Barrett Strong was born in West Point, Mississippi, in 1941. He was one of the first singers to join Tamla Records, releasing his first single, “Let’s Rock”, on that label in April 1959.
His second single followed four months later. When the song was picked up by local radio stations, Berry Gordy generously leased the single to Anna Records, perhaps realising that Anna Records had a stronger distribution system than Tamla at that point in time. The Gordy sisters were no doubt delighted to see the song climbing the Billboard R&B Singles Chart, where it peaked at number two.
Strong was no doubt similarly delighted, and maybe a little amazed too, when sales passed one million copies according to Motown Records and he was awarded an unofficial gold disc by the Motown Promotion & Marketing department. “Money (That’s What I Want)”, was co-written by Gordy and Motown songwriter Janie Bradford, who went on to work at the company for over twenty-five years. Barrett Strong, who later also became an important lyricist for the company, claimed that he too had a hand in the song’s creation, but he received no credit. Strong’s name did appear on the original registration document, but Gordy claimed that this was an administrative error, and so Strong didn’t get that money. The song was covered in the UK by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and later Led Zeppelin. It is the first Motown “classic”, with Barrett Strong playing the strong piano riff, Brian Holland on tambourine and Benny Benjamin laying down a typically powerful drum beat.
Barrett Strong
Photo: Motown Publicity Photo (Wikimedia Commons)
After one more Anna release and three further singles on the Tamla label brought no success, Strong left Motown to record a few singles for other labels between 1961 and 1964. He couldn’t find another “Money”! But he had another string to his bow, songwriting, which was to bring him back to Motown, where success finally came.
