Get Your Hands On Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip Through The Motown Sound Created By Andrea Davis Pinkney Available As Textbook

authoritative history of Motown, written at an accessible level for younger readers, Very informative and enjoyable, with Andrea Davis Pinkneys trademark lyrical writing style, Agesand up, especially for those with an interest in music, Definitely made me want to listen to a lot of Motown music, I read this at the same time as sitelinkThe Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory, and it was interesting to compare Motown as a "factory" to the modern hit factory, and the amount of control exerted over the music.
Obviously as a children's book this didn't go too deeply into the darker side of that control it presented Berry Gordy's control over Motown artists' work and lives in a pretty positive light.
I thoroughly enjoyed and savored, Andrea Davis Pinkney's Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip Through the Motown Sound What a pleasurable journey down Memory Lane this book provided for me! I remember listening to all that wonderful music on WHBC am radio during my childhood.
Dancing along with the Jacksonand so many other talented Motown artists, whenever they appeared on TV, This book provided such a fun and accessible introduction to Motown for my daughter, We loved looking at the photos the clothing, the hairstyles it was a glimpse into an era of class and style that I fear will not pass our way again.


I loved the voice of "The Groove" how "The Groove" was at the beginning of Motown's story and still goes on in the music of today.
"The Groove" is a historian, who doesn't make light of the serious issues that existed during this time, but presents these challenges as a part of Motown's story and weaves tragic events into the fabric of Motown.
Music ties all races together, providing a soundtrack of joy, celebration, protest and conscience to humanity,

Berry Gordy had a unique vision for Motown and he created a family and a musical legacy, by the sheer force of his determination and his ability to spot the talent amp gifts of these young artists.
As with many enterprises jealousy, greed, ego come into the mix, but the foundation of Motown, created from investments from Berry Gordy's immediate family, was a force that changed perceptions in the United States and echoed around the world.


Really fascinating look at the behindthescenes of Motownits rise, fall, and the eventual sale of the company.
I was familiar with almost all the artists and most of the songs thanks, Mom, but had no idea about the backstories for many of the artistsMarvin Gaye had to fight Berry Gordy to get "What's Goin' On" song and album released Martha Reeves was a Motown secretary before getting her big break when Mary Wells missed her studio appointment Stevie Wonder's name is Steveland Morris because of Wonder's mother's overbearing demands, Gordy was reluctant to sign the Jacksonand deal with more childlabor laws and more.


The book is narrated by an omniscient narrator who speaks directly to the reader, who takes us on a tour of Detroit and ends in Hollywood, where Gordy continued to spread his empire.
The Detroit riots, murders of RFK and MLK, upheaval of Vietnam and Civil Rights, and other historical moments are highlighted along the way.
Ultimately, though, this is a celebration of the joy and magic that was Motown, I found myself bobbing my head as I heard the songs in my head, and smiled as yet another familiar musician was introduced.
It would have been easy to focus on the major actsDiana and the Supremes, the Temptations, the Jacksonbut credit is given to behindthescenes figures who wrote the songs, dressed the performers, taught them to dance, taught them poise and stage presence, managed their money for the younger performers, the money was in a trust, and the acts that have often been overshadowed but laid the foundation for the bigger acts to come.
This is undoubtedly a sanitized version of the story, but again, the emphasis is on the celebration and joy of this Blackowned label and pride this label instilled in listeners.
There are some slight critiques of Gordy's reluctance to be politically involved hence his initial refusal to let Gaye record "What's Goin' On", but overall, he oversaw a highly successful business that provided an outlet for musicians and performers who would not otherwise have been given opportunities.
I read Rhythm Ride while my husband was reading Once in a Great City by David Maraniss, Both books covered Berry Gordy and the unique factors that made Detroit ground zero for hit after hit after hit throughout the's and's.
But Andrea's book reads like your cool auntie telling you a story, and Bob didn't finish the Maraniss book.
So there.

All my picks for best books to give this holiday are at sitelink unadulterated. us/pinkme/ Although written specifically for the YA crowd, this underpage book documents the rise and domination of Motown Records from the birth of founder, Berry Gordon inuntil being sold in.
It chronicles the struggles for equality and recognition, and goes behind the songs that have become part of the foundation of the U.
S. Lots of great information. I took some away because although I enjoyed the narrator voice in the intro, it got a bit old and felt condescending as the story progressed.
I also felt like this was very text heavy for a childrens book, A children's book written for adults about motown, I had wanted to read a general history of Motown, and my local library was woefully short of such books, but they did have a children's book: Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip Through the Motown Sound by Andrea Davis Pinkney.
I found it very informative and wellwritten, Pinkney gives the book a narrator the Groove with a distinctive voice, and for the most part it works.
If you're interested in Motown, this is worth reading, Great information, unfortunately presented in a condescending/folksy voice that quickly grows tiresome and irritating, Richies Picks: RHYTHM RIDE: A ROAD TRIP THROUGH THE MOTOWN SOUND by Andrea Davis Pinkney, Roaring Brook, September,p.
, ISBN:

