I know you've heard of Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, The Supremes, and the many artists that helped define that classic Motown sound. But, have you heard of The Funk Brothers? These are the people that were the studio band responsible for putting the backbeat into hits for Diana Ross & The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, etc. They played on more #1 records than The Beatles, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley combined, but no one knew their names.
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 black; Messina, Brokensha, Babbitt, and Coffey were white.
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 Duke & 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".
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.
Just a rundown of some of the hits they are responsible for:
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
"What's Going On" - Marvin Gaye
"I Heard Through the Grapevine" - Marvin Gaye
"Ain't To Proud To Beg" - The Temptations
"Heatwave (Love Is Like A) - Martha and the Vandellas
"My Girl" - The Temptations
MARVIN GAYE & TAMMI TERRELL - "AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH"
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