Inside Motown’s Golden Machine: The Years That Built Me

Michael B. Sutton

What really happened behind the studio doors at Motown?

In Inside Motown’s Golden Machine: The Years That Built Me, Michael B. Sutton takes readers inside the creative engine of Motown Records during its most formative years — not as a fan or historian, but as someone who lived it.

Discovered by Stevie Wonder and mentored within Motown’s demanding system, Sutton shares a deeply personal journey through songwriting rooms, recording sessions, and life-defining lessons that shaped him as an artist and producer. From gospel roots and UCLA training to working alongside legendary musicians, producers, and engineers, this book reveals how great records are built — and why discipline matters as much as talent.

This is not a celebrity tell-all. It’s a masterclass in craft.

Through stories of collaboration, rejection, growth, and responsibility to the music, Sutton offers insights that resonate far beyond Motown. Readers will discover how structure fuels creativity, why unfinished ideas fail, and how the Motown mindset continues to influence artist development today through his work with The Sound of L.A.

Whether you’re a musician, producer, music historian, or creative seeking direction, this book offers rare perspective from inside a system that turned raw talent into lasting legacy.

Motown didn’t just make hits. It built artists!