Anna Gordy Gaye the late 1950s, members of the Gordy clan were getting involved with the music business. In 1956, Anna began her career distributing records for Checker Records. In about 1957, she distributed a few recordings for Gone Records. In 1958, Anna and Gordy's younger sister Gwen founded the label Anna Records with musician Billy Davis, a year before Berry launched Tamla Records. Anna distributed Tamla's first national hit, Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)". Artists such as David Ruffin and Joe Tex also recorded for the label, and Marvin Gaye became a session musician with the company. After the label
Hitsville U.S.A. television and film production as well as music production. In 1959, Gordy formed his first label, Tamla Records, and purchased the property that would become Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio. The photography studio located in the back of the property was modified into a small recording studio, and the Gordys moved into the second-floor living quarters. Within seven years, Motown would occupy seven additional neighboring houses: By the end of 1966, Motown had hired over 450 employees and had a gross income of $20 million. In 1967 Berry Gordy purchased what is now known as the Motown mansion, in Detroit's Boston-Edison