The Al Abrams collection contains scrapbooks, correspondence, press releases, photographs, and memoirs detailing Abrams' work as a publicist and press agent for Detroit's Motown and for Stax Records in Memphis. The collection is valuable for its documentation of Motown in the period of the early to mid-1960s when this Detroit company was beginning its great string of record successes. Abrams was a great collector of press and other materials about the artists who worked for Motown and Stax-Volt.
The Abrams collection measures two linear feet and four oversize volumes whose contents have been foldered. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Motown Record Company, Stax Record Company, Al Abrams Associates, Miscellaneous, Visual Materials, and Scrapbooks.
Al Abrams worked at Motown Records during its early formative period. In 1959, having worked as a trainee in the mailroom of Detroit's McCann-Erickson Advertising Agency, Abrams signed on as the first employee of Berry Gordy's Tamla Records and Rayber Music Writing and Recording Company. Abrams, though a young man at the time, had a talent and good instincts for the music business. He knew that for a record to succeed it must be played on the radio. He created the label's slogan "The Sound on Young America." Abrams got to know all of the important Detroit area DJs and participated in publicity stunts to make known artists and their records. He also collaborated with Gordy, Mike Ossman, and John O'Den to write "I Love the Way You Love" (1960, performed by Marv Johnson).
In 1966 Abrams left Motown to form his own public relations firm - Al Abrams Associates. His clients included Stax-Volt recording artists such as Otis Redding. Following Redding's tragic death, Abrams ended his association with Stax-Volt in 1968 to work independently. Florence Ballard who had left the Supremes and was no longer working for Motown became his biggest client. He also did press work for Invictus Records based in Detroit and worked with James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and many other artists. Sources: Abrams, Al Hype & Sou! (TempleStreet Pub., 2011) Michigan Rock & Roll Hall of Fame website (Accessed July 2024)
