Berry Gordy Wrote Most of The Contours’ Tunes
In the early days of Motown, Berry Gordy was very hands-on—writing and producing much of the label’s material himself.
One of the first vocal groups he signed was The Contours, for whom he penned Do You Love Me. There’s still some unresolved debate about the song’s origin. Some say it was initially offered to The Temptations, who turned it down. Others claim Gordy wrote it specifically for The Contours, but they struggled to meet his expectations, and he used The Temptations as motivation to push them harder.
Either way, Do You Love Me became a massive hit. Before its release, Motown’s success had mostly come from Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Marvelettes, and Barrett Strong’s Money (That’s What I Want)—another song written by Gordy.
Following that breakthrough, The Contours continued to record songs written by Gordy, though none matched the impact of Do You Love Me.
The Contours Tunes | Related Pages
Do You Love Me | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Do You Love Me by The Contours using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| F | Bb | C | Dm |
You broke my heart, ‘cause I couldn’t dance, you didn’t even want me around…
Start learning with the full lesson series: Do You Love Me – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
The Contours on the web
