This document provides information about a collection of 7 singles from Detroit artists released between 1960-1966. It summarizes each single, including the artist, song, label, year of release, background details on the artist and song. The collection aims to showcase a wide range of Detroit genres and labels from the era as part of a Levi's Vintage Clothing collection inspired by Motor City's musical revolution.

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2. PRODUCTION
Kamran V
LICENSING
Graham Kurzner
RE-MASTERING
Peter Lyman
[except 96 Tears]
ILLUSTRATIONS
Ben Lamb
SLEEVE NOTES
Bill Holdship
DESIGN & ART DIRECTION
Levi’s® XX
© 2013 Levi Strauss & Co.
www.levisvintageclothing.com
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3. THE DETROIT SOUND
Motor City Music from 1960 to 1966
In the early 1960s, Detroit was still the heart of the American car
industry, which drew thousands of migrants from the South and
elsewhere to work in the auto factories. The pulsing beat of the
factory was reflected in the music, and Detroit soon became a
hotbed for a diverse range of sounds.
Detroit’s biggest export was Motown Records, founded by local
Detroiter and former autoworker Berry Gordy with an $800
loan from his parents. Gordy’s “Hit Factory” worked on the same
principles as the Detroit car assembly lines, churning out charttopping hits by Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles,
the Supremes and more.
If Motown was the sound of the city, then the garage rock of the
Hideout club was the sound of the suburbs. The first teen shack in
Michigan to feature live music, the Hideout soon had its own record
label which spawned the careers of Bob Seger, Glenn Frey and Suzi
Quatro, among others. This sound was the bedrock for local artists
like The Stooges and The MC5, who would pave the way for the
punk rock movement that was to follow.
For Fall Winter 2013, Levi’s® Vintage Clothing pays tribute to Motor
Town’s musical revolution and the slick stylings of the people
that were there. In addition to reissuing iconic garments from the
era, the Brand is offering up the soundtrack to its “Boom Town”
collection: Seven singles released between 1960 and 1966 that
cover a wide breadth of Detroit genres and labels.
Like the archival reproductions that Levi’s® Vintage Clothing is
famous for, each record in this set is a classic in its own right and
has been faithfully pressed and packaged exactly as it was when it
was first introduced.
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5. LITTLE WILLIE JOHN
I’m Shakin’
KING (1960)
James Brown called him his favorite singer and everyone who saw
his amazing live performances testifies that Little Willie John was
one of the primary architects of what became “soul music”. His 1968
death at age 30 – in a Washington state prison following a 1966
manslaughter conviction – undoubtedly accounts for his lack of
mainstream recognition.
His family moved from Arkansas to Detroit when Willie was four.
The John children formed a popular Detroit gospel quintet in the
’40s. But Willie preferred secular music and began winning talent
shows as a solo artist throughout the city. His parents rejected
touring offers from Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, but Willie
eventually signed to King Records, and, at barely age 18, recorded
the original version of Otis Blackwell’s “Fever,” later a smash hit for
Peggy Lee.
Willie’s recording of “I’m Shakin’” was released by King Records in
1960. Although it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has since become a
classic of its genre and showcases his raw vocal power.
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7. JOHN LEE HOOKER
Boom Boom
VEE-JAY (196�)
John Lee Hooker was born a sharecropper’s son in Mississippi, and
spent years in Memphis before relocating to Detroit for auto factory
work in 1943. Most Delta blues greats only made it to the Billboard
pop charts via reinterpretations of their material, usually by young
white British groups. But Hooker had the remarkable distinction
of crossing over to the pop charts himself with his own original
recording of “Boom Boom,” which reached No. 60 in 1962. British
group The Animals also hit the American pop charts in 1964 with
their take on “Boom Boom”
Before cutting “Boom Boom,” Hooker put together a band for the
session, complete with horns, featuring mostly players who’d
come to be known as Motown’s Funk Brothers, including legendary
bassist James Jamerson and drummer Benny Benjamin. The Rock
and Roll Hall Of Fame, which inducted Hooker in 1991, included this
record on its list of the “500 Songs That Shaped Rock.”
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9. THE DYNAMICS
Misery
BIG TOP (1963)
This marvelous pop confection perfectly illustrates the racial and
cultural melting pot that was Detroit in the 1950s and ’60s. There
are numerous other examples of the city’s musical crossbreeding
but this one surely ranks as the best. The Royal Playboys were a
popular show band, opening for national acts like The Four Seasons.
The Dynamics – an R&B vocal quintet – saw the band play a Detroit
Catholic church across the street from their low-income housing
project and convinced them to play backing on Misery. The song’s
creation remains shrouded in mystery. But everything about this
garage-style take on doo-wop, complete with falsetto shrieks and
a sax solo, is perfection. The song was a major hit in Detroit, only
months before The Beatles arrived, reaching a respectable position
of number 42 on the national charts.
