Berry Gordy: Building Motown on Lessons Learned From Failure - Adam White & Lisa Kipps-Brown

Author of Motown: The Sound of Young America, Adam White has written about music, the music industry, and Motown for more than 40 years. He & Lisa talk about how Motown founder Berry Gordy used lessons learned from failing in his first business to build the industry-disrupting Motown.

Hear the back story of Motown straight from the man who, as an 18-year-old, opened the door for the company to expand into England. The story of how Adam White became an expert on Motown and author of the definitive book all hinges on his obsession with the music as a young teen. Amazing! Every step of his career was built on learning as much as he could, recognizing opportunity, and acting on it.

Adam worked at Billboard Magazine for 20 years, advancing to international editor, managing editor and editor-in-chief. He then joined Universal Music Group International as VP of Communications and retired after 10 years. Following that, he and Gordy’s right-hand man, Barney Ales, collaborated to write the book.

Adam’s blog has tons of great articles about Motown and its musicians, including an interview with my cousin Charles Kipps about when David Ruffin recorded one of the songs he wrote, Walk Away From Love.