The company was set up in the early sixties by Wilbert Golden, a local Detroit businessman who ran a very profitable numbers game and was looking to invest his money in the music industry. He didn’t know much about running a record company but he knew someone who did!
During the late fifties, he had been approached by a certain William “Mickey” Stevenson and asked if he was interested in investing in Stevenson’s recording company, Sepp Records. Out of that conversation came the idea of setting up a new company together, which led them to rent a premises at 9031, 12th Street. Stevenson organised the installation of two-track recording equipment and advised Golden to speak with Robert Bateman and Sonny Sanders, who were, of course, working at Motown with Stevenson. Stevenson then advised Bateman and maybe Sanders too that Correc-Tone would be a wonderful opportunity. They spoke to Golden and left Motown, along with (at various times) Don Mancha, William Weatherspoon and Richard “Popcorn” Wylie. Mancha had written “Misery” for Barrett Strong at Motown, Weatherspoon had written “It’s Over” for Erma Franklin at Epic, and Wylie had recorded several singles at Motown, as well as playing piano on the Miracles’ “Shop Around” and the Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman”. Wylie had been in dispute with Berry Gordy and obviously saw Mr Golden’s superior wealth as an attraction. They all signed contracts with Correc-Tone in 1962 or 1963.
Artists who signed up in 1962 included Wilson Pickett, Gino Washington, James Velvet, and a young musician named Ivy Jo Hunter, who learned a lot from Don Mancha about songwriting and got to know visiting musicians from Motown.
So, Mr Golden had some singers, some songwriters who could double as arrangers and producers and an engineer. He just needed some session musicians, and Stevenson came up with an idea. Why not hire some of the Motown session men on a casual basis? The Motown operation wasn’t working flat out in 1962, so there were opportunities for moonlighting. For the early recordings at Correc-Tone, James Jamerson, Robert White, Benny Benjamin and the Andantes all came across from Studio A to join “Popcorn” Wylie, Sonny Sanders and Robert Bateman. It was just old friends helping out. Berry Gordy found out what was happening, of course, and fined the Motown employees like Jamerson, in order to deter the moonlighting. Ed Wingate’s response was to open his wallet and reimburse the musicians who were fined, so the practice continued.
The first two releases were “Let Me Be Your Boy” by Wilson Pickett and “Bouquet of Flowers” by “James Velvet. Both were sold to MGM and were re-released on the Cub subsidiary label. Sales of the early recordings hadn’t brought in much cash, but Wilbert Golden decided to move the studio to a better building on Grand River Avenue. Robert Bateman took charge of setting up the recording equipment, and sessions re-started in 1963. Around fifteen singles were released by Correc-Tone, with other recordings sold to other companies for possible release. Without a hit, however, by 1964, Wilbert Golden was beginning to think about getting some financial support in the form of a partner.
He turned to Ed Wingate, a well-known local businessman, who, with his business partner JoAnne Bratton (née Jackson), bought half the company. Sadly, just a few months later, disagreements between the three co-owners led to the demise of Correc-Tone. Wingate bought out all the Correc-Tone contracts except one. Ivy Jo Hunter was released from his contract by Golden and chose to go to an interview at Motown. Mickey Stevenson soon signed him. Wilbert Golden’s venture with Correc-Tone may not have succeeded, but Ed Wingate and JoAnne Bratton were now in a position to mount a serious challenge to Motown.
