Tag: Marvin Gaye

Back in Time — “Experience the Music of 1971” Show Pays Tribute to Songs From a Definitive Year

In high school, Billy Harrington started compiling iTunes playlists of his favorite music.

Those playlists included music recorded at Motown and Stax Records as well as songs and albums released in 1971.

“I became someone who was really interested in the liner notes, and I was making my own custom columns of [music] being done in [different] studios,” said Harrington, a drummer-producer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“I also had playlists based on different years, and I kept noticing all of these great records that were happening in 1971. [That year] kept popping up, and it wasn’t just albums that I knew were famous and popular, but they happened to be my favorite albums. They were my cherished recordings, and they all kept coming out in 1971.”

Years later, Harrington and his brother, guitarist Michael Harrington, met Mark Jay, owner-engineer of Ann Arbor-based Immerisfi Recording Services. They would often discuss music while hanging out at the bar, and many of those conversations led to a love of music from the 1970s.

“We’re air-drumming to all of these songs, and it became a laughable inside joke,” said Harrington, who’s produced several artists and performed and toured nationally with different tribute shows. “We’d say ‘This is ’71 again.’ It kept coming up, and Mark was one of the inspirations to push it into the show world.”

What resulted is “Experience the Music of 1971,” a revue-style show that takes place October 11 at the Canton Village Theater and pays tribute to music recorded and released that year. 

It’s a time when Carole King, James Taylor, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Marvin Gaye, David Bowie, and others released era-defining music.

“We had done a James Taylor show, and we had done a Beatles-themed show,” said Harrington, who’s co-producing Experience the Music of 1971 with Michael Harrington and working with Jay as one of the show’s sponsors.

“Both of those shows were at the Canton Village Theater, and we thought, ‘Maybe it’s time to do something new.’ And 1971 was highly requested by Mark, and I thought, ‘There’s so much great music that I want to play on stage with people.’”

I recently spoke to Billy Harrington, Michael Harrington, and Mark Jay about the show ahead of its debut at the Canton Village Theater.

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‘Who You Gonna Call?’ – Ray Parker Jr. Premieres New Documentary at Detroit’s Redford Theatre

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Ray Parker Jr.’s new “Who You Gonna Call?” documentary chronicles his longtime career as an influential artist, songwriter and guitarist.

Ray Parker Jr. found his groove way before 1984’s mega-smash, “Ghostbusters.”

The R&B-pop vocalist, songwriter and guitarist strummed his way into Motown studios and onto live stages recording and performing with Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and other legends in the late 1960s as a teenager.

A Detroit native and guitar prodigy, Parker brought a signature rhythmic groove to his session work that quickly captured the attention of arrangers, songwriters, artists and musicians.

“For me, I was just trying to play the guitar the best I could to get everybody to like it. Now, in hindsight, it’s becoming, ‘Oh, he was doing great rhythm guitar.’ But at the time, I didn’t really think of it like that. I was just trying to play a guitar part or something that would work on the record,” he said.

Parker revisits his five-plus decades in music through a compelling new 90-minute documentary, “Who You Gonna Call? A Portrait of Ray Parker Jr.,” which premiered Thursday night at Detroit’s Redford Theatre as part of the Freep Film Festival.

Directed by Fran Strine (“Hired Gun”), the documentary “traces Parker’s path from the segregated streets of Detroit in the 1960s to the top of the charts and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, offering a candid look at a complicated artist whose musical legacy is overdue for wider appreciation.”

“That’s what this film is about. I mean, ‘Ghostbusters’ came out, and it was such a huge hit. It just overshadowed everything; people didn’t even know I played the guitar or where I came from,” said Parker, who attended the documentary’s premiere with Strine. (Another screening without Parker will be shown Sunday at Emagine Birmingham 8.)

“They were like, ‘Where did he come from? He was born under a broccoli patch, and he just appeared one day.’ This film actually takes you back and says, ‘There was a lot more going on before that. It didn’t just sprout out of nowhere.’”

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