Bob Kayli

Bob Kayli is Robert L. Gordy, Berry Gordy's brother, and the youngest son of the late Bertha and Pop Gordy's children. The first Bob Kayli recording, "Everyone Was There," came out in 1958. Berry leased it to Carlton Records; it sold well until Kayli made personal appearances and the public discovered he was Black. Record sales screeched to a halt and Berry didn't receive any further requests for appearances. He worked at the Post Office until Motown started hitting on all cylinders. He left the government job for an entry-level position in Motown's engineering department. He didn't record again until the November 1961 single "Small Sad Sam" (b/w "Tie Me Tight"), an answer song to Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John," that died upon release. When his sister Loucye died in the mid-'60s, he became head of Jobete Music. Outside of Motown he was Bobby; at Motown he was Robert L., the no-nonsense brother of Berry Gordy, Jr. ~ Andrew Hamilton