James Anthony Dean Passes From Cancer

Songwriter stayed loyal to Motown roots

Eric Lacy / The Detroit News

April 20, 2006

James A. Dean reflected on life experiences often and wrote lyrics about them to help create Detroit's Motown sound, said Wardell Montgomery Jr., a fellow songwriter and longtime friend.

"He was a person that really loved music and the arts," Montgomery said. "He wanted something bigger to happen to Detroit, so he had a very business-like approach and wrote songs that people could relate to."

Mr. Dean, a Detroit native, died from cancer of the spine in his home on Sunday, April 9, 2006. He was 63.

Montgomery said Dean is believed to have written hundreds of Motown, R&B, jazz and pop songs over a 40-year span.

One of the most popular songs Dean helped create was "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted," performed by Jimmy Ruffin. Montgomery said Dean also did work for Tom Jones and Johnny Mathis.

"He had a sense of how important Motown and other forms of music were," Montgomery said. "Even after Motown left Detroit, he was still in the city helping artists get exposure. His home base was always Detroit."

Mr. Dean was born in Detroit on Feb. 7, 1943, and graduated from Hamtramck High School. He served in the Army and in 1964 joined his cousins Edward and Brian Holland at Motown.

Services were held April 15 at Swanson Funeral Home in Detroit. Burial was in United Memorial Gardens in Plymouth.

Survivors include two sons, Anthony and James Jr.; a daughter, Sharona Smiley; three sisters, two brothers and a granddaughter.