Petite" and "Lonely Teardrops", but he grew dissatisfied with leasing his recordings to established companies. Intending originally to name his imprint Tammy Records after a popular film song, he discovered the name was taken and chose Tamla Records instead. In January 1959, he issued Marv Johnson's single "Come to Me" on the new label, followed in 1960 by the incorporation of Motown Record Corporation, named after a contraction of Detroit's nickname as the nation's motor town.

Gordy quickly recognized that relying on outside commercial studios, such as Detroit's United Sound Systems, imposed heavy financial burdens. In mid-1959, he purchased a two-story photography studio at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, converted the ground floor into offices and a recording facility dubbed Studio A, and moved his family into the residential quarters upstairs. Known as Hitsville U.S.A., the property formed the core of an expanding operation that eventually took over seven neighboring residential properties on the street. Gordy staffed the enterprise with close associates and relatives, appointing singer Smokey Robinson as vice president and placing family members in key administrative and publishing positions.