Motown Legend Barrett Strong, Singer of 'Money' and Temptations Song writer Dies at 81
January 29, 2023, 4:05 PM PST
Photo by Tsuyoko Sako / SOUL Newspaper
Barrett Strong, a driving force at Motown Records as one of its first signed artists as well as providing vocals for its first major hit “Money” has passed away at the age of 81.
Alongside Norman Whitfield, he would pen lyrics for some of their greatest hits. The iconic “War” recorded by Edwin Starr, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” recorded my Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight and the Pips, and a number songs by The Temptations including “Papa was a Rollin’ Stone” and “Just My Imagination”.
He left Motown for Capitol records in the 70s and recorded two albums and was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2004.
Barrett stopped by the SOUL Newspaper offices in 1975 where he was interviewed by staff writer Naomi Rubine. He had recently left Motown for Capitol Records embarking on a solo career. The following is a transcript from that 1975 article and interview:
When it comes to rumors, people react on many different levels. Some people get annoyed: "Oh, that's just a rumor, why do you believe everything you. hear?" Some people get excited: "Hey, did you hear about ... ?" Some people get skeptical : "Well, I'd like to believe that, but ... " For at least one person, a man named Barrett Strong, the thought of a rumor became a step toward fame and fortune. "I Heard It Through The Grapevine," a phrase we all hear and repeat often, turned Barrett on so much that he decided to write a song about it. And it was no rumor that the song became a super-hit.
Strong is used to super- hits. Back in 1960,"Money" was his first giant, and later, he won the Grammy Award for the Temptations' version of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone." Now, with Barrett's "Stronghold" on Capitol Records, he's headed for a new kind of trip - as solo artist. "Actually, it's not too new," says Strong, a quiet, unassuming man, modest about his musical accomplishments, but confident enough of his talent. "I sang 'Money' and then things were't going too well, so I started writing instead."
While “Money" temporarily ended his recording career, Strong became one of the backbones of the then fledgling corporation known as Motown. "I'm not at all sorry I left,'' says Barrett after many years with the Gordy company. "I believe in not feeling bad until there's something to feel bad about. My association with Motown was great”. That association
about 20 years ago when singer Jackie Wilson introduced a 15 year-old boy to a man named Berry Gordy. ''I went over to his house, and he was lying on the couch. I sang for him, and he asked me to sign a contract. Gordy was just getting started then, but we became friends, and it lasted a long time.''
“Music is peace to me”
Not long ago, Barrett Strong was writing songs and, as usual, he was trying them out on friends and his managers. "We were all in my basement, and my managers said, 'Hey, why don't you sing it yourself?' They’d said that before but this time it made an impression. It seemed just like the timing was right.”
Singing since the age of 5; Barrett "could not live without music. My father was a minister, and so I sang in church," he says. "Music is peace to me. They're one and the same." Now living with his wife and four daughters in Detroit, Strong says that rock 'n roll really hasn't changed since the days when he began. "Entertainers have changed a lot. I think today it is much more important to be self-contained - that is, you have to write, produce and sing your own tunes. The more you can do, the better. I know that there is a different feeling to my music now, but I can't really put my finger on it."
The same is true of writing. "Songs come in many ways. Sometimes, I just hear a phrase, like 'I heard it through the grapevine' and soon I get a melody, and then the lyrics come. I don't know where it comes from ... up there, I guess," he ventures, looking up.
Having written hundreds of songs, Barrett finds it a bit easier writing for himself than for others. "I know what I can do. With another artist, it takes a lot of time just to feel him out. I spend a lot of time with myself, getting to know me better, and then I can set myself to music.''
Original article in SOUL Newspaper August 18, 1975
At times, he'll sit with a melody for a couple of hours, getting nowhere at all. "I'll usually give up, go to the gym, run, do anything to keep busy, but I'm always thinking. Then I go back to it, and it may just flow out." And then there are the tunes that he doesn't even like very much, until he gets into the production side, and the mixing helps bring it all together. "It's all part of the art. Youcan't talk about just the tune, or just the words, or just the singer; there's also the engineers, and all the other people who work on a record.
"Everyone always says, 'Well, you have to give credit to everyone involved,' and it may sound corny. But it's true. You may have some feeling that a song is going to be a hit, and you work on that feeling, but it takes a lot of combining of the right elements to make it really work.''
Barrett obviously has a feeling for the right elements. "But it is just that - a feeling. Sometimes my wife will say something that sparks an idea,'' he says, then adds with a teasing aside, "but I don't tell her that."
Whatever it is, Barrett Strong has a "stronghold" on something that works. And lucky for us, he's not about to let go.
- Naomi Rubine
Barrett Strong passed away January 29, 2023 at the age of 81. All of us at SOUL send our condolences to his family, friends and fans.
Barrett Strong - Money
Temptations - Papa Was a Rolling Stone - Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield
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