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In this episode of CuriosiD, we answer the question:

“Fortune Records recorded Detroit artists for 25 years — just a mile from WDET. Can you tell us the story and play us some music?”

WDET listener David Perry was perusing the stacks at Ann Arbor’s Encore Records when he stumbled upon a three-disc compilation album with 60 tracks — ranging from R&B and doo-wop to hillbilly, rockabilly, blues and gospel — all recorded at the now defunct Fortune Records in Detroit.

“It was $9.43 and it turned out to be a real bargain,” Perry said.

It was his first introduction to the pioneering mom and pop label, which — as a music lover — led him to wonder why he hadn’t ever heard of it before. So, he turned to WDET to find out more.

The short answer

Fortune Records was founded by husband and wife Jack and Devora Brown in 1946. It operated in Detroit for more than 30 years under the Fortune name and other subsidiary labels, recording a diverse range of artists and genres.

The label produced many local stars throughout the ’50s and ’60s out of their small studio on Linwood Avenue — and later on Third Avenue in the Cass Corridor — but the couple’s hesitancy toward licensing and distribution deals and a devastating accident would eventually hamper their success.

The ‘Myths and Mysteries’ of Fortune 

To help us learn more about this otherworldly Detroit gem and why it faded into obscurity, we headed to Hamtramck to speak with a man who, for all intents and purposes, wrote a textbook on the subject.

Michael Hurtt is a Detroit area writer, musician, and music historian. He co-wrote the book “Mind Over Matter: The Myths and Mysteries of Detroit’s Fortune Records” with his long-time friend Billy Miller, who sadly died four years before the book went to print.

“That was brutal,” Hurtt said of Miller’s death. “And to have to finish it without him would have been more difficult, had we not had an absolute cosmic connection over this stuff.”

At 576 pages, the book has been referred to as “the brick” or “the bible” for its heftiness. It took more than a decade to complete.

Still, Hurtt admits there were many mysteries associated with the label that they never did get to the bottom of.

“When Billy and me were marveling at this incredible story and asking ourselves, ‘Why did they do this? And why did they do that?’ It doesn’t make any sense…” Hurtt said. “A lot of times, we didn’t know the answers, and we never found them.”

The couple behind the label

Fortune’s story begins in the early 1940s with Jack and Devora Brown, a young, middle class Jewish couple in Detroit who had hopes of breaking into the music business.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio to immigrant parents, Devora was a talented songwriter and composer who dreamed of selling her music in Tin Pan Alley — New York’s historic music publishing district.

Jack studied accounting at Wayne University and spent most of his life in Detroit.

After striking out with publishers in New York City, the couple launched their own publishing company in 1943.

“Trianon Publications was the name of their company,” Hurtt said. “Jack founded it just sort of like, because he wanted her dream to come true, ya know? And then they just started the label in 1946.” 

And just like that, Fortune Records was born.

Without a studio space of their own, they recorded the label’s first hit at United Sound Studios on Second Avenue.

“A song called ‘Jane (Sweet as Summer Rain),’ that was the first Fortune record,” Hurtt said.

Devora wrote the music for the track, which was performed by Canadian singer Russ Titus with American bandleader Artie Fields and his Orchestra.

“[The track] doesn’t sound like any of the crazy rock and roll or rhythm and blues or soul or hillbilly music that we associate with the label,” Hurtt said. “But that’s interesting, because it’s sort of where they came from.”

Devora and Jack continued to make records at United Sound until 1951, when they opened their own studio on Linwood Avenue on the city’s west side, where much of the city’s Jewish community resided.

Sounds of the city

“The minute they opened the studio on Linwood, they started recording everyone that came through the door basically,” Hurtt said.

That included artists like the Davis Sisters, John Lee Hooker, Earl and Joyce Songer, Paul Lewis and The Swans, The Royal Jokers, The Five Dollars, and many other artists who — had it not been for Jack and Devora — may have never been recorded.

