A Look Inside Motown's Legendary Hitsville USA Recording Studio

Music

A Look Inside Motown’s Legendary Hitsville USA Recording Studio

An ��vlog��׿�� Detroit writer and photographer recently visited the historic Hitsville USA Recording Studio.

January 9, 2025

Motown Studio A, dubbed the “snake pit.” Most of the company’s hits were made in this small space from 1959 to 1972. The wood floor was sometimes used as an instrument of sorts when singers would stomp their feet to the beat, as heard on The Supremes’“Where Did OurLoveGo.”Weekly “quality control” meetings were also held in the studio, when new unreleased records were played and discussed. Employees would raise their hand if they thought the song would be a hit. // Photograph by Josh Scott

On the last leg of the one-hour tour at the on West Grand Boulevard, where generations of music fans from around the globe make pilgrimages to see where Berry Gordy Jr. created an assembly line of stars and hits, the best is saved for last.

Patrons are typically awestruck when they quietly and rather reverently take four steps down onto hallowed ground, the tiny Motown Studio A that was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from 1959 to 1972.

It remains frozen in time, left just as it was when Gordy moved operations in 1972 to Los Angeles.

In the space long ago dubbed the “snake pit” due to the numerous microphone cords that still hang from the ceiling and walls, visitors view original Motown instruments and stand in the same place where Diana Ross and The Supremes recorded “Stop! In the Name of Love” and where David Ruffin provided the lead vocals for The Temptations’ hit “My Girl.”

In 1959, the 29-year-old Gordy, a former Golden Gloves boxer, Ford assembly line worker, and record store owner, purchased the building at 2648 W. Grand Blvd. and converted the former photography studio into one of the world’s most famous recording studios.

The “Motown sound” was created by talented writers, producers, and arrangers; pioneering sound engineers; and the legendary house band of musicians dubbed The Funk Brothers, who were often joined by Detroit Symphony Orchestra strings.

From 1961 to 1971, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Supremes, The Temptations, the Four Tops, Martha and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and others collectively scored over 100 Top 10 hits on the various Motown record labels.

“Walking into the studio really overwhelms people, and it often evokes emotional and spiritual feelings when they sense the creativity and talent that was once there,” says Robin Terry, the chair and CEO of the museum. Her grandmother Esther Gordy Edwards, a former Motown vice president and Berry Gordy’s sister, founded the museum in 1985.

“Celebrities at every level, be they musicians, singers, songwriters, and other entertainers, come here because I think they are drawn to this hallowed ground that inspires them,” Terry says.

Among the countless A-listers who have made the pilgrimage, (and sometimes repeatedly) are Paul McCartney, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson, Demi Lovato, Motown stars, various actors, and Wynonna Judd, the last of whom, according to Terry, once spent three hours in the famous space.

Recently, this writer, along with photographer Josh Scott, paid a visit to the famous studio to provide in these pages an inside peek at where all the magic happened.

The vibes, or vibraphone, were played by the likes of Jake Brokensha and Jack Ashford and can be heard on countless hits, including the Isley Brothers’ “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You).” // Photograph by Josh Scott

Funk Brothers including Robert White, Joe Messina, Dennis Coffey, Bob Babbitt, and James Jamerson plugged their guitars into this innovative homemade amplifier made by sound engineer Mark McLean that was directly connected to the control room. This ES 335 Gibson guitar and wah-wah peddle were used by Dennis Coffey on numerous songs, including “Cloud Nine” by The Temptations and “Smiling Faces Sometimes” by Undisputed Truth. // Photograph by Josh Scott

Berry Gordy, engineers, and producers would stand or sit at the control room console table tapping their feet to the beat and wearing holes into the floor while they monitored or balanced the sounds during recordings. This photo was taken from inside the studio looking through the control room window. // Photograph by Josh Scot

This 1877 Steinway grand piano and Hammond B3 organ to the left were used by numerous Motown keyboardists, including Funk Brothers bandleader Earl Van Dyke. In 2011, Paul McCartney visited the studio and tried to play the piano but discovered it was out of tune and needed work. McCartney helped get it refurbished in New York by the Steinway company. It is now occasionally played by visiting artists. // Photograph by Josh Scott

The singers would often stand in front of the overdub isolation rooms behind these windows, where the horn section and the DSO strings led by concertmaster Gordon Staples played so as not to bleed their instruments into the rhythm section microphones. One of the overdub rooms is where visitors view a short film on the history of Motown. The photo at the top left is of Stevie Wonder recording with The Funk Brothers. The photo at the top right is of The Temptations recording at this very spot. // Photograph by Josh Scott

Want to read more about Detroit’s music history? Click here for our A-Z guide to Detroit’s music scene.��

This story originally appeared in the January 2025 issue of ��vlog��׿��. To read more, pick up a copy of ��vlog��׿�� Detroit at a local retail outlet. Our will be available on Jan. 6.��

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