Music
Marv Johnson
1938–1993 · singer, songwriter, pianist
Detroit singer whose "Come to Me" (1959) was the first record issued on Tamla, the label that became Motown; his gravestone reads "Motown Pioneer".
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Columbia, South Carolina
aged 54- Birth name
- Marvin Earl Johnson
- Also known as
- Motown Pioneer
- Detroit years
- 1938–1970s
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Johnson was born in Detroit, grew up on gospel and blues and sang doo-wop with the Junior Serenaders. Berry Gordy spotted him performing at a carnival just as he was starting his first label, Tamla, and Johnson's "Come to Me" became its first single in May 1959; lacking national distribution, Gordy leased it to United Artists, and it reached No. 30. Tamla's first recording session was held at United Sound Systems on Second Avenue. Gordy wrote and produced all of Johnson's nine Hot 100 singles of 1959–1961, including the gold records "You Got What It Takes" and "(You've Got To) Move Two Mountains". He was even bigger in Britain and Australia. Back at Motown from 1964, he recorded the northern soul favorite "I'll Pick a Rose for My Rose", then worked in sales and promotion and wrote songs. He collapsed on stage in South Carolina in 1993 and is buried at Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.
Highlights
- "Come to Me" (1959): first single on Tamla
- "You Got What It Takes" (1959): Top 10, gold record
- "I'll Pick a Rose for My Rose": UK No. 10 in 1969
- Co-wrote the Dells' "Give Your Baby a Standing Ovation" (1973)
- Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame (2015)
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 · 1959
United Sound Systems Recording Studios
Site of the first Tamla recording session in 1959, the origin of "Come to Me".
Buried here · 1993
Woodlawn Cemetery
His grave; the headstone reads "Motown Pioneer".