Music
Gordon Staples
1929–1990 · violinist, concertmaster
Detroit Symphony concertmaster who from 1964 to 1972 led the orchestra's string players on hundreds of Motown hits, from My Girl to What's Going On.
- Born
Los Angeles, California- Died
aged 60- Birth name
- Gordon James Staples Jr.
- Also known as
- Gordon Staples and the String Thing
- Detroit years
- 1950s–1980s
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Staples came from Los Angeles to Detroit, where he became a principal violinist and later concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony. In 1964, through the Motown arrangers David Van De Pitte and Paul Riser, he brought a group of DSO string players to a session for Brenda Holloway's Every Little Bit Hurts. Later that year they played the string arrangement on the Temptations' My Girl, which went to number one, and a long partnership began. After their evening concerts the orchestra players would drive to Studio A at Hitsville U.S.A. on West Grand Boulevard and record late into the night with the Funk Brothers; their strings are heard on Dancing in the Street, I Hear a Symphony and What's Going On. In 1965 eight of Motown's top fifteen sellers featured them. Staples released his own Motown album, Strung Out, in 1970, and the collaboration ended when Motown moved to Los Angeles in 1972.
Highlights
- Concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
- Led DSO strings on Motown sessions, 1964–1972
- Strings on My Girl, I Hear a Symphony and What's Going On
- Released the album Strung Out (Motown, 1970) as Gordon Staples and the String Thing
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Recorded here · 1964–1972
Motown Museum
Motown's Studio A, where Staples brought DSO string players after their concerts to record late-night sessions; now the Motown Museum.
Performed here · 1960s–1980s
Ford Auditorium
Demolished · 1956–2011
The DSO's riverfront hall during Staples's years with the orchestra; demolished in 2011.