The Funk Brothers

The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit musicians who played club gigs and were the house band at Detroit's Motown Records from 1959 to 1972, when the company moved to Los Angeles. Their story was told in Paul Justman's 2002 do

The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit musicians who played club gigs and were the house band at Detroit's Motown Records from 1959 to 1972, when the company moved to Los Angeles. Their story was told in Paul Justman's 2002 documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown.

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); 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.