The Funk Brothers
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The Funk Brothers was the nickname given to a group of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed on the backing tracks to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until 1972, when the company moved to Los Angeles. The Funk Brothers played on many major Motown hits such as "My Girl", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Baby Love", "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours", "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", "The Tears of a Clown", and "(Love is Like a) Heat Wave".
The role of the Funk Brothers is described in Paul Justman's 2002 documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown, based on Allan Slutsky's book of the same name. The opening titles of the film proclaim the Funk Brothers as "having played on more number-one records than The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys combined." [1]
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[edit] History
[edit] Notable members
Early members included bandleader Joe Hunter and Earl Van Dyke (piano); James Jamerson (bass guitar); William "Benny" Benjamin and Richard "Pistol" Allen (drums); Robert White, Eddie Willis, and Joe Messina (guitar); Jack Ashford (tambourine, percussion, vibes, marimba); Jack Brokensha (vibes, marimba); and Eddie "Bongo" Brown (percussion). Hunter left in 1964, replaced on keyboards by Johnny Griffith and as bandleader by Van Dyke. Around the same time Uriel Jones joined the band as a third drummer.
In 1967, guitarists Dennis Coffey and Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin, who introduced the wah-wah pedal sound that defined Motown's psychedelic soul records, joined the band. Benny Benjamin died the next year, and Bob Babbitt began to replace James Jamerson on many recording dates. The Funk Brothers were a racially integrated band. Most members were of African descent; Messina, Brokensha, Babbitt, and Coffey were white.
[edit] Legacy and techniques
Until the release of the Standing in the Shadows of Motown documentary, the members of the band were not widely known to the public for their contributions to the Motown sound, despite having played the music in many Motown hits. Studio musicians were not credited on Motown releases until Marvin Gaye's What's Going On in 1971, although Motown released a handful of singles and LPs by Earl Van Dyke. The Funk Brothers shared top billing with Van Dyke on some of these recordings, although they were billed as "Earl Van Dyke & the Soul Brothers", since Motown CEO Berry Gordy, Jr. disliked the connotation of the word "funk".
The band used a number of innovative techniques for performing the backing tracks for many Motown songs. For example, most Motown records feature two drummers instead of one, either playing together or overdubbing one another — Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" used three drummers. A number of songs utilized instrumentation and percussion unusual in soul music recording. The Temptations' "It's Growing" features Earl Van Dyke playing a toy piano for the song's introduction, snow chains are used as percussion on Martha & the Vandellas' "Nowhere to Run", and a custom oscillator was built to create the synthesizer sounds used to accent Diana Ross & the Supremes' "Reflections" A tire iron was used in the Martha & the Vandellas "Dancing in the Streets".
[edit] Dissolution and later years
During the mid to late-1960s, roughly one-fifth of Motown records began utilizing session musicians based in Los Angeles, usually covers and tributes of mainstream pop songs and showtunes. By 1970, an increasing number of Motown sessions were being done in Los Angeles instead of Detroit, most notably all of The Jackson 5's hit recordings. Nevertheless, Motown producers such as Norman Whitfield, Frank Wilson, Marvin Gaye, and Smokey Robinson steadfastly continued to record in Detroit for as long as they could.
The Funk Brothers were dismissed from Motown's service in 1972, when Berry Gordy moved Motown to Los Angeles. A few of the members, including Jamerson, migrated to Los Angeles, but found the environment foreign and uncomfortable. Jamerson died in 1983, Brown in 1984, Van Dyke in 1992, White in 1994, Allen and Griffith in 2002, and Hunter in 2007.
[edit] Awards and recognition
The Funk Brothers have received three Grammy awards:
- Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004
- Best Traditional R&B Performance for "What's Going On" with Chaka Khan, 2002
- Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media for Standing in the Shadows of Motown, 2002.
Bassist James Jamerson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, and drummer Benny Benjamin was inducted in 2003. In 2003, surviving members of the Funk Brothers were invited to the White House to meet President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, in an event tied to Black History Month.[1]
[edit] Members
Membership lists based upon research by Allan Slutsky, with some minor corrections. [2]
[edit] Detroit musicians
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[edit] Los Angeles musicians
Many of the Los Angeles players were members of The Wrecking Crew collective of studio musicians.
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[edit] Arrangers and conductors
- Detroit: Paul Riser, Willie Shorter, Dave Van DePitte, Wade Marcus, Johnny Allen, Gil Askey, Ernie Wilkins, Jerry Long, Henry "Hank" Cosby, Slide Hampton, and H. B. Barnum
- Los Angeles: Gene Page, James Carmichael, and Arthur Wright
[edit] Notes
- ^ Justman, Paul. Standing in the Shadows of Motown.
- ^ Slutsky, Allan. "The Musicians". Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection [CD Box Set]. New York: Motown Record Co., L.P.
[edit] References
- Justman, Paul (Director). (2002) Standing in the Shadows of Motown [Motion picture]. New York: Artisan Entertainment.
