An 1877 Steinway grand piano used by Motowngreats during the label’s 1960s heyday, and restored thanks to Paul McCartney, is back home in Detroit, officials announced Monday.
Steinway technicians delivered the 9-foot Victorian rosewood to the “Hitsville, U.S.A,” building midday Monday and workers set it up in a former recording studio in what’s now the Motown Historical Museum.
McCartney, a longtime fan of the Motown sound who played and recorded several of the label’s songs during the Beatles’ early days, told museum officials after a 2011 concert in Detroit that he wanted to help with the piano’s refurbishment after learning the historic instrument no longer could be played.
During his museum tour, McCartney played a different piano bearing a sign that read, “Please do not touch.” He apologized and said he had to. When he came across the Steinway in Studio A, he found a cover on the keys, foiled not by a sign, but by deterioration that made the piano unplayable.
Work on the piano was completed last August, and the ex-Beatle and Motown founder Berry Gordy played it together during a September charitable event at Steinway Hall in New York City.
The instrument first made its way to Motown when the label acquired Golden World Records in 1967, a facility redubbed Motown Studio B and used by musicians and songwriters to create songs by Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and other Motown greats.
CLICK HERE to read story
article courtesy of BlackAmericaWeb.com
