The Funk Brothers with Jerryo/The Sea Shells/Tom & Jerry O/The Soulmates

The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Along with their work at Motown, they collaborated with Samuel Kaplan under different band names: The Sea Shells, The Funk Brothers with Jerryo,  The Sea Shells, Mighty Lover Band, and The Soulmates. Jerry Jerome Murray “Jerry O” was essential for bringing The Funk Brothers to Sammy. They all worked with Sammy’s Lovelane, producing several hits in the 1960s and 1970s, most notably:

Jerry “Jerry O” Murray and The Funk Brothers came together to make a lot of Lovelane’s music under different names, all listed above. The Funk Brothers are among the most successful groups of studio musicians in music history. Some combination of the members played on each of Motown’s 100-plus U.S. R&B number-one singles and 50-plus U.S. Pop number-ones released from 1961 to 1972. Early members included bandleader Joe Hunter and Earl Van Dyke (piano and organ); Clarence Isabell (double bass); James Jamerson (bass guitar and double bass); Benny “Papa Zita” Benjamin and Richard “Pistol” Allen (drums); Mike Terry (baritone saxophone); Paul Riser (trombone); Robert White, Eddie Willis, and Joe Messina (guitar); Jack Ashford (tambourine, percussion, vibraphone, marimba); Jack Brokensha (vibraphone, marimba); and Eddie “Bongo” Brown (percussion). 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 joined the ensemble in 1966.

There is no undisputed list of the group members, as some writers have claimed that virtually every musician who ever played on a Motown track was a “Funk Brother.” However, there are 13 Funk Brothers identified in Paul Justman’s 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, based on Allan Slutsky’s book of the same name. These 13 members were identified by NARAS for the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and recognized with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star. Some of their notable hits include “My Girl,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Baby Love,” ” I Was Made to Love Her,” “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” “The Tears of a Clown,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” and “Heat Wave.” In 2007, the Funk Brothers were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.