‘Got to Get You into My Life’: The Beatles’ impassioned homage to Motown
First Detroit, then the world. In a few short years, Berry Gordy and Motown Records rose from being a shoestring independent operation to a global music empire, gaining a colossal following and influencing countless other musicians and artists, including The Beatles. By the time that The Quarrymen graduated from teenage skiffle obsessives to become The Beatles in 1960, Motown was already well on its way to world domination.Barrett Strong’s 1959 R&B masterpiece ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’ became the label’s first nationwide hit, and the Detroit company had already started amassing an unparalleled roster of talent which, over the next few years, would establish a plethora of iconic stars, ranging from the distinctive vocal prowess of Diana Ross to the groundbreaking songwriting mastery of Stevie Wonder. As such, the ‘Mop Tops’ were natural disciples of the label. After all, so much of the band’s early work was influenced by the world of American pop and R&B music, and Mo...