Music
Johnny Bristol
1939–2004 · songwriter, producer, singer
Motown producer and writer of "Someday We'll Be Together" who began in the Detroit duo Johnny & Jackey and later scored "Hang On in There Baby".
- Born
Morganton, North Carolina- Died
Brighton Township, Michigan
aged 65- Birth name
- John William Bristol
- Also known as
- Johnny & Jackey
- Detroit years
- late 1950s–1973
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Bristol met Jackey Beavers in the Air Force, and as Johnny & Jackey the pair built a following in the Detroit area, recording for Gwen Gordy's Anna Records in 1959 and then for her and Harvey Fuqua's Tri-Phi label. When Motown absorbed Tri-Phi, Bristol became Fuqua's writing and production partner; together they made the Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell duets "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Your Precious Love", Edwin Starr's "Twenty-Five Miles" and David Ruffin's "My Whole World Ended". He also wrote Junior Walker's "What Does It Take (to Win Your Love)" and produced the last singles of both Diana Ross & the Supremes and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles; "Someday We'll Be Together" was a remake of a 1961 Johnny & Jackey record, with Bristol's own voice answering Ross. He left for CBS in 1973, had a solo hit with "Hang On in There Baby", and died at home in Michigan in 2004.
Highlights
- Co-produced "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (1967)
- Wrote and produced "Someday We'll Be Together" (1969)
- Wrote "What Does It Take (to Win Your Love)" for Junior Walker
- Solo hit "Hang On in There Baby" (1974)
- Wrote "Love Me for a Reason", a UK No. 1 for the Osmonds
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · mid-1960s–1972
Motown Museum
Wrote and produced Motown sessions here with Harvey Fuqua.