Warren's Maurice Moore reflects on music career

Maurice Moore's life is a Motown soundtrack. 

He still has a recording studio in his basement in Warren, and he's finally allowing himself to take a look back at a career that isn't done just yet.

His walls are lined with famous faces and his head is filled with memories. Maurice Moore's seen it all in his music career, opening for some of the biggest names in the business.

"Parliament Funkadelic, Kool and the Gang, O'Jay's, Bar-Kays, Leroy Hudson," Moore rattles off some of the names.

He first got his foot in the door as a teenager, playing mostly local shows.

"I started the Soul Dimensions. We did great for a lot of years. We were on the Chitlin Circuit. We did a lot of work out of Youngstown at Reed's Arena," said Moore. "He would always tell us, 'Well you know, I lost my shirt tonight, I lost my shirt tonight. But I tell you what I'll do, I'll put you on the next show.' That's how we got to meet everybody."

He grew close with two of the Temptations, David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks, and moved to New York where the adventure was only just beginning.

"We was standing outside the hotel one night, about one o'clock in the morning, and David all of a sudden said, 'I know you want to leave me.' Did the whole thing, and his voice reverberated around all those skyscrapers in New York," said Moore. "David Ruffin came over to me and said, 'Maurice.' I said, 'What man?' 'I'm the greatest pop singer in the world.'"

But for all the famous musicians he met, Moore had a different kind of inspiration, Berry Gordy, the chairman of Motown Records. The business side certainly had its appeal.

This is where the magic happened; his recording studio in his own basement. But one of the most important parts of his career actually didn't have much to do with music at all. He owned the rights to all of his music and he's reaping the benefits, even today.

"I own the publishing, the copyrights, the master tapes, the label. I control the distribution. It's all there," said Moore. "I knew they were hits. But I was not willing to give them to major record labels here in the United States because they wanted total control."

He has a gold record to his name and the royalty checks keep rolling in, even more often now with some of his music getting a new life overseas. Motown Maurice Moore's made his mark, letting the music take him on quite the ride.

"The awards can't talk to me. The music can and it's forever," said Moore.

Moore says he plans to release an anthology project next year, with a book perhaps in the works after that. One thing's for sure, he has plenty of stories to tell.