Marv Johnson (October 15, 1938 – May 16, 1993) – Everybody's Gotta Pay Some Dues (1970)
This superb jam by the artist who released the first single on Tamla was originally a Miracles song from 1961, co-written by Ronnie White and Smokey Robinson.
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Marv Johnson was a singer/songwriter and musician who in 1959 had the very first record released on Berry Gordy’s Tamla Records, which later became Motown.
Born and raised in Detroit, Johnson started out singing with the doo-wop group the Junior Serenaders in the mid-1950s. Some say he was performing at a carnival when Berry Gordy discovered him, but as Johnson himself told it, he was working at a Detroit record store when they first met, the Prince Adams Record Mart on 12th and Hazelwood.
In early 1959, Gordy co-wrote two songs with Johnson that became his debut single, and the first record released on Gordy’s new Tamla record label. The upbeat doo-wop rocker “Come To Me” b/w a ballad titled “Whisper” was issued as Tamla 101 that May. It was licensed for national distribution to United Artists Records and was a hit, landing at #6 on the Billboard R&B charts and #30 on the Hot 100. Johnson and “Come To Me” gave Tamla its start, soon to be renamed Motown the following year by Gordy.
Johnson went on to sign with United Artists but continued to record at Motown’s Hitsville U.S.A. studios on 2648 West Grand Boulevard. He released another eight singles between 1959-61, two of which went top-ten on the Hot 100. His records then dropped off the charts, and he re-signed with Motown in 1964 as a recording artist, songwriter, and producer. He had another few minor chart appearances during the mid to late sixties, but nothing hit big.
Then, in 1969, his recent single on Motown’s Gordy subsidiary “I’ll Pick A Rose For My Rose” (1968) became a #10 hit in the UK, propelled by its popularity on the growing Northern soul scene. Johnson co-wrote it with James Dean and William Weatherspoon, who also produced the track. Its B-side was the stellar “You Got The Love I Love,” produced by the great Frank Wilson, and co-written by Johnson and pianist and arranger Johnny Allen, who shared a 1972 Grammy with Isaac Hayes for co-arranging “Theme From Shaft” and taught Aretha to play the piano.
Motown’s UK division rushed a full album to stores titled I'll Pick A Rose For My Rose to capitalize on the hit. A Dutch-only single was released with two album cuts.
“Sleep (Little One)” was co-written by Ivy Jo Hunter and William “Mickey” Stevenson, b/w the superb jam “Everybody's Gotta Pay Some Dues,” originally a Miracles song from 1961 co-written by Ronnie White and Smokey Robinson.
Rest in Power, Marv Johnson.
Further info:
“Marv Johnson Is Dead; A Motown Pioneer, 54,” obituary, The New York Times, May 17, 1993.
“Marv Johnson,” Michigan Rock and Roll Legends, March 1, 2015.
#soul #funk #BerryGordy #Tamla #Motown #SmokeyRobinson #MarvJohnson