Detroit's Music Heritage

In the early 1900s, large numbers of southerners flocked to Detroit for good-paying jobs in the booming automotive industry. Due to segregation and restrictions on buying and renting property in the City, most of these migrants settled in a neighborhood that became known as Black Bottom, or Paradise Valley. It is here that Detroit's music legacy began, as Jazz and Blues greats forged the basis for future generations of musicians in Detroit, nationally, and around the world.

Jazz

Detroit's Jazz heyday was in the 1920s, when the biggest names in music played ballrooms and clubs on legendary Hastings Street in Paradise Valley. Jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Count Basie performed regularly at the majestic Graystone Ballroom, where Detroit's own McKinney's Cotton Pickers and the Jean Goldkette Orchestra perfected the Big Band Jazz style. While neither Paradise Valley nor the Graystone exist today, their legacies live on in the spirit of Detroit's modern-day Jazz artists and in the highly acclaimed Detroit International Jazz Festival held at Hart Plaza each Labor Day weekend.

Detroit Blues

Like many other Paradise Valley residents, John Lee Hooker moved north from the Mississippi Delta in the 1940s. Hooker brought with him not only a desire for factory work, but also the foundations of the Delta Blues. He, along with other Detroit bluesmen such as Baby Boy Warren, Calvin Frazier, and Bobo Jenkins transformed traditional Delta Blues with electric amplified instruments and the infusion of a more eclectic assortment of instruments such as the bass and piano. They worked in factories during the day and at night performed at classic Hastings Street clubs such as the Flame Show Bar, Three Star Bar, and Forest Club. Hooker went on to become internationally famous and perhaps the greatest Blues performer of all time with his unique brand of foot-stomping boogie. Despite their significant influence, Detroit's other bluesmen were less prolific due to the lack of record labels in Detroit at the time. Sadly, Hastings Street is no longer and is now buried beneath the Chrysler Freeway (I-75). However, the sounds of that era are captured in the extensive recordings of John Lee Hooker and the rarer performances of the other Detroit bluesmen.

Rock & Roll

While Motown generated hit after hit of the more innocent variety, an underground "garage band" movement was forming in Detroit in the late 1960s. The MC5 pioneered this movement, combining fast-paced, aggressive guitar work with gritty and occasionally political lyrics. This new Detroit sound is credited with having inspired the punk rock genre a decade later. Detroit greats such as Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, and Ted Nugent also emerged during this era. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the legendary Grande Ballroom fostered this Detroit talent and hosted the biggest names in rock and roll.

Detroit Soul & the Motown Sound

Detroit's brand of Soul emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s from Gospel and R&B performers such as Aretha Franklin, known as the "Queen of Soul" and generally regarded as one of the greatest vocalists of all time. Local songwriter and record producer Berry Gordy, Jr. built on Aretha's early Detroit success, growing his rag tag Motown label from a startup business to what became by the mid-70s the largest independent record company in the world. The "Motown Sound" was the springboard that launched the careers of dozens of famous musicians. Visit the Motown Historical Museum for more!

Techno

In the early 1980s, three high school friends in the Detroit suburb of Belleville experimented by mixing disco, dance, and house music. Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson, or the "Holy Trinity" as they became known, along with Eddie Fowlkes, are considered the founders of Techno, the altogether new sound that emerged from this musical fusion. Techno began taking hold in the Detroit and Chicago club scenes in the late 1980s and exploded into a worldwide phenomenon when European DJs discovered the unique combination of driving beats and digital effects. Techno is alive and well in Detroit today and is celebrated each year during Movement held at Hart Plaza each Memorial Day Weekend.

More Information

Click on the links below to find related pages and other information on Detroit Music:

Automotive Heritage Tours

United Sound Systems Studio

Detroit Music Main Page

Home Page