I bet you have heard about Motown Records, its impressive cast and catalogue of songs eternally hanging on the music history’s sky.  Songs that you probably have enjoyed more than once in a club with your friends, maybe on the front seat of your car, or on your headphones in endless working marathons wherever they take place. Even better, you might have shaken your body unconsciously, smiling around and lighting up your room while playing one of those tunes.

Songs like “Please Mr. Postman”, “Dancing in the Street”, “ I Heard it Through the Grapevine”, “War”, “My Girl” and the list goes on, have become Soul anthems and a continuous source of inspiration for generations to come. And, trust me, my friends,  they will keep inspiring, they will. 

Songs, touched by the sweet and soulful voice of Marvin Gay, the eagerness of pre-teen Stevie Wonder harmonic trips, or the Doo-woo-influenced established female and male groups like the The Supremes, The Marvelettes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, the Temptations or the Four Tops, and many more which helped to build,  with their raw energy, which captured a whole generation and elevated to unlimited and timeless spheres. 

Maybe you also have heard about Berry Gordy Jr., the owner of Motown Records, and founder of the original record label Tamla, and how he bought 2648 West Grand Boulevard, to convert it into  Hitsville U.S.A, also known as Studio A, the operational central base of those magical musical productions.

However, little has been said about the key ingredient of Motown’s successful receipt. I mean,   the Heartbeat of those magnificent creations, the rhythm section,  the music itself as an independent body that flavoured the essence of Motown’s flow; partially because, as Gordy Records’ slogan stated: “It’s What’s in the Grooves that Counts”, implying a clear business’ focus, or maybe because studio musicians were not credited on Motown’s productions until Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On in 1971.

Ladies, gentlemen and everybody in between, please bring a round of applause to the Funk Brothers, the real architects and motor of the musical machinery named Motown Records.  

Originally assembled by Berry Gordie, in 1959, its members were self-developed jazz musicians who came from the streets of Detroit or from different states as a result of the migration of the manpower attracted by the industrial auto-locomotive explosion around that period in the city. 

The name, “Funk Brothers” could have been linked to 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, which description matches somehow the natural cadence in the Motown’s rhythm. However, according to Joe Hunter, one of the keyboards and lead members of the original formation, ”The Funk Brothers” came from Benny Benjamin, the original Drummer who, after a session work and  when he was leaving the studio, paused on the stairs, turned and said to his fellow musicians, “You all are the Funk Brothers.”

Between 1959 to 1972, they were able to produce over 100 songs that reached the top-ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in Studio A at Hitsville U.S.A.;  they use to play jazz music on the night club’s scene of the city, mainly to release the pressure’s deadline at the Studio A, and those creative inspirations at night were embedded in the productions the following day at the studio. They coloured the recording sessions, adding extra layers to the musical dimension to each song. They also played on life events organised by the record label tu support the live acts of the label’s cast, and they were able to play in other record labels or studios on their own. “Higher & Higher” by Jackie Wilson, “Cool Jerk” by the Capitol or “Boom, Boom” by John Lee Hooker, among other hits, are credited to them, for example. 

Their bond was built through almost imperceptible energetic oscillations. Those natural lines thickened through shared moments, on time without time, and the Present was transformed into a creative space where the truths of each human being emerged. The camaraderie emerged and developed, when laughter, tears, dreams and turbulences were intermingled through musical instruments. But when that camaraderie expanded over the time, it morphed into family ties.

Unfortunately, the sudden death of Benny Benjamin, the original band’s drummer,   in1969; some band’s members’ drug abuse problems and the fact that by 1970, Motown sessions were increasingly scheduled in Los Angeles instead of Detroit, including all of those for the Jackson 5’s hit recordings, hit deeply the core’s band the and unity of its members,  which finally disbanded by 1972, when Motown Records decided to move its operational base from Detroit to Los Angeles, California. 

Lost in time and temporally erased from music history, they finally were rightfully recognised in 2007,  and the Funk Brothers were inducted into the Musicians Hall Of Fame and Museum. We owed that to them…

Here below, is the list are the original members: 

  • Piano & Organ  and Bandleaders: Joe Hunter and Earl Van Dyke 
  • Double bass: Clarence Isabell
  • Bass Guitar and double Bass: James Jamerson
  • Drums: Benny “Papa Zita” Benjamin and Richard “Pistol” Allen
  • Baritone Saxophone: Mike Terry
  • Trombone: Paul Riser
  • Guitar: Eddie Willis
  • Tambourine, percussion, vibraphone, marimba: Jack Ashford
  • Vibraphone, marimba: Jack Brokensha
  • Percussion: Eddie “Bongo” Brown

Note: 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 and guitarist Dennis Coffey both joined the ensemble in 1966.

Those Funk Brothers were a family of musical geniuses who loved to play with each other through the thick and thin of their life’s experiences,  a musical reference for generations to come, and most importantly, produced the unique heartbeat that paved the foundations of Soul music.

Long life to the Funk Brothers…., simply thank you. 

EXTRA: A MUST SEE

The 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown tells the compelling story of The Funk Brothers, the unsung heroes behind Motown Records’ iconic “Motown Sound.” Directed by Paul Justman, the film spotlights this group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed on more number-one hits than the Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys combined.

The documentary sheds light on the Funk Brothers’ critical role in shaping one of the most successful music labels of all time. It highlights how Motown’s music bridged racial divides during a tumultuous period in American history. With insights from surviving members and their personal stories, the film reveals the humanity behind the legendary sound.