Before connecting with Gordy, he performed
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2025 10:51 am
In the case of “War,” Mr. Strong was inspired by current events.
“I had a cousin who was a paratrooper that got hurt pretty bad in Vietnam,” Mr. Strong told L.A. Weekly. “I also knew a guy who used to sing with Lamont Dozier that got hit by shrapnel and was crippled for life. You talk about these things with your families when you’re sitting at home, and it inspires you to say something about it.”
Absolutely nothing, listen to me, oh
Barrett Strong Jr. was born Feb. 5, 1941, in West Point, Miss., the only telegram database son of six children. He was 4 when the family moved to Detroit, and his father, a minister, soon bought him a piano. He began singing in middle school, which he attended with Aretha Franklin and Dozier, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“I thought I was really a star then,” he told the paper.
at local music joints around Detroit.
Mr. Strong drifted in and out of music, working at Chrysler on the production line and at an automat restaurant, among other blue-collar jobs that supported his family. When Gordy moved Motown to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, Mr. Strong didn’t immediately want to move his family. He stayed in Detroit and signed with Epic Records, releasing two albums — “Stronghold” (1975) and “Live & Love” (1976), and only later moved to California.
His wife of 35 years, the former Sandy White, died in 2002. Survivors include seven children and 10 grandchildren.
Mr. Strong never achieved the fame that Gordy did, in part because he was naive about the business of music.
“I never liked the business side,” he told the Free Press. “I loved the art. But I didn’t know anything back then.”
“I had a cousin who was a paratrooper that got hurt pretty bad in Vietnam,” Mr. Strong told L.A. Weekly. “I also knew a guy who used to sing with Lamont Dozier that got hit by shrapnel and was crippled for life. You talk about these things with your families when you’re sitting at home, and it inspires you to say something about it.”
Absolutely nothing, listen to me, oh
Barrett Strong Jr. was born Feb. 5, 1941, in West Point, Miss., the only telegram database son of six children. He was 4 when the family moved to Detroit, and his father, a minister, soon bought him a piano. He began singing in middle school, which he attended with Aretha Franklin and Dozier, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“I thought I was really a star then,” he told the paper.
at local music joints around Detroit.
Mr. Strong drifted in and out of music, working at Chrysler on the production line and at an automat restaurant, among other blue-collar jobs that supported his family. When Gordy moved Motown to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, Mr. Strong didn’t immediately want to move his family. He stayed in Detroit and signed with Epic Records, releasing two albums — “Stronghold” (1975) and “Live & Love” (1976), and only later moved to California.
His wife of 35 years, the former Sandy White, died in 2002. Survivors include seven children and 10 grandchildren.
Mr. Strong never achieved the fame that Gordy did, in part because he was naive about the business of music.
“I never liked the business side,” he told the Free Press. “I loved the art. But I didn’t know anything back then.”