Motown Records helped define soul music during the 1960s. Motown was one of the most important, and popular, sounds in all of American pop music (see entry under 1940s—Music in volume 3). Founded by Berry Gordy Jr. (1929–) in 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, the label's name came from a popular nickname for Detroit. "Motown" was short for "motor town," because of Detroit's importance as the most important automobile manufacturing center in the world. Gordy's passion for music came with a unique ability to nurture great songwriting and musical talent. That ability would make Motown one of the most successful recording companies in pop-music history.

Gordy created a distinct sound for Motown's records by modeling the company after the automobile industry's assembly-line production method. He developed a stable of songwriters and musicians to provide a uniform sound for all of the company's records, including the songwriting team of Eddie Holland (1939–), Lamont...