Contrary to Motown’s highly-polished, almost formulaic sound, Fortune stood out for its rawness and diversity of artists. Hurtt says Devora’s fondness for exotic or foreign styles of music and the melding of cultures in the city at the time was reflected in the types of records they produced.

“They had everybody on this label, every culture that was in the city at the time,” he said. “They recorded some of the first gypsy music that was ever recorded in the United States; Tony Valla and the Alamos, which was, you know, Latino rock and roll; and then later Tejano from Southwest Detroit.”

Fortune’s ‘Big Three’

The first real hitmakers for the label were Nolan Strong & the Diablos — a young doo-wop vocal group attending Detroit’s Central High School, which was across the street from the Brown’s studio.

“They just walked in there and wanted to know what they would sound like on a record, and they basically pestered Jack and Devora into recording them,” he said. “Of course, that became… it was ‘Adios My Desert Love,’ that really started the label off in rhythm and blues.”

“If I could really sing, I’d be Nolan Strong”

– Lou Reed

Andre Williams was the label’s next major star. Though he himself would say he was a lousy singer, he was a brilliant entertainer who masked his lack of singing skills by talking over his records.

Willams’ biggest hit, “Bacon Fat,” was recorded by the Browns in 1956. The record’s success led Devora and Jack to license it to Epic Records for wider distribution, but later felt that they weren’t compensated fairly.

As a prolific performer, Williams felt the Browns’ reluctance toward distribution deals with larger labels restricted him. He eventually left Fortune to record for various other labels over the years.

“[Andre] ended up helping Berry Gordy get Motown started, actually, which is something that I don’t think he really gets credit for,” said Detroit musician Matt Smith, who has performed with and produced records for both Williams and Nathaniel Mayer — Fortune’s third major hitmaker.

Smith says both Williams and Mayer played pivotal roles in the development of rock and roll, soul music and funk.

“Andre was really kind of ahead of his time with a lot of ideas, and his stuff had an enormous influence on the generation of rock and rollers that came after him,” he said.

Mayer’s 1961 record  “Village of Love” became Fortune’s biggest national hit. However, the Browns’ distrust of others would ultimately go on to stifle his success as well.

An ethereal echo: Fortune’s signature sound

Devora wrote many of the label’s biggest hits and was considered the creative force behind the label.

“There’s a certain mystique to Fortune Records, like an otherworldly sound,” Hurtt said. “And part of it has to do with Devora Brown and her Ampex 350 tape recorder, which she just loves the echo effects of.”

That ethereal echo effect is especially prevalent in The Diablos’ 1954 hit, “The Wind.”

“[‘The Wind’] is, you know, one of the greatest doo-wop records ever — if not thee greatest doo-wop record,” Smith said. “It’s just one of the most mysterious, supernatural sounding records ever made…I mean it is just weird.”

Hurtt says The Diablos wrote “The Wind” while cruising on Belle Isle.

“They’re like harmonizing sort of to the breeze…to the wind,” he said. “It’s almost like he is the wind, you know? Is this guy a spirit, or is he real?”

The label’s decline

In 1956, the Browns moved the label to a standalone cinderblock building on Third Avenue, in what was then considered Skid Row. 

“Supposedly the floor was partially dirt. Whether that’s true or not is another myth and mystery that we were never able to truly solve.”

– Michael Hurtt, co-author of “Mind Over Matter”

The label persisted at that location for decades, but after the mass exodus following the 1967 riots, the neighborhood wasn’t the same.

“The Detroit of the ’70s, was so much different than the Detroit of the ’60s,” Hurtt said. “And after the rebellion, you know, the riot…so much changed in the city that I think it was sort of a convenient time for Fortune to sort of, you know, go into decline.”

The label began to truly fall apart in 1973, when Jack and Devora were hit by a car while crossing the street.

“There are all these weird stories about that, you know, and one of them was that he was run over by a disgruntled hillbilly artist,” Hurtt said. “Well, that wasn’t true at all.”

Jack sustained internal injuries from the accident that eventually led to his death in 1980. 

Devora tried to keep the label alive but without Jack handling the business operations it proved to be too difficult to maintain. The building was sold in 1996, shortly before Devora died. Despite efforts to save it, the building was demolished in 2001. 

