The Funk Brothers

Unlike their Stax Records backing-band contemporaries Booker T. & the M.G.'s in Memphis, until the release of the Standing in the Shadows of Motown documentary, the members of the Funk Brothers were little 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 and backbeat, 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 stated that the name "The Funk Brothers" came from Benny Benjamin. Hunter said that Benjamin was leaving the studio (known as the "Snake Pit", due to all the cable runs out of the ceiling) 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 Funk Brothers often moonlighted for other labels, recording in Detroit and elsewhere, in bids to augment their Motown salaries. It became a worst-kept secret that Jackie Wilson's 1967 hit "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" did not have a Motown influence quite by accident—the Funk Brothers migrated to do the Wilson session, in an interesting reference to Motown's early history: Berry Gordy, Jr got his first music break by getting Wilson to record some of his songs (including "Reet Petite") in the 1950s. Various Funk Brothers also appeared on such non-Motown hits as The San Remo Golden Strings "Hungry For Love", "Cool Jerk" (the Capitols), "Agent Double-O Soul" (Edwin Starr, before that singer joined Motown itself), "(I Just Wanna) Testify" by the Parliaments, "Band Of Gold" (Freda Payne), "Give Me Just a Little More Time" (The Chairmen of the Board), and blues musician John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom".[2] After he found out about the Edwin Starr session, Gordy fined members of the Funk Brothers band for moonlighting for another label; Eddie Wingate, owner of the Ric-Tic and Golden World labels, which released Starr's "Agent Double-O Soul", subsequently attended that year's Motown staff Christmas party and personally gave each of the fined session players double the amount of the fine in cash, on the spot. Gordy eventually bought out Wingate's label and his entire artist roster.

During the mid- to late-1960s, one-fifth of Motown records began using session musicians based in Los Angeles, usually covers and tributes of mainstream pop songs and showtunes. By 1970, Motown sessions were increasingly scheduled in Los Angeles instead of Detroit, including all of those for 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 the entire Motown label to Los Angeles; a development some of the musicians discovered only from a notice on the studio door. A few members, including Jamerson, followed to the West Coast, but found the environment uncomfortable. For many of the L.A. recordings, members of the Wrecking Crew worked for Motown, including drummer Earl Palmer, percussionist Gary Coleman, bassist Carol Kaye, guitarist Tommy Tedesco, and keyboardist Larry Knechtel.

The Funk Brothers as reincarnated in 2006. The lineup includes three of the original members: Bob Babbitt (2nd from left), Joe Hunter (4th from left), Uriel Jones (8th from left).

In February 2004, surviving members of the Funk Brothers were presented the Grammy Legend Award at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in L.A. In March 2006, some remaining Funk Brothers were invited to perform on Philadelphia writer-producer-singer Phil Hurtt's 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 renowned 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, Ashford and Riser played on Raphael Saadiq's album The Way I See It, recorded in the style of the Motown Sound.[3] That same year, the Funk Brothers' surviving members recorded Live in Orlando, an album and video.

In 2010, surviving members of the Funk Brothers accompanied Phil Collins on his Motown covers album, Going Back, and appear in the live Going Back concert DVD.

In 2010, the Funk Brothers were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.[4]

