[1] Berry Gordy and Barrett Strong began by improvising on piano and vocals and were joined by Benny Benjamin on drums and Brian Holland on tambourine.

[1] Author Nick Talevski calls the song an "R&B classic"[3] and it is identified as having a "Detroit R&B sound" by Mark Lewisohn.

[4] Music journalist Charles Shaar Murray describes "Money" as "one of the earliest Motown classics from the days when the label left some of R&B's rough edges in place.

Gwen and Anna's brother Berry Gordy had just established his Tamla label (soon Motown would follow) and licensed the song to the Anna label in 1960, which was distributed nationwide by Chicago-based Chess Records in order to meet demand; the Tamla record was a resounding success in the Midwestern United States.

Greil Marcus has pointed out that "Money" was the only song that brought Strong's name near the top of the national music charts, "but that one time has kept him on the radio all his life.

"[8] Personnel included:[9] Singer Barrett Strong claimed that he co-wrote the song with Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford.

A live version, taped at a concert date in Stockholm, Sweden, in October 1963, was included on Anthology 1.

[citation needed] In 2018, the music staff of Time Out London ranked "Money (That's What I Want)" at number 25 on their list of the best Beatles songs.

[42] An instrumental cover of the song appears as the main gameplay theme of the Bally pinball table Junk Yard.