“It was criminal that that happened,” Hurtt reflected. “I mean you can imagine what it could be now, it could be a museum, that could be any number of things. There was enough left, even though the roof was gone, you know, it basically was a shell and it looked the same.”

Fortune Records may not have lasted long in our collective memory, but it certainly had an impact on the music industry and especially in Detroit.

“If you look for the records, they’re hard to find,” Smith said. “But there’s hundreds and hundreds of these Fortune records, and they’re all out there.”

About the listener

David Perry has lived in metro Detroit for over 30 years. As a music lover, Perry says he was drawn to the wide variety of genres recorded by the label during its golden era.

He currently resides in South Lyon with his wife and grandson.

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More from CuriosiD:

• What happens to old fire trucks in Detroit?
• How did Ann Arbor get its name?
• Does Gen Z know who Bob Seger is?

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Communities across Michigan — including several in metro Detroit — will be holding special elections on Tuesday, May 6, for a range of local ballot measures and races.

Check if you’re registered, find your polling place, or view a sample ballot here.

Macomb County

Mount Clemens

Voters in the Mount Clemens Community School District will have a $91.8 million bond proposal and millage reduction on their ballots.

The district says the funding would be used to renovate and revitalize its historic buildings, make critical infrastructure improvements, create modern learning spaces, and address safety and security needs.

Find more information about the bond proposal at mtcps.org.

Oakland County

Ferndale

In Oakland County, voters in Ferndale will see another Headlee override operating millage proposal on their ballot.

Ferndale voters rejected a previous iteration of the Headlee override in November, with roughly 54% of residents voting against it. City council members voted in January to include an adapted proposal on the May 6 ballot that aims to address some of the concerns cited by residents during town halls and listening sessions. If passed, the millage would take effect on residents’ Summer 2026 tax bills.

More information about the proposal, including the changes that were made and its potential cost impact on residents, can be viewed at ferndalemi.gov.

Additionally, voters in the Ferndale School District — which includes portions of Pleasant Ridge, Oak Park and Royal Oak Township — will have a school improvement bond on their ballot.

The $114.8 million bond proposal would not increase voters’ tax rates, according to the district, and would enable “transformational improvements” at its middle and high school buildings. Among the updates would be a new academic wing, modernized classrooms, updated fine arts spaces, safer school entry points, and improved student services.

For more information about the school bond proposal, visit ferndaleschools.org.

Clawson

Voters in Clawson will have two charter amendment proposals on the ballot.

The first is asking voters to determine the size of city council. A “yes” vote would maintain the city’s four-member council — excluding the mayor — rather than expand the council by two additional members, as adopted by council in 2023.

The second charter amendment relates to the council members’ term limits, and can only be passed in conjunction with the first amendment.

The full proposals can be viewed at cityofclawson.com.

Madison Heights

Residents in the Lamphere School District will see an $85 million, 30-year school improvement bond proposal on the ballot.

The district says the funding is needed to enhance school safety and security, expand learning opportunities, and update school infrastructure. If passed, the cost to homeowners would be 4.15 mills ($4.15 per $1,000 of taxable property value).

For more specifics on what the bond funding would be used for, visit lamphereschools.com/bond2025.

Proposals 2 and 3 — a non-homestead operating millage renewal and 2-mill hedge — would maintain the current millage rate if passed, allowing the district to retain $5 million for staffing, instructional and extracurricular programming, maintenance and operations.

Residential tax rates on primary residences would not increase if any of these initiatives pass, according to the district. However, the millage rate would decline over the next few years if the bond proposal is rejected.

Know your rights

Michigan’s primary election will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. Check back for updates to WDET’s Voter Guide as the election gets closer.

Wayne County Executive Warren Evans will deliver his annual State of the County address on Wednesday night.

During his speech, Evans is expected to share key updates, accomplishments, and plans for Wayne County’s future.

The State of the County address will begin at 7 p.m. Watch the livestream below or tune in to 101.9 FM WDET.