• Keyboardists:
  • Joe Hunter[9] (band leader, 1959–1964)*
  • Earl Van Dyke[10] (band leader, 1964–1972)*
  • Richard "Popcorn" Wylie[11] (1959–1962)
  • Marvin Gaye[12] (1961–1962)
  • Raynoma Liles "Miss Ray" Gordy[13] (1959–1962)
  • George Fowler[14] (1962–1969)
  • Leonard Caston Jr. (1969–1972)
  • H. B. Barnum (1963–1972)
  • Johnny Griffith[15] (1963–1972)*
  • James Gittens (1959–1967)
  • Ted Sheely (1967–1972)
• Guitarists:
  • Robert White[16] (1959–1972)*
  • Eddie "Chank" Willis[17] (1959–1972)*
  • Joe Messina[18] (1959–1972)*
  • Larry Veeder (1959–1962)
  • Dave Hamilton[19] (1959–1962)
  • Huey Davis[20] (1959–1967, the Contours' road and studio guitarist)
  • Marvin Tarplin[21] (1959–1972, the Miracles' road and studio guitarist)
  • Cornelius Grant (1963–1972, the Temptations' road guitarist and band leader)
  • Dennis Coffey (1966–1972)
  • Melvin "Wah Wah Watson" Ragin[22] (1968–1972)
  • Ray Parker Jr. (1968–1972)
  • Ray Monette
  • Paul Warren
• Bassists:
  • James Jamerson[23] (1959–1972)*
  • Clarence Isabell (1959–1962)
  • Bob Babbitt[24] (1966–1972)*
  • Greg Reeves (1966–1969, the Temptations' road bassist)
  • Edward Pickens (1968–1972)
  • Bill White (1969–1972, the Temptations' road bassist)
  • Tweed Beard
  • Joe Williams
  • Michael Henderson
  • Joe James
  • Antonio "Tony" Newton (the Miracles' road bassist)
• Accordion:
  • John "Johnnie Miles" Milewski (1965–1970)
• Drums:
  • William "Benny" Benjamin[25] (1959–1969)*
  • Richard "Pistol" Allen[25] (1959–1972)*
  • George McGregor[26] (1959–1962)
  • Corey Jahns (1959–1967) bongos
  • Clifford Mack (1959–1962)
  • Marvin Gaye[12] (1961–1962) (also listed above)
  • Uriel Jones[27] (1963–1972)*
  • Freddie Waits[28] (1963–1967)
  • Melvin Brown (1967–1972, the Temptations' road drummer)
  • Andrew Smith[29] (1968–1972)
  • Kenneth "Spider Webb" Rice (1968–1972)
  • Aaron Smith (1970–1972)
• Percussion:
  • Jack Ashford (1959–1972, tambourine)*
  • Eddie "Bongo" Brown[25] (1959–1972, various)*
  • R. Dean Taylor (1960s, tambourine)[30]
  • Bobbye Hall (1963–1972, various)
  • Stacey Edwards (1967–1972, the Temptations' road percussionist)
• Vibes:
  • Jack Ashford (1959–1972) (also listed above)*
  • Dave Hamilton[19] (1959–1962) (also listed above)
  • James Gittens (1959–1967) (also listed above)
  • Jack Brokensha[31] (1963–1972)
• Trumpets:
  • Herbie Williams
  • John "Little John" Wilson
  • Marcus Belgrave[32]
  • Russell Conway
  • Johnny Trudell[33]
  • Floyd Jones[34]
  • Maurice Davis[35]
  • Billy Horner
  • Gordon Stump
  • Don Slaughter
  • Eddie Jones
• Saxophones:
  • Henry "Hank" Cosby[36]
  • Andrew "Mike" Terry[37]
  • Norris "Kasuku Mafia" Patterson[38]
  • Thomas "Beans" Bowles[39]
  • Ted Buckner[25]
  • Walter "Choker" Campbell[40]
  • Frank Harvey Jackson
  • Ronnie Wakefield
  • "Lefty" Edwards[41]
  • Eli Fountain
  • Ernie Rodgers
  • Eugene "BeeBee" Moore
  • William "Wild Bill" Moore[25]
  • Angelo Carlisi
  • Dan Turner
  • Bernie Peacock
  • Larry Nozero[42]
  • Lanny Austin
• Trombones:
  • McKinley Jackson
  • Bob Cousar[43]
  • George Bohanon
  • Paul Riser
  • Jimmy Wilkens[44]
  • Don White
  • Carl Raetz
  • Patrick Lanier
  • Bill Johnson
  • Ed Gooch
• Flute:
  • Dayna Hartwick
  • Thomas "Beans" Bowles[39]
• Piccolo:
  • Dayna Hartwick
• Strings:
  • Gordon Staples and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra string section
    • Violins
      • Zinovi Bistritzky[45]
      • Beatriz Budinsky
      • Lillian Downs
      • Virginia Halfmann[46]
      • Richard Margitza
      • Felix Resnick[47]
      • Alvin Score[48]
      • Linda Sneeden Smith
      • James Waring[49]
    • Violas
      • Nathan Gordon[50]
      • David Ireland[51]
      • Eduard Kesner[52]
      • Anne Mischakoff
      • Meyer Shapiro
    • Cellos
      • Italo Babini
      • Edward Korkigian[53]
      • Thaddeus Markiewicz[54]
      • Marcy Schweickhardt

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 L.A. 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, a loose-knit group of studio musicians.

• Detroit: Paul Riser, Willie Shorter, David Van De Pitte, 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, Arthur Wright, Michael Lovesmith