Motown thru the eyes of Calvin . . .

By Rick "The Light" Farris

When I arrived in Detroit, I was introduced to a local studio Teamster who would be driving our 40' production van that was packed with lighting equipment and cable. The man's name was Calvin, a slender, elderly black man who was on the quiet side, choosing his words carefully when engaging in conversation, rarely speaking unless spoken to.

Something drew me to Calvin. I suspected he was a sports fan, always wearing a Detroit Tigers baseball cap. I had a feeling that Calvin just might be a boxing fan. I rarely tell people that I used to be a boxer, but somebody on my crew will usaully let it be known. One day, I approached Calvin and made the comment, "You know, Detroit has one helluva boxing history. Some great fighter's came out of the Motor City." Calvin's eyes widened and a smile came to his face. "Yes it was. Joe Louis was from Detroit."

I wanted Calvin to know that my knowledge of Detroit's boxing history went deeper than Tommy Hearns and Emmanuel Steward's top-notch Kronk stable of a few years back. I asked Calvin if he knew of the Brewster Recreation Center, where Louis began boxing and our driver immediatly came to life. "I used to swim at the Brewster Center when I was a kid, and it's still there today."

I shared my knowledge of Brewster, and how when Joe Louis was boxing amateur, there was this small kid who used to carry the future Brown Bomber's gym bag for him. That young boy's name was Walker Smith, and he would one day become the great Sugar Ray Robinson. I also told him of trainer Eddie Futch, and how he and Louis would train together, and how Futch claimed the greatest pure boxer he ever saw was former light-heavy contender, Holman Williams. Futch claims that he would rather watch Holman Williams shadow box than watch others fight.

We talked of Futch's 60's-70's welterweight, Hedgeman Lewis, who came from Detroit to make a big name for himself in L.A. And we talked of Henry Hank, and others.

However, Calvin and I shared an interest in another Detroit product beyond boxers, and that was Motown Records, founded by another California Boxing Hall of Famer, Berry Gordy Jr.

"I'm gunna take you around Detroit to a few places off the beaten path, and show you where Berry Gordy and many of his future music legends came from. I'll show you where it all started, places you won't read about, places that only we in the neighborhood know", our driver promised me. Calvin had grown up less than two blocks from the home where Berry Gordy had lived as a child, right off of 12th Street. Today that neighborhood is like an overgrown ghost town, burned out and boarded up, a sad memory of better days in Detroit.

On my only day off while in the Motor City, Calvin kept his word and picked me up at the Motor City Hotel-Casino, where our crew was lodged. A few minutes later we were parked in front of the Brewster Recreation Center, and he pointed toward one of the building's windows. "That's where the boxing gym was, that's where all the best of Detroit worked out back in the day", Calvin told me. "I don't know what is in the room today, but it ain't boxing no more." The Center was closed that Sunday, so I was unable to look in.

About fifteen minutes later we were in front of the home where Berry Gordy grew up. Today it's pretty run down, over grown with plants, looking as if the grass had not been cut in decades, and it hadn't been. The house next door had partially burned down several years back, and was just left abandoned, charred remains crumbling around a brick chimney and cement front porch. The house on the otherside was boarded up. "That's just a crack den today", Calvin explained. "These drug addicts find shelter in these abandoned houses during the winter when it's bitter cold outside. The make a fire to keep warm and often end up burning the place down."

We moved on down 12th Street to "Berry Gordy Jr. Avenue", and we turn left. A few blocks down the road we come to a small, well maintained wooden building with a big sign out front, "Hitsville U.S.A." Calvin smiled proudly and pointed to the building. "That is where Berry Gordy started Motown Records, that was his first recording studio. That's where the Surpemes, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops,and all the rest got there start."

I mentioned to Calvin that I'd heard Gordy sold the Motown label a few years back for a conservative $100 million (It had greater value, I'd heard?). Calvin began to laugh, "That ain't bad, considering he started it all with an original investment of $500."

Today "Hitsville U.S.A. is a museum honoring the Motown legends, however, it was closed on the day we passed by."

As we drove away, Calvin pointed at an old hospital on a corner, "That's where Aretha Franklin's father worked as a doctor, he delivered my younest sister, came right to our house and delivered Geraldine right on sofa in the den."

We drove on, and as Calvin relived his memories of the Motor City, I just sat and listened. It was a special day in my life, it was a day of history, the good history of a town that's best days are behind it.

I truly loved my 15 days in Detroit. I did the lighting on the pilot for ABC's new tuesday night police drama, "Detroit 1-8-7". I could have stayed on thru April, and completed the following 22 episodes, but I was not looking forward to spending months filming outside thru the Detroit winter. I was offered a Tom Hanks-Natalie Portman feature film, "Parthanon", which will begin production in two weeks in L.A. where we will film for four months, followed by a six-week location in Greece. It was an offer too good to refuse.

I liked my brief stay in the Motor City, and I pray for the City and it's people. The City and State of Michigan are bankrupt, and there is little hope for the future in the eyes of many. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the Motor City, where I have a great new friend in Calvin.