Book Description

This is a fascinating inside story about one prolific songwriter’s experience working for the famed Motown Records and directly with Motown’s founder Berry Gordy. It is an interesting look into the actual contracts between Mr. Gordy and his talented “family” of musicians told by one of the most famous songwriters of his time. If Motown didn’t grow to be the success it is today, Motown’s royalty contract—work-for-hire—compensation would be fair under the circumstances. The difficulty comes when Mr. Gordy’s success as a businessman exceeds every possible prediction. The FAME WITHOUT FORTUNE story begins in 1959 with Al Cleveland as a young man who makes the hard choice to leave his wife and children behind in order to chase his dreams of being a singer and a songwriter. It follows him through the trials of New York City and putting up with discrimination on the “Chitlin’ Circuit.” There he has an adulterous affair sending the final blow to his marriage. A short time later, he marries his second wife and Al’s big break seemed to come when he signed up with Motown Records under Berry Gordy. He was writing number-one songs for stars such as Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye. All along his fame grew, but he was not receiving pay for them. Instead he received headaches, heartaches, excuses, and IRS raids. He left Motown and toured with famous artists, but during that time, there was little room for a black songwriter to make a living. Al had to return to Motown to stay in the business.