Barrett Strong

Soul music singer and songwriter Barrett Strong was born on February 5, 1941, in Westpoint, Mississippi. He moved to Detroit, Michigan, and was one of the first artists to sign with Berry Gordy's legendary Motown Records label in the early 1960s. In fact, his recording of "Money (That's What I Want)" on the Anna Records label in 1960 was so successful (it peaked at #2 on the R&B radio charts and almost cracked the Top 20 pop charts) that it produced the necessary capital for Gordy to start his Motown label (the song has been covered by such artists as The Beatles, The Searchers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Guy and The Flying Lizards). Strong wrote, played piano and sang vocals on many early Motown recordings. He frequently collaborated on songs with noted producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield. Among the many classic soul songs Barrett co-wrote for Motown are "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "War", "Smiling Faces Sometimes", "Cloud Nine", "I Can't Get Next to You", "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World is Today)", "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby", "Just My Imagination" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." In addition, he co-wrote "Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me" for Gladys Knight and The Pips. In 1972 Strong left Motown and signed with Epic Records. After one failed single with Epic, he went on to record two albums for Capitol Records in the mid-'70s. Strong continued to work in the 1980s: he recorded the single "Rock It Easy" on an independent label in 1981 and both wrote and arranged "You Can Depend on Me" for the album "The Second Time" by The Dells in 1988. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.