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Detroit historian remembers her father's record store, recording career and life in the city

WBUR

Published August 11, 2026 at 12:06 PM EDT

Writer and historian Marsha Battle Philpot holds a record her father, Joe Battle, produced. (Scott Tong/Here & Now)

Marsha Battle Philpot calls herself a “primordial Detroiter.” She knows the city and its history well. Her father, Joe Battle, opened a record store in 1945 and he recorded blues guitarist John Lee Hooker, the Baptist preacher reverend C. L. Franklin, and Franklin’s talented daughter Aretha.

The store was relocated when a highway was built. In 1967 it was destroyed during the Detroit Rebellion.

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong talks to Battle Philpot about her father’s store, her own musical education, her experience in a changing Detroit.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.