Effective period / Period of releases: 1958 - 1963

South Carolina blues man “Bouncing” Cornell Blakely (b, 1928 Greenville, Greenville County, South Carolina, USA, died 2 Dec 2013 (aged 84–85), Reba, Greenville County, South Carolina, USA) is one of the least-known names in the Motown story. A veteran recording artist by the time he and Motown eventually crossed paths, he recorded just one Motown single, and even that’s a contentious story – it involves Motown stepping in and helping to set up a fictitious continuation of the defunct Tennessee-based Rich Records label, in order to issue some recordings Rich had commissioned from Motown, using Motown’s facilities, writers and producers.
Following his brief interaction with the Motown story, Cornell Blakely returned to his home town of Greenville, South Carolina, where he was owner/operator of radio station WKMG 1520AM in nearby Newberry.