FM
Biography
Back in the 1950s before he formed Motown Records, Berry Gordy was working part-time taking pictures of patrons at the Flame Showbar while his two sisters (Anna and Gwen) were selling cigars & cigarettes. In the same club, teenager, Jean DuShon was headlining as a soul and jazz singer at the same club in Detroit.
Born Anna Jean Harris in the late 1930s, Jean was the youngest of 12 children and was regularly heard singing gospel in Detroit churches, while Aretha Franklin was holding court over at Rev. C. L. Franklin’s New Bethel Baptist. After winning countless talent shows, DuShon went professional, emulating her idol, blues queen, Dinah Washington, who heard about the young girl who was “imitating me!” A frightening confrontation with Dinah nearly traumatized DuShon, who immediately started developing her own style.
