The first white artist signed to Motown Records, Chris Clark, possessed a voice as soulful and expressive as any of the company’s better-known acts. The statuesque platinum blonde’s bluesy vocal authority was matched by an elegant image that she now says belied her identity as a shy teenager who found herself in the center of a cultural storm.

“People didn’t quite know what to make of me,” she recalls. “Motown was very competitive—volleyball was a blood sport at Motown—but it was ...