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The R&B singer and songwriter Marv Johnson was one of the first artists to be signed to the Tamla by Berry Gordy, although his records came out on United Artists, as the fledgling Motown set-up was not ready to handle him. Born in Detroit, his early musical influences included gospel and blues, but he began his singing career with a doo-wop group, the Junior Serenaders, in the mid-1950s. He was discovered by Gordy while performing at a carnival, continued recording for United Artists as he racked up a string of hits and recorded several albums before rejoining Motown in the ‘60s. This 52-track collection includes the A & B sides of his singles on the Kudo and United Artists labels from this era, plus the titles from his albums Marvelous Marv Johnson, More Marv Johnson and I Believe not otherwise released on singles. It features all his chart entries from these years, including the pop and R&B Top 10 hits You Got What It Takes and I Love The Way You Love and his other pop and R&B hits Come To Me, I’m Coming Home, Ain’t Gonna Be That Way, All The Love I’ve Got, You’ve Got To) Move Two Mountains, Happy Days and Merry-Go-Round. He was a versatile song stylist, with his records encompassing the spectrum of pop and R&B styles, and also taking in gospel-flavoured material on the I Believe album. Despite his early success in the United States, Johnson ultimately enjoyed more popularity overseas than in his native country. Johnson died of a stroke on 16 May 1993, in Columbia, South Carolina, at the age of 54 and in 2015, he was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. This collection offers a comprehensive overview of his early years, as well as an entertaining showcase for his distinctive talent.
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