Music
Shorty Long
1940–1969 · singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer
Motown singer of "Here Comes the Judge" and co-writer of "Devil with a Blue Dress", who drowned in a boating accident on the Detroit River in 1969.
- Born
Birmingham, Alabama- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 29- Birth name
- Frederick Earl Long
- Detroit years
- early 1960s–1969
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Long came to Motown in 1963 when it absorbed Gwen Gordy and Harvey Fuqua's Detroit labels Tri-Phi and Harvey. His first release, "Devil with the Blue Dress On", co-written with Mickey Stevenson, was the first single on Motown's blues-leaning Soul label; it did not chart, but Detroit's Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels made it a hit in 1966. Long played piano, organ, drums, harmonica and trumpet, emceed many Motortown Revue shows, and was, besides Smokey Robinson, the only 1960s Motown artist allowed to produce his own records. "Function at the Junction" (1966) was his first hit and "Here Comes the Judge", inspired by a Laugh-In routine, reached No. 8 pop in 1968. On June 29, 1969, he and a friend drowned when their boat crashed on the Detroit River; Stevie Wonder played harmonica at his burial.
Highlights
- First release on Motown's Soul label (1964)
- Co-wrote "Devil with a Blue Dress", a hit for Mitch Ryder
- "Here Comes the Judge" (1968): No. 8 pop, No. 4 R&B
- Motortown Revue emcee
- Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame (1980)
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.
Recorded here · 1963–1969
Motown Museum
He recorded and produced his Soul-label singles here.