Meanwhile, in England, The High Numbers, the quartet soon to
become The Who, were seeking material for their first single.
Manager Pete Meaden took “Misery,” rewrote the lyrics, put his
name on it and “Zoot Suit” became The High Numbers’ highlyplagiarized debut release. Pete Townshend claims he hadn’t heard
The Dynamics’ song. Nevertheless, the controversy rages on.
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11. THE VELVELETTES
Needle in a Haystack
VIP/MOTOWN (1964)
The Velvelettes often seem to be forever in the shadows of Martha
Reeves & The Vandellas (who would “steal” two Velvelettes over
the years) and, of course, The Supremes. In fact, they were often
relegated to recording demos of tunes that became huge hits for
Motown’s preferred all-girl acts.
This group, originally two sets of sisters, a cousin, and a family
friend, formed at Kalamazoo’s Western Michigan University
during the early ’60s. Berry Gordy’s nephew was a classmate who
encouraged the girls to audition for Motown Records with his
strong endorsement.
Signed in 1963, The Velvelettes basically languished until new staff
producer Norman Whitfield took them under his wing in the spring
of ’64. Together, they created this dance classic, which, although
it only reached No. 45 on the US pop charts, has since become a
classic on the underground soul scene. The record was released on
Motowns V.I.P. imprint in September ’64.
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13. THE PLEASURE SEEKERS
What a Way to Die
HIDEOUT (1964)
There were self-contained all-girl rock bands long before The
Runaways, who often get the credit. One of the finest was Detroit’s
Pleasure Seekers, formed in 1964 by two sets of sisters, Patti and
Suzi Quatro, and Nancy and Mary Lou Ball.
The group was one of many garage rock bands that formed
throughout the country in the wake of the exploding British
Invasion. They were soon regulars at The Hideout, promoter Dave
Leone’s teen club and ground zero for Detroit’s burgeoning garage
rock scene. Suzi was 15, Patti 17 when they recorded a single for
Leone’s Hideaway label. “What a Way to Die,” the B-side, featuring
lyrics by Leone, is a prototype of the genre, celebrating teen sex and
underage drinking.
Suzi eventually joined forces with producer Mickie Most, who
molded her into a black-leathered rock phenomenon in the UK
during the early ’70s. Superstardom got her the cover of Rolling
Stone, although she’s still best known to US audiences as The
Fonz’s tough girlfriend, Leather Tuscadero, on TV’s Happy Days.
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15. ? & THE MYSTERIANS
96 Tears
CAMEO (1966)
“96 Tears” is not only one of the greatest rock ’n’ roll records of
all time, as John Lennon once called it, but also one of the most
important. Those three-and-a-half minutes of keyboard brilliance
and punk attitude helped launch garage rock to the notoriety that
continues today.
Critic Dave Marsh coined the term “punk rock” in CREEM magazine
to describe this group of Texas-born Mexicans, who’d relocated to
Michigan for auto plant jobs. One week, they were in a Saginaw
garage – and a few months later, they had America’s No. 1 song!
But the “punk” was also notable in the tough image of the lead
singer, born Rudy Martinez (never without his trademark shades)
who legally changed his name to “?” in the mid-’60s. (The words
“Question Mark” are reportedly on his Social Security card.)
“96 Tears” was originally released by Pa Go Go, a small indie label
where only 500 copies were pressed. But following nonstop local
airplay, the single was picked up by Cameo for distribution, and the
rest is rock ’n’ roll history. The band scored minor hits with several
follow-up singles, never again striking gold.
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17. THE CONTOURS
Just a Little Misunderstanding
GORDY RECORDS/MOTOWN (1966)
The Contours are best remembered for 1962’s “Do You Love Me,” one
of Berry Gordy’s earliest smashes. It was a tough act to follow, and
the group never scored another hit – not even with this exuberant
1966 single, co-composed by Stevie Wonder (that’s Stevie playing
drums behind the Funk Brothers). It was the first – and only –
Contours record to feature new lead vocalist Joe Stubbs, brother of
The Four Tops’ Levi, and the singer Wilson Pickett had replaced in
Detroit’s much-beloved Falcons.
Truth is, Gordy originally didn’t want to sign the group. The Contours
were the hardest-sounding unit in his Motown stable, never really
fitting the label’s rapidly increasing mainstream formula. It wasn't
until R&B great Jackie Wilson, a longtime Gordy associate and
cousin of The Contours member Hubert Johnson, asked him to
reconsider that Gordy finally relented. This single was released on
the Gordy imprint in 1966, and while it only hit No. 85 on the pop
charts, it has since become a classic among Northern Soul fans.
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