Marv Johnson

Marv Johnson's enduring reputation centers on a select group of successful singles, above all the Top Ten smashes "You Got What It Takes" and "I Love the Way You Love," though he also played a foundational role during Motown's formative period. Born Marvin Earl Johnson in Detroit, Michigan, in 1938, he absorbed a musical upbringing that fused Baptist church gospel with the buoyant jump-jazz of Louis Jordan & His Tympany 5. While still in high school he entered a neighborhood vocal group that worked carnivals and fairs.

His first recordings, "My Baby-O" and "Once Upon a Time," appeared in 1958; the single found no buyers, yet the session brought him together with songwriter and aspiring producer Berry Gordy. After Johnson performed his own composition "Come to Me" for Gordy and Raynoma, soon to become his wife, the couple tapped him as Tamla's inaugural artist. Because the fledgling label lacked distribution beyond Detroit, United Artists handled national release of the track, credited jointly to Gordy and Johnson, which reached number six on the R&B charts and number 30 on the pop charts.

United Artists subsequently signed Johnson outright, ending Gordy's direct control while retaining him as manager. Johnson toured alongside Motown acts such as the Miracles, appeared in Alan Freed's rock & roll revues and on programs including American Bandstand, and shared bills with his idols Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson on early package shows. A second single underperformed, but the third, 1959's "You've Got What It Takes," became a Top Ten hit that earned a gold record. The 1960 follow-up "I Love the Way You Love" likewise entered the Top Ten; among later releases, the pop-leaning "You've Got to Move Two Mountains" climbed to the Top 20, while "Happy Days" reached number seven on the R&B charts late in 1960. Issued early the next year, "Merry-Go-Round" proved Johnson's final chart entry.

United Artists dropped him in 1965 during the British Invasion; he returned to Motown on the Gordy label yet scored no further American successes, although "I'll Pick a Rose for My Rose" earned a British gold record for Tamla in 1968. He later held an administrative post at Motown and wrote songs for Tyrone Davis and Johnny Taylor. Studio work ended by the late 1960s, but Johnson continued performing live into the early 1990s. He suffered a fatal stroke during a concert in Columbia, South Carolina, on May 16, 1993.