Post by Jonel on Nov 9, 2003 7:26:06 GMT -5
Motown’s Maven of Style
(08 November 2003 08:49)
Written by Herb Boyd
Bronx--“At my age, I’m still trying to find out who I am,” Maxine Powell recently told students here at the College of New Rochelle’s John Cardinal O’Connor Campus.
By Herb Boyd
Managing Editor, The Black World Today
While Powell, seventy-something and glamorous in a burgundy suit and hat, may still be trying to find out who she is, many of her former proteges at Motown know who they are, largely because of what Powell taught them in the company’s artists development department.
“Some of them were rude, crude, uncouth and straight from the streets of Detroit,” Powell recalled, referring to a number of Motown stars that might have included the Temptations, the Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Kim Weston, Mary Wells, the Miracles, Marvin Gaye or the Four Tops. “I couldn’t sing, but I told them they had to be prepared to perform before kings and queens.”
For five years, from 1963 to 1968, Powell was responsible for polishing these diamonds in the rough, teaching them the poise and confidence they needed to bolster their talent to entertain. “I was part of a team that included Maurice King, the musical director; Cholly Atkins, the choreographer, and arranger Johnny Allen,” she said. “They spent two hours a day with us, making sure they were ready for the tour when they obtained that hit record.”
Powell said she met Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records, through his sisters Gwen and Esther, both of whom were students at her finishing and modeling school. After Gwen was fortunate enough to get exposure in the Detroit Free Press–a first for a black model–Powell’s prestige and cachet were vastly improved. So, when the sisters prevailed on their brother to bring her into the company to train the artists, Berry reluctantly agreed.
It wasn’t long before the mogul saw the fruit of that relationship as Powell diligently shaped the girls from the projects into models of sophistication and decorum. Whether on the stage at the Apollo or the Copacabana, “they possessed the style and refinement they needed,” Powell said of
the performers who made the Motown Revue a top attraction.
“I remember Marvin Gaye telling me at first that he didn’t need any charm school,” Powell chuckled. “But later he admitted that he benefitted from my lessons. I adored him and he adored me.”
But Powell made it clear to her charges that she was not there to teach them etiquette, how to hold your fork, how to fold your napkin. “I told them that I wasn’t their mother...I’m not stuck with you,” she smiled.
After the tenure with Motown, Powell returned to running her agency and began teaching similar courses at Wayne County Community College, where she remained until her recent retirement.
Whenever she’s aware that one of her former pupils are performing in town she tries to attend, she said. And invariably they recognize her and bring her to the stage. “Once when I was being introduced by Diana Ross, she told the audience that she was a tomboy before I began with her,
‘Now, I’m a lady,’ she said.” Martha Reeves has also acknowledged Powell’s influence on her career and her development as a woman.
Currently, Powell is visiting New York City from Detroit to shop a proposal of her illustrious life, a book to be written in collaboration with playwright
Michael Dinwiddie, who is also a professor at the Gallatin School at New York University.
Obviously, a portion of Powell’s story will begin with her early years in
Chicago where she was born, several chapters will recount her acting and
modeling stints, and a sumptuous centerpiece section on her days at Motown.
Beyond revealing how she buffed raw talent into precious gems, cultivated her
garden of “lovely flowers,” she’s certain to divulge some of the backstage
scenarios, those anecdotes that haven’t found there way into the autobiographies
of Berry Gordy, Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Gladys Knight.
But don’t count on too much raunchy gossip since Powell is a paragon of style
and comportment.
Courtesy of The Black World Today
www.tbwt.org/home/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=1
(08 November 2003 08:49)
Written by Herb Boyd
Bronx--“At my age, I’m still trying to find out who I am,” Maxine Powell recently told students here at the College of New Rochelle’s John Cardinal O’Connor Campus.
By Herb Boyd
Managing Editor, The Black World Today
While Powell, seventy-something and glamorous in a burgundy suit and hat, may still be trying to find out who she is, many of her former proteges at Motown know who they are, largely because of what Powell taught them in the company’s artists development department.
“Some of them were rude, crude, uncouth and straight from the streets of Detroit,” Powell recalled, referring to a number of Motown stars that might have included the Temptations, the Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Kim Weston, Mary Wells, the Miracles, Marvin Gaye or the Four Tops. “I couldn’t sing, but I told them they had to be prepared to perform before kings and queens.”
For five years, from 1963 to 1968, Powell was responsible for polishing these diamonds in the rough, teaching them the poise and confidence they needed to bolster their talent to entertain. “I was part of a team that included Maurice King, the musical director; Cholly Atkins, the choreographer, and arranger Johnny Allen,” she said. “They spent two hours a day with us, making sure they were ready for the tour when they obtained that hit record.”
Powell said she met Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records, through his sisters Gwen and Esther, both of whom were students at her finishing and modeling school. After Gwen was fortunate enough to get exposure in the Detroit Free Press–a first for a black model–Powell’s prestige and cachet were vastly improved. So, when the sisters prevailed on their brother to bring her into the company to train the artists, Berry reluctantly agreed.
It wasn’t long before the mogul saw the fruit of that relationship as Powell diligently shaped the girls from the projects into models of sophistication and decorum. Whether on the stage at the Apollo or the Copacabana, “they possessed the style and refinement they needed,” Powell said of
the performers who made the Motown Revue a top attraction.
“I remember Marvin Gaye telling me at first that he didn’t need any charm school,” Powell chuckled. “But later he admitted that he benefitted from my lessons. I adored him and he adored me.”
But Powell made it clear to her charges that she was not there to teach them etiquette, how to hold your fork, how to fold your napkin. “I told them that I wasn’t their mother...I’m not stuck with you,” she smiled.
After the tenure with Motown, Powell returned to running her agency and began teaching similar courses at Wayne County Community College, where she remained until her recent retirement.
Whenever she’s aware that one of her former pupils are performing in town she tries to attend, she said. And invariably they recognize her and bring her to the stage. “Once when I was being introduced by Diana Ross, she told the audience that she was a tomboy before I began with her,
‘Now, I’m a lady,’ she said.” Martha Reeves has also acknowledged Powell’s influence on her career and her development as a woman.
Currently, Powell is visiting New York City from Detroit to shop a proposal of her illustrious life, a book to be written in collaboration with playwright
Michael Dinwiddie, who is also a professor at the Gallatin School at New York University.
Obviously, a portion of Powell’s story will begin with her early years in
Chicago where she was born, several chapters will recount her acting and
modeling stints, and a sumptuous centerpiece section on her days at Motown.
Beyond revealing how she buffed raw talent into precious gems, cultivated her
garden of “lovely flowers,” she’s certain to divulge some of the backstage
scenarios, those anecdotes that haven’t found there way into the autobiographies
of Berry Gordy, Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Gladys Knight.
But don’t count on too much raunchy gossip since Powell is a paragon of style
and comportment.
Courtesy of The Black World Today
www.tbwt.org/home/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=1
