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| The Funk Brothers in the studio with a young Stevie Wonder. |
(Wikipedia has a nice article on the Funk Brothers here)
"The Funk Brothers 'have played on more number-one hits than The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys combined.'" - opening lines to the 2002 documentary
It wouldn't be too far-fetched to say that every American born after World War II has heard a classic Motown song. Aside from R&B radio stations, Motown songs have been featured in commercials, movies, and even American Idol! There are certain songs that we just know by listening to the first few beats such as:
Some of the Motown hits (including those listed above) are timeless and are still played today, while others are less seldom known and still belong to those folk who grew up in the 1960s. Regardless of the individual popularity of each of these songs, Motown music (as a whole) was significant because it was the first widespread infusion of black music into mainstream, white American culture. Although black artists such as Ray Charles and Little Richard had previously charted top pop records, Motown was unique in the volume and frequency in which their artists topped the charts. More importantly, Motown was black-owned and black-operated from the label's owner, Berry Gordy to its house band, the Funk Brothers.
Consider this: The Funk Brothers provided the instrumentation on virtually every Motown record from 1959 to 1972. Let's say you decide to take 30 minutes to listen to a few of the biggest Motown tracks from this 13 year period. From this little exercise, it's likely you'll make two big observations (1) most of the tracks are no longer than three minutes long and (2) for the most part, they sound very similar. This was the Motown formula as perfected by The Funk Brothers. Moreover, The Funk Brothers had a signature sound that featured the following distinctive characteristics:
No wonder Motown records sound so tight...
The Funk Brothers helped launched the careers of so many Motown artists including its biggest stars Diana Ross (and the Supremes), Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye. Speaking of Mr. Gaye, it was The Funk Brothers who backed-up Marvin on his best and most influential album 1971's What's Going On. This album marks the first time that The Funk Brothers were actually credited for their contributions; prior to What's Going On, the band was left uncredited (hence the title of the exceptional 2002 documentary on The Funk Brothers, Standing in the Shadows of Motown).
In 1972, Motown moved its headquarters from Detroit to Los Angeles and this moved marked the end of The Funk Brothers involvement with Motown songs. This is important because there is one major Motown group that The (original) Funk Brothers never had an opportunity to work with: The Jackson 5. Furthermore, if you compare the Jackson 5's sound to that of let's say The Temptations, you'll find that there are significant differences.
So overall, more so than the chart-topping hits that played on, here is The Funk Brothers lasting contribution to American culture as put best by the legendary Smokey Robinson:
"Into the '60s, I was still not of a frame of mind that we were not only making music, we were making history. But I did recognize the impact because acts were going all over the world at that time. I recognized the bridges that we crossed, the racial problems and the barriers that we broke down with music. I recognized that because I lived it. I would come to the South in the early days of Motown and the audiences would be segregated. Then they started to get the Motown music and we would go back and the audiences were integrated and the kids were dancing together and holding hands."
The Beatles might have been the most popular band in the world during the 1960s, but they weren't the ones who provided the soundtrack for the American Civil Rights Movement and integration: that was Motown and more specifically, that was The Funk Brothers. Between 1959 and 1972, these men played on 86 #1 songs.
86 #1 Songs
And here are their names:
Joe Hunter (Pianist, and Band Leader)
Robert White (Guitarist)
Eddie Willis (Electric Guitarist)
Joe Messina (Guitarist)
James Jamerson (Bassist)
Benny Benjamin (Drummer)
Richard "Pistol" Allen (Drummer)
Jack Ashford (Percussionist)
Eddie "Bongo" Brown (Percussionist)
Johnny Griffith (Pianist and Keyboardist)
Uriel Jones (Drummer)
Earl Van Dyke (Keyboardist)
Bob Babbitt (Bassist)
Dennis Coffey (Guitarist)
And just in case you were wondering, here is my favorite Funk Brothers backed, Motown song:
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