“Smiles have all turned to tears
But tears wont wash away the fears
That youre never ever gonna return
To ease the fire that within me burns
It keeps me crying baby for you
Keeps me sighin baby for you
So wont you hurry
Come on boy, see about me”
HollandDozierHolland

“RampB was a soulful sound that put its arms around listeners and rocked them, sometimes gently, other times with a sure sway.
It was popular in cities across America, But like many aspects of life in the United States, RampB wasnt free to roam where it pleased.
This was a time in America when segregation laws prevented black students and white students from attending the same public schools.
When drinking fountains and restaurants wore signs that said Colored and Whites Only, When movie theaters and hotels didnt let black customers past the front door,
The same was true for RampB, Prejudice tried to keep it out, Hold it back. Limit its soulrousing power. Rhythm and blues was called race musicsongs meant only for black singers and black listeners,
As RampBs popularity started to spread, it was kids who first realized that the concept behind race music made no sense.
Rhythm doesnt have a colorit just has a beat, And the blues, well, everybody gets the blues, ”

If you lived through the sixties and know most of the songs mentioned in this book, you might want be careful.
After reading RHYTHM RIDE right before bedtime, I was awakened in the middle of the night by Supremes and Jacksonsongs running through my dreams.


On the other hand, if youre a young person who cant readily cue up a Miracles, Temptations, Four Tops, or Martha and the Vandellas tune in your head, youre not going to get the full effect of this outstanding musical and cultural history unless you have the soundtrack.
Heres a Motown playlist I just put together for you:
sitelink youtube. com/playlistlist
Its a blast to peer behind the scenes ofs Motown, Secretaries turn into pop, In Friday morning meetings, writers pitch their latest compositions and everyone votes for their favorite new tune, which is then recorded and released.
There are the unsung heroes of the Motown family: Maxine Powell, known inhouse as “Miss Manners,” who teaches the young performers elegance and etiquette Cholly Atkins, who runs the choreography program The Funk Brothers, musicians who play on virtually all of Motowns recordings and, of course, the composers of these unforgettable songs.


In the years that Motown was gaining steam, Birminghamsth Street Baptist Church was bombed, Dr.
King shared his dream, Medgar Evers was assassinated, and the march from Selma to Montgomery took place, During those tumultuous times, Motown founder Berry Gordy had a significant impact on American race relations by building an assembly line for creating RampB hits that crossed over to young white audiences.


It didnt matter what neighborhood you lived in, The soundtrack for the lives of millions of young Baby Boomers was dominated by Motown and The Beatles.
Motown connected white suburban kids to the culture of the people who were still not permitted to buy houses in white suburban neighborhoods.
Dancing and swaying to Motown songs was a pleasure that crossed racial and cultural lines, one that people across America could enjoy together.


“ Thats the Motown legacy. Born at a time of so much struggle, so much strife, it taught us that what unites us will always be stronger than what divides us.
”
President Barack Obama

What a fine ride it is, cruising through this chronicle of Motown and the America in which it took place.
Tune in and turn up the volume on Andrea Davis Pinkneys wellwritten and extremelyfun history of Motown,

Richie Partington, MLIS
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I can't wait to hear Andrea Davis Pinkney speak to the kids at my school this fall! The book brought me through memory lane, as I remembered the many songs that were such major parts of my life.
The tone and story telling of the book were great, I loved how she

was able to weave the history of the times with the stories of the music and the stories of the many members of Motown.
Great fun to read . . although, my heart is also breaking that we still have so far to go with our Race relations.
I continue to pray that music can bring us together and through this dark rain cloud we are in right now.
Loved the Groove, loved the ride, loved the clear and focused writing, loved the respectful way the Groove recognized that today's young readers might need context here and there, loved that it is about Motown and NOT its influence on other music something one reviewer complained about.
. . basically just loved it. Late elementary or middle school book about Berry Gordy and Motown records, It's picture book format, but too thick to really be a picture book,

Great to go with a study of thes or Civil Rights, Would also pair well with a trip to see the musical Motown,

Illustrated with photos and the captions to the photos provide information, also, Love the page numbers styled as records,

Told directly to the reader, breaking theth wall about once per chapter,

It doesn't gloss over the problems, but does minimize some of the conflict near the end.


Everything will make more sense if you can hear some of the songs, so the best way to read the book would be after listening to Motown music.
Good introduction to Motown's history and significance, probably for about ages,

Though told with a fairly light touch, it still covers some serious subjects, and includes a lot of feeling, not surprising for an author whose father sang "My Girl" to her mother before proposing, and whose cousin was a deejay on the scene.


Lots of interesting information I hadn't known, An introduction to Motown Music, and a history of its creation inss Detroit by Berry Gordy and his family.
It covers Gordy's childhood, creation of the Motown record label, various bands formed in Detroit, and modernday artists that were influenced by Motown sound.
.