The Funk Brothers
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The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until 1972, when the company moved to Los Angeles. The Funk Brothers played on 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", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", 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 proclaim the Funk Brothers as "having played on more number-one hits than The Beatles, Elvis Presley, 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); Benny "Papa Zita" Benjamin and Richard "Pistol" Allen (drums); Robert White, Eddie Willis, and Joe Messina (guitar); Jack Ashford (tambourine, percussion, vibraphone, marimba); Jack Brokensha (vibraphone, marimba); and Eddie "Bongo" Brown (percussion). Hunter left in 1964, replaced on keyboards by Johnny Griffith and as bandleader by Van Dyke. Uriel Jones joined the band as a third drummer. Late era bassist Bob Babbitt joined the ensemble in 1967.
There have been many articles written which identify the actual members of The Funk Brothers, some of which claim that virtually every musician who ever played on a Motown track was a "Funk Brother". In actuality, there are 13 actual Funk Brothers as identified in the film Standing In The Shadows Of Motown, as well as 13 members identified by both NARAS for the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and recognized by the recent Star on the Hollywood Walk Of fame. Despite that, many other musicians have contributed to the Motown Sound.[citation needed]
[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. Studio musicians were not credited by Motown 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 billing with Van Dyke on some recordings, although they were billed as "Earl Van Dyke & the Soul Brothers", since Motown CEO Berry Gordy, Jr. disliked the word "funk". Alternatively, the name "Funk Brothers" could have been given to the band ex post facto; the term "funky" as an adjective came to be associated with uptempo, southern-styled soul music in the second half of the 1960s; the term "funk" as a noun is typically associated with uptempo soul music from the 1970s onwards. In the "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" documentary, Joe Hunter states that the name "The Funk Brothers" came from Benny Benjamin. Hunter states that Benjamin was leaving the studio (known as the Snake Pit) after session work, paused on the stairs, turned and said to his fellow musicians, "You all are the Funk Brothers". The band was then informally named.
The band used innovative techniques. For example, most Motown records feature two drummers, 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. 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, 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 in Los Angeles instead of Detroit, notably all 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.
The Funk Brothers were dismissed in 1972, when Berry Gordy moved Motown to Los Angeles. A few members, including Jamerson, migrated to Los Angeles, but found the environment uncomfortable. Jamerson died in 1983, Brown in 1984, Van Dyke in 1992, White in 1994, Allen and Griffith in 2002, Hunter in 2007, Richard Wylie in 2008 and Uriel Jones in 2009. (Early drummer "Benny" Benjamin had died back in 1969.)
In March 2006, some remaining Funk Brothers were invited to perform on Philly writer/producer/singer Phil Hurtt's unique and interesting recording session at Studio A/Dearborn Heights/Detroit where they contributed their performances to ‘The Soulful Tale of Two Cities’ project. The double album sleeve notes read ‘Motown’s legendary Funk Brothers and members of Philadelphia’s world renown MFSB take you “back in the day” with an album filled with classic Philly and Motown hits’. Bob Babbitt, Joe Hunter, Uriel Jones and Eddie Willis performed alongside other notable Detroit session musicians like Ray Monette, Robert Jones, Spider Webb, and Treaty Womack.
The musicians played on the Philly hits giving their unique Detroit interpretations of the songs under the leadership of Phil Hurtt, Bobby Eli, Clay McMurray and Lamont Dozier. Many other ex Motown and Detroit artists performed vocals on the session including The Velvelettes, Carolyn Crawford, Lamont Dozier, Bobby Taylor, Kim Weston, Freda Payne, and George Clinton.
In 2008 Uriel Jones, Ray Monette, Dennis Coffey, Robert Jones and Bob Babbitt accompanied other notable Detroit session musicians including Larry Fratangelo, Dennis Sheridan, Edward Gooch, John Trudell, George Benson, Mark Burger, David Jennings, Spider Webb and Rob Pipho where they appeared on the Carl Dixon Bandtraxs project which featured a Dennis Coffey/Carl Dixon production of 4 brand new songs. In addition vocal performances from Spyder Turner, Pree and Gayle Butts provided lead and backing for the session. The session was also arranged by ex Motown arranger David J.Van De Pitte. The session was also at Studio A, Dearborn Heights, Detroit and was the dream of a 19 year old Dixon, back in 1974, to pay homage to musicians, particularly The Funk Brothers, producers and those who influenced him with their music. It took Dixon almost 33 years to find the musicians and with luck, met some of them on the web site soulfuldetroit.com. It was via this web site that he and Dennis Coffey hooked up and then eventually collaborated together to make the session work.
[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 in 2003. In 2003, surviving members 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
As discussed above, the name "The Funk Brothers" was a loosely-applied designation. Although the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences recognizes 13 musicians as official "Funk Brothers", the name is often casually used as a catch-all designation to cover any musican who played on a Motown record.
The following list covers the musicians most frequently used on Motown recordings from 1959 through 1972; it is not an exhaustive list of every musician ever used. The 13 Funk Brothers recognized as official band members by NARAS are marked with an asterisk.
Membership lists based upon research by Allan Slutsky, with some minor corrections.[2]
[edit] Detroit musicians
The 13 Funk Brothers recognized as official band members by NARAS are marked with an asterisk (*).
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[edit] Los Angeles musicians
Los Angeles was an alternate recording center for Motown artists beginning in the mid-1960s, utilizing a different set of musicians. Hit tracks recorded in LA include The Miracles' "More Love", many of Brenda Holloway's songs, and all the early hits of The Jackson 5.
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] References
- Justman, Paul (Director). (2002) Standing in the Shadows of Motown [Motion picture]. New York: Artisan Entertainment.
