Sportswriters can be great writers, and here’s a terrific memoir by acclaimed San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Bruce Jenkins.
In 1960, he was 12 years old, living in Malibu, CA , the son of Beverly and Gordon Jenkins: she was an acclaimed singer, and he was the go-to composer, arranger, and conductor for the A-list: Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday.
Young Bruce was surrounded by the crème de la creme of contemporary American music, but what he really craved was “Shop Around” by Smokey Robinson the Miracles.
By age 14 Bruce’s jones for R&B and Motown was so strong that on Saturdays he was busing himself from Malibu –pretty rural and mostly white– to Inglewood–urban, and mostly black—- a round trip of some 50 miles—where he could listen to, buy, and be surrounded by others who appreciated a good soul song.
Sure, the 60s were swinging but they were also turbulent –Viet Nam, Nixon, civil rights. Remember the “Generation Gap?” Sometimes things got out of hand between parents and their progeny over politics or long hair or choice of music. Gordon Jenkins detested and disdained Top 40/soul/rock/teen music as much as his son loved it. His dad would literally walk out of a room if Dylan or the Beatles came on the radio or TV.
Apparently, young Bruce overcame that bit parental hostility without emotional scaring, and a legion of readers are all the better for it.
“Shop Around: Growing Up With Motown in a Sinatra Household” is a page turner for Boomers and anyone who loves music. The song lists at end bring back memories, in addition to some that many will discover for the first time.