BERRY GORDY lost friends and FREAKED OUT during the I WANT YOU BACK sessions [S1E6]

Full Susanne de Passe interview:    / @joshflagg  

If Motown was a family then Berry Gordy was the father. Father's are known for making tough and unpopular decisions for the good of the family. When you take a close look at Motown there's no need to doubt that he made the record label an unqualified success. However, many of the artists that left Motown feel that they were not dealt with squarely. In the last episode Holland Dozer Holland, who were absolutely a large part of Motown's first decade of success quit in a flurry of lawsuits. This catastrophic resignation happened just as the Jackson 5 were laying down tracks at Motown;s Detroit headquarters Hitsvlle USA.

The Jackson 5 had trouble with commitments they made to Atlantic records soul music imprint Atco. Berry Gordy also had to contend with Richard Arons, whom it appears that Joe Jackson was attempting to leave out of the Motown deal. Meanwhile Michael. Jermaine, Jackie, Tito, and Marlon were laying down tracks and waiting for Berry Gordy to lay down a path and the go ahead to join the Motown LA era.

The Jackson 5 entered Los Angeles with visions of Disneyland and Malibu. For a few days the Boys enjoyed the sun and fun before they were sequestered away at the famous Hit Factory recording studio. Gordy's displeasure with the choice of tracks the boys recorded at Hitsville meant that he would be personally overseeing the making of their first album. This would put him in the path of an 1 year old wunderkind named Michael Joseph Jackson.