Raynoma Gordy Singleton, who played a vital role in the early days of Motown as the business partner and second wife of Berry Gordy Jr., the record label’s founder and patriarch, died on Nov. 11 in Woodland Hills, Calif. She was 79.
The cause was brain cancer, her family said. Her death was not immediately announced.
In most versions of Motown’s founding myth, Mr. Gordy, a former boxer and Detroit autoworker, created his musical enterprise — a series of interconnected labels and other companies — in early 1959 to gain greater control over his budding career as a songwriter and producer.
But by his side from the earliest days was Ms. Singleton, whom Mr. Gordy met when she auditioned as a singer in 1958, impressing him with her perfect pitch. From then until 1964, when she left Motown for the first time, Ms. Singleton helped Mr. Gordy run some of his most important businesses, including Jobete, the company that managed Motown’s music publishing rights.
She also created arrangements for Motown’s studio musicians and taught future stars like Smokey Robinson the fundamentals of music theory. It was Ms. Singleton who, in 1959, found the former photography studio at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit that became the label’s headquarters, known as Hitsville U.S.A.
Many of Ms. Singleton’s achievements, however, are little known. In part that may be because Motown’s golden era in the mid-1960s, when it churned out Top 10 hits by the dozen, came after Ms. Singleton left the company and divorced Mr. Gordy, said Adam White, who wrote the book “Motown: The Sound of Young America,” published this year, with the former Motown executive Barney Ales.
“So much happened subsequently” to Ms. Singleton’s time there, Mr. White said in an interview, “that it’s obscured the importance of her role at that critical early stage.”
Yet as Ms. Singleton saw it, Mr. Gordy himself was the cause of her obscurity.
In her book “Berry, Me, and Motown: The Untold Story” (1990), Ms. Singleton bitterly accused her former husband — whom she called “that thief of dreams” — of denying her credit for helping to found the label, and of persuading her to remove her name from company legal papers, leaving her with no financial stake. After the Motown label was sold in 1988 for $61 million, she said, she received only a plaque.
Raynoma Mayberry was born in Detroit on March 8, 1937. Her father, Ashby, was a janitor at a Cadillac plant; he and her mother, Lucille, encouraged her musical talent at a young age. At Cass Technical High School, Raynoma learned to play 11 instruments, including the harp.
She married Charles Liles, a saxophonist, in 1955, and divorced him two years later. After meeting Mr. Gordy in 1958, she quickly became his business and romantic partner, and in 1959 she gave birth to their son, Kerry; she and Mr. Gordy married the following year.
In Motown’s infancy, Ms. Singleton held a variety of roles. As one of the Rayber Voices — the name was a combination of Raynoma and Berry — she was a backup singer on many early songs, including Marv Johnson’s “Come to Me,” the inaugural record on Tamla, Mr. Gordy’s first label.
She also worked as a producer under the name Miss Ray. And as a label executive, she signed the first contract for one of Motown’s most important early talents: Stevie Wonder.
Ms. Singleton and Mr. Berry had already decided to divorce, when she was sent to New York in 1963 to open a branch of Jobete. But their relationship collapsed the next year when she bootlegged 5,000 copies of Mary Wells’s single “My Guy,” peddling the record out of a silver Lincoln Continental; she spent a night in jail.
According to Ms. Singleton’s book, she agreed to a settlement with Motown to avoid being prosecuted. She signed a general release from the label, she said, in exchange for $10,000 and monthly payments including child support.
She divorced Mr. Gordy in 1964, and the next year she married Eddie Singleton, a songwriter. The two started a new label, Shrine, in Washington. But after a few years, the label failed and Ms. Singleton returned to the Motown fold, for a time working as an assistant to Diana Ross. Her marriage to Mr. Singleton also ended in divorce.
Despite her break with Mr. Gordy, Ms. Singleton continued to have various affiliations with Motown. In the late 1970s she managed Apollo, a band that included her son Kerry and was signed to a Motown label. In 1983, credited as Ray Singleton, she was an executive producer of “Somebody’s Watching Me,” the hit album by Rockwell (a stage name for Kennedy Gordy, another Motown scion).
Already estranged from the Motown circle by the time she published her book — she called her status an “exile” — she eventually reconciled with Mr. Gordy. In his 1994 memoir, “To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown,” Mr. Gordy disputed some of the claims in her book. Ms. Singleton apologized to him personally, he wrote, and the two had become “closer than ever.”
Ms. Singleton, who lived in Woodland Hills, is survived by her sons, Cliff Liles, Kerry Gordy and Eddie Singleton Jr.; her daughter, Rya Singletary; four grandchildren; and a sister, Juanita Dickerson.
***********************************************************************
Raynoma "Ray" Mayberry Liles Gordy Singleton (March 8, 1937 – November 11, 2016) was an American R&B producer, songwriter, and vocalist perhaps best known for her association with ex-husband, Berry Gordy during the early days of Motown when she was often known as Miss Ray.
Raynoma Mayberry was born on March 8, 1937, in Detroit, Michigan. She was her mother Lucille’s eighth child, but her first by her marriage to Ashby Mayberry. Although her father worked as a janitor for Cadillac, he did well enough to purchase a house on Detroit’s Blaine Street in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood.[1]
In the mid 1950s, Raynoma met and married Charles Liles, an aspiring musician. They had one son, Cliff Liles, born in December 1955. Burdened by financial pressures, the marriage soon folded.[1]
In 1958, Raynoma and her younger sister, Alice, auditioned as a duo for a young songwriter named Berry Gordy. Sensing that Gordy was not excited about their singing, Raynoma told him that she could also write and arrange music. Before long, she was doing just that, becoming a vital part of his budding operation.[2][3]
Later, Gordy had her put together a backup vocal group, which was composed of singers who had been hanging around the studio. Gordy, who loved contractions, decided to call the group the Rayber Voices after their given names, Raynoma and Berry. In addition to Ray, the singers in the group were Brian Holland, Robert Bateman, Sonny Sanders and later, Gwendolyn Murray [2] and Louvain Demps.[4] Together, Ray and Berry also formed a music producing and publishing firm, Rayber Music Writing Company.[3]
Tired of the paltry royalty checks that he was receiving, Gordy was encouraged by Ray and Smokey Robinson to start his own record company.[2][5] Ray located a two-story house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard as the headquarters for the new enterprise. Gordy placed her in charge of the company's publishing operations (now known as Jobete) with the assistance of her brother, Mike Ossman, and Janie Bradford, the company's first receptionist.[6]
After the birth of their child, Kerry, and his divorce from his previous wife was final, Ray and Berry Gordy were married.[6] Not long after the marriage, Gordy began having an affair with Margaret Norton, who he once described as "the most beautiful woman in Detroit." However, by the time he finally decided to end the affair, his marriage with Ray was over.[7]
As the details of their separation were being worked out, Ray indicated that she still wanted to work for Motown. Gordy accepted her proposal to establish an office of Jobete in New York City.[7]
However, with the cost of living being much higher in New York than Detroit, Ray struggled to get proper funding to maintain her office. After repeated attempts to obtain additional funding had failed, Ray decided to take desperate measures. Against the advice of Eddie Singleton (her partner and future husband) she arranged to bootleg five thousand copies of the Motown single, "My Guy" by Mary Wells to keep the office open.[8]
When Berry Gordy found out what happened, he was furious. He did not however, press charges. After their divorce was finalized, they remained on amicable terms. So much so that after Ray married Eddie Singleton, Gordy loaned the couple money so that they could start their own record label in the nation's capital, Washington, DC.[7]
Ray and Eddie Singleton formed a record label, Shrine, which was based in Washington, DC. When the label proved unsuccessful, Ray returned to Motown in 1968.[7]
Raynoma formed a partnership with Motown under the Super Three banner. One of the most successful projects under that arrangement was Rockwell’s Top 10 album, Somebody’s Watching Me, in which she served as executive producer.[9][10]
Ray Singleton was married three times and has three sons and one daughter from her various marriages.
Her first husband was Charles Liles; they have one son together, recording artist Cliff Liles. Cliff has recorded for Motown with two groups, Apollo and Kagny & The Dirty Rats.[11]
From 1960-1964, Singleton was married to her second husband, Berry Gordy; they have one son together, musician and entertainment executive Kerry Gordy. Kerry was also a member of the group Apollo, along with his brother, Cliff Liles.[11]
From 1966-1970, Singleton was married to her third husband, Eddie Singleton; they have one son together, William Edward Singleton, Jr., as well as a daughter, recording artist Rya Singleton.
********************************************************************************************************
Raynoma "Ray" Mayberry Liles Gordy Singleton (b. March 8, 1937, Detroit, Michigan – d. November 11, 2016, Woodland Hills, California) was a producer, songwriter and vocalist perhaps best known for her association with ex-husband, Berry Gordy during the early days of Motown when she was often known as Miss Ray.
Raynoma Mayberry was born on March 8, 1937, in Detroit, Michigan. She was her mother Lucille’s eighth child, but her first by her marriage to Ashby Mayberry. Although Raynoma's father worked as a janitor for Cadillac, he did well enough to purchase a house on Detroit’s Blaine Street in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood.
In the mid 1950s, Raynoma met and married Charles Liles, an aspiring musician. They had one son, Cliff Liles, born in December 1955. Burdened by financial pressures, the marriage soon folded.
In 1958, Raynoma and her younger sister, Alice, auditioned as a duo for a young songwriter named Berry Gordy. Sensing that Gordy was not excited about their singing, Raynoma told him that she could also write and arrange music. Before long, she was doing just that, becoming a vital part of his budding operation.
Later, Gordy had her put together a backup vocal group, which was composed of singers who had been hanging around the studio. Gordy, who loved contractions, decided to call the group the Rayber Voices after their given names, Raynoma and Berry. In addition to Raynoma, the singers in the group were Brian Holland, Robert Bateman, Sonny Sanders and later, Gwendolyn Murray and Louvain Demps. Together, Ray and Berry also formed a music producing and publishing firm, Rayber Music Writing Company.
Tired of the paltry royalty checks that he was receiving, Gordy was encouraged by Raynoma and Smokey Robinson to start his own record company. Raynoma located a two-story house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard as the headquarters for the new enterprise. Gordy placed her in charge of the company's publishing operations (now known as Jobete) with the assistance of her brother, Mike Ossman, and Janie Bradford, the company's first receptionist.
After the birth of their child, Kerry, and his divorce from his previous wife was final, Raynoma and Berry Gordy were married. Not long after the marriage, Gordy began having an affair. By the time he finally decided to end the affair, his marriage with Raynoma was over.
As the details of their separation were being worked out, Raynoma indicated that she still wanted to work for Motown. Gordy accepted her proposal to establish an office of Jobete in New York City.
However, with the cost of living being much higher in New York than Detroit, Raynoma struggled to get proper funding to maintain her office. After repeated attempts to obtain additional funding had failed, Raynoma decided to take desperate measures. Against the advice of Eddie Singleton (her partner and future husband) she arranged to bootleg five thousand copies of the Motown single, "My Guy" by Mary Wells to keep the office open.
When Berry Gordy found out what happened, he was furious. He did not however, press charges. After their divorce was finalized, they remained on amicable terms. So much so that after Raynoma married Eddie Singleton, Gordy loaned the couple money so that they could start their own record label in the nation's capital, Washington, D. C.
Raynoma and Eddie Singleton formed a record label, Shrine, which was based in Washington, D. C. When the label proved unsuccessful, Raynoma returned to Motown in 1968.
Raynoma formed a partnership with Motown under the Super Three banner. One of the most successful projects under that arrangement was Rockwell's Top 10 album, Somebody's Watching Me, in which she served as executive producer.
Ray Singleton was married three times and had three sons and one daughter from her various marriages.
Raynoma Gordy Singleton died on November 11, 2016 of brain cancer in Woodland Hills, California.
No comments:
Post a Comment