Rare Berry Gordy Signed 1971 Contract with Sammy Davis Jr.: “Don’t judge yourself by others’ standards...”

“Don’t judge yourself by others’ standards…have your own. And don’t get caught up into the trap of changing yourself to fit the world. The world has to change to fit you.” -Berry Gordy Jr.Berry Gordy could be the greatest record man in American music history. From a modest wood-frame home in Detroit he built Motown Records, which in the 1960s and ’70s grew to become the most successful independent record label in America, producing some of the greatest, most enduring popular music in history.It didn’t start out that way though. An ex shoe shiner, failed boxer and failed record store owner, he always believed he was going to make his mark on the world and specifically in music. After trying his hand at writing and not realizing the success he was looking for he decided to try his own record label.In 1959, Gordy formed his first label, Tamla Records, eventually becoming Motown Records, and purchased the property that would become Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio, in Detroit Michigan. Wit