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The Mike
Hanks Story
MAH'S Records |
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The wooden panels provide some protection for
the basement of 2461 Beaubien. The
MAH'S moniker came from Mike Alonzo
Hanks.
The Downbeat was very close to Mike's
studio-cum-drape-and-record shop.
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Mike
had started MAH'S (his initials) in 1960 with
fellow pioneer, Johnnie Mae Matthews, but their deal only
lasted a couple of discs. The label's second 45 features
The Andantes - the premier session singers at Motown. And
the third and fourth releases are Mike backed by The Del-Fi's
- the group that later found fame as Martha and The
Vandellas.
At
the time Mike was living on a west-side street named
Yosemite; the address is actually printed on a couple of the
early 45s. He used the basement of a house on Beaubien for
rehearsals and auditions, and recorded about a mile away
at United Sound on Second Avenue.
It
was at United that he met Gracie, a classically trained
background singer who became his second wife. They bought a
storefront property at 2828 McGraw, also on Detroit's west
side, and an advert appeared in the 1962 Yellow Pages: B.
C. Redman Recording Studio. When I asked Gracie about
"Redman" she had no idea who he/she was, but had very
cherished memories of the cozy but busy married life she had
with Mike.
"Both of us were working other jobs. We started a record
shop and a drapery shop, and used to sell records and make
drapes at night. We turned the living quarters in the back
into a recording studio and lived on Lawton, a block from
the store. Mike bought a Wurlitzer and after we were married
(December 1964) he bought himself a Hammond organ and taught
himself how to play, write and transpose.
He was such an amazing man. He was often a misunderstood man
because he was thinking all the time and he had such an
expressionless face when he was thinking - most people would
think he was angry. A lot of times, because of his demeanor,
he would automatically cause people to respond to him in a
very defensive manner, and as a result it would put him in
that mode too - so some individuals got to see a very stern
side of him. They never allowed him to show them his other
side, which was a cream puff. He was very warm, caring,
compassionate and God-fearing. But with the business he was
very serious, because he was so sure he had a gift to give
to the world.
And he really wanted to help the young people that wanted to
participate.
Notes thanks to Graham
Finch
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DESIGN AND
GRAPHICS BY
LOWELL BOILEAU
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DESIGN
AND GRAPHICS BY
LOWELL BOILEAU
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This website is dedicated to Detroit, Soul Music, 45 RPM, Northern
Soul and the great Motown era of Detroit Musics. It covers Golden
World, Tamla, Wheelsville, Robert West, Darrell Banks, Johnnie
Mae Matthews, Rose Battiste, Tera Shirma, Fred Bridges, Supremes,
Stevie Wonder, Edwin Starr, Funk Brothers, Dennis Coffey, Bob
Babbitt, James Jamerson, Twisted Wheel, Wiggan Casino and many
more Detroit Souls topics. |
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