Talk:The Funk Brothers

Untitled
Jamerson played the upright bass, too ( for instance on "My guy"(Mary Wells), and "Uptight" (S. Wonder)

Were they not also featured on American Idol? (205.250.167.76 22:22, 30 March 2007 (UTC))

Wrong life dates
The birth dates from the members are wrong, aren´t they? James Jamerson for example was not only 23 years old, wasn´t he? ;) and William Benjamin was only 10 years old, as he died? --78.52.233.155 (talk) 09:11, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Outrageous claim
This one : The opening titles of the film proclaim the Funk Brothers as "having played on more number-one records than The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys combined."

According to Wikipedia's list of Billboard No 1's these 4 acts have grossed 20 + 17 + 8 + 4 = 49 No 1 hits. Checking Motown's Billboard No 1 hits 1959 to 1972 (when the Funk Bros were disbanded, and minus the Jackson 5 on whose hits they weren't used) I find there were 23 No 1 hits. A lot, but not as huge as the claim. So this should in some way be qualified

Pbryant 20:48, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

Answer to your Outrageos Claim Statement

These are 33 Motown #1 Bilboard hits I found on Wikipedia between 1962 and 1975. The Funk Brothers had #1 hits on other labels. They had many other #1 hits on the Bilboard R & B Charts which are not listed.

"Please Mr Postman" The Marvelettes, "Fingertips Pt. 2" Little Stevie Wonder, "My Guy" Mary Wells, "Where Did Our Love Go" The Supremes, "Baby Love" The Supremes, "Come See About Me" The Supremes, "My Girl" The Temptations, "Stop! In the Name of Love" The Supremes, "Back in My Arms Again" The Supremes, "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" The Four Tops, "I Hear a Symphony" The Supremes, "You Can't Hurry Love" The Supremes, "Reach Out I'll Be There" The Four Tops, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" The Supremes, "The Happening" The Supremes, "Respect" Aretha Franklin, "Love Child" Diana Ross / Supremes, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" Marvin Gaye, "I Can't Get Next to You" The Temptations, "Someday We'll Be Together" Diana Ross / Supremes, "ABC" The Jackson Five, "The Love You Save" The Jackson Five, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" Diana Ross, "I'll Be There" The Jackson Five, "The Tears of a Clown" Smokey Robinson / Miracles, "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" The Temptations, "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" The Temptations, "Superstition" Superstition, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" Stevie Wonder, "Touch Me in the Morning" Diana Ross, "Let's Get It On" Marvin Gaye, "Midnight Train to Georgia" Gladys Night / Pips, "Keep on Truckin' (Part 1)" Eddie Kendricks, "You Haven't Done Nothin'" Stevie Wonder,

--68.8.252.232 (talk) 07:28, 14 February 2008 (UTC)J Maslan

But not all of them played on all of the songs, otherwise you'd have three drummers, two bassists, six guitarists, etc. I also notice no mention of Larrie Londin (Ralph Gallant) who played on "Baby Love" and a few other songs. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.238.157.93 (talk) 23:02, 11 May 2008 (UTC)


 * In fact, many (if not virtually all) Funk Brothers recordings feature mutiple drummers and multiple guitarists. It's part of what gives them their distinctive sound. (Multiple bassists occured less often, as James Jamerson often overdubbed two or more bass parts.)   172.130.199.229 (talk) 21:09, 18 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Your list of No. 1 hits differs from the one in the article, and is more likely to be correct. For instance, The Funk Brothers did NOT play on Jr. Walker's hit 'Shotgun': it was performed by Booker T. and the MG's, with Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald 'Duck' Dunn, etc. 70.112.79.142 (talk) 14:53, 25 April 2010 (UTC) Eric

I looked at the outrageous claim, and it seems an apples/oranges argument, noting: (having seen the Wrecking Crew documentary) that Elvis didn't do instruments on his records, and after the first album, neither did the Beach Boys: it was all the wrecking crew. Some of that group did early work for Sam Cooke (Carol Kaye). The musicians union lists Hal Blaine on over 35000 tracks including 150 top 10 hits, and 7 records-of-the-year (in a row). So the claim is at best awkward, as it assumes the groups listed played their music, then claims another group of backing musicians beat that group. (But I suspect the Wrecking Crew did more recording that the Funk Brothers and Nashville Cats combined). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.53.172.60 (talk) 19:32, 12 June 2019 (UTC)

There are 13 actual Funk Brothers
Many lists have been compiled regarding the many outstanding musicians who played on Motown tracks during Motown's Detroit heyday. To set the record straight, the accepted number of actual "Funk Brothers is 13. Those members include

Joe Messina Robert White Eddie Willis James Jamerson Bob Babbitt Joe Hunter Earl VanDyke Johnny Griffith Jack Ashford Eddie "Bongo" Brown Benny Benjamin Richard "Pistol" Allen Uriel Jones

These are the Funk Brothers featured in the film Standing In The Shadows Of Motown, and are the members recognized by the rest of the ensemble. There were many other fine musicians who played significant roles in the development of The Motown Sound, however, they have not been recognized by the rest of their peers as actual Funk Brothers. Many lists which have been compiled represent some other Motown players as Funk Brothers, and some lists refer to virtually every musician who ever played a note on a Motown recording as Funk Brothers, however, only the 13 members listed above have been recognized by NARAS (The Grammys) and as reciepients of the star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame as Funk Brothers, and most importantly, by the rest of The surviving Funk Brothers themselves.

12.221.152.99 (talk) 03:46, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Thomas "Beans" Bowles - Flute/Piccalo during the Motown Sound days
Why was this man's name left out of the amazing history that he participated in? Is name is in the credits of the movie but not mentioned anywhere in this article? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.73.192.2 (talk) 00:37, 31 May 2011 (UTC)