Shorty Long

Standing just over five feet tall, Frederick Earl Long—better known as Shorty Long—ranked among Motown Records’ most distinctive and rhythm-driven vocalists. Born on May 20, 1940, in Birmingham, Alabama, he absorbed early musical lessons from Alvin “Shine” Robinson and W.C. Handy. Equally at home on piano, organ, drums, guitar, trumpet, and harmonica, he also possessed a natural flair for hand percussion. While still based in his hometown, Long worked as a radio DJ, traveled with the Ink Spots, and performed regularly at a local venue called the Old Stables.

In 1959 he relocated to Detroit, where Harvey Fuqua took notice and signed him to the Tri-Phi label. The 1962 coupling “I’ll Be Here” backed with “Bad Willie” passed without attention, and its successor, “Too Smart,” fared no better. When Fuqua sold his catalog and roster to Berry Gordy, Long entered the Motown fold.

His debut single for the company, the slow, blues-inflected “Devil With the Blue Dress On,” featured a biting guitar solo and was co-written by Long and William Stevenson; despite its promise, the track never charted. Detroit singer Mitch Ryder later accelerated the same song, sending it to number four on Billboard’s pop survey. Long’s follow-up, “It’s a Crying Shame,” also failed to register. The buoyant, name-checking “Function at the Junction,” written with Eddie Holland, seemed destined for major success yet peaked at number 97 on the pop chart in 1966. A subsequent cover of the Big Bopper’s “Chantilly Lace,” introduced by Long’s spoken monologue and driven by rollicking piano, received scattered airplay but no lasting traction. “Night Fo’ Last” climbed to number 75 on Billboard’s Top 100—twenty-two positions higher than “Function”—though it lacked comparable strength.

Long finally scored a genuine hit in 1968 with “Here Comes the Judge,” a phrase popularized by Flip Wilson yet originally coined by comedian Pig Meat Markum. The track’s bubbling rhythm and sharp lyrics carried it to number eight. An accompanying album collected his earlier sides along with new material such as “Don’t Mess With My Weekends” and “Here Comes Fat Albert”; curiously, “It’s a Crying Shame,” “Chantilly Lace,” and the Tri-Phi recordings were omitted. Just as his profile was rising, Long perished in a boating accident on the Detroit River alongside friend Oscar Williams on June 29, 1969. Motown subsequently issued a second collection, The Prime of Shorty Long, which again highlighted his instrumental and vocal range. Before his death he had become one of only two Motown artists—alongside Smokey Robinson—permitted to produce his own sessions. Session pianist Earl Van Dyke recalled Long routinely announcing, “Today we ain’t playing nuthin’ but funk, if you don’t feel funky, take a drink of this,” before producing a bottle from his coat.