Song of the Day: Strong "Money" Maker

With Marvin Gaye, The Beatles, Stones, Springsteen and the Temptations.

Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books and now writer/director of award-winning films. He was also a longtime editor of the legendary Crawdaddy.

News arrived yesterday that Barrett Strong had passed away at the age of eighty-one. Now you might be asking, Barrett…Who? Well, he’d belong in the Songwriters Hall of Fame for merely writing or co-writing “Heard it Through the Grapevine” (see: Marvin Gaye) and "Money” (the Beatles, Stones and 10,000 garage bands).

But then there’s this: As a performer he was one of the first signed by Berry Gordy for Motown and recorded their first hit, the aforementioned “Money,” in 1959. You might say he put the Mo in Motown, though Gordy tried to take “Money” out of his pocket by claiming he did not deserve his songwriting credit. Later he co-wrote with Norman Whitfield “War” for Edwin Starr and numerous songs for the Temptations, including “Can’t Get Next to You,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” “Cloud Nine,” “Ball of Confusion” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.” Then he returned to a middling singing career.

A few selections, plus the usual political cartoon, below. Enjoy, then please subscribe—it’s still free!

Marvin’s original, but earlier a hit for Gladys Knight & The Pips. Later: ubiquitous in TV commercials.

Stunning isolated vocals for Marvin, don’t miss. No auto-tuning, kiddies.

The Beatles, “Money,” live in Liverpool

And the Stones’ “Just My Imagination.”

Springsteen declares “War” in famous concert in East Berlin just before the fall of the Wall.

And the Temps live “Can’t Get Next to You,” babe, 1970.

Cartoon of the Day

“Essential daily newsletter.” — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire

“Incisive and enjoyable every day.” — Ron Brownstein, The Atlantic

“Always worth reading.” — Frank Rich, New York magazine, producer of Veep and Succession

Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books, including the bestseller The Tunnels (on escapes under the Berlin Wall), The Beginning or the End (on MGM’s atomic bomb movie twisted by the White House and Pentagon), and The Campaign of the Century (on Upton Sinclair’s left-wing race for governor of California), which was recently picked by the Wall St. Journal as one of five greatest books ever about an election. His 2021 film, Atomic Cover-up, won four awards, and his current one, The First Attack Ads, aired over hundreds of PBS stations this past fall. For nearly all of the 1970s he was the #2 editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. Later he served as longtime editor of Editor & Publisher. He recently co-produced a film about Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.