Survey Response: Humphrey Morris

Tell me a little bit about yourself--some brief bibliographic information.

I am a white guy who was born in 1947 and graduated from high school in 1965 in an upstate New York college town.    


How were you introduced to Motown?

My high school girlfriend told me when we were freshmen in college--we were about 6 hours drive apart, and spend long phone calls missing each other--that I should listen to Smokey Robinson's "Choosy Beggar," that it was the best song out there, period. So I went out and bought the "Tracks of my Tears" album (still have it), and listened to it with my roommates.  One of these roommates was from a Polynesian island, a kind of golden god the girls adored, and he quickly took to Smokey and soon, I think partly because we thought Sione was cooleer than we were and partly because it was such great dancing music, we bought the Temptations, the Supremes, Dionne Warwick, the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Aretha, and played them constantly (all this still in 1965-66), problbly more than the British groups, though very much back and forth.  


What drew you to Motown?  What do you think drew Motown fans of your demographic to the company and its sound?

I think the formative social movement for my high school generation was Civil Rights, and Motown fell on receptive ears in that we were eager to embrace black culture and bridge the gap.  Plus my girlfriend made it clear that black men were sexier and danced better and I suppose I hoped some of that would rub off if I listened to Motown, even though there really was no hope.


How concious were you of Detroit as the birthplace of Motown?  Did you have an idea of Detroit in your head, and do you think it affected your interest in and purchase of Motown Records?

I think I had very little idea of Detroit in connection with Motown.  Though I did love [Atlantic Records artist] Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally" as a celebration of the core American male fantasy of my day ("muscle" cars and their supposed effect on women).  



Did Motown adversiting and P.R. reach you?  To what extent?  How do you
think it affected you?

I don't remember Motown advertising. I think in college the main vector of music advertising was word of mouth--you heard it through the grapevine.


How did you react when Motown moved to LA in 1972?

I think I was so preoccupied with figuring out what I was going to do with my life (I waa out of college) that I didn't notice.  


How did your pre-1972 interest in Motown compare to your post-1972
interest?  Did your interest change?

I think I was somewhat less interested because depressed troubadors like Bob Dylan and James Taylor fit better with my mood.


Did the Motown Sound change post-1972?

I guess I didn't keep up enough to say.  I kept listening to my old records.  Though I did get into reggae partly out of my love for Motown


Anything else I should know about your--or general fan--interest in Motown?

It strikes me now how much the surge in Motown's popularity seems to coincide with the peaking of the Civil Rights Movement.  I don't think the popularity of other music at the time--Beatles or the Stones or Dylan--was so closely tied, perhaps, to